Computer Shopper - UK (2020-07)

TVs

ISSUE389|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JULY2020 79

TVs

HISENSEANDROKUhavebeenpartnering
upon TVsforawhile,buttheR50B7120UK is
–aspart ofthe HisenseRoku TVB7120range
–oneofthe firsttolandon UKshores.
In somerespects, it’s standardfarefor a
budget 4K TV –the panel usesVAtechnology,
and HDRislimited to HDR10 and the BBC’s
Hybrid-Log Gamma –but at £299 it’s cheaper
than cheap,and Roku integration means some
excellent coverage of streaming services.

TALKINGPOINT
Thecheapplastic chassis and non-adjustable
legs don’texactly makefor inspiringdesign,
but it covers allthe basicsfor connectivity,
with three HDMI 2.0 inputs, composite,
headphoneand optical S/PDIF sockets anda
singleUSB2socket port on the rear.
Surround-sound supportcovers Dolby
Audio andDTS Studio Sound, although it’s
worthinvestinginasoundbar instead of
relyingonthe integrated speakers.Whilenot
quite tinny, they’re lacking in clarity,with
unrulybass and amuddiness to dialogue,
unless youswitchtoSpeech mode,which
thankfully brings dialogue forward while
cutting background noise.
Gamers will be pleased to know that input
lag is an incredibly low 16mswith Game mode
engaged, down from around 37mswhenall
the TV’s picture processing features are
running as normal. That’s great news forfans
of competitive,reflex-based games, but don’t
forget that you’ll need to activate the feature
manually as theTVdoesn’t have Auto-Low
LatencyModesupport.
The remotecontrol will look familiar to
anyone who’sowned oneofRoku’sdigital
streamers,suchasthe Roku Express or
Roku Premiere:it’s acurved, black remote,
and itsdeep purplenavigation buttons are
distinctly Roku. Thereare handy shortcut
keys foraccessing Netflix, Rakuten TV,
Freeview Play,Spotify and Google Play, along
with all the standardcommand and
channel-searchingbuttons.
The Roku TV OS is ahighlight. The
easy-to-understand, responsive home
screen puts allyour entertainment
sources –betheystreaming,broadcast
or personal media–onthe samelevel,
andyou can even switchtoa
connectedgames consolewithout
having to manually change source.
Crucially, it also playshost to what’s
arguably themost comprehensive
selection of on-demand servicesinthe
UK. Allthe big hitters are here,
including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video,

HISENSER50B7120UK

★★★★★

£299•Fromwww.argos.co.uk

VERDICT

Abudget4KTVwithlotstolike,withRoku’s
smartTVplatformasthestaroftheshow

NowTV,AppleTV+,RakutenTV,and

YouTube.ThroughtheFreeviewPlaycatch-up

app,you’llfindBBC iPlayer,ITVHub,All4,

My5 andUKTVPlay.

Equally handy is Roku TV’s universal

search function. Type in afilm or programme

name and it willdisplayalist of all the

platforms it’savailable on, as well as whether

it’s free or costsmoney. This is an absolute

blessing, savingyou severalfrustrating

minutes of jumping betweenapps in search

of your favouritefilm. Moreover,itcould

potentially save you money, helping youfind

the best price across allplatforms.

TRICKYANGLE

Granted, youshouldn’texpectapremium

viewing experience with allthis content.VA

panelscan producedeeper blacks than IPS

but it comes at the cost of viewing angles, so

lookingatthe R50B7120UK from an angle

resultsinvisibly lower brightness and vibrancy

than if youwere facing it straight on.

There are no local dimming zones within

thepanel, so it’s unable to enhance contrast

beyondits native capabilities within specific

areas, butadmittedly that’s more of an issue

when it comes to HighDynamicRangecontent.

For4KSDR playback, the contrast levelis

more than adequate. In fact,given the

rock-bottom price,we’dsay it looksexcellent.

Video upscaling,bycontrast, is fairly

average –there’saclear difference between

genuine 4K contentand upscaled 1080p

video–and theR50B7120UK isn’t terribly

colour-accurate, either.The Movie setting

performsbestinthisregard, buteven this

bathes thescreenwith alight greentinge.

Motion handling could also be better,as

thereare no motion-boosting features(such

as motion interpolation or blackframe

insertion) on board. There’s some mild

smearing, too, whencoloured objects move

quickly across alighterbackground.

Thebiggest letdown, sadly, is HDR. First

off,the R50B7120UK’s peak brightness levels

are toolow to have any meaningful impact.

With amaximumfull-screen luminance of

only 225cd/m^2 ,itcan’t createthe dramatic

contrast between dark andlight that’s

characteristicofHDR content.

Then there’sthe issue of colour gamut. The

Hisense covers 86% of the DCI-P3 colourspace,

which is wellbelow what pricier mid-range

sets can hit,and notuptothe 90%mark

required forUHD Premiumcertification.

Therefore,it’sincapable of delivering the

vibrant, richly saturatedcolours that we’d

lookfor from widecolourgamut content.

Indeed, it’s abit of ashame that the

R50B7120UK doesn’t support HDR10+ or

Dolby Vision,even if it’s an understandable

omissionatthe price.HDR formats with

dynamic metadatanaturally still look their

bestontop-notchTVs,but they also make the

mostofthe limitedrange of colours and

brightnessavailable on lower-end models.

STREAMTEAM

Forjust£299, however, poor HDR

implementation doesn’t stop this Hisense

andRokucollaborationfrom beingworth the

wait. The polished Roku TV smart

platform deliversanaccessible and

responsive smart TV experience that

anyone can get to grips with, andwith

so manystreaming services on hand,

there’s no need to shell out further on

aseparate media streamer.

Sure,some aspects of performance

are unimpressive,but 4K SDRcontent

looks greatand gamers will appreciate

the incrediblylow input lag.Ifyou’re

lookingfor big-screenthrills on the

cheap,the R50B7120UK is abudgetTV

to be reckonedwith, and an even

bigger bargain than the LG 49UM7400.