Hisense has not historically been a household name in the USA (they actually refer to themselves as “The biggest 4K TV company you’ve never heard of”), and what products did bear their logo were often looked at as inferior options. In recent years, the Chinese mega-corporation has been working to change that. In 2015, they shook up the TV industry by acquiring Sharp’s North and South American TV business and branding rights. And they’ve continued to work on their product line, putting out TVs that are more competitive with models from the major manufacturers. We stopped by Hisense’s CES area to see some of the products they were spotlighting and found an intriguing selection, some ready to hit the market and some still in the prototype stage.
First up were the Hisense H10D TVs, which will be the company’s flagship sets. Available in 70-inch and 75-inch models, these sets are packed with premium features, including UHD Alliance and THX certifications, quantum-dot technology, Motion 480 processing for ultra-smooth fast scenes, and full array local dimming which promises a stellar contrast ratio.
The H10D were phenomenal sets, but they paled in comparison to the LED98NU9800V, a 98-inch, 8K LED TV that was on display nearby. The 7680×4320 resolution plus a 160-zone local dimming array create a picture that might as well be real life. It’s still in the conceptual stage, but just building it shows that Hisense has some serious tech know-how that will find its way into marketable products.
If you saw the 98-inch TV and were disappointed you couldn’t hang it in your home this year, Hisense has another product you might be interested in. The 4K Laser Cast TV is actually multiple items sold as a single package to provide an all-encompassing entertainment suite: a short-throw laser projector, 100-inch projection screen, and 5.1 surround sound speaker system. Laser Cast puts out an HDR picture with wide-color gamut for a viewing experience that will rival professional cinemas.
Abt has not previously carried Hisense products, in part because we’ve never noticed a demand for them from our customers. Looking at some of the products on display at CES 2017, it’s not hard to imagine Hisense becoming a bigger player in the coming years, and maybe even finding their way onto the Abt showroom floor.
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