Hisense currently owns the widest share of the consumer television market in China. But while the brand is well-known in that part of the world, it’s still relatively new to American consumers. Although it’s very possible you may own now or have owned one or more electronic household appliances that are Hisense products, they just have a different brand name on the front. That’s due to the fact that the company’s success has been built on its status as an original equipment manufacturer.
They’re also one of the latest brands, alongside TCL, to introduce a competitor to the Samsung The Frame TV with their Canvas TV 4K QLED television. Sure, it has a wide range of similar features, specifications, and capabilities all designed to contend with Samsung but does this new challenger live up to the hype?
Let’s compare the two models and see who comes out on top:
Samsung The Frame and the Hisense CanvasTV each incorporate QLED technology for a crisp, sharp, and bright 4K image. As these are really LCD televisions, the products depend on backlighting behind the panel to deliver that image.
The Samsung uses an edge-lit setup placing the LEDs along the edge of the pane. The Hisense uses a series of Mini LEDs placed directly behind the pane instead of the perimeter. The former offers a wider and more dynamic range of active backlighting to allow for higher native contrast with deeper, darker blacks and increased detail in brighter portions of the image.
Edge-lit panels are ideal for supporting HDR content, which is where the Samsung The Frame TV really excels by comparison.
The Hisense CanvasTV, with its mini-LEDs backlighting the panel, offers poor contrast with blacks that look faded and somewhat raised. The mini-LEDs can’t control the contrast as well which leads to a slight loss in color detail because the whole panel is outputting the same brightness and the result is less dynamic range.
High Dynamic Range brightness is far superior with the Samsung The Frame TV, displaying darker highlights with enough brightness to make them stand out, while colors are lucid with true representation and a bright, vivid image in HDR.
The CanvasTV lacks the contrast that the Frame TV offers with lackluster levels of brightness and contrast. Colors don’t stand out as much and the overall HDR presentation pales in comparison to the lush, crisp color output that Samsung delivers.
Samsung has thrown its unwavering, dedicated support behind High Dynamic Range, which is why all Samsung The Frame televisions support HDR 10 instead of Dolby Vision. The Hisense television supports Dolby Vision as well as HDR10, HDR10+, and HDR10+ Adaptive
Is there a major difference? Some would argue yes. While both HDR and Dolby Vision deliver striking visual images with dramatic, rich detail, Dolby Vision has the advantage when it comes to superior color output. HDR 10 can portray more than one billion unique colors with HDR 10-bit color technology, Dolby Vision uses 12-bit color technology to portray a wider output of color at 68 billion unique colors.
A range of options is one of the driving factors behind Samsung’s product lines. If you’re considering the purchase of a Samsung The Frame TV, you have a wide range of choices from which to select with 43”, 50”, 55”, 65”, 75” and 85” models currently available on the market.
Hisense offers just two screen sizes for those who want a CanvasTV in their home or office at 55” and 65” options.
Once again, the comparison between Samsung and other brands that have brought art-frame TVs to the marketplace isn’t even close when it comes to optics. The One Connection Box continues to be the preferred option for anyone who wants a cleaner and less cumbersome set-up and aesthetic.
The goal is to reproduce the appearance of a framed masterpiece on the wall, so that means you don’t want visible cords and wires from your gaming system and home theater components. No other brands outside of Samsung have thought to try and emulate the One Connection Box as part of their art-frame, flatscreen television products.
The One Connection Box allows for all of your devices to be connected into the Box instead of the television itself. The result is a neater, simpler visual and a thinner television to boot and supports the aesthetic of an art-frame television much better.
Hisense has chosen to place all of its product’s ports and inputs directly into the television unit, contributing to its wider profile and making the CanvasTV about a half inch thicker than The Frame. The company offers instructions on how to hide the wiring from your 4K blu ray player and other devices, but why go through all of that hassle?
Comparing the two products where Art Mode is concerned means examining the visual image on the screen when the TV is in this mode and the ease and versatility of displaying artwork on the panel when not in use as a television.
If you’re already familiar with the Samsung The Frame, you’re already well aware of the Samsung Art Store which has curated a stunning collection of thousands of masterworks with the participation of noted curators from some of the most highly-regarded museums across the globe. The Art Store is a subscription service where you can select a wide variety of paintings from artists in just about every genre. Don’t feel like committing to a monthly subscription? Every Frame TV comes with a library of free, preloaded artwork to display.
Plus, Samsung has worked with the Pantone Color Institute to ensure that each and every one of the gallery-worthy images available has the best and most authentic color reproduction
The CanvasTV comes nowhere near the range of images available from Samsung, but Hisense certainly made a concerted effort to provide customers with something resembling a preloaded library. You can choose to display one of 120 different artworks or assemble a slideshow of your favorite pieces in the pre-installed collection. At this time, Hisense does not offer a subscription service to an online artwork source.
The matte display is found on both televisions to further emulate the appearance of a framed work of art and not a TV screen with glare and both the Frame TV and the CanvasTV let you load your own images to display through a USB or any mobile device.
Samsung has equipped their Frame televisions with a motion sensor that wakes up the TV whenever it detects motion in the room. That same sensor puts the TV back in sleep mode whenever it detects a lack of motion in the room after time has passed.
It’s a feature that supports Art Mode as the TV displays the art that has been chosen by the consumer. When the motion detector senses movement, the panel lights up to display artwork or multiple pieces in a loop.
Hisense has taken a cue from Samsung to include a similar motion detection sensor in the CanvasTV to trigger the Art Mode function on the television when someone is present within the vicinity.
Keep in mind, the Hisense CanvasTV is a new kid on the block so it’s safe to say we don’t yet know what to expect from any possible image burn or other damage that might occur on the product with round the clock display of artwork on the screen.
Samsung and Hisense come in neck and neck with quality of sound output on their respective televisions. Both brands have equipped their televisions with surround sound output, Samsung has supplied their television with 40 watt speakers and Hisense is using 36 watt speakers.
The slight edge is in Samsung’s favor with better overall sound quality that is more evenly balanced without an abundance of low end. The Hisense speakers can get louder by comparison but they also lack significant low end with all of that volume.
Where frames are concerned, there is simply no comparison between the Samsung and Hisense televisions. The CanvasTV comes with a teak frame that magnetically connects to the television in separate pieces. If you don’t like the teak aesthetic, you have two other choices - white and walnut. But that’s it. Three options available.
Samsung The Frame TVs can be personalized with a wide range of frame options in various colors, styles, and finishes from Deco TV Frames to match or complement your home’s interior decor
Choose from up to 44 frame options with an additional 25 more as part of the 22K Deco Gold frame collection. No one else can offer this many frames to choose from when contemplating which frame would look the best in your home on your Frame TV.
Hisense put some real thought and effort into their CanvasTV and the brand offers a substantial challenger to Samsung in the Art Frame television market. But the CanvasTV comes up just a bit short in picture quality, Art Mode content, and aesthetics – three of the most important factors in selecting an Art Frame television.
Samsung has been the dominant player in this space for over eight generations, reaching prominence in the marketplace as the top television brand in the United States for over two decades. Picture quality, sound quality, aesthetics, thousands of artwork choices, and a thinner, lighter profile, Samsung the Frame TV is the superior choice.
Contact Us For any questions or concerns, contact us. We’re here to help you with all your mounting and frame needs, including recommendations, shipping, and more. Please remember to leave us a review!