Hisense introduced Tuesday the first model in a new affordably priced 4K Ultra HD television line featuring a new smart TV platform and 4K UHD streaming.
The 50-inch Hisense H7 Series 4K UHD LED-LCD TV will roll out to 2,000 Walmart Stores beginning in June at a $598 kick-off price, and carries an “industry leading” 4-year warranty, the company said.
More on the new Hisense 4K Ultra HDTV series after the break:
The Hisense 50H7GB made its formal debut at the Hisense 4K TV 300 in Charlotte on May 23rd. It will be followed by 55- and 65-inch models in the series, with availability and pricing for those sets to be announced later, a Hisense spokesperson told HD Guru.
The LED LCD TV features 3840×2160 4K UHD resolution, which is four times that of 1080p Full HD sets.
Hisense said the sets will also be equipped with HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 compliant connectors with Hisense “premium” 4K Ultra HD up-conversion available through all inputs so that lower-resolution content coming into the TV is up-scaled to near 4K UHD resolution for presentation on the screen.
The H7 series models are equipped with 4 HDMI ports:
- Two on the rear are HDMI V2.0 with HDCP V2.2 supporting 4K content up to 60fps
- Two on the side are HDMI v1.4 with HDCP v2.0 supporting 4K content up to 30fps.
For gaming and other applications, Hisense said the H7 models will support Full HD content at frame rates up to 120fps via HDMI 2.0.
“We are excited to take home entertainment to another level with the Hisense 4K UltraHD Smart TV,” Jerry Liu, CEO of Hisense USA, said in a statement. “Our partnership with Walmart allows us to make 4K smart TV technology accessible and affordable not just for the early adopters, but for everyone.”
Hisense would not name the smart TV SoC platform provider used in the H7 series sets, but a spokesman confirmed to HD Guru that the models support HEVC decoding and will all enable 4K streaming content from Netflix and other content providers:
“The H7 is under certification testing to support 4K content from Amazon Instant Video, UltraFlix and YouTube,” a spokesperson told us. “Once certified, the entire H7 install base will receive app services updates.”
“What that means is that the TV comes with pre-installed apps but, as soon as the TV is connected to the Internet and, at each power-on cycle, the apps presented to the user reflect any updates and additions to the app server,” the spokesperson continued. “For example, this morning a Game Center App appeared in the Apps directory with over 30 games. So, the TV is always up to date with the latest app offering from Hisense.”
The H7 ships with pre-installed apps including: Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu Movies & TV, Viewster, NFB Films, Daily Motion, Pandora, Picasa, Facebook, Tvitter (Twitter for TV), AccuWeather, AP News, Rockswap Adventurers, Ultimate Poker, Opera Web Browser and Opera TV Store. 4K versions of Amazon Instant Video, UltraFlix and YouTube are forthcoming.
Hisense said the H7 4K Ultra HD Smart TVs use a cloud-based app server architecture, and Opera TV Store architecture for app downloads to the TV. Hisense noted that any apps the user downloads from the Opera TV Store remain resident on the TV.
The Hisense H7 series will also carry “Netflix Recommended TV” designation, indicating it conforms to new Netflix performance criteria, including prominently displaying the latest Netflix app at startup, and with faster launch and play performance of Netflix programming, among other things.
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The sets also include 2×2 Dual-Band (802.11ac) Wi-Fi connectivity support and one-touch hot keys that turn on the TV and launch select on-demand services.
The H7 4K Ultra HD models also support use with mobile devices, including use of DIAL and CAST protocols. The H7 TVs ship with the Anyview Stream menu option and the Anyview Cast application.
When Anyview Stream is “on,” the built-in Digital Media Receiver is in standby mode identifying the H7 as an available player (music, video, picture) to other devices on the network, a spokesperson explained.
Hisense said the H7 sets have an enhanced on-board audio system using Total Technology from dbx-tv to produce improved sound from the onboard speakers.
Dbx-tv’s technology includes Total Sonics, offering a range of audio technologies working together for optimal audio quality; Total Volume, offering automatic volume level between programming changes, and Total Surround, which produces a surround sound effect, that makes sound seem to be coming from behind and above using only two TV speakers.
Regarding Hisense’s unusual 4-year warranty policy, Hisense told HD Guru: “The 4-year warranty is activated upon registration of the TV (either online at Hisense-USA.com or via calling the Hisense Customer Care toll free number). If the TV is not registered, the warranty reverts to 2-years.
“The warranty is provided by Hisense USA and covers: 1) in-home service; 2) parts and labor. We do not offer carry-in service through Walmart stores; again, the warranty includes free in-home service,” a Hisense spokesperson said.
By Greg Tarr
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