LG OLED B5 vs Samsung S85F OLED

LG B5 is a moderately bright OLED TV. Regardless of the scene – it can generate about 500 nits of peak brightness. And interestingly, it does this even in full-screen shots flooded with white, where most OLEDs usually struggle. So, is this screen suitable for HDR films? Yes – absolutely, because such brightness really allows you to feel the magic of HDR effects. However, it’s worth noting that compared to last year's B4 model, the new B5 is darker – by about 100 nits. It may seem like a small amount, but at such average peak values, it makes a significant difference. Fortunately, the TV makes up for it with another strength – excellent coverage of the DCI-P3 and BT.2020 colour gamuts. This means HDR films look truly vibrant, lively, and impressive even in more demanding scenes.

As an OLED, the Samsung S85F can shine – literally. In favourable conditions, it can generate brightness exceeding 750 nits. This is significant because most films are created with displays aiming for around 1000 nits. In practice, this means that in scenes with moderately large, bright elements, the picture can look absolutely stunning. However, it's not always so rosy. When an enormous amount of light appears on the screen – whether it's an expansive, bright background or an entire frame filled with white – the S85F must tone it down. Brightness can drop by even four times in such scenes. This limitation is well-known to anyone familiar with OLEDs in this price segment, so we don't view it as a particular fail. However, something that deserves praise is what sets this model apart from the competition – colour gamut coverage. Thanks to the QD-OLED panel, our colour meter indicated values exceeding 100% coverage of DCI-P3 and an impressive 86% for the ultra-wide BT.2020 palette. Such results are hard to find even in televisions that cost several times more.

B5 was tested in Filmmaker mode and… we’d love to see more TVs like this right out of the box. Seriously. The white balance is very well set – there’s practically nothing to nitpick. Well, if you really want to, you might notice a slight deficiency in blue, which can make the overall picture have a slightly yellowish tint. But that’s just our editorial nitpicking. Most of you probably won’t even notice. We also have minimal reservations about brightness management in HDR format. The EOTF curve – which is responsible for how the TV distributes brightness across the scene – sits just below ideal. In practice, it may happen that the darkest parts of the image appear too dark and simply… disappear. But these are details that only come out in measurements. Generally: we are impressed. But we also know that LG TVs respond very well to professional calibration. You can extract nearly reference-quality picture from them, so – although it’s already very good out of the factory – we took the liberty to go a step further and fine-tune everything to the max.

Samsung, as befits a manufacturer with ambitions, has equipped the S85F with a mode called Filmmaker. Its task is simple: to make the colours on the newly purchased television as faithful as possible to what the director intended to show us. Sounds great… but, as is often the case, a theory that sounds wonderful doesn’t always translate into perfect practice.

In the tested unit, it quickly became apparent that the image – due to an excess of blue and red – looked as if someone had gone a bit overboard with the saturation. As a result, there were quite significant colour errors, particularly in 4K content. On top of that, there was an issue with brightness – the S85F could brighten most scenes more than it should, stripping them of the intended mood.

Fortunately, Samsung televisions, including the S85F, offer an impressive number of settings for advanced calibrators. This means that we could see what this panel is really capable of when it gets into the right hands.

We have to admit that we didn't have much work with the LG B5. It's one of those TVs that look good right from the start, but after calibration… they can really impress. The white balance was nearly perfect – down to a level of errors invisible to the human eye, unless you're a professional colourist with a magnifying glass at the screen. We also managed to control the TV's tendency to slightly dim the darkest details, especially in HDR scenes. After proper tuning, everything looks cohesive: blacks remain deep but don't swallow information. Highlights maintain a natural sparkle, and colours are true to the director's vision. This is truly one of those models that show you don't have to spend a fortune to have an almost reference-quality image. If you can opt for professional calibration – it's definitely worth it for the B5.

Thanks to the huge number of settings in the menu, we managed to bring the S85F almost to perfection. White balance in SDR content? Literally perfect – deviations do not exceed a value of "1". So we can confidently say that in materials with not too high dynamics, we have an image that's close to reference.

In HDR content, minor issues appeared, but they don't have much significance in practice – most errors fall below the threshold of perception, which is a value of "3". We also managed to tame the S85F when it comes to brightness management – the EOTF curve, even in films, holds nearly perfect straight line. This is one of those cases where after calibration, you can comfortably forget about the settings and simply watch movies and series at the highest level.

LG B5 really surprised us positively in terms of handling lower quality content. Thanks to the enhancement and smoothing features, HD or even SD materials come to life. Importantly – when this option is turned on at the "low" or "medium" level, we don’t get the impression that the image is artificially softened or overly smoothed. Details remain in place, film grain doesn’t disappear, and the edges of objects don’t look washed out 😉. It’s a really useful tool – especially if you’re watching free-to-air TV, archival materials, or content from YouTube in lower resolutions. The picture is clear, consistent, and simply pleasant to the eye.

Upgrading as such works very well – even low-quality content is reproduced with surprising fidelity. Unfortunately, it’s not without a minor hiccup. Although the menu has an option to turn off overscan, the television still has issues correctly displaying very low-resolution images. It’s a minor detail, but when watching older materials – it can be annoying.

The tone transition smoothing function in the S85F works really effectively – it can completely eliminate the problem of visible banding in very poor quality material, such as from YouTube. Unfortunately, even the lowest level of this option comes with compromises. The noise reduction is so aggressive that it can smooth out film grain, which many of us consider to be an element of the cinematic atmosphere. At the “Standard” level, we didn’t notice this function removing anything significant from the image, so we can recommend this setting. On the other hand, the “High” level is a different story – it can smooth out not just noise, but also small, desirable details like, for example, the texture of objects.

When it comes to image scaling, the S85F performs very well. The material looks sharp, and the only slight imperfection is the barely noticeable aliasing of edges. And there’s the ongoing issue with Samsung televisions – overscan. This can cause some scenes to be slightly cropped, which is worth noting when watching very old content.

LG B5 is a TV with a 120 Hz OLED panel. It may not sound as impressive as the marketing terms "144 Hz" or "165 Hz" commonly found in gaming monitors, but honestly? The smoothness is still excellent. The picture is sharp, fluid, and simply enjoyable to watch – even when there’s a lot happening on screen. The organic panel does its job – the pixel response time is almost instantaneous, which means there’s no risk of ghosting or blurring that can ruin dynamic shots. Sports, fast-paced games – everything looks clear and distinct.

We also have the classic LG motion smoother, TruMotion. It allows you to smooth out movies shot at 24 frames – in other words, most of what you watch on Netflix or from Blu-ray discs. If you set lower values on the “De-Judder” slider, you’ll get a picture closer to the cinematic experience – with a slight judder, but without artificiality. Higher settings? Soap opera effect guaranteed. Fortunately, LG gives you the choice, and you can tune everything to your liking.

S85F is an incredibly fast television – and that’s not just empty hype. Thanks to the 120 Hz OLED panel, dynamic scenes, whether in games or while watching a live match, look just as they should – smooth, sharp, and without the feeling that something is "slipping" out of frame. The lightning-fast pixel response time, typical of OLEDs, plays a big role here. Transitions between frames are virtually instantaneous, and the image remains clear even during the fastest camera movements. A ball flying across half the field? A car speeding in a chase scene? Everything here is clear and free of the typical "trail" associated with LCDs.

This is exactly what we expect from a good OLED – zero compromises when it comes to motion smoothness. The S85F gives the impression that regardless of the pace of action, we can focus on what’s happening on the screen, rather than on the imperfections of the image.

There are already a few TVs on the market with the "for gamers" label that don't really understand what that means. The LG B5 is not one of them. Everything here is spot on – there are four HDMI 2.1 ports, 120 Hz, there’s VRR and ALLM, and there’s also a Game Bar that's actually useful, not just looking good in the brochure. You plug in a console – it works. You set it to 4K at 120 Hz – it works. You have an Xbox and want to play in Dolby Vision – it works too. And it's not just "theoretically supports," it actually turns on, looks good, and you don't have to fiddle with settings for half an hour. Plus, there’s the HGiG picture mode, which LG has implemented correctly – meaning HDR in games doesn't turn the screen into a strobe light, but shows exactly what it should. There are no surprises, no strange limitations, no "buts." And you know what? That's how it should be. Cheers to the LG B5!

S85F has practically everything on board to become the dream screen for gaming. Four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, support for VRR, ALLM, a super-detailed Game Bar that clearly shows all parameters – plus a gem in the form of Game Motion Plus. This motion smoother makes animation in games more enjoyable, while input lag increases slightly. It's a rare combination, and that’s a big plus for Samsung.

Perhaps Samsung will fix this in the next update – and we have high hopes for that. Because if HGiG comes back, the S85F will become nearly the perfect TV for gamers.