LG QNED91T6A vs Samsung QN85F

As befits a MiniLED television, LG QNED91T easily exceeds the magical barrier of 1000 nits on the luminance chart. In scenes where light played a key role, the effect was truly commendable. For instance, 1000 nits in the first scene of "Life of Pi" is a really impressive value, and the achieved 600 nits in the third and fifth scenes allowed for a true sense of HDR magic. However, problems arise with very small light elements on the screen, such as the moon, street lamps, or lights. Values around 100 nits - to put it bluntly - are disappointing, as these elements are so dark they are barely visible. The television deserves praise for covering 96% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and 75% of BT.2020. LG QNED91T leaves us with very mixed feelings, mainly due to the very aggressive dimming algorithms which, while effectively eliminating halo effect, do impact the brightness of smaller elements.

Although more than twice the number of dimming zones compared to its predecessor did not result in a spectacular leap in black levels and contrast, we definitely felt it in the HDR effect itself. The QN85F is up to 50% brighter than last year's model and it makes a huge impression in dynamic scenes. Peak brightness can reach almost 1700–1800 nits, which is an impressively high result for this Mini-LED class. The best part is that almost regardless of the scene being watched, the HDR effect remains strong and vibrant. In four out of five test scenes, brightness was maintained around 1000 nits, a level that in most cases allows the viewer to feel the true magic of this format. Of course, in scene number 4 from the film Sicario 2, the limitations of Mini-LED technology become apparent – the brightness of the helicopter's subtle light drops to around 500 nits. This isn't an outstanding result, but it is still much more acceptable than last year's model. Samsung deserves applause for the dramatic improvement in brightness with the QN85F compared to its predecessor. However, there's a certain trend visible in this year's televisions – the manufacturer has worsened colour gamut coverage. Although the QN85F has a QLED panel, its result at around 90% DCI-P3 is average, and in the most demanding films, it may lead to less vibrant colours than its predecessor. Despite this drawback, the overall HDR effect is at an excellent level and truly makes a big impression in this class of devices.

All our tests are conducted in the best picture mode on each television. In this case, as usual, it’s the Filmmaker mode. The name of the mode suggests ideal colour reproduction; however, there were noticeable deviations from the correct image. Our unit, in terms of white balance, exhibited a significant drop in blue hues - both in SDR and 4K HDR materials - resulting in a noticeable yellowing of the image, evident in the comparison scenes from a movie with Tom Cruise. As we described earlier, QNED91T has a tendency to brighten the screen. This is confirmed by the gamma, which is quite significantly lower than the reference value of 2.4. Meanwhile, the EOTF curve, which is responsible for brightness in 4K content, showed some issues with the television’s ability to dim the image in the darkest areas, which we could observe in the paragraph describing the quality of the HDR effect. Although the Filmmaker mode is a pretty good "out of the box" mode, it still requires some adjustments.

Samsung QN85F offers several preset picture modes, but out of the box, the television starts in 'Eco' mode. We could almost end the discussion here, as using this setting on such a model makes little sense – the picture is washed out, unpleasant, and far from what we expect from a television of this class. Therefore, we conducted our tests in the best available mode, which is Filmmaker mode. Its purpose is to faithfully reproduce what the directors saw during filming, and indeed, it is the setting that performs best among all factory options. However, this doesn't mean it's free from flaws.

Both in SDR and HDR, the QN85F prominently highlighted warm colours. This was due to a lack of white balance, where the blue colour was noticeably absent. Additionally, the image was sometimes overexposed – both the gamma brightness characteristic and the EOTF curve indicated that the television has a tendency to blow out scenes. In SDR, colour reproduction errors (Delta E around 4–5) were still acceptable, but in HDR, the inaccuracies became quite significant and clearly deviated from what the creators intended to show us. Fortunately, Samsung provides a wide range of calibration tools in its televisions, so – as always – we proceeded with professional calibration to see how much could be improved.

LG offers advanced calibration tools in its televisions such as 65QNED91T6A, which we took advantage of. When it comes to white balance, we managed to significantly correct it in SDR content. The picture mode in 4K HDR quality posed greater challenges, which, while still not perfect, looks significantly better than before calibration. The errors on the Color Checker palette and the colour palette are much smaller than in the factory settings. In terms of brightness characteristics, gamma for HD content is practically perfect, with a small exception at the end of the graph. However, the biggest issues the television faced were with brightness in 4K HDR content. Analyzing the EOTF characteristics in films, we noticed that the television manipulates brightness quite a bit, which we could observe in previous tests. Brightness is significantly boosted compared to the graph in the static test, and the television brightens certain scenes to the extent that some smaller details lose definition. Unfortunately, this is caused by an average backlight zone management algorithm in this model. Nevertheless, the calibration yields quite good results, especially regarding accurate colour reproduction.

After calibrating the movie mode, we managed to tame the colours in both modes almost to perfection – most of them did not exceed an error value of 3, which is the threshold of perceivability by the human eye. The image became more natural, fuller, and at the same time free of the overexposure that was noticeable right after taking the television out of the box. This demonstrates the significant potential that lies within the QN85F and how well it responds to precise settings. However, this does not change the fact that certain technological barriers cannot be overcome. Despite the enormous benefits of calibration, there are still limitations to the panel itself. Although the number of dimming zones has doubled compared to its predecessor, the algorithms controlling the backlighting can manipulate brightness in their own way. Sometimes this leads to slight colour inaccuracies or subtly visible halo effects around bright objects. Nonetheless, the viewing experience after calibration is really enjoyable and shows how good a screen the QN85F can be if we just take a moment for the right settings.

When it comes to tonal transitions in lower quality materials, the television offers a well-known feature from LG TVs - "Smooth Gradation". We can control it at three levels: low, medium, and high. We recommend using the medium option, as it handles tonal transitions well without causing noticeable issues with removing the structure of objects or other artifacts.

On the other hand, when it comes to image scaling (upscaling), LG's Alpha processor performs quite well here. The image appears very smooth, with slight jaggedness in some elements, but this does not significantly affect quality. It looks really good, and the overall effect is very satisfying.

Although the native tonal transitions on the QN85F perform excellently with 4K content, we don't always have to deal with the highest resolution material. This is where how the TV handles upscaling and digital image processing becomes crucial. This process is managed by Samsung's proprietary processor – AI NQ4 Gen2. In practice, it works very effectively. If visible colour banding or other undesirable phenomena appear on the screen, for instance with content from YouTube, they can easily be smoothed out using the "noise reduction" feature. Set to medium, it improves tonal transitions while not overly blurring desired details. However, it should be noted that – like in most Samsung TVs – this feature heavily interferes with film grain. Therefore, during movie screenings, it’s wise to use it cautiously to avoid losing the natural character of the image.

The upscaling itself looks very good. Test materials in lower resolutions were displayed sharply and clearly, with a lot of details. The only drawback remains the issue with overscan, which cuts off the edges of the screen. In most situations, this isn't noticeable, but with very old materials below HD quality, there may be instances where a fragment of the image from the left side gets slightly cut off.

The television has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which should satisfy most users in terms of motion smoothness. Additionally, QNED91T is equipped with TruMotion technology, which allows for smoother image display in films. With this feature, we can adjust the "De-Judder" and "De-Blur" sliders. The "De-Judder" slider reduces stutter in films, which is particularly useful when playing content with a lower frame rate, while "De-Blur" helps to reduce motion blur in fast scenes, which is important for sports or dynamic shots.

Motion blur and fluidity of movement in the QN85F is a topic worth discussing further because the TV is equipped not with a standard 120 Hz panel but with a 144 Hz one. The extra hertz will mainly be appreciated by PC gamers, but the very fact of having such an option can be seen as a nice addition and a sign of the times – it's hard to complain about the trend of faster panels since in practice, each of us would like the picture to be as smooth as possible. However, the most important thing is how the TV performs with typical 120 Hz refresh rates – in the case of consoles, sports, or films recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. And here, the QN85F performs really well. In films, you can easily adjust the character of the picture thanks to the "image clarity" feature, where you'll find two control sliders. Key in the case of screenings is the one responsible for reducing motion judder. Lower values give the image a more cinematic character with preserved "frame-ness," while higher values lead to strong smoothing, reminiscent of television theatre.

The LG 65QNED91T6A television is equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports with a full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, providing full support for all the standards needed for gaming on modern consoles. We can count on variable refresh rate (VRR) support and automatic low latency mode (ALLM). This ensures smooth gameplay without delays.

Thanks to support for all popular HDR standards in gaming, such as HGiG and Dolby Vision, we can fully utilise the potential of the PS5 and XBOX One consoles. The television also easily handles lower resolutions than 4K, so even older consoles look good on it. The Game Bar makes it easier to access gaming-related settings, allowing us to quickly and intuitively adjust picture parameters and features for gamers. Additionally, the QNED91T offers NVIDIA GeForce Now functionality, allowing us to play in the cloud without needing a console. However, it's important to keep in mind that this solution is quite costly and somewhat falls behind the Xbox Game Pass, which is available only on Samsung televisions.

QNED91T LG is a great choice for both less experienced and more advanced gamers looking for a versatile television for gaming.

Samsung QN85F makes a really great impression in terms of features for gamers. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect several devices at the same time. There's also Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) to prevent screen tearing, as well as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which allows the TV to automatically switch to the appropriate settings when we start the console. Additionally, it supports refresh rates of up to 144 Hz – something that PC gamers will particularly appreciate, but the very fact that such an option is available shows that Samsung is committed to full support for gamers. The Game Bar panel also deserves praise. It provides a quick overview of the most important parameters – from frame count to refresh rate mode, and even shortcuts to picture settings. Instead of digging through the entire menu, everything is at our fingertips, which proves to be really convenient in practice. However, the most interesting addition is the Game Motion Plus feature. It is nothing more than motion smoothing, adapted for the gaming world. When it’s turned on, the image becomes smoother, sometimes looking as if we’re getting several more frames, and importantly – the response delay doesn’t increase enough to interfere with gameplay. This is a solution that truly sets Samsung's 120Hz TVs apart from the competition.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung TVs from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial gaming feature HGiG.

The only significant downside remains the lack of proper support for HGiG. This is a standard responsible for accurate tone mapping in HDR games, ensuring that brightness and contrast are displayed as intended by the creators. Without HGiG, we have to set brightness manually, which doesn’t always yield perfect results. This feature was available in previous models, but disappeared from the QN85F after one of the updates. We hope that Samsung will quickly fix this issue, and we will be monitoring to see if they succeed.