Samsung Neo QLED QN90D / QN92D vs Samsung Neo QLED QN70F / QN74F / QN77F

During synthetic tests, Samsung QN92D showed its incredible capabilities in terms of brightness. The charts clearly indicate that the television can achieve an impressive 2000 nits, giving it a solid power base to compete with the best models on the market. Such a result places it at the forefront, especially in the context of displaying HDR content, where brightness plays a key role. However, what happens when we move the tests to real film scenes? In favourable conditions, such as the first scene from the movie Life of Pi or the last scene, where the image is completely flooded with light, Samsung QN92D can achieve almost laboratory results, impressing with its brightness. The situation looks different when small, bright objects appear on a dark background, as in the fourth scene from the movie Sicario. In such cases, the television doesn't perform as well – brightness drops several times, and maximum values in the best conditions are around 600 NITS. Similar to contrast, these limitations arise from the use of an aggressive local dimming algorithm. This algorithm aims to reduce the 'halo' effect around bright objects on a dark background, but often at the expense of overall brightness. As a result, while the television performs well in bright scenes, its ability to display full brightness is limited when it comes to small, vivid elements.

QN70F is a television that can positively surprise when it comes to brightness. In ideal testing conditions, it reaches even 800 nits, which – for this price range – is a really solid value. Of course, that’s a result from test patterns, so we decided to check how it performs in practice, on real films. Here, the television somewhat tempers its capabilities. In most of the tested scenes – e.g. in "The Meg" – the actual HDR brightness remained around 500 nits. That’s still a decent result, allowing you to enjoy HDR effects, although it’s far from perfection. On the other hand, we have a QLED screen with a quantum dot layer, which means very good colour reproduction capabilities. Colours are vivid and saturated. QN70F covers about 94% of the DCI-P3 colour space, and in the wider BT.2020 palette, it exceeds 75%, so in this respect, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.

The best mode that reproduces colours best on the Samsung QN92D has consistently been the Filmmaker mode for years. While it generally offers decent colour quality, it is not free from significant issues. Let's start with the analysis of HD/SDR image quality. The biggest challenge here is the white balance – the graphs show considerable instability, with a clear dominance of red making the image too warm. This distortion causes hues to be unnaturally shifted towards warmer tones, which can negatively affect the perception of materials with natural colours. Contrast, based on the gamma chart, although not the worst, remains far from ideal, impacting the overall image quality, especially in darker scenes.

This issue also persists with 4K materials, such as series or films of higher quality. In this case, the white balance also turns out to be faulty, with noticeable deficiencies in blue and red colour, leading to tonal shifts. Tests using the Colour Checker tool confirm these problems – all colours tend to skew towards yellow shades, further distorting the natural appearance of the image. Although the Filmmaker mode is one of the best available modes for watching cinematic content, it still requires improvements, especially in terms of colour accuracy and white balance.

We tested the QN70F in the best default picture mode, which is Filmmaker Mode. And it must be admitted that in this particular test unit, the factory settings performed quite well. The picture was calm, natural, and despite slight deviations – pleasant to watch. The biggest error was a slight dominance of red in the white balance, which caused a slight pinkish tint over the entire scene. However, it wasn't a glaring flaw – rather subtle and only noticeable when directly compared to a properly calibrated screen. A slightly bigger issue arose in the brightness characteristics. The TV tends to lower the brightness of parts of the image that should be displayed brighter. As a result, some details can appear slightly dimmed – they don't completely disappear, but they don't stand out as clearly as they should. Nonetheless, as for a TV in this range and in these settings – we consider the result a good starting point for further calibration.

After calibration, the Filmmaker mode on the Samsung QN92D television shows significant improvement, particularly in the SDR content range. The white balance has been greatly enhanced – the previous colour misalignment and dominance of red have been eliminated, resulting in a more natural colour reproduction. In terms of brightness, although the gamma chart did not require significant adjustments, it has been stabilised, which affects the overall picture quality.

Regarding high-quality materials, the white balance has also improved in this case. However, it is worth noting the contrast. The EOTF curve, which illustrates the values in this area, appears correct at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, the television struggles to maintain appropriate contrast in film materials. The EOTF curve reveals some discrepancies, suggesting that despite the progress, there are still areas that require improvement in this aspect. The television continues to strive for excellence in contrast reproduction. A strength of this television is the saturation of colours. Skin tones are rendered very well, and although some colours may be slightly oversaturated, the overall effect looks really attractive – the colours appear rich and vibrant.

Despite some shortcomings in contrast, after calibration, the Filmmaker mode on the Samsung QN92D offers excellent image quality, with natural colour reproduction, making it a great choice for watching movies.

After calibration, the QN70F shows that it can offer a really high level of colour reproduction. It has managed to nearly perfectly balance the white point, and the values in the Color Checker test dropped below level 3 – that is, below the threshold at which the average eye can notice differences. The image looks natural, and the colours are faithfully reproduced, without excessive saturation or the coolness known from factory settings. It must be acknowledged that Samsung provides very extensive calibration options – not only for enthusiasts but also for professionals. The QN70F takes advantage of this potential and, after appropriate settings, can come close to significantly more expensive models in terms of colour accuracy. The only thing that could still be picked on is the brightness characteristic. There is still a tendency to brighten the smallest sections of the image – particularly those that should remain darker. However, this is a design feature of this model, not a calibration error. Despite this, the final result definitely deserves recognition.

Let's check how the Samsung QN92D TV performs with tonal transitions in very poor quality materials. The noise reduction feature shows good effectiveness, improving the fluidity of tonal transitions even in difficult conditions. However, it should be noted that, similar to other Samsung TVs, the effectiveness of this feature can lead to the removal of desirable elements, such as film grain, which can sometimes affect the authenticity of the image.

When it comes to digital processing, the Samsung QN92D TV also performs excellently. During tests, the image looked very good, with the model presented in a natural and correct way. Details, such as branches in the background, were reproduced with great precision, highlighting the TV's ability to enhance the quality of low-resolution materials.

Samsung QN70F offers a distortion reduction feature that improves the smoothness of tonal transitions. In "Standard" mode, it works quite well – smoothing out problematic transitions without significantly interfering with the structure of the image. Film grain is partially removed, but details like texture and skin structure remain visible. "High" mode operates much more aggressively. The smoothing is stronger, but at the cost of a noticeable loss of detail. Therefore, in practice, we recommend sticking with the "Standard" setting or turning off this feature altogether. The improvement in gradation may be less spectacular, but the image retains more naturalness.

When it comes to upscaling low-quality content, the QN70F performs very well. Tests with lower resolution images went really well. Despite some slight aliasing of contours, everything looks clean and clear, even if the original content was very poor quality. It's just a pity that the television has an overscan issue that cannot be completely turned off. As a result, images with very low resolution may be slightly cropped, which is mainly noticeable on subtitles or the interface.

The Samsung QN92D television is equipped with a 144 Hz panel; however, when watching content using the smoothness feature, the maximum refresh rate is 120 Hz. As a result, both gamers and sports enthusiasts will be satisfied with the picture quality. It’s also worth mentioning the available options for image enhancement, such as the "motion blur and judder reduction" feature, which allows users to adjust smoothness to their individual preferences on a 10-point scale. Motion blur reduction increases the sharpness of fast-moving objects, while judder reduction smooths out motion, eliminating the "stutter" effect. With these advanced settings, one can achieve optimal visual experiences, making the Samsung QN92D perfect for both dynamic scenes and intense gaming.

In terms of motion blur, the television performs really well, and it’s hard to pick faults. The only note we might have is a slight overshoot effect noticeable on dark backgrounds during our test with "Ufoludkiem." Nevertheless, thanks to the advanced smoothness settings, the Samsung QN92D excels in both dynamic scenes and intense gaming.

The QN70F is a television with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which in itself places it among the best when it comes to image smoothness. Whether we're watching fast-paced sports broadcasts or gaming on a console – the picture looks fantastic. There's no sense of stuttering, clipping, or the typical "judder" seen in lower-end models during fast motion. Samsung also allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences. In the picture clarity settings, we find options such as motion blur reduction and judder reduction – each of which can be adjusted independently. This is especially useful when we are watching content with a lower frame rate and want to give it a smoother, more cinematic feel – or conversely, maintain the natural filmic "feel" of 24 frames.

The television Samsung QN92/QN90 is an excellent choice for avid gamers, deserving of the highest recommendations. This model offers practically all the features available on the market in terms of gaming, making gameplay even more exciting. One of the key differentiators is the 120 Hz panel, which ensures exceptional motion smoothness, crucial during dynamic action games. The television also boasts low input lag, guaranteeing instant reactions to player commands. Additionally, technologies such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) adjust the refresh rate and automatically switch the television to game mode, translating to even better gaming experiences. Another advantage is the Xbox app, which allows gaming of favourite titles directly on the television, eliminating the need for a console. This is a typical feature of Samsung televisions, making them exceptional in the gaming world.

Auto Motion Plus Game is a feature that really deserves praise for Samsung. It is a motion smoother that works wonderfully in games, creating the impression of a higher frame rate – a 30 frames per second image looks like 45, and 60 Hz becomes close to 90 Hz. Importantly, this feature does not introduce significant lag (input lag does not exceed 25 ms), so it does not negatively affect gameplay comfort, unlike many other smoothers available on the market. This allows gamers to enjoy a much smoother image without compromising responsiveness.

Samsung QN70F is a really solid choice for gamers. It features four HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps, which means full support for gaming in 4K at 144 Hz refresh rate. Plus, it has all the basic features we expect today: automatic game mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), and a very well-designed, intuitive Game Bar that displays information about the mode, resolution, and frame rate.

The Game Motion Plus feature is also worth noting, as it allows for the addition of artificial frames to games running at 60 fps or less. It works surprisingly well and improves gameplay smoothness in many titles—especially in those where consoles struggle to maintain a stable frame rate—without significant latency.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks. The lack of support for Dolby Vision mode is not surprising—it’s a standard for Samsung. However, the absence of the HGiG feature is far more disappointing. Worse still, it was removed in a software update, which might catch users who previously relied on it off guard. Without HGiG, one cannot manually set the maximum HDR brightness from the console, resulting in some games looking slightly overexposed—especially if the TV misinterprets the tonal range. Why Samsung, a brand that has set the standards for gaming features for years, decided to take such a step is hard to say. At the time of writing this review, the tested TV was running on software version 1110—and frankly, if you care about full support for gamers, it’s better to hold off on updates for now.