Samsung OLED S90D / S94D (WRGB OLED) vs Sony BRAVIA 2 II (S25M2)

In the tested film scenes, the Samsung S90D television achieves impressive brightness results, exceeding the 1000 nit barrier in the first four shots, which can be considered a remarkable outcome. In the case of the last shot, where a full-screen flash of sunlight is visible, the brightness drops to around 500 nit, but it still remains at a very good level. Additionally, the television impresses with a DCI-P3 colour space coverage value of 98%, which guarantees extraordinarily rich and realistic colour reproduction, further enhancing the image quality. This result makes the Samsung S90D an ideal choice for those expecting high-quality images in a variety of lighting conditions.

Sony Bravia 2 II isn't a particularly bright TV and unfortunately that's immediately obvious in HDR. In our measurements brightness stayed around 300 to 330 nits, which is far too low for the brightest parts of the image to look truly impactful. In practice HDR here doesn't differ that much from regular SDR. Bright highlights, the sun or lamps are of course visible, but they lack the intensity you'd expect from HDR content. The Bravia 2 II is therefore much better suited to standard SDR material, where its limited brightness will be least noticeable.

Colour gamut coverage

The Sony Bravia 2 II also doesn't impress when it comes to colour. The TV doesn't use any extra gamut-expanding filter, such as the quantum dots found in QLED sets or a PFS phosphor layer. In our measurements it covered about 78% of the DCI-P3 gamut and roughly 57% of the very wide BT.2020. That's definitely too little to deliver truly saturated colours in HDR material. More intense reds, greens or turquoises will simply be less striking than on TVs with an expanded colour gamut. The Bravia 2 II is much better matched to the standard Rec.709 gamut used for films, series and SDR broadcast.

The S90D television has been tested in Filmmaker mode, which offers good colour reproduction, although with some imperfections that may be noticeable to more discerning users. This mode may seem too warm, and users who have switched from Standard mode might experience a slight shock. It’s worth noting that this state of affairs is caused by poor settings, such as in the white balance, rather than the Filmmaker mode itself. In both SDR and HDR content, the device shows drops in blue, causing colours to appear warmer than they should. In practice, this means that certain shades, such as sky blue or skin tones, may appear less natural and more tinged with pink or yellow. The Colour Checker test confirms these deviations, showing shifts towards warmer tones. In SDR content, the gamma chart indicates slight fluctuations, which may result in the image being minimally darker, especially in the shadows. This can affect the clarity of details in darker scenes. Meanwhile, in 4K HDR materials, the EOTF curve is located above the recommended line, leading to some parts of the image being displayed too brightly, which can cause clipping in the brightest areas. Overall, Samsung S90D delivers a solid picture straight out of the box, but for the best results, especially with more demanding content, additional calibration is recommended.

The out-of-the-box colour reproduction in Kino mode was really quite good, at least for ordinary SDR material. The Bravia 2 II had a slight tendency to boost reds, which made some colours lean a bit warmer, at times with a faint pinkish tint. That wasn't a major fault and during normal viewing the picture still looked fairly natural. There was a bit more going on with image brightness. Looking at the gamma curve, Sony doesn't stick perfectly to the reference value. The darkest areas are slightly lifted, while as brightness increases the gamma gradually rises and a large part of the image becomes darker than it should. However, the difference isn't big enough to seriously bother during everyday watching. Overall, SDR straight out of the box performs quite decently.

The situation is much worse in HDR. We've already mentioned the limited colour gamut, but on top of that the Bravia 2 II quite aggressively manipulates image brightness. The EOTF curve sits below the reference for much of the range, which means the TV renders most mid and brighter parts of the scene darker than the source material intends. Only towards the very end of the range does the curve flatten out, as the panel reaches the limits of its capabilities. Combined with a peak brightness of around 300 nits, this gives HDR that not only lacks much punch but can simply look too dark.

After calibration, the Samsung S90D TV in movie mode looks even better than one might expect. The white balance for both HD and 4K HDR content has been improved almost to perfection. Although minor errors can still be noticed, they are so minimal that they do not significantly affect the picture quality. Colours are more balanced, leading to a natural reproduction of details, especially in scenes that require a precise colour palette. It is worth noting that this model in this size is equipped with a WOLED panel, which has less coverage of a wide colour gamut and does not offer as rich colours as, for example, the 65-inch version, which is equipped with a QD-OLED panel.

The contrast has also seen a significant improvement. The gamma graph after calibration is much closer to the expected line, providing a better balance between bright and dark areas of the image. The EOTF curve, which showed problems with overexposed scenes before calibration, now demonstrates better results. This effect allows for greater detail to be preserved in the bright parts of the image, especially in HDR materials.

Calibration did a lot for the Bravia 2 II, especially with SDR content. Above all, we managed to even out the white balance and tidy up the gamma, which now stays much closer to the reference value. As a result, the image no longer has the earlier pink cast, and the brightness across different areas is much better organised. You can also see it in the colour errors, which after calibration dropped to a very low level (with only minor issues in the most saturated reds).

We also partly managed to rein in the Bravia 2 II in HDR, especially in the way the TV handles image brightness. However, there is one thing no calibration can fix: the panel's capabilities. A narrow colour gamut means the TV physically can't reproduce the most saturated colours recorded in HDR content. On top of that, the low contrast of the IPS panel causes darker scenes to be covered in a grey haze, which robs colours of some of their depth. So we can improve how the Bravia 2 II uses its capabilities, but we can't overcome the panel's inherent limitations.

Television S90D handles tonal transitions very well. Thanks to the technology used, transitions between colours are smoother and more natural. You can also use the noise reduction feature, which further smooths out tonal transitions, which can be useful in certain situations. However, it's worth remembering that turning on noise reduction can also lead to the smoothing out of desirable film grain, thereby reducing the cinematic feel of the image. For this reason, caution is advised when using this feature, as it’s better to leave the natural grain that adds character and authenticity to the content being viewed.

Samsung, as always, does not disappoint and excels in scaling images from lower resolutions. The S90D Samsung TV effectively processes lower resolutions, as seen in the visible image. The outline of the model is clear and accurate and, as a result, looks natural and detailed. Moreover, the branches of the trees are well-represented, showing no significant jaggedness that could degrade image quality. With effective scaling, even materials in lower resolution present attractively on the screen, satisfying users who prefer various sources of content such as regular antenna/cable television.

Upscaling on the Bravia 2 II performs quite well and the TV maintains the standard we've come to expect from Sony. Lower-resolution material is sensibly upscaled to 4K, and the image is slightly smoothed without excessive edge sharpening. It's less successful at dealing with content that shows visible compression artefacts. That's down to the "Digital Noise Reduction" function, which on the "High" setting can smooth some ugly banding. The problem is it does so quite aggressively and, along with the imperfections, removes a lot of fine detail, including natural film grain. What's more, when there's more motion on screen its effectiveness drops considerably and the improvement is minimal. For that reason we generally didn't use this feature for everyday viewing.

Samsung S90D TV is equipped with a 120 Hz panel, with the ability to overclock to 144 Hz with the right PC configuration, providing exceptional motion smoothness. For years, Samsung has offered a variety of ten-point settings for image clarity, allowing users to adjust the display to their preferences. In the UFO test, thanks to the use of an OLED panel, there is no sign of any motion blur. The pixel response is instantaneous and perfectly captures dynamic movements. In this aspect, OLED technology is considered one of the best on the market. The image is incredibly sharp and detailed, even during fast action, making the S90D an ideal choice for gamers and sports enthusiasts.

Bravia 2 II uses a 60 Hz panel and, for what it is, handles motion quite well. However, bear in mind it’s an entry-level panel and its limitations are especially noticeable with sports. The TV can’t interpolate 50/60 fps material to a higher refresh rate, so it can’t further improve the sharpness of fast-moving objects. For films and series there’s a conventional motion-smoothing feature that can reduce the judder typical of 24 fps material.

The Samsung S90D television is perfectly adapted to the needs of gamers, offering four HDMI 2.1 ports that support key features such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and HDR Gaming Interest Group (HGIG). With these technologies, gamers can enjoy smoother and more responsive gameplay, significantly enhancing comfort and performance during intense gaming sessions. An additional advantage of the television is the special Game Bar, which allows for easy management of game settings. This functionality enables quick adjustments of parameters, such as changing the aspect ratio of the television screen, which can be useful in various games and types of gameplay. Users can easily customise their preferences, making the use of the television while gaming even more convenient and enjoyable. As for PC users, the television pleasantly surprises. When connecting a computer, the panel is able to achieve a refresh rate of 144Hz, and users of Nvidia or AMD graphics cards can enjoy features such as G-Sync and FreeSync. However, it should be noted that the television does not support Dolby Vision, which may be a downside – although it is worth considering that Dolby Vision is not as popular in the context of games as it is in films. Nevertheless, the S90D television still offers excellent features for gamers, making it a great choice for gaming enthusiasts looking for outstanding picture quality and modern technological solutions.

The Bravia 2 II isn’t a TV that’s particularly suited to gaming, and the feature list makes that clear pretty quickly. You basically only get automatic low-latency ALLM and a simple Game Bar where you can view basic signal info and change a few settings. That’s where the positives end. The TV doesn’t support VRR or 120 Hz (not even at lower resolutions) and on top of that it has problems correctly implementing HDR HGIG. It’s fine for occasional console play and, thanks to low input lag, the controls remain responsive, but if you’re after a TV primarily for gaming the Bravia 2 II is a significantly limited choice.