Samsung OLED S90F (QD-OLED) vs Samsung R95H Micro RGB

The biggest difference between the 65-inch S90F and the other versions is brightness. The QD-OLED panel can reach up to 1700 nits in laboratory tests, which is over 500 nits more than the version with a WOLED matrix. This translates to a significantly stronger and more immersive HDR effect. In most scenes, the bright parts of the image look stunning, and we must admit that we were positively surprised, as we expected results closer to the WOLED version, but what we got is an effect that impresses even in films. As with every OLED, there are moments when the panel must reduce brightness a bit. This mainly concerns full-screen, very demanding scenes – for instance, in the last test scene from the movie “The Meg,” brightness drops to around 800 nits. However, it's hard to consider this a flaw because it's still an excellent result, unprecedented in OLED TVs in this price range. Everything suggests that the 65-inch S90F could be one of the best choices this year for those looking for a strong OLED at a reasonable price. Another advantage of the QD-OLED matrix in HDR content is its colour gamut coverage. Thanks to quantum dots, the television achieves nearly 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut and almost 90% of the BT.2020 gamut. These are values that place it alongside much more expensive models and make it exceptional in its class.

In terms of brightness the Samsung R95H shows it’s still a top-tier TV, although the results aren’t always as spectacular as you might expect from a flagship Micro RGB model. In synthetic tests the TV can exceed 2400 nits, so it certainly has plenty of power. Crucially, it can maintain high brightness even when bright elements occupy a larger part of the screen. In real movie scenes the situation is a bit more complex. The R95H typically reaches around 1000 to 1400 nits, which still delivers a very good, punchy HDR effect. Bright sun, specular highlights and lights can look really impressive, and the TV has enough power for HDR to stand out clearly from ordinary SDR.

The problem mainly appears in very dark scenes with single, small light sources. Here the local dimming algorithm prioritises deep blacks and reducing halo over the maximum brightness of such elements. As a result, small lights can be noticeably dimmed. Overall, HDR performs well, but not without limitations. The R95H has huge brightness headroom, especially in larger, brighter parts of the image, but in difficult, dark scenes its capabilities are mainly limited by the way local dimming works.

Colours

Colours were meant to be the biggest revolution from the RGB backlight and indeed the R95H shows considerable potential here. The assessment isn’t as simple as synthetic measurements might suggest. On test patterns the TV performs brilliantly – BT.2020 coverage reaches nearly 94% and DCI-P3 98%, so particularly strongly saturated reds and greens can look really impressive. The picture changes a little when, instead of test patterns, we start measuring real movie scenes. Then BT.2020 coverage drops to about 87% and DCI-P3 to 93%. It seems that with more complex imagery the RGB zones are not always able to maintain the same high colour saturation as on simple patterns. They are still saturated, but the advantage of the new backlight isn’t as large as the manufacturer’s figures might suggest.

Samsung S90F, like most modern televisions, offers several picture modes, but in keeping with our tradition, we checked it in the most important one, which is Filmmaker. This setting makes the picture look much more natural than in the default, often oversaturated modes. It is neither overly vivid nor artificially dimmed – just closer to what you should actually see. However, this doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The S90F had noticeable shortcomings in white balance, particularly in the blue range, which created a slightly yellowish filter effect on most scenes. One might argue that it looks more “cinematic” because it’s warmer, but let’s not kid ourselves – George Lucas didn’t shoot Star Wars in sepia 😉 (you’ll find a comparison with a scene as always below). In HDR materials, there was also an issue with brightness management. The EOTF curve clearly showed that the television brightens the image more than it should, which led to some effects looking too intense and deviating from the reference. Fortunately, many of these flaws can be eliminated through professional calibration – we will discuss the effects of this procedure later in the test.

To assess factory colour reproduction we chose Filmmaker mode, the setting that should, in theory, be closest to how the creators prepared the image. Unfortunately the R95H does not fully exploit its panel’s capabilities. The biggest issue in SDR is the gamma. The image is noticeably brightened across almost the entire range, which robs it of some depth and makes it look flatter than it should. The white balance is not ideal either — as brightness increases there is a bias toward red and a lack of blue, making the image too warm. You can see this especially on bright elements and skin tones, which can look more reddish than they should. It’s similar in HDR. The EOTF curve sits above the reference value for a large part of the range, so the R95H again brightens the image compared with how it should appear. Combined with an inaccurate white balance, this means colours here are not as precise as we would expect from a TV of this class. The factory Filmmaker setting is therefore not the R95H’s strongest suit. At first glance the picture may look impressive because it is bright and strongly saturated, but in terms of fidelity to the source material there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Calibration quickly revealed that the S90F has a significant reserve of capabilities. The image in SDR immediately gained a natural quality – classic films no longer looked like someone was applying a yellowish filter, and the colours regained their proper character. It's a return to the atmosphere of the original, without the impression that someone tried to "age" it forcefully. In HDR content, the difference was even more pronounced. The EOTF curve was managed to nearly reference level, and any deviations are so subtle that most viewers wouldn't even notice them. In practice, the S90F shows an image very close to ideal post-calibration. Compared to the WOLED version, it even performs better – mainly due to a wider coverage of the colour palette, which makes the colours look fuller and more vibrant.

The R95H responds very well to calibration. In SDR we were able to set the white balance and gamma almost perfectly, and colour errors dropped to a very low level. The difference compared with the factory settings is therefore substantial, and after calibration the picture looks noticeably more natural. In HDR we can also make significant improvements, especially in terms of white balance and overall colour accuracy. The situation is a bit different when it comes to managing brightness and colour saturation. At a certain point we hit limits caused by the way the RGB backlight and local dimming operate. Individual zones have to control both the brightness and the colour of the light at the same time, so in more demanding scenes you can’t always achieve exactly the same saturation and brightness that the TV shows on simple test patterns. Calibration simply can’t entirely overcome that. Even so, after calibration the R95H delivers accurate image reproduction, and most of the errors we saw with the factory settings can be effectively eliminated.

S90F performs really well here, although there are some points that are common across most Samsung TVs. The noise reduction feature can effectively smooth out unwanted colour transitions in lower-quality materials like television or YouTube, making them look simply better. However, it should be noted that it works quite aggressively and can also soften elements that we wouldn’t want to alter, such as facial details. Therefore, if we want to use it, it’s best to use it in the "medium" setting and be aware of the compromise it brings. The upscaling itself is of a high standard – low-quality materials are pulled towards an image resembling 4K. The only caveat is that the S90F can still have issues with so-called overscan, meaning slight trimming of the edges in very low-quality materials such as 576p and lower.

The Samsung R95H uses the new Micro RGB AI Processor, but in practice we didn’t notice a big leap compared with the NQ4 AI Gen2 or Gen3 chips found in the manufacturer’s other TVs. Upscaling itself still performs very well. The image is properly smoothed while retaining plenty of sharpness and not looking overly soft. That’s definitely one of Samsung’s strong points. It’s a pity that with very low-resolution material you still can’t completely disable overscan.

The processor also handles banding well and can effectively smooth unwanted posterisation. The noise reduction feature works really effectively, but you need to use it with restraint. At higher settings it can start to interfere quite heavily with the picture and even remove natural film grain. So it’s best to use it only when the source is genuinely heavily compressed.

S90F is an OLED with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, but in practice, what matters most is how it performs at 120 Hz, as this frequency is the most important when watching sports. The QD-OLED panel is no different in this regard from WOLED panels – the pixel response is nearly instantaneous, so motion is rendered with surgical precision. The effect is easy to predict. The image is practically free of motion blur, making gaming on consoles, matches, or other sports broadcasts a tremendous pleasure on the S90F.

Fans of movies and series have not been forgotten either. Like every Samsung television with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and above, the S90F is equipped with a proprietary motion smoother called “Picture Clarity.” Here, we find two sliders – blur reduction and judder reduction – which allow you to improve the smoothness of content recorded at 24 frames and tailor the effect to your own preferences.

Samsung R95H has a 165Hz panel, so its motion handling is genuinely excellent. At 120Hz, for example when gaming on a console or watching sport, motion blur is minimal, and when you connect a PC you can use the full 165Hz and further improve motion clarity. Bear in mind it's still a VA panel, so it doesn't respond as instantly as OLED. Sometimes you might notice slight ghosting behind a moving object, but from a normal viewing distance it shouldn't be bothersome. For movies and TV shows you can also use the adjustable motion smoothing. You can keep the more cinematic 24 fps look or gradually smooth motion if you prefer a more fluid image. Samsung gives plenty of freedom here, so it's easy to find a setting that suits your preferences.

The S90F is a television that genuinely brings a lot of joy when gaming. To start with, we get four proper HDMI 2.1 ports, which means you can connect all consoles and PCs without having to figure out which device takes priority. This is a convenient and practical solution, which is not at all a given with other manufacturers. Additionally, there are key features such as: automatic game mode (ALLM), which automatically switches the screen to low latency settings, and VRR frame synchronization that operates over a wide range from 48 to 144 Hz. This ensures the picture remains smooth, whether we're playing fast-paced online shooters or more relaxed narrative titles. The Game Bar also deserves attention – a panel that allows quick access to several handy extras. For example, you can turn on an extra crosshair in the middle of the screen, enlarge the minimap, or, in the case of PC, change the aspect ratio. Finally, there's also Samsung's unique Game Motion Plus mode. Its task is to smooth out older or poorly optimized titles, and it actually works quite well. With this mode, even less polished games can look better and provide more enjoyment than on other televisions that theoretically offer the same technical parameters.

In terms of gaming the Samsung R95H is almost a complete TV. When you connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM, and the TV also works correctly with HGiG. The only major omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung, like on its other sets, simply doesn't support. There's also the Game Bar, already known from other Samsung models, which lets you quickly check the frame rate, VRR status or HDR format and change key settings without leaving the game. You can also brighten darker parts of the picture or change the screen aspect ratio.

Samsung also offers Game Motion Plus, a motion-smoothing feature designed specifically for gaming. It makes most sense in titles running at 30 fps, where it can noticeably improve smoothness and make camera movement feel much nicer. You should just remember this comes at the cost of higher input lag (about 60 ms), so it's not the best choice for online or fast-paced games. It's also worth mentioning the Gaming Hub, which lets you run some games directly from the cloud without connecting a console. In terms of gaming features it's hard to find any major omissions on the R95H.