Samsung OLED S95D vs SAMSUNG QN80F

Samsung S95D offers excellent HDR performance, delivering consistent effects across all scenes exceeding 1500 nits, except for the fifth, where brightness drops to 800 nits. Despite this, the TV maintains a high level of picture quality. A significant advantage of QD-OLED technology is the ability to maintain high brightness even in the smallest elements on a black background, which is rare in LCD and mini LED TVs. As a result, every scene impresses with strong lighting effects, regardless of the size of the illuminated surface. Only in the brightest scenes with a large light area does brightness drop slightly, which is typical even for standard LG OLEDs. Additionally, the quantum dot coating has allowed for an unprecedented high coverage of the BT.2020 colour palette at 88%.

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it reached nearly 1000 nits, which allows for reasonable expectations of HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the TV can truly shine. Sequences with a lot of light – like shots from the movie Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look impressive. Brightness stays around 700 nits, which provides a solid effect, enough to feel the true "HDR magic." Unfortunately, not every scene looks this good. In content with small, bright details on a dark background, like in Sicario 2, the TV can struggle – it can significantly dim individual elements, sometimes to the point where they disappear from the image. This is a result of the limited number of dimming zones, forcing the device into compromises: either stick to inky blacks or sacrifice some detail. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, it offers quite decent coverage of a wide color palette – DCI-P3 at 93%. It's not the highest score on the market, but it's more than enough for most content on streaming platforms.

On the Samsung S95D, the best colour reproduction mode is the Filmmaker mode. We conduct all our tests in this mode. Although initially, the image in this mode may seem a bit warmer to the viewer, it provides significantly more detail compared to the standard or dynamic modes, which are always oversaturated and artificial. Therefore, Filmmaker is the most closely aligned with the vision of filmmakers and ideal for watching high-quality content. It is worth noting, however, that the factory settings are not perfect, despite dealing with premium segment equipment. The image may contain certain issues that affect the overall quality of the displayed scenes. An example is the drops in red colour in the white balance, both in HD and HDR content. Colour Checker tests showed that the colours lean towards cooler tones. The image is dominated by blue hues, and the overall colour spectrum is distorted. As can be seen in the picture below, the boy from the film appears in cooler tones, making him look less natural. When it comes to brightness characteristics for HD content, it is quite accurate, although there are minor errors. The biggest issue arises when displaying 4K HDR content. The EOTF curve, which seems appropriate at first glance in test patterns, in actual film scenes shows that the TV sometimes "messes around" with the image. This results in some scenes appearing slightly brighter and others darker.

Samsung S95D offers quite decent factory colour reproduction; however, it has some shortcomings that may require calibration to fully utilise the potential of this television. The process is recommended to achieve the most natural and immersive image possible.

We always test TVs in the best available factory mode – for the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it provides the settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this doesn’t mean everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest issue was an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to noticeable colour errors, and one could say the screen had a pinkish hue. This was clearly visible in the colour checker test, where colours “escaped” outside their target fields – to such an extent that a sensitive viewer's eye could catch it even without the help of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another issue arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve caused an overly bright image most of the time, which affected the perception of contrast and made the screen slightly “flicker” during dynamic changes in light. We’ve already discussed this in the paragraphs about black levels and HDR. Fortunately, Samsung offers users plenty of options. The QN80F features a rich set of calibration options, including a 20-point white balance – which is why we decided to check what this TV is really capable of after a proper calibration.

How much can the picture quality of a TV change after calibration? After calibration on the Samsung S95D, the white balance has significantly improved, eliminating all major errors, allowing for a more natural and harmonious colour representation. In the case of 4K content, there are only minor imperfections which do not affect the overall picture quality. Thanks to the calibration, viewers can now enjoy more balanced tones, which better reflect the intentions of filmmakers. The contrast has also improved, and the gamma shows even better results. This means that the differences between bright and dark parts of the image have become more pronounced, resulting in better depth and detail of scenes. As a result, shadows have gained more detail, and bright areas are no longer so overwhelming, providing a more realistic visual experience. However, it should be noted that the EOTF curve is slightly below the expected level, which may affect how the TV handles dynamic scenes. Nevertheless, after calibration, the overall picture quality has significantly improved, and viewers can now enjoy a visual experience that is more in line with the creators' intentions. The TV handles subtle tonal transitions and contrast better, making it more suitable for watching movies and high-definition programs. Ultimately, the picture after calibration is closely aligned with reference quality, making the visual experience even more satisfying.

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR presents itself almost perfectly – the image is natural, neutral, and free from the previously noticeable redness. Colours have gained depth, and the overall visual experience has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially manage brightness, which in the factory version could cause issues. The EOTF chart shows that the television performs much better with brightness after calibration – there is no longer excessive dimming of certain elements. In films, it can still be noticed that the QN80F has a tendency to slightly brighten the smallest bright details – this is already a consequence of the device's construction and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what was possible has been improved. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression, looking simply more mature and professional.

How does the television handle tonal transitions in lower quality materials? Generally speaking, the S95D performs exceptionally well. On the screen with the light bulb, there are virtually no transitions between shades of grey, making it one of the best televisions we have tested in this regard.

When it comes to digital processing, the entirety of the image — from branches to the models' characters — has been well rendered, with no jagged edges or overly visible contours. However, we must point out one issue: the image has been slightly cropped. Nevertheless, the television performs brilliantly, and details in lower quality materials are still noticeable and well-defined.

If you notice strange colour transitions or unwanted artefacts while watching lower quality materials – for example from YouTube – it's worth checking the settings and enabling the noise reduction feature. In our opinion, the best setting is at the 'medium' level – it effectively smooths out problematic colour transitions without overly blurring the entire image. However, it's important to know one thing: this option tends to remove film grain. If someone values preserving that effect (e.g., in older films), it's better to simply turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

Regarding resolution scaling (also known as upscaling), Samsung – as usual – performs very well in this area. The QN80F doesn't quite match the top models costing tens of thousands, but for its price class, it performs impressively. Materials of very poor quality (e.g., from SD television or older video files) are noticeably improved and look surprisingly decent. The only noticeable downside is the typical Samsung issue with overscan – which is a slight cropping of the image edges at very low resolutions, such as 576p.

The Samsung S95D TV, equipped with a 120 Hz refresh rate panel (and even up to 144 Hz in the appropriate PC configuration), provides excellent motion fluidity. Samsung offers a variety of image sharpness settings on a ten-point scale, allowing users to adjust the display according to their own preferences – whether the picture should be more cinematic/frame-like or more theatrical/smooth. In tests with UFO, the OLED panel shows its advantages, eliminating any blurring. The lightning-fast pixel response ensures that dynamic movements are rendered with unparalleled precision.

QN80F is truly a “fast” TV. The panel used offers a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, which in practice means that the screen keeps up with the action – whether we’re watching a movie, playing games, or browsing dynamic content online. The image doesn’t stutter, isn’t overly blurred, and everything simply looks smooth and pleasing to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn’t forgotten about cinema fans – in the settings, we find an option to adjust motion smoothness, allowing us to tailor the effect to our own preferences. You can leave a more “frame-y” look (for those who enjoy the classic film vibe) or crank up the smoothness to a higher level to achieve a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching movies and playing on the QN80F is just plain fun.

The Samsung S95D 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). The HDMI 2.1 ports do not offer the full 48Gb bandwidth, but they are still sufficient for achieving the appropriate resolution and smoothness. With these technologies, gamers can enjoy smoother and more responsive gameplay, which significantly impacts comfort and performance during intense gaming sessions. One of the biggest advantages is the Xbox app, which allows for cloud gaming without the need for a console. With it, gamers can access a wide range of titles directly on the television, enjoying high image quality and smooth gameplay. Additionally, the S95D offers a Game Bar feature that enables easy management of game settings, including quick adjustments to parameters such as changing the aspect ratio, which can be extremely useful in various games and game modes. It is also worth mentioning the support for G-Sync and FreeSync, which is a huge plus for users of Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. Despite the lack of support for Dolby Vision, the television still offers excellent features that make it an ideal choice for console gaming enthusiasts. Overall, the S95D combines modern technologies with superb image quality, creating a complete package for every gamer.

Samsung QN80F is a television that delivers on almost every front when it comes to gaming. It features a 144 Hz panel, four fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, support for gamers with variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic game mode (ALLM), and even one of the best-designed gamebars on the market. The icing on the cake is the motion smoother which – uniquely in the world – works in games without significantly increasing input lag. Sounds like an almost perfect gaming TV? And indeed, it is almost that.

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

As usual, Samsung doesn’t support Dolby Vision in games, but that’s no longer surprising. However, what is much more surprising is that... the HGIG feature has disappeared – meaning the system that allows the console (e.g., PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X) to accurately match HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the television. In the latest firmware update for the 2025 models, this option simply vanished. It looks more like a bug than a deliberate move, but it must be honestly noted that at the time of writing the review, the HGIG feature is simply absent.

And it’s precisely because of this one absence that the QN80F goes from being an almost perfect gaming television to a “nearly” perfect device. What a shame – because everything else indicated that Samsung could once again set the bar very high in this generation.