Samsung QN990F vs Philips OLED820

Samsung QN990F is one of the bright televisions, and this is immediately apparent in tests. In measurements, it achieved around 1300 nits, which in practice allows you to enjoy films as their creators intended. Bright scenes have the right strength, lights shine, and the impression is truly cinematic. In standard test patterns, sequences number 1, 3, and 5 performed the best – there, brightness remained around 800-1000 nits, and the image looked very natural. In more difficult segments, it could dip to around 600 nits, but the level was still sufficient for details to be clearly visible. However, it should be added that with such highly contrasted shots, the halo effect returns – the same one we mentioned regarding blacks. Bright elements can leave a glow on dark backgrounds, and this is immediately noticeable. As we are dealing with a QLED, the colour palette is expanded, and the colours present themselves impressively. The problem is that with such a flagship model, we expected better numbers. 91% coverage of DCI-P3 and about 67% BT.2020 are results that can be considered solid but not outstanding. This gives an image that is vibrant and appealing; however, the competition in this and lower price ranges can show even more.

When it comes to HDR quality, the Philips OLED820 uses the same class of WOLED panel found in its biggest rivals – the LG C5 and the Samsung S90F. This means we can expect really solid results. This year, mid-range OLED panels can exceed the threshold of a thousand nits, and the tested model reaches around 1300 nits in some films. This is an outstanding result, allowing the director's vision to be conveyed with incredible precision, as this is the brightness range in which modern productions are mastered. Of course, there are situations where even the OLED820 has to compromise. Full-screen scenes flooded with white, like those in the film The Meg, can drop brightness to 400–500 nits, which clearly diminishes the effect. This is a characteristic of OLED technology that has not yet been fully eliminated. Despite this limitation, it's hard not to appreciate the HDR in this model – high luminance and a wide coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette at 99% make the image look simply fantastic.

We tested the QN990F in Filmmaker mode, which is the best out-of-the-box setting available. Right from the start, we noticed a few significant issues. The biggest problem was with white balance. Due to too little blue, as well as incorrect ratios between red and blue, the image—especially in scenes with a lot of white—appeared too yellow, and at times even orange. On the Color Checker palette, these errors didn't look dramatic as they hovered around a value of 4, but in everyday viewing, especially with strong whites, they were most noticeable. We also noticed problems with brightness management—the TV struggled to maintain details in the smallest parts of the image, mainly due to how it manages backlight zones. Fortunately, Samsung provides plenty of room for adjustment when it comes to setting corrections. We know that with proper calibration, much more can be extracted from this screen.

The colour reproduction in the factory settings really surprised us, and in a positive way. The Philips OLED820, switched to Filmmaker mode, immediately showed that it was quite well tuned in terms of colour. The white balance was relatively accurate, although there was a slight deficiency in the blue hue, which sometimes gave the image a slightly yellowish tint. However, this is not a drawback that particularly interferes with everyday viewing. A bigger problem arose with the brightness characteristics. The gamma chart clearly deviated from the ideal, as the line was below the expected values, causing the image to be excessively brightened, and the colours looked as if they were covered with a light milky filter. This effect was also noticeable in tests using the Colour Checker pattern, where more pronounced errors appeared.

After carrying out the calibration, we managed to bring the white balance into order and eliminate the earlier shortcomings in shades of blue. As a result, the picture no longer looked like it had a slight yellowish filter – the whites are cleaner, and the whole thing presents itself much more naturally. We also managed to tame the brightness characteristic in HDR content to some extent. The television now handles maintaining detail in blacks much better and does not lose them as much as before. However, when we look at the EOTF curve and how the QN990F reproduces brightness in films, it is evident that it still tends to accentuate details in dark areas more strongly. This is a characteristic feature of Mini-LED technology and, more specifically, how it is managed by the QN990F, which is practically impossible to eliminate completely. Despite this, after calibration, the picture looks significantly more natural, mainly due to the correct exposure of white light. The final effect is definitely more pleasant to the eye and closer to what we expect from a flagship television.

After calibration, both the Filmmaker mode and the gaming mode improved quite a bit. A slight adjustment of the white balance and enhancement of the brightness characteristics yielded excellent results with SDR content – the image looked nearly perfect, natural, and very close to the reference. For HDR material, the situation was similar; the colours looked fantastic, and it was hard to find fault with anything. However, we did notice a certain characteristic, which we had already pointed out when comparing scenes from the film Billy Lynn. The analysis of the EOTF curve showed that the TV has a slight tendency to dim details in the blacks, meaning that the darkest parts are not always displayed exactly as the director intended. Nevertheless, the effect after calibration is superb, and the OLED820 is emerging as one of the more interesting screens in its class. A little bit of fine-tuning is all that’s needed, and there’s really nothing to worry about.

The QN990F deserves the highest praise for its upscaling capabilities. The processor responsible for 'lifting' classic TV to 8K resolution does a really decent job. Watching footage in 576p, we had no illusions that we would suddenly see a miraculous transformation like in an advertisement, where the image magically turns into crystal-clear 8K. Nevertheless, the final effect was surprisingly good; the picture looked clean and sharp. It's just a shame that the TV, like most Samsung models, has an overscan issue, which slightly cuts off the edges of the screen from the left side.

When it comes to image processing, Samsung offers a feature called "noise reduction," which in theory should improve tonal transitions in older materials, where they are usually more noticeable. Unfortunately, here we felt quite disappointed. The feature performs poorly – it struggles with unwanted banding and can even introduce its own artifacts. On the plus side, it’s worth noting that the TV doesn’t remove film grain when using this feature, but in practice, that’s a poor consolation when the noise reduction itself turns out to be practically useless.

Fortunately, the earlier effects of the mentioned posterisation can be quite effectively mitigated. The "distortion reduction" feature set to medium handles unwanted colour banding well, improving the smoothness of tonal transitions. It does sometimes work a bit too aggressively and smooths out some details – such as the minor imperfections of the actors’ skin – but despite that, it can be considered worth using without major compromises. The upscaling in the OLED820 also performs well. The test image with the model is exceptionally soft, sometimes perhaps too much, although this can be remedied with a slight increase in sharpness in the picture menu – that's a matter of individual preference. The absence of overscan issues with very low-resolution content is also commendable, allowing us to not worry about the image being unnecessarily cropped.

QN990F can easily be called one of the fastest TVs in the world. In 4K mode, it can display images at a frequency of up to 240 Hz, which until now was more associated with gaming monitors than with living room TVs. However, in everyday viewing, what's more important is how it handles an 8K signal at 120 Hz – and it performs very well here too. Motion remains smooth, and the TV handles even the most demanding content without breaking a sweat. Additionally, there's the motion smoother, or "Image Clarity." Thanks to this, you can adjust the picture to your preferences – leave it slightly cinematic with a bit of judder or switch to maximum smoothness, which works brilliantly for things like sports broadcasts.

Motion fluidity is an area where OLEDs always shine, and the Philips OLED820 confirms this rule. The panel itself offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which will mainly benefit PC gamers, but even with standard TV sources or consoles, where it operates at 120 Hz, motion is fast, sharp, and simultaneously smooth, without any signs of smearing. This is thanks to the remarkable response time between pixels, which ensures the image maintains clarity in every dynamic scene. The manufacturer has also added their own smoothness enhancer called "Motion Style." In the menu, we find two sliders – the first, responsible for smoothness, allows for the adjustment of the number of artificially added frames in films. This way, we can choose a raw, cinematic character with clearly visible film frames or a more theatrical image with smooth motion. The second slider is for motion blur reduction, particularly useful in sports broadcasts. Here, we definitely recommend setting it to the maximum value, as the effect is truly excellent.

It has to be said straightforwardly – the QN990F is one of those televisions that scream they were designed with gamers in mind. Samsung has been developing its gaming solutions for years, but here we have a true package. Sure, it lacks Dolby Vision support in games, which is a downside that will always come up in discussions. However, aside from that, the list of features is truly impressive. To start, we have the Game Bar – a handy menu that allows you to quickly check and change game-related settings. You can see things like VRR enabled, frame rate, or aspect ratio settings there. It's like a little “dashboard” so you don’t have to dig deep into the menu to fix something. Since the word VRR was mentioned: yes, variable refresh rate is present here and works flawlessly. Plus, there's ALLM, which automatically switches the television to game mode as soon as the console is turned on. These may seem like small details, but together they make using the QN990F simply convenient and hassle-free.

However, the greatest impression comes from the number of ports. Four wireless HDMI 2.1 ports as standard is already great news, as there's no need to choose whether to connect the console, the receiver, or maybe even the PC. There's comfortably enough room for everything here. And if we add another micro HDMI (which we recommend connecting directly to the console), hidden within the casing, then in practice we have five inputs in full 2.1 standard. Let’s also add support for high refresh rates – 120 Hz in 8K or even 240 Hz in 4K – and we get a television that not only keeps up with the new consoles but also feels ready for consoles that aren’t even out yet.

The Philips OLED820 is one of the most comprehensive TVs for gamers. Onboard, we find practically everything one could expect: two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps (shame there aren't four), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), support for Dolby Vision in games, and a good implementation of the HGiG mode. The TV also handles lower resolutions at 120 Hz without issue, so you can count on great flexibility when choosing different picture modes on your console. Philips also adds a Game Bar – a panel that allows you to change picture modes, add a crosshair, or preview parameters. Although it looks a bit clunky and is less refined than its competitors, it gets the job done. In practice, therefore, the OLED820, in addition to a full set of four HDMI 2.1 connections, offers almost everything a gamer could need.