Samsung QN990F vs SHARP JP7765E

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.

So how does the brightness of the Sharp JP7 perform in the most demanding titles? Honestly, we were quite surprised at first. The TV is able to achieve over 1000 nits of brightness, which is an outstanding and rare result for a device costing just under 2000 zł (for 55 inches). Watching bright, full-screen scenes, you can get the impression that you are dealing with really good equipment. But unfortunately, we have to return to the issue we mentioned earlier, which is local dimming management. When small, bright spots appear on a dark background (like in test scenes from the films Life of Pi or Sicario 2), it’s clear how poorly the JP7 handles these zones. The TV dims them almost to the maximum, crushing the whole HDR effect, which at such moments resembles a flat SDR image (less than 200 nits). This instability means that in demanding, contrast-rich films, the image on the JP7 unfortunately loses its appeal.

As a consolation, it's worth noting that the panel has the potential to display colours well. A PFS (phosphor) filter has been employed here, which allows the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut to reach a solid 94%. The manufacturer calls its product a “QLED,” even though it technologically relies mainly on the aforementioned PFS filter. Considering the recent market battles between manufacturers over what can and cannot be called QLED, we leave the issue of the correctness of this terminology to your judgement. However, it remains a fact that the potential for reproducing saturated colours in this panel is simply good.

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.

When it comes to colours straight out of the box, the Sharp JP7 was tested in the Film mode, which traditionally offers the most cohesive image compared to the yellowed “Eco” mode or the glaring blue of the “Dynamic” mode. Although this is the best choice among the available settings, the results still fall short of ideal. The white balance clearly lacked red and blue components, causing many scenes to take on an unnatural, greenish hue. Another issue was the gamma – in full-screen scenes, the TV produced excessively bright images, completely robbing it of its cinematic character. All of this resulted in colour reproduction errors, especially in shades of grey, which exceeded the Delta E 10 value. To remind you: errors above 2-3 are already noticeable to the human eye, so here we are dealing with a significant distortion of reality.

In HDR mode, the situation is reversed, but not in a better way. Here, the white balance is dominated by blue, giving the image an unnatural, almost “store-like” sharpness, reminiscent of aggressive demonstration modes. Moreover, the measurements of the EOTF curve emphasise the store-like nature of the image. The graph clearly shows that the TV generates images that are significantly brighter than the standards predict, resulting in an artificially boosted and unrealistic final effect. The Sharp JP7 is evidently trying to appear stronger than it actually is, but it does so at the expense of fidelity to the original content.

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.

We subjected the JP7 to our standard calibration procedure and honestly... the television gained a second life thanks to it, especially with SDR content (YouTube, traditional television, series, or older films). With our precise adjustments to the white balance and stabilisation of the gamma, colour errors dropped to a value of below 3. This is a level at which the human eye struggles to perceive discrepancies. In this scenario, the Sharp JP7 delivers an image with truly excellent colour accuracy, which is a significant advantage in this price range. However, the HDR content turned out to be much more problematic. Here, despite our efforts and interventions in the settings, the television simply refused to cooperate. In the JP7 menu, we won’t find any option to effectively control how brightness is managed (EOTF). Although a significant portion of the colour errors has been reduced, the image still remained unnaturally oversaturated. It’s a bit disappointing because the potential of the mini-LED backlit panel is great, but the software presents a clear barrier.

The conclusion is simple: when watching less demanding content (SDR) on the JP7, you can expect an image that is more than satisfactory, but in HDR you will have to accept a certain degree of "artificiality" that cannot be bypassed even with professional equipment.

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.

When it comes to lower quality materials and how Sharp JP7 handles them, the situation is ambiguous. Let's start with the upscaling itself – here we have no major objections. The process of scaling the image to a higher resolution is correct; the picture remains readable and clear, without the overscan effect, which means no cropped edges. Of course, it's not at the level of top models and at times you can notice slight tearing on the edges, but in this price range, the effect is fully acceptable.

However, the actual digital image processing performs much worse, as aside from the scaling, it practically doesn’t exist. In the JP7 menu, we won’t find any options that would effectively smooth out unwanted tonal transitions or reduce noise in the image. As a result, the signal hits the panel in a very raw form, which with heavily compressed materials (e.g., from YouTube) results in noticeable posterisation. Either this is a programming error or a very strange design decision, because in earlier Sharp models this function was available and, more importantly, worked with noticeable effect. Here, we are stuck with what the source delivers, without any digital support from the image processor.

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.

The motion fluidity on the Sharp JP7 is quite average, and the reason is simple: the TV uses a 60Hz panel. This immediately makes it hard to recommend for watching sports or serious gaming, where higher refresh rates are already the standard. The only real plus is the presence of a motion smoother, which we can control in films with a slider called De-judder. Lower settings give a more raw, “cinematic” (framey) image, while higher ones add artificial fluidity. We suggest setting it somewhere in the middle of the scale, around 3-5 – this is the best compromise to avoid the soap opera effect while also getting rid of the annoying image skipping. Interestingly, in the menu, we also find a slider for "motion blur reduction," which usually indicates the presence of a 120Hz panel. However, in the case of the JP7, it doesn’t actually enhance the image and serves more as a dummy – it looks good in the settings, but technically it shouldn’t work on this panel.

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.

As we mentioned earlier, the 60Hz panel is not a feature that will attract gamers to the Sharp JP7. Perhaps for the casual gamer, whose console still generates most titles at 60 frames per second, there might be something interesting? When it comes to specific additions, we find here:

• ALLM mode: Automatically switches the TV to low latency game mode (input lag).

• Player menu: Which is hard to call a fully-fledged “Game Bar,” as the functionality is minimal. Aside from enabling ALLM, there’s only a dedicator for gaming which we advise against as it introduces very noticeable artifacts and spoils responsiveness.

• Dolby Vision Gaming: For Microsoft's consoles.

Unfortunately, the list of shortcomings is much longer and more painful than the positives. The biggest disappointment is the lack of support for 120Hz, even when reducing the resolution to Full HD. The presence of 120Hz would allow for performance modes to be activated in many games on the PS5 or Xbox Series X. Another shortcoming is the VRR, which means that during frame drops, we are susceptible to screen tearing. Very problematic is also the lack of proper implementation of the HGiG standard. This results in the fact that during HDR calibration in the console menu, it is very easy to "overshoot" the brightness settings. As a result, instead of clear details in the highlights, we end up with an unnaturally oversaturated image with cut-off details. The Sharp JP7 is a proposal only for those who game very occasionally.