Samsung R95H Micro RGB vs Hisense UR8S

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.

UR8S is a higher-end Mini-LED, so you could expect plenty of brightness. Indeed, on a synthetic test pattern peak brightness reached about 2200 nits. That’s a very good result, but as always what the TV does in normal film scenes matters much more. Here the results are a bit more mixed. In bright scenes with lots of light on screen, the UR8S can deliver very strong HDR. Brightness then gets up to around 1500 nits, so the image is very intense and has a lot of punch. It’s worse with small bright elements on a dark background. The TV noticeably dims them to preserve deep blacks and avoid excessive blooming. As a result, things like single stars or small specular highlights can be only around 200 nits. And here HDR is no longer as impressive. So the local dimming algorithm works effectively, but it comes at a cost — sometimes it sacrifices the brightness of small details too much in favour of contrast.

Colours

For RGB Mini-LED TVs, colours should be evaluated a little differently than usual. If we look only at the panel’s capabilities, the UR8S performs excellently. We measured about 94% coverage of BT.2020 and virtually full DCI-P3. Those are among the highest figures currently seen in LCD TVs, and this is where the potential of the RGB backlight is most apparent. The problem is that this potential isn’t always used in real scenes. When we ran the same measurements on patterns overlaid with a film-like background, saturation of some colours started to fall noticeably. Individual zones can’t always control the three RGB components with the same precision when the scene becomes more complex. It’s most noticeable with blue and magenta. On simple test patches they can look very strong, but in tougher scenes samples of those colours clearly shrink. In other words, the UR8S has huge potential, but the TV can’t always take full advantage of it in every scene.

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.

For evaluating the factory colours we used Filmmaker mode, which is supposed to show the image as close as possible to how the content was prepared. And if you look at the white balance alone, the UR8S performs quite well. There’s no strong tint that immediately jumps out, although as brightness increases a bit too much blue and red start to appear, with a corresponding lack of green. Colour errors are therefore visible in measurements, but the image itself doesn’t look bad.

We have much bigger reservations about how the UR8S manages image brightness. In SDR the gamma stays around 1.9–2.0 for most of the range instead of the target 2.4. In practice this simply means the image is too bright, especially in the midtones. Shadows are lifted too much, so the picture loses some depth. A similar tendency is visible in HDR. The EOTF curve sits above the reference value for a large part of the range, so the UR8S again brightens the image more than it should. This isn’t a case of the TV lacking brightness, because it has plenty, but of how it manages that brightness. As a result, HDR material can look very striking, but not always exactly as it should.

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.

Hisense offers quite a lot of calibration options, and in SDR you can achieve a really good result with them. After adjustment the white balance is practically even across the whole range, and colour errors fall to very low values. The UR8S can be set very precisely here. HDR looks a little different. The white balance can also be noticeably improved, although at the highest brightness levels larger deviations start to appear. Most interesting, however, is the behaviour of the EOTF curve. Even after correctly setting it on test patterns, the UR8S can still interpret brightness in its own way when watching films. Depending on the scene, parts of the picture are slightly brightened and others darkened compared with how they should look. This shows that the algorithms controlling the backlight have quite a large influence on the final image. Calibration therefore allows colours to be improved very well, but we are not able to completely 'turn off' the way the UR8S manages brightness in HDR.

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.

The big plus of the UR8S is its use of the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor, and digital image processing is one of this model’s stronger points. The TV handles smoothing tonal transitions very well, especially with poorer-quality material. The feature responsible for this effect works effectively without overprocessing the picture. Even on a medium setting it can noticeably reduce visible banding and artefacts without heavily blurring details. Upscaling itself also performs very well. Lower-resolution content is displayed cleanly, edges look natural, and the image isn’t over-sharpened. The UR8S simply copes very well with weaker signals, and in that respect it’s one of its clear strengths.

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 UR8S is equipped with a panel that has a native 180 Hz refresh rate, so right away it offers very strong potential for smooth motion. The panel itself performs really well, although some limitations typical of VA panels are still visible. Smearing is relatively low for this type of screen, but during faster motion, especially on darker backgrounds, it can still be noticed, particularly if you compare the same image to OLED TVs.

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.

In terms of gamer features the UR8S stacks up really well. The TV supports virtually everything you'd expect from a modern console or PC display. It has ALLM, VRR, and 4K at 120 Hz. There's also Dolby Vision in game mode, so when using, for example, an Xbox Series X you don't have to give up that HDR format. PC gamers get even more options. The panel can run at 4K and 180 Hz, and dropping to Full HD can push the refresh rate as high as 330 Hz. There's also a Game Bar that lets you quickly view key info and change gaming-related settings. The only real shortcoming is a proper implementation of HGiG. When enabled, the TV still interferes with HDR brightness mapping, so we don't get the effect intended by that standard. Apart from that, the UR8S is very well equipped for both consoles and a powerful PC.