Samsung R95H Micro RGB vs TCL RM7L

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.

TCL RM7L is a bright TV. In our measurements its peak brightness hovered around 1600 nits. That’s noticeably less than the C7L, which can get close to 2600 nits, but in real-world film scenes the difference between the models isn’t that large. In less demanding shots, where plenty of bright elements appear on screen, the RM7L can sustain around 1000 nits, and sometimes even a bit more, approaching 1500 nits. It performs worse in dark scenes with small points of light; then their brightness can fall to about 500 nits. This behaviour isn’t random. The TV deliberately dims small elements to better control the backlight and preserve higher contrast. This comes at the expense of their intensity, but it’s typical for TVs with local dimming in a similar price range.

Colour gamut coverage

In HDR brightness isn’t the only thing that matters, colour does too. Here the RM7L has a lot to show. Colours are strongly saturated and the wide colour gamut is one of its main strengths. In our measurements it reached about 96% of DCI-P3 and around 83% of BT.2020. It’s worth remembering, though, that on a TV with this kind of backlight the result can vary depending on the scene. On test patterns colours look best, while in films their saturation can be a little lower than on SQD Mini LED or QD-OLED TVs. The backlight design itself is interesting. The RM7L doesn’t use the classic red, green and blue LED set. TCL used two green LEDs and one blue, with red produced via a PFS phosphor. You can see this in spectrometer measurements, but it doesn’t have a major impact on the picture. Colours are still rendered correctly.

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.

Factory colours were checked in Filmmaker Mode, the best picture setting available to the user. TCL has been using it in its TVs for two years, and its purpose is to reproduce the image as faithfully as possible to the filmmakers' intent. On the RM7L it was indeed the best calibrated mode, though not without faults. The biggest issue was the white balance. An excess of red and blue made the image shift slightly toward pink tones. This was visible in both SDR and HDR. In addition, the brightness response was slightly boosted, so the picture looked a little brighter but at the same time less contrasty than 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.

Thanks to a fairly extensive calibration menu we managed to correct the vast majority of the issues described earlier. The biggest change was the white balance. After calibration it looks very good, so the image has lost its pinkish tint and become much more neutral. The luminance response has also improved. Both the SDR gamma and the HDR EOTF curve are now much closer to the reference values. The picture is no longer unnecessarily bright, and darker parts look more natural and have greater depth. Better luminance accuracy has also affected the colours, which after calibration are noticeably more accurate. Not everything could be set perfectly though. In HDR material the RM7L still interprets part of the signal in its own way and doesn’t always stick exactly to the reference curve. You can see this mainly in some darker scenes, where the TV can either slightly lift the shadows or darken them completely. That’s where the earlier impression of a slightly brightened, less contrasty image came from. Even so, the calibration delivers a very good result here. It removes the most visible errors and, above all, makes the picture much closer to how it should look.

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.

Upscaling and digital image processing are not the RM7L’s strong points. TCL has used a MediaTek Pentonic 700 chipset here, labelled MT5896, which isn’t among the best processors at handling lower-quality sources. The biggest issues appear with heavily compressed content from YouTube or regular broadcast TV. The processor can’t effectively hide posterisation and the characteristic banding between shades. The feature meant to smooth these issues does little to help and can also interfere with the picture too much, smoothing faces and fine textures, for example. For that reason it’s best not to use it.

Plain upscaling to 4K looks better. Lower-quality sources are reasonably sharp and retain a sufficient amount of detail. It’s not on a par with the best processors on the market, but for everyday viewing the result is perfectly acceptable.

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 RM7L uses a 144 Hz VA panel, so right from the start it's well prepared for sports, games and other dynamic content. The high refresh rate also gives the motion interpolation more room to work, so it can generate additional frames. On the RM7L it performs well and, when set correctly, can noticeably improve motion smoothness without producing an excessive soap opera effect.

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.

When it comes to gamer-focused features, there's almost nothing but praise for the RM7L. The TV supports ALLM, VRR, Dolby Vision Gaming and works correctly with HGiG, so it's hard to point to any major gaps in that area. In practice that means automatic switching to a low-latency mode, smoother motion with variable frame rates and accurate brightness reproduction in HDR games. There's also a handy Game Bar. From it you can quickly check the frame rate, VRR status, signal format and aspect ratio, and change key settings without leaving the game. TCL has added a few extra options too, such as an on-screen reticle and brightening of dark areas, which can be useful in some titles. The biggest downside comes from using the Pentonic 700 processor. Only two of the four HDMI ports support the full HDMI 2.1 standard. With a single console that won't be a big issue, but if you hook up two consoles and a PC you might run out of ports, especially since one of those ports may also be needed for eARC and a soundbar.