Samsung S85F (WOLED) vs TCL RM7L

For most of the time, let's say in 90% of film scenes, viewers will hardly see any difference between the S85F versions. When small but very bright light points appear on screen – a lantern in a dark alley, a gunshot, the sun breaking through the clouds – this WOLED panel (just like the smaller S85F) performs exceptionally well. Our measurements showed a peak brightness of around 750 nits. We can confidently state: this is a great result that guarantees fantastic HDR effects. The problem arises in a very specific, uncomfortable situation for any OLED. We're talking about the moment when the entire screen has to shine at full brightness clearly. Examples include a white background screen, a skiing scene, or our test sequences (5) from the film The Meg. And here, unfortunately, the results diverge quite significantly against the WOLED panel variant. Our measurement equipment was able to measure a maximum of around 250 to 300 nits of brightness under such conditions. To be clear: the same model on a QD-OLED panel in the same test is almost twice as bright. The second issue: colours. And here we also have to be honest – QD-OLED has a structural advantage. Why? It’s simple. QD-OLED creates colours from three components (red, green, and blue) and doesn’t need an additional white subpixel. The WOLED panel we’re testing here uses that white subpixel, mainly to boost overall brightness. The effect is that QD-OLED is able to display a slightly wider colour palette, and the colours are a bit "cleaner." But let’s be clear: it’s not that the colours on this WOLED panel are bad! Quite the opposite, they are really very good. Coverage of the DCI-P3 film colour gamut at 97% and 71% for the wider BT.2020 palette is still high-end. We just have to honestly admit that those few percentage points of coverage advantage lie with QD-OLED technology and may be noticeable in very specific moments.

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.

When it comes to factory colour reproduction, our test unit in SDR mode suffered from a slight deficit in red and yellow. This resulted in a subtle yellowish tint visible in shades of white. However, this is not the biggest issue with the S85F. Similar to the QD-OLED panel variant, the main problem with this model is the way it presents HDR content. When we look at the EOTF curve graph, it’s easy to see that the TV has quite significant issues with strong image over-brightening. This results in the final image becoming very unnatural in many scenes.

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.

After conducting calibration in Filmmaker mode, we managed to eliminate most unwanted effects. In SDR content, the TV performs exceptionally well, and its colour reproduction errors do not exceed a value of 2, which is an outstanding result. The HDR content looks a bit worse, though still very good. Although we managed to eliminate a significant unnaturalness of the image caused by an overly high EOTF curve, the most discerning observers may notice that it is not perfectly aligned. It runs slightly below the reference curve, which would suggest that the S85F has minor issues in displaying all details in the image. We must immediately point out that it is highly unlikely for the average viewer to notice any deficiencies in the picture. We assess the final result after calibration as exemplary.

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 processing of tonal transitions (gradients) in the S85F is at a high level. The television effectively handles posterization (the "stepping" effect of colours), even with heavily compressed content, for example, from streaming services. However, using this feature requires a certain compromise. We noticed that the noise reduction algorithm is quite aggressive – even at the lowest setting, it can eliminate the natural film grain, which for many viewers is part of the film's aesthetics. The "Standard" setting seems to be a golden mean, without causing a noticeable loss of important details, so we can recommend it. However, we advise against using the "High" level, which, in addition to noise, also removes desired details such as texture or the structure of objects on the screen.

The upscaling process of lower resolution content works very well in the S85F. The image is sharp and clear. The only minor imperfection we managed to observe is occasional slight aliasing on the edges. The television still displays characteristics typical of this manufacturer, namely active "overscan" (a slight image enlargement). This should be kept in mind, especially when watching older content, as it may result in minimal clipping of the original frame.

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.

S85F is a model with impressive speed. The use of a 120 Hz OLED panel ensures that dynamic scenes, both in games and during sports broadcasts, perform as expected: smoothly, sharply, and without loss of clarity. A key role here is played by the lightning-fast pixel response time, which is a natural advantage of OLED technology. Transitions between frames are instantaneous, and the image remains clear even during the fastest camera movements. Moving objects, like a ball on the field or a car in a chase scene, are clear and free from the characteristic smearing of LCD panels (so-called "trail").

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.

85F has practically everything on board to become the dream screen for gaming. It features four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Additionally, there is a super-detailed Game Bar that clearly shows all the key parameters. However, the real gem is the Game Motion Plus feature. This motion smoother dedicated to games makes the animation more pleasant to the eye while only slightly increasing input lag. This is a rare and well-functioning combination that deserves big applause for Samsung.

Now comes the moment where we need to vent a little. The lack of Dolby Vision in Samsung TVs has become standard, so there's no use hoping (unless something changes in the future). Unfortunately, it's much harder to explain the disappearance of support for HGiG after one of the software updates. HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) is a key mode that allows for precise representation of brightness in HDR games, as intended by the creators. Without it, HDR calibration on consoles becomes less accurate, which may result in images that are too dark in the shadows or overly bright in the light areas. Perhaps Samsung will fix this in the next update – we have high hopes for that. Because if HGiG returns, the S85F will become nearly the perfect TV for gamers.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung TVs from the 2025 lineup due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial HGiG feature for gamers.

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.