SAMSUNG S90F (WOLED) vs Philips OLED820

Does the S90F handle not only blacks but also bright parts of the image? Definitely. The stories about OLEDs as "dark screens" can slowly be regarded as myth. The Samsung S90F, like the LG C5 based on a very similar panel, achieves brightness exceeding 1000 nits. This is a value more than enough to enjoy impressive and dynamic HDR images – both in movies and series. Most of the scenes we tested look stunning, with well-defined highlights and high contrast. Of course, OLED technology still has its limitations – in very bright, full-screen sequences, such as the test card from the movie The Meg (photo 5), the television may noticeably dim the image. However, it should be emphasized that such scenes are rare. It can be said that the HDR effect is good enough that even mid-range OLED models like the S90F can provide a cinematic experience in the home living room.

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.

Samsung S90F, like most modern televisions, offers many picture modes, but – following our testing tradition – we checked it out in the best one, which is the Filmmaker mode. Thanks to this, the image looks much more natural than in the default, often oversaturated settings. It was neither overly saturated nor artificially dimmed – simply closer to what one should see. Of course, “more accurate” doesn’t mean “perfect”. Unfortunately, our S90F had significant issues with white balance, particularly in the blue color range, resulting in a slightly yellowish filter being applied to most scenes. Someone might say it looks more “filmic” – because it’s warmer – but let’s not kid ourselves, George Lucas didn’t film Star Wars in sepia 😉 (you’ll find a comparison with the scene below as always).

Additionally, in HDR materials, there was an issue with brightness management. The EOTF curve showed a clear “spike” in brightness – the television brightened the image more than it should have, causing some effects to look too intense and deviating from the reference. Fortunately, some of these problems can be eliminated through professional calibration – you’ll read about its effects later in the review.

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 calibration, we managed to eliminate practically all the previously mentioned errors. Older movies in SDR quality finally look like they should – without the sepia effect or artificial aging of the image. The atmosphere of the classics is back in place (no thanks needed, Star Wars fans), and the colours no longer resemble an Instagram filter.

One of the key changes was also the improvement of brightness characteristics in HDR content. We managed to control the EOTF curve in almost a reference manner. Admittedly, the most demanding users may detect minimal deviations in brightness, but honestly – most viewers won't even notice that. And it's no surprise because the vast majority of errors fall below the ΔE 3 value, which is below the threshold of visibility. After calibration, the S90F (WOLED) becomes a truly excellent display – one on which you can enjoy nearly perfect image quality.

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.

Digital Image Processing in S90F:

Fortunately, Samsung, like in most of its models, manages to effectively tackle the unwanted posterisation effect in the S90F. The function responsible for this element is noise reduction, which does a pretty good job of smoothing tonal transitions and eliminating unnatural colour blending – of course, within its capabilities. Unfortunately, it works quite aggressively, so using it comes with trade-offs. In addition to improving gradation, it can also remove film grain or slightly soften facial features. In this case, the choice is yours – do you prefer a more "clean" image, or do you care about preserving the original texture of the material.

Image Scaling in S90F:

In this year's model, Samsung has implemented its proprietary AI processor – NQ4 Gen3, which really handles upscaling quite well. In our test scenes, the TV effectively "pulled up" lower quality towards artificial 4K – the image was more enjoyable to view, and the differences in sharpness between native and scaled content were minimal. Unfortunately, behind all this AI marketing façade lies a certain shortcoming. The S90F struggles with overscan. If you reach for truly archival material – e.g. a VHS tape of your parents' wedding – you have to reckon with the fact that the lower part of the image may get cut off. The function to adapt the image to resolution simply does not work as it should here.

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.

S90F really handles motion excellently – after all, it’s an OLED with a 144 Hz panel, so sports and games look absolutely stunning on it. The image is smooth, clear, and there’s no room for ghosting or blurring, which can sometimes plague cheaper LCDs.

The TV also comes equipped with motion smoothness settings that allow you to customise everything to your liking. We have motion blur reduction and judder reduction – you can set it so that the image is super smooth (even to the point of looking a bit soap opera-like), or more cinematic, with the classic “jumpiness” of 24 frames. The choice is yours, Samsung imposes nothing.

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.

When it comes to gaming features – the S90F has absolutely nothing to complain about. Aside from the lack of Dolby Vision, which is already the norm for Samsung. The television operates at 144 Hz, has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so you can easily connect more than one console or PC. Onboard, we also find Game Bar – a practical tool that allows you to quickly preview picture settings, VRR status, ALLM mode, and other useful options. Game Motion Plus deserves special mention – Samsung's proprietary motion smoother that actually works sensibly in games. The image appears smoother, but without any artificial effects or slowdowns.

It's also worth mentioning the HGiG feature, which – and this may be a slight surprise – works correctly. We bring this up because Samsung clearly messed something up in one of the recent updates, and in some models, the option responsible for HGiG simply... disappears from the menu. Setting it up becomes almost impossible. Fortunately, our S90F unit did not have this issue, but the situation is dynamic, so it's worth keeping this in mind and regularly checking for new software versions and information from the manufacturer.

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.