Samsung The Frame LS03D vs SAMSUNG QN80F

Samsung The Frame LS03D really does well with brightness. Results at the level of 700 nits make bright elements on the screen look impressive and detailed, whether they illuminate the entire screen or appear as tiny points of light on a dark background. In more demanding scenes, like the fourth sequence from the film Sicario 2, the blacks perform moderately, but we have already discussed this in the section on contrast. However, when it comes to brightness – this television definitely holds its own. An additional advantage is the quantum dot coating, which is QLED technology. Thanks to this, the coverage of the colour palette has been improved, although The Frame does not stand out in this regard compared to the competition.

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it reached nearly 1000 nits, which allows for reasonable expectations of HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the TV can truly shine. Sequences with a lot of light – like shots from the movie Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look impressive. Brightness stays around 700 nits, which provides a solid effect, enough to feel the true "HDR magic." Unfortunately, not every scene looks this good. In content with small, bright details on a dark background, like in Sicario 2, the TV can struggle – it can significantly dim individual elements, sometimes to the point where they disappear from the image. This is a result of the limited number of dimming zones, forcing the device into compromises: either stick to inky blacks or sacrifice some detail. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, it offers quite decent coverage of a wide color palette – DCI-P3 at 93%. It's not the highest score on the market, but it's more than enough for most content on streaming platforms.

Samsung offers several picture modes in its televisions, but without a doubt, Filmmaker Mode is the one that should provide the most natural representation of content. Unfortunately, as often happens with mass production, the differences between individual units can be quite significant, and our tested model did not escape a few issues.

In the case of SDR content, the white balance leaned heavily towards red, with a slight boost in blue. This effect was particularly noticeable in comparison photos – for example, in a photograph of a boy whose face was unnaturally flushed. The gamma, or brightness characteristic, also did not perform perfectly – the image was slightly brightened, which robbed it of depth.

In 4K HDR content, the white balance was once again dominated by red, this time combined with green. Meanwhile, blue clearly lost intensity, which could easily be seen on the Color Checker palette, where the colours began to "escape" in the wrong direction. The EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in HDR content, showed that the television tended to overly brighten the image, particularly in the darkest elements of scenes.

Overall, while it did not look terrible, it definitely required correction. Fortunately, Samsung offers extensive calibration options, which provides a chance for a significant improvement in picture quality. Therefore, we proceeded with professional calibration to unlock the full potential of this television.

We always test TVs in the best available factory mode – for the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it provides the settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this doesn’t mean everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest issue was an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to noticeable colour errors, and one could say the screen had a pinkish hue. This was clearly visible in the colour checker test, where colours “escaped” outside their target fields – to such an extent that a sensitive viewer's eye could catch it even without the help of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another issue arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve caused an overly bright image most of the time, which affected the perception of contrast and made the screen slightly “flicker” during dynamic changes in light. We’ve already discussed this in the paragraphs about black levels and HDR. Fortunately, Samsung offers users plenty of options. The QN80F features a rich set of calibration options, including a 20-point white balance – which is why we decided to check what this TV is really capable of after a proper calibration.

After professional calibration, the Filmmaker Mode showcases its full potential. The white balance in HD content is exemplary – errors at the level of 0.5 indicate almost perfect accuracy in colour reproduction. The image now appears natural, and the colours are exactly as they should be. In 4K HDR content, the effect is not quite as perfect, but it still maintains a really high standard. The colours are vibrant, well-saturated, and the overall image quality is impressive.

So where does the problem lie, given our praise for the colour reproduction? Unfortunately, the entire experience is disrupted by the brightness characteristics. The gamma in HD content looks decent, but in 4K HDR, it’s not as good. The EOTF curve shows that the television excessively brightens certain parts of the image, which is a result of design limitations. The lack of local dimming means that the television is unable to accurately control the differences between the brightest and darkest areas of the screen. This is a barrier that simply cannot be overcome in this model.

Nonetheless, after calibration, Samsung The Frame LS03D offers excellent colour reproduction, particularly in HD content, and the overall look is significantly better than before the settings were adjusted.

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR presents itself almost perfectly – the image is natural, neutral, and free from the previously noticeable redness. Colours have gained depth, and the overall visual experience has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially manage brightness, which in the factory version could cause issues. The EOTF chart shows that the television performs much better with brightness after calibration – there is no longer excessive dimming of certain elements. In films, it can still be noticed that the QN80F has a tendency to slightly brighten the smallest bright details – this is already a consequence of the device's construction and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what was possible has been improved. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression, looking simply more mature and professional.

It's time to check how Samsung The Frame LS03D copes with older, lower-quality materials. We already know that the smoothness of tonal transitions is at a very high level, so we were curious to see how the TV would handle smoothing them out.

The noise reduction feature in the “Standard” setting does its job well – tonal transitions are noticeably smoothed out, and the image doesn’t lose too much detail. However, it’s worth noting that this effect also smooths out film grain, so its usage will be a matter of individual preference.

When it comes to image scaling, the TV performed really well too. The tested image came out solid – the model was accurately represented, with clear details. The branches in the background, although slightly frayed in places, generally look natural and do not stand out as a flaw.

If you notice strange colour transitions or unwanted artefacts while watching lower quality materials – for example from YouTube – it's worth checking the settings and enabling the noise reduction feature. In our opinion, the best setting is at the 'medium' level – it effectively smooths out problematic colour transitions without overly blurring the entire image. However, it's important to know one thing: this option tends to remove film grain. If someone values preserving that effect (e.g., in older films), it's better to simply turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

Regarding resolution scaling (also known as upscaling), Samsung – as usual – performs very well in this area. The QN80F doesn't quite match the top models costing tens of thousands, but for its price class, it performs impressively. Materials of very poor quality (e.g., from SD television or older video files) are noticeably improved and look surprisingly decent. The only noticeable downside is the typical Samsung issue with overscan – which is a slight cropping of the image edges at very low resolutions, such as 576p.

To start off, it’s worth noting that the model we tested in the 55-inch size, along with the 65, 75, and 85-inch versions, is equipped with a 120 Hz panel. Unfortunately, the 43 and 50-inch variants of this series only offer 60 Hz panels, which is worth considering when making a purchase. In terms of improving motion fluidity, the TV offers a feature called “Image Clarity.” This is a classic motion smoother that gives users the ability to adjust using two sliders:

Blur Reduction – this controls image sharpening during dynamic scenes. The higher the value, the less blurring occurs during fast camera moves or moving objects. However, setting it too aggressively can make the image look unnatural and resemble a “soap opera.”

Judder Reduction – this slider affects the smoothness of frame playback, especially in materials with lower frame rates, such as movies (24 fps). Higher settings can smooth out motion but can also lead to excessive “plasticity” of the image.

Both sliders operate on a scale from 0 to 10, allowing for precise adjustment of the effect to personal preferences. It’s a good idea to experiment with the settings to find the perfect balance between fluidity and a natural look for the image. We recommend setting them as shown in the picture.

QN80F is truly a “fast” TV. The panel used offers a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, which in practice means that the screen keeps up with the action – whether we’re watching a movie, playing games, or browsing dynamic content online. The image doesn’t stutter, isn’t overly blurred, and everything simply looks smooth and pleasing to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn’t forgotten about cinema fans – in the settings, we find an option to adjust motion smoothness, allowing us to tailor the effect to our own preferences. You can leave a more “frame-y” look (for those who enjoy the classic film vibe) or crank up the smoothness to a higher level to achieve a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching movies and playing on the QN80F is just plain fun.

The Frame LS03D in the 2024 version is equipped with four HDMI ports, but only one supports the 2.1 standard with a bandwidth of 40 Gb/s. This is important information if we plan to connect more than one device that requires a 4K@120 Hz signal – for example, two consoles or a console and a gaming PC.

In terms of features for gamers, The Frame truly has a lot to boast about. We have ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and HGiG. It’s worth mentioning that HGiG has been very well implemented here, which is particularly important as the television does not support Dolby Vision in games (which is only available on Xbox consoles). In this case, HGiG turns out to be a better standard for gaming.

Samsung hasn't forgotten about features that enhance the gaming experience. Game Bar is an expanded panel for gamers that allows quick adjustment of screen settings without having to dig through the television menu. We can even change the aspect ratio from 16:9 to the panoramic 21:9, which can be a significant advantage for some gamers.

However, Samsung's biggest ace up its sleeve is the Game Motion Plus feature. This is a special smoother dedicated to games that adds additional frames of animation without significantly affecting input lag. The effect is really noticeable – the image seems much smoother, which will be particularly appreciated by fans of dynamic titles.

In summary – Samsung The Frame LS03D is a television that offers a solid set of features for gamers. Although the limitation to one HDMI 2.1 port may be a downside, the rest of the solutions make gaming on this television a truly enjoyable experience.

Samsung QN80F is a TV that delivers on almost every front when it comes to gaming. We have a 144 Hz panel, four fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, support for gamers in the form of variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and even one of the best-designed game bars on the market. The cherry on top is the motion smoother, which – as the only one in the world – works in games without significantly increasing input lag. Sounds like an almost perfect TV for gamers? And indeed, it’s almost that.

As usual, Samsung does not support Dolby Vision in gaming, but that’s no surprise anymore. However, what is much more surprising is that... the HGIG feature has disappeared – which is a system that allows a console (e.g. PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X) to precisely match HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the TV. In the latest firmware update for the 2025 models, this option simply vanished. It looks more like a bug than a deliberate move, but it must be honestly noted that as of the writing of this review, the HGIG feature is simply absent.

And it’s this one missing feature that turns the QN80F from an almost perfect gaming TV into a “nearly” perfect device. It’s a pity – because everything else indicated that Samsung could once again set the bar very high in this generation.