Sony Bravia 7 (XR70) vs Samsung S85H

Now that we know the TV handles contrast well, let’s check how it performs in terms of HDR effects. The luminance graph shows very high capabilities for this model – 1500 nits is truly an impressive result. HDR effects are particularly striking in scenes where most of the screen is covered in light, such as in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th test scenes. Minor imperfections, typical of this technology, are still visible with very small light effects, as seen in the scene from the film "Sicario 2," where brightness drops to 500 nits. Although these aren't staggering results, they can be considered decent. Additionally, it's worth praising the TV for its high coverage of a wide colour gamut – DCI-P3 at 96%, which allows for vibrant, saturated colours.

Interestingly, the new WOLED SE panel has brought a slight improvement in brightness to the S85 lineup. In the same film scenes last year’s model sat closer to about 700 nits, while the S85H can reach roughly 800 nits. That’s not a change that completely transforms the HDR experience, but the extra headroom is noticeable, especially with point highlights, reflections or stronger special effects. Around 800 nits is a very good result for an entry-level OLED and in most films it’s enough for HDR to have the necessary punch. Bright elements can clearly stand out against perfect blacks, and that contrast is still doing most of the work here. However, you need to remember the typical limitation of OLED technology. When a very bright scene covers a large portion of the screen, brightness can drop to almost half. This is the result of panel protections that limit its output with large bright areas.

Colours

The S85H can deliver very pleasant, saturated colours and in most HDR films it looks really good in that regard. We measured around 95% coverage of DCI-P3, so the palette most commonly used in films is reproduced to a very high degree. Skin tones, greens and stronger reds still have appropriate intensity and under normal viewing it’s hard to have major complaints. Only when you look more broadly at BT.2020 do the limitations of the new WOLED SE panel become apparent. Coverage was about 70%, a bit less than WOLEDs of the previous generation and noticeably less than QD-OLED panels. In films this isn’t a big loss, since most productions rarely use such heavily saturated colours. You’re more likely to notice it in games, where developers more often opt for more intense colours.

The IMAX Enhanced mode on the Sony BRAVIA 7 TV is definitely the best mode available on this model, although it is not without its flaws, as its name might suggest. The biggest issue is white balance – both in HD and 4K HDR content, there is a noticeable dominance of the red colour, which causes the image to take on pinkish hues. This is particularly evident on the test image with snow, where the pinkish tint becomes very noticeable. Errors in the Colour Checker test also confirm these deviations – although they are not catastrophic, there is a tendency to lean towards warmer tones. In terms of brightness characteristics, the gamma remains at a decent level with a slight spike but without major issues. However, the biggest challenge is with 4K material. It is clear that the EOTF curve is significantly above the reference graph, making the image appear overly bright.

To evaluate colours we of course used Filmmaker mode, and in SDR our S85H unit was set very well from the factory. The largest deviation appears in the white balance, where as brightness increases it starts to lose a bit of blue. In practice this means whites and greys have a slightly warmer tint than they should. However, it's not a big fault and during normal viewing it generally isn't very noticeable. Gamma also stays close to the reference value, so the picture is neither overly bright nor unnecessarily dim. The S85H's SDR picture therefore looks really good straight out of the box. A few more imperfections appear in HDR. Here the white balance shifts more with rising brightness, with blue starting to dominate and the red component clearly lacking. This also results in larger errors in some colours. These aren't yet colour errors that completely change the character of the picture, but in direct comparison with the reference the difference is easier to spot. Overall, Filmmaker mode is a very good starting point before professional calibration.

Sony BRAVIA XR70 offers a wide range of tools that allow you to customise the image to your own preferences, enabling significant adjustments to the settings. White balance has been freed from the red colour dominance issue – snow no longer takes on pink hues, which was previously noticeable. Although there are slight deviations in the final part of the white balance chart regarding a drop in blue colour, they are acceptable and difficult to notice in everyday use. The Colour Checker test confirms that colour reproduction errors are no longer as pronounced and rarely exceed a value of 2, which is a very good result. As for brightness, gamma, although it didn't require major improvement, has been slightly adjusted. However, the most significant change has been noted in the EOTF curve – the television no longer has issues with excessively brightening the entire image in 4K materials. However, upon closer examination and incorporating the EOTF characteristics in film materials, some limitations of the television become apparent due to the previously discussed dimming algorithm. Some small elements may be slightly more illuminated, but these errors are minor enough that most users won't notice them. Overall, the calibration results are very, very positive.

Calibration delivers really good results on the S85H. First and foremost, we were able to set the white balance almost perfectly, which removes the slightly too-warm picture tone previously seen in SDR. Colour reproduction also improves significantly, with most errors falling to very low levels, and in everyday viewing it's hard to find any visible inaccuracies. You can also improve HDR quite a bit, although some issues remain that stem from the TV's inherent characteristics. The S85H doesn't always hold the luminance curve perfectly. The darkest parts are slightly boosted, while, as you approach the panel's limits, you can see small deviations in the brightest highlights. Add to that the limited coverage of the wider BT.2020 colour gamut, which of course cannot be overcome by any calibration. Despite that, the end result is very good, and after calibration the S85H can deliver a really well-tuned, natural image.

Since we know that the television handles high-quality content very well, it's worth checking how it performs with lower-quality material. Here, the television shows its potential, and the graphics processor used works remarkably well. On the test screen with the light bulb, there are no issues with colour blending, and the gentle gradation function works very well – we recommend setting it to "Medium".

When it comes to digital processing, or the so-called upscaling, the television sharpens the image quite significantly, which leads to a slight jaggedness, for example on branches in the background, but it doesn't remove desired details. Despite this, the overall appearance is really attractive and may appeal to most users. However, if you prefer a softer, more plastic image, you can reduce this effect in the settings by adjusting the sharpness level to your liking.

Samsung's S85H uses the same proprietary AI processor, AI NQ4 Gen2, as last year’s S85F, and in terms of digital image processing it performs quite well. Upscaling is one of the model's stronger points. Lower-resolution material is well sharpened, edges look natural and the picture doesn't come across as overly artificial. Just remember a common quirk of Samsung TVs: at very low resolutions you can't completely turn off overscan, so the TV may slightly crop the left edge of the picture. The "noise reduction" function, that is smoothing weaker tonal transitions, also works very well. The processor can effectively remove posterisation and other artefacts visible in lower-quality material. However, be careful with the strength of this function, because Samsung can be fairly aggressive here. When it's activated, along with unwanted artefacts, fine details such as skin or clothing texture also start to disappear.

The Sony BRAVIA 7 TV with a 120 Hz panel will satisfy most users in terms of motion fluidity. Additionally, Sony offers a Motion Flow feature that allows for the selection of three different picture settings, adjusting them to personal preferences: Smoothness – Film: This setting improves motion fluidity, giving the image a more cinematic or theatrical quality. Smoothness – Camera: This setting provides even greater fluidity, useful for watching dynamic scenes like sports broadcasts. Clarity: This setting focuses on minimising noise and motion artifacts, resulting in a more stable and clear image.

The S85H uses an OLED panel, so it performs brilliantly when it comes to motion blur. Pixels respond almost instantly, so moving objects don't produce the characteristic ghosting seen on some LCD TVs. This is especially noticeable with sport or fast-paced games, where the picture stays very clean even during rapid motion. The panel itself runs at 120 Hz. That's more than enough for movies, TV shows, sport or console gaming. It's a shame Samsung didn't include a higher refresh rate aimed at PC gamers, as more and more TVs now offer 144 or even 165 Hz at 4K. However, that doesn't affect motion handling in films or sport.

There's also the classic motion smoothing feature with two settings: blur reduction and judder reduction. So you can choose whether films should keep their cinematic 24 frames per second, or whether you'd prefer to smooth them a bit. The S85H gives plenty of freedom here, and the interpolation itself works well and, with sensible settings, doesn't generate too many artefacts.

Sony Bravia 7 has significantly improved its capabilities in terms of compatibility with consoles compared to earlier models. The TV supports variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing, and it syncs with graphics cards to ensure smooth display. The automatic low latency mode (ALLM) effectively reduces input lag, which is crucial in dynamic games. Dolby Vision with low latency further delivers impressive HDR effects that look great during gameplay.

Sony Bravia 7 also offers a Game Bar feature, providing quick access to settings and monitoring parameters while gaming. An interesting option is the ability to enable a virtual on-screen reticle, which can give a slight advantage in shooter games. However, compared to the Bravia 9 model, the HGIG feature in the Bravia 7 doesn't perform as well, which may be noticeable for more demanding gamers – particularly as the HGIG mode is becoming increasingly popular among gamers as the preferred method for reproducing HDR effects.

A downside is the lack of support for 1440p@120 Hz resolution, which could make gaming easier for users with less powerful graphics cards. Additionally, the Sony Bravia 7 is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is often used to connect an audio system via eARC, limiting the number of available ports for connecting next-gen consoles.

Samsung S85H is very well prepared for gaming, essentially regardless of whether you connect a console or a computer. The manufacturer didn’t skimp on connectors and all four HDMI ports support full HDMI 2.1. That means you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM without worrying which input to plug your console into. With multiple devices that matters a lot, since you don’t have to choose between a console, a PC or a soundbar connected via eARC. The feature set itself is very complete. The S85H supports VRR, FreeSync and automatic switching to Game Mode, and Samsung also offers its expanded Game Bar, which lets you quickly view the key signal parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only real omission is Dolby Vision, which will matter mainly for Xbox owners. That’s a typical trait of Samsung TVs. Game Motion Plus performs very well and it’s one of the features that has set Samsung TVs apart for years. It smooths motion in games running at 30 or 60 fps, but does so without as large an increase in input lag as a classic motion interpolator. In practice, for slower-paced games, racing or action titles it can genuinely improve motion perception, especially if you’re sensitive to low frame rates.