Sony X90L vs SAMSUNG OLED S95F (QD-OLED)

HDR on the Sony X90L television looks promising. The luminance chart indicated that the TV has a solid power reserve, achieving a maximum of 1000 nits in synthetic tests. But how does this perform in real-world scenarios? In scenes such as the opening of Life of Pi or the final sequence from The Meg, the TV is capable of delivering that power on HDR content, reaching around 800 nits. Unfortunately, displaying small light elements on a black background, like in the scene from Sicario 2, presents greater challenges for the X90L – here the results reach around 600 nits. Nevertheless, when looking at competitive models with mini-LED technology, the effect looks very good and can shine enough to impress us. The colour gamut coverage is also noteworthy, with a result of 96% for DCI-P3 and 76% for BT.2020, which indicates good colour reproduction in HDR content.

The new generation of QD-OLED panels in Samsung's S95F showcases its full potential, and the brightness results are simply astounding. In test film scenes, such as “Life of Pi” or “Sicario 2”, where smaller light elements appear – stars, the moon, or spotlights – the television managed to achieve over 2000 nits of brightness. This is a result that surpasses even most top Mini-LED models.

The secret lies in the technology itself – instead of a limited number of dimming zones like in Mini-LED televisions, here we have millions of glowing pixels, allowing the television to fully demonstrate its power without technological compromises. Of course, since it is still an organic panel, in scenes that are full-screen and flooded with white – like in the final sequence from The Meg – brightness drops to around 1400 nits. Nevertheless, the result remains excellent and definitely exceeds what any OLEDs, both QD-OLED and WOLED, have offered so far. The colour reproduction is also particularly noteworthy. Thanks to QD-OLED technology, the television achieves almost 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space and around 80% in BT.2020. These values make HDR images not only dazzling in brightness but also stunning in their range of colours.

The best mode on Sony televisions is the IMAX Enhanced mode. Although IMAX is mainly associated with the cinema experience, the colour reproduction out of the box is average here. In the case of lower quality materials, such as HD – regular television or YouTube – it's worth paying attention to the white balance. It suffers from a shortfall in red and excessive dominance of blue, which gives the image a pinkish hue. The brightness characteristic, or gamma, for HD content is quite acceptable, but a slight boost can cause the image to appear washed out and look as if it’s behind a light fog.

For 4K HDR content, the situation is somewhat different. The white balance shows a significant boost in blue, which makes the image unnaturally sharp and gives it an artificial feel. Such an exaggeration in colour reproduction may not appeal to everyone, especially if one prefers more realistic tones. Additionally, the EOTF curve in Sony X90L looks quite acceptable at first glance. However, at the end of the graph, there are certain fluctuations that suggest the television is trying to maintain the correct brightness to avoid overexposing larger elements.

The best picture mode straight out of the box is undoubtedly Filmmaker Mode – a mode that Samsung has been using for several years and which is intended to faithfully convey the creators' vision. In SDR content, its implementation is not bad, although some imperfections can be noticed. The image is slightly dimmed, and the screen has a subtle pinkish hue resulting from an excess of red and blue in the white balance. Colour errors remained at a level of 3–4 ΔE units – and for the uninitiated: a value above 3 is the threshold where the average human eye starts to notice differences.

Much bigger problems arise in HDR content, however. Here, the white balance was not as much of an issue – a slight excess of blue did not significantly hinder things. The problem became brightness management. In practice, the TV "blows out" the image too much, causing details in the blacks to completely disappear. The final effect was far from what was expected, and the colour errors in this mode became quite significant. It’s hard to say why such a design decision was made, but it was clear that the factory HDR settings do not allow this TV to showcase its full potential.

Sony offers many tools for improving picture quality, including two extra picture modes that we decided to use during testing and apply calibration to. This solution greatly simplifies the calibration process and is very effective, provided you have the right tools. In the case of HD content, white balance was almost perfectly aligned – only one shade of grey exceeds an error value of "1", which is a great result. The same can be said for the brightness characteristic (gamma), which presents almost perfectly, with microscopic deviations of around 0.01.

For 4K HDR content, the situation is not as ideal. Although white balance has been significantly improved, it was not possible to completely eliminate the dominance of blue. Nevertheless, errors in the Colour Checker test only occasionally exceed the value of "2", which means that picture distortions are practically unnoticeable. When it comes to the EOTF curve, it's worth activating the filter in the top right corner "EOTF in Films" – the graph looks correct, but the TV struggles with illuminating very small elements, which is due to the limited number of backlight zones. Despite these minor errors, it's thanks to the calibration that the IMAX Enhanced mode in the Sony X90L makes watching movies feel like a true cinema experience.

After calibration, it was possible to make subtle adjustments to the white balance and significantly improve the image characteristics. In SDR content, the quality has become practically reference-level – most colour errors have dropped below a ΔE value of 1, which is the level at which the human eye can no longer perceive differences. This is a result that places the S95F among the absolute top TV models available on the market.

In HDR material, calibration also brought a significant improvement. The tendency of the TV to blow out the image was managed, as confirmed by the analysis of the EOTF curve. There is still a slight tendency to brighten the entire scene or occasional loss of detail in the blacks, but this does not significantly affect the overall perception. After calibration, the S95F shows its full potential and can be regarded as one of the best TVs on the market!

The Sony X90L television features a smooth tonal transition function known as Gentle Gradation, which is incredibly effective. Even at the "low" setting, the effects are satisfactory, but at the "medium" setting, it works like a dream – we recommend using this option for the best results. The image scaling on the Sony X90L is simply excellent. The image is not overly sharpened, which gives a natural effect and makes everything look cohesive. It's clear that the engineers have really put effort into this aspect, creating a solution that impresses and performs well in everyday use. This means that even when watching content like regular television or YouTube, where the image is by nature not stunning, you can enjoy a smooth, coherent, and visually pleasing experience.

Samsung S95F offers a noise reduction feature that smooths tonal transitions. It works very effectively, but in practice, it can be too aggressive. Materials of lower quality – e.g. older recordings or videos from YouTube – become soft and plastic when it is enabled, resembling an image digitally smoothed in graphic software. Unfortunately, the natural film grain, which often adds authenticity to the image, disappears in the process. Fortunately, the television does not lose too much fine detail, e.g. in skin textures or environmental elements. Therefore, this feature is best used judiciously – depending on preferences, one can achieve a smooth but less natural image or one that is truer to the original. In our opinion, the most universal choice is the “Standard” setting.

Image scaling performs significantly better. The television handles lower resolution materials well – even 576p content looks quite decent, though slight blockiness can be observed. Overall, the effect is very good, although it slightly trails behind what Sony Bravia 8 (II) or LG G5 can achieve. It’s also worth mentioning a small imperfection of the S95F – in older materials, overscan may occur, causing a slight trimming of the left edge of the image.

Sony X90L with a 120 Hz display is an excellent choice for both gamers and film enthusiasts. The television is equipped with the Motion Flow smoothing feature, which allows for adjusting motion smoothness using two sliders: "smoothness" and "clarity". The "smoothness" slider controls the level of motion fluidity, which affects the reduction of image stuttering, while "clarity" is used to reduce blurriness and enhance motion sharpness, which is especially useful in dynamic scenes.

The Samsung S95F excels in motion fluidity, presenting phenomenal performance. The panel operates at a native resolution of 4K with a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz, and when combined with QD-OLED organic technology, it delivers incredible results. Sports and games look sensational – the picture is fast, dynamic, and very natural. Additionally, the built-in motion smoother and blur reduction system allow you to customise the character of the image to your own preferences. You can opt for a more 'framey' effect with visible film texture or a smooth, cinematic spectacle. Every viewer will find a setting that suits them.

Sony X90L is a TV that performs well in terms of compatibility with consoles and features for gamers. Its 120 Hz panel and two HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s allow for smooth playback of high-resolution games at high frame rates. Gamers can also take advantage of the ALLM feature, which automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, and VRR, which ensures smooth gameplay without frame tearing. The Game Bar is an added bonus – an intuitive tool that provides quick access to essential settings and gaming features, making it easier to control the gameplay.

Unfortunately, when it comes to HDR in games, the Sony X90L has its limitations. It lacks support for HGiG, a standard that many gamers consider crucial for accurate HDR representation in games. While the TV supports Dolby Vision, which theoretically could enhance image quality in games, the practical implementation of this feature is problematic. Dolby Vision in game mode comes with very high input lag, making gameplay less comfortable and precise movements more difficult. Additionally, Dolby Vision cannot be enabled alongside VRR. This means that despite numerous advantages, gamers seeking the perfect HDR in games may feel unsatisfied.

The same advantages of low motion blur and excellent motion fluidity characteristic of OLED panels are just the beginning, as the Samsung S95F has been designed with gamers in mind. The manufacturer has equipped it with four HDMI 2.1 ports – though limited to a bandwidth of 40 Gb/s, in practice, this has no impact on compatibility with consoles or PCs. We get a full package of gaming features: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic game mode (ALLM), as well as a very well-implemented HGiG standard, ensuring that HDR titles look as the creators intended. This is complemented by Game Bar – a clear settings hub, where with one motion, we can preview and change all key image parameters. The proprietary motion smoother Game Motion Plus also deserves praise, as it can smooth out animation, which is especially useful in productions running at 60 frames, where stability is not always exemplary. While there is no support for Dolby Vision in games, it’s hard to consider this a serious drawback – Samsung compensates with other solutions. This is one of the best, if not the best, gaming TVs available on the market today.