Philips PML9009 / 9019 / 9059 vs Samsung QN80F

Philips PML9009 does not really operate at the highest values in HDR content. Most effects with brightness at around 550 nits will not leave us thrilled with the lighting effects, although they are quite stable, which is a plus and will make a considerable difference compared to SDR content. It is worth noting that we can only achieve a good result in one scenario, namely in the film "Gemini", where the flashlight as the only light source can shine. Why in that scene specifically? The answer is quite simple. The scene itself does not contain a large amount of black, and the flashlight is not as large an object as the sun in the first and last scenes. Overall, the brightness measurement results in HDR content do not provide a basis for recommending this television for viewing productions that utilise a wide colour spectrum. Although it is worth noting that this model can cover it to a decent extent of 93% in the case of the DCI-P3 palette.

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it achieved nearly 1000 nits, which allows for justified expectations regarding HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the television can truly shine. Sequences with a lot of light – like shots from the film Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look impressive. Brightness remains around 700 nits, which provides a solid effect, sufficient to feel the true "HDR magic." Unfortunately, not every scene looks that good. In materials with small, bright details on a dark background, such as in Sicario 2, the television has issues – it can significantly dim certain elements, sometimes to the point where they disappear from the image. This is the result of a limited number of dimming zones, which forces the device to make compromises: either maintain inky blacks or sacrifice some detail. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, there is quite decent coverage of a wide colour gamut – DCI-P3 at 93%. This is not the highest score on the market, but it is more than adequate for most content on streaming platforms.

The best factory mode used during our tests was "Filmmaker". Here, we will look at both SDR and HDR content. The element that distinguishes them is primarily the EOTF curve in materials with a wide colour gamut and the gamma in those recorded "the old way". Starting with SDR films and series and the most basic thing we can observe, which is white balance, we see a significant dominance of red colour. This led to a yellow tint across the entire image, causing unnaturally looking faces and yellowed whites. This flaw is also evident on the "ColourChecker" palette, where all colours have shifted towards their warmer counterparts. Looking at a more significant graph, that of the gamma responsible for image contrast, we see considerable errors starting from the very beginning. From the left, the value we measured, marked by a connected ellipsis, clearly spiked upwards, causing complete merging of details in the darkest scenes. This state of affairs remained until 10% screen brightness, after which it dipped below the reference orange line, leading to a deterioration in contrast, which, as we know, the Philips PML9009 already lacks. In HDR materials, the white balance issues were very similar to those in SDR content. The discrepancy arises when checking the EOTF curve, which controls the rate of brightness increase and severely limited it, causing the image to appear unnaturally dark. As for the colours themselves, there were more reasons for concern here, as the television's too low luminance caused a huge discrepancy between the actual state and the correct one, which is perfectly visible on the error graph, often exceeding the scale.

We test televisions always in the best available factory mode – in the case of the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it is this mode that offers settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this does not mean that everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest problem turned out to be an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to discernible colour errors, one could even say a pinkish tint on the screen. This was well demonstrated in the colour checker test, where the colours 'escaped' beyond their target fields – to the extent that even a sensitive viewer's eye could catch this without the aid of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another issue arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve resulted in an overly bright image for most of the time, which could affect the perception of contrast and caused the screen to subtly 'flicker' during dynamic light changes. We have already written more about this in the paragraphs on black levels and HDR. Fortunately, Samsung leaves the user with plenty of options. The QN80F offers a rich set of calibration options, including a 20-point white balance – therefore, we decided to check what this television is really capable of after proper calibration.

Philips PML9009, like most leading manufacturers, has been offering advanced tools for the calibration process for years. Thus, we find 2- and 20-point greyscale adjustment as well as an advanced CMS (Colour Management System). The differences resulting from calibration are evident, and even someone not paying attention to picture quality (although there probably aren't many such here) will notice a positive difference. Both SDR and HDR materials have undergone a significant transformation. The former, as well as the latter, have primarily rid themselves of the unpleasant yellow tint resulting from a red colour dominance in white balance. As for the SDR materials and gamma, although it is not 'lined up' perfectly and still loses dark details, the rest of it is on a more than decent level, and minor errors will not be noticeable. The colours themselves look infinitely better, and thanks to low deltaE errors, they are nearly reference-quality. On the other hand, the HDR materials, due to the low luminance of the unit, were not blended as we would have liked. Although the white balance has been largely normalised, here and there one can notice a slight blue tint. Fortunately, the EOTF curve turned out to be much more accessible and allowed for practically ideal geometry. Unfortunately, due to the screen's insufficient brightness, colour errors are still quite high.

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most of the image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR is nearly perfect – the picture is natural, neutral and devoid of the previously noticeable redness. The colours have gained depth, and the overall visual reception has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially master the brightness management, which in the factory version could be problematic. The EOTF chart shows that the television performs significantly 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, light details – however, this is the effect of the device's design and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what could be has been improved. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression; it simply looks more mature and professional.

Judging by how PML9009 Philips handled tonal transitions, the image scaling test should perform equally well. This time we are examining the television's algorithms responsible for enhancing the quality of images that have been recorded in lower quality. Such images can be found in various television programmes or older films. In this regard, Philips PML9009 performs quite mediocrely and significantly blurs the image. This is particularly evident in fine branches or the model's hair.

We will take another look at the tonal transitions, which performed remarkably. Within the unit, we find several levels of smoothing. Even the lowest setting can effectively eliminate any non-fluid tonal transition and will work well with the vast majority of content. More importantly, none of the settings for this function softens the effect of film grain, which is extremely important in terms of alignment with the director's vision. However, we note that sometimes it may turn out that fine details will be blurred.

If, while watching lower quality materials – for example from YouTube – we notice strange colour transitions or unwanted artefacts, it's worth checking the settings and turning on the noise reduction feature. In our opinion, the best setting is at “medium” – it effectively smooths out problematic colour transitions while not blurring the entire image too much. However, one must know this: this option tends to remove film grain. If someone cares about preserving this effect (e.g. in older films), it’s better to simply turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

When it comes to resolution scaling (or so-called upscaling), Samsung – as usual – performs very well in this area. The QN80F may not compete with top models costing tens of thousands, but for its price class, it really does impress. Materials of very low quality (e.g. from SD television or older video files) are noticeably improved and look surprisingly decent. The only noticeable drawback is the typical Samsung issue with overscan – that is, slight cropping of the image edges in very low resolutions, e.g. 576p.

Philips PML9009 is equipped with a panel that has a native refresh rate of 120 Hz. This is the essential minimum for watching all kinds of sports and is recommended for comfortable gaming in favourite titles on consoles or PCs. The manufacturer has prepared an effective system for improving the sharpness of moving images for those who do not like the characteristic stuttering of footage recorded at 24 fps or require a high level of motion fluidity, for example, when watching football matches. In the dedicated tab, we find the "Fluidity" slider, which helps eliminate stuttering, and "Motion Blur Reduction," which aids in increasing the sharpness of dynamic elements. This function works very well and granularly, meaning each setting has a real impact on the perception of motion. With such a set, every user will find their sweet spot. In the picture, we present our choice, which is a slight fluidity enhancement without the soap opera effect.

A matter directly related to motion is the pixel response time of the panel itself. The best in this regard are, of course, OLED panels, followed by IPS and ADS-based units, and finally, VA. Despite the overall good quality of the systems responsible for smoothing the image, the use of a VA panel carries consequences in the form of a black halo behind fast-moving objects. While this will not occur frequently in the tested television, it will be visible here and there.

QN80F is truly a "fast" television. The applied panel 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 film, playing games, or browsing dynamic content online. The image doesn’t stutter, isn’t excessively smeared, and overall looks simply smooth and pleasing to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn’t forgotten about cinema fans – in the settings, we’ll find an option to adjust motion smoothness, allowing us to tailor the effect to our personal preferences. We can maintain a more "framey" appearance (for those who enjoy the classic cinematic vibe) or ramp up the smoothness to a higher level for a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching films and playing on the QN80F is simply a delight.

Philips PML9009, equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports at full bandwidth, supports all features dedicated to gamers. The most basic ones, such as VRR and ALLM, are a given, but G-Sync, FreeSync, and gaming in HDR Dolby Vision with low input lag are not. These features activate without any issues and during the tests conducted, they did not present any problems. Such preparation of the television is certainly a strong point and one can say that it is a unit dedicated to gamers. For more advanced users, we also mention that the PML9009 is equipped with an HGIG mode, which will be particularly felt by gamers, as there are still relatively few games supporting Dolby Vision. This mode primarily allows for the adjustment of HDR effects to the capabilities of the television on a special board, in order to avoid dimming or burning out the image.

The television additionally features a special menu - GameBar. This allows for editing the unit's settings "on the fly", without the need to exit the game. We will also find features such as enabling a crosshair or adjusting black levels for better visibility of opponents in shadows.

In a brief summary of this paragraph, the Philips PML9009 is a unit that will certainly capture the attention of gamers. Thanks to its versatility, it will allow playing any title in the highest quality without compromises. Especially since features such as VRR, ALLM, G-Sync, FreeSync, or gameplay in HDR Dolby Vision will enhance the immersion in the favourite title.

Samsung QN80F is a television 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 – uniquely in the world – works in games without significantly increasing input lag. Sounds like an almost perfect television for gamers? And indeed, it is almost that.

[UPDATE] We have updated our reviews of Samsung televisions from the 2025 model year due to the release of firmware version 1131, which restored the critical gaming feature HGiG.

As usual, Samsung does not support Dolby Vision in games, but that no longer surprises anyone. However, it is much more surprising that... the HGIG function has disappeared – the system that allows the console (e.g. PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X) to precisely adapt HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the television. In the latest firmware update for the 2025 models, this option simply vanished. It looks more like a mistake than a deliberate move, but it must be honestly noted that at the time of writing the review, the HGIG function is simply not available.

And it is precisely because of this one absence that the QN80F shifts from being nearly perfect for gamers to being 'almost' perfect. It's a shame – because everything else suggested that Samsung could raise the bar very high again in this generation.