Samsung OLED S90D / S94D (WRGB OLED) vs Hisense U7Q

In the tested film scenes, the television Samsung S90D achieves impressive brightness results, exceeding the 1000 nits barrier in the first four shots, which can be considered an outstanding result. In the case of the last shot, where a full-screen flash of sunlight is visible, the brightness drops to around 500 nits, but still remains at a very good level. Additionally, the television impresses with a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage measurement of 98%, ensuring an extraordinarily rich and realistic colour reproduction, further enhancing the picture quality. This result makes the Samsung S90D an ideal choice for those expecting high-quality images in a variety of lighting conditions.

Since the algorithms responsible for blacks are performing quite well, we expected a similarly good effect regarding brightness and overall HDR quality. Unfortunately – here we have to disappoint you a bit.

The U7Q is a sufficiently bright television – under the best conditions, it can achieve around 800 nits, which indeed impresses on some scenes, especially in scenes like those from the film The Meg. Bright areas can shine, and the HDR effect is noticeable. The problem arises when there are very small, bright elements on a dark background – for example, in Sicario 2 or in the second scene from the film Life of Pi. In such moments, the dimming algorithms work too aggressively. Yes, the blacks look great then, but the brightest points can almost completely disappear, causing the HDR effect to vanish and the details to be barely visible. It's just the nature of this technology in this price segment.

As a consolation, it's worth mentioning that the U7Q is marketed as QLED (in practice, a PFS layer is used, which works very similarly), and it is indeed capable of displaying a wide colour palette – a DCI-P3 coverage of around 94% is a very good result for this class.

The S90D television has been tested in Filmmaker mode, which offers good colour reproduction, although with some imperfections that may be noticeable to more discerning users. This mode may seem a bit too warm, and users who switched from Standard mode may experience a slight shock. It is worth noting that this situation is caused by poor settings, such as in the white balance, rather than the Filmmaker mode itself. In both SDR and HDR content, the device exhibits drops in blue colour, making colours warmer than they should be. In practice, this means that some shades, such as sky blue or skin tones, may appear less natural and more tinged with pink or yellow. The Colour Checker test confirms these deviations, showing shifts towards warmer tones. In SDR content, the gamma graph indicates slight fluctuations, resulting in a minimally darker image, especially in shadows. This can affect less defined details in darker scenes. Conversely, in 4K HDR materials, the EOTF curve is above the recommended line, leading to overly bright displays in certain parts of the image, which can cause clipping in the brightest areas. Overall, Samsung S90D presents a solid picture right out of the box, but for the best effects, especially with more demanding content, additional calibration is recommended.

We tested the U7Q in the best possible picture mode, which is Filmmaker Mode. This is the mode that is supposed to provide the most "filmic" and creator-intended experience – right out of the box. Unfortunately… even this professionally sounding name does not guarantee a perfect picture.

In our unit, the problem lay in the incorrectly set white balance. Both in HD and 4K content, the picture had too much blue and red, which caused the screen to take on a slightly rosy tint. It didn't look terrible, but it was noticeable – especially in bright scenes and white backgrounds. This alone could perhaps be forgiven, but the biggest problem is managing brightness in HDR content. The EOTF curve from measurements confirms what we saw earlier during scene tests: the television can overly darken the smallest bright elements, causing them to nearly disappear, or on the contrary – excessively brighten the brightest ones, which affects the naturalness of the picture.

After calibration, the Samsung S90D television in movie mode looks even better than one might have expected. The white balance, for both HD and 4K HDR content, has been improved almost to perfection. Although minor flaws can still be noticed, they are minimal enough not to significantly affect the picture quality. The colours are more balanced, which translates to a natural reproduction of details, especially in scenes requiring a precise colour palette. It is worth noting that this model in this size is equipped with a WOLED panel, which has less coverage of the wide colour gamut and does not offer as rich colours as, for example, the 65-inch version, which is equipped with a QD-OLED panel.

Contrast has also seen significant improvement. The gamma graph post-calibration is much closer to the expected line, providing better balance between bright and dark areas of the image. The EOTF curve, which prior to calibration showed issues with overexposed scenes, now presents better results. This effect allows for greater detail retention in bright parts of the image, especially in HDR materials.

Thanks to specialised tools, we managed to correct the colour quality in SDR content to nearly perfection. In materials with lower dynamic range, the delta E errors dropped below 0.5, which can be regarded as an almost reference result. The picture on television, YouTube, or classic Full HD looks really very good after calibration. Alright – but where did we not manage to improve the image so easily? Primarily, it concerns HDR quality content. Although we managed to somewhat 'tame' the white balance and eliminate pink tints in most scenes, unfortunately, we no longer had full control over brightness management. We set the local dimming settings according to the best observations – SDR: Medium, HDR: High – but the U7Q still did everything a bit its own way. There were still cases of excessive dimming or brightening of details that calibration simply could not eliminate. And although the overall reception of the content is significantly better, one must reckon that the U7Q will always have something to say at the end with an 'but'.

Television S90D performs very well at smoothing tonal transitions. Thanks to the applied technology, the transitions between colours are more fluid and natural. There is also the option to use noise reduction, which further smooths tonal transitions, which can be useful in certain situations. However, it is worth remembering that enabling noise reduction can also lead to the smoothing of desirable film grain, which in turn could reduce the cinematic atmosphere of the image. For this reason, caution is advised when using this feature, as it is better to leave the natural grain that adds character and authenticity to the viewed content.

Samsung, as always, does not disappoint and excels in the area of scaling images from lower resolutions. The S90D Samsung television effectively processes lower resolutions, as can be seen in the visible image. The outline of the model is clear and accurate and, as a result, looks natural and detailed. Moreover, the branches of the trees are well-rendered, showing no significant jaggedness, which could diminish the image quality. Thanks to effective scaling, even materials in lower resolution present attractively on the screen, pleasing users who prefer various sources of content such as regular antenna/cable television.

There are situations where we would like to smooth out tonal transitions a bit, especially in older materials – those with limited source quality. The U7Q is equipped with a feature called "Smooth and Gradient Image," but unfortunately... it works very poorly. In the "Low" option, the effects are practically unnoticeable, and other settings smooth details but do not improve tonal transitions. The only positive aspect is that the feature does not interfere with film grain, so it does not ruin the natural structure of the image.

Fortunately, upscaling content performs quite well. The image is not excessively sharpened, and there is no artificial clarity – and although it is known that this is not the level of high-end televisions, the U7Q handles displaying really old content in a completely acceptable manner without any issues.

Samsung S90D TV is equipped with a 120 Hz panel, with the possibility of "overclocking" to 144 Hz with the appropriate PC configuration, providing exceptional motion fluidity. Samsung has been offering a variety of sharpness settings on a ten-point scale for years, allowing users to adjust the display to their preferences. In the UFO test, thanks to the use of an OLED panel, there's no sign of any smearing. The pixel response is instantaneous and perfectly captures dynamic movements. In this aspect, OLED technology is considered one of the best on the market. The picture is extremely sharp and detailed, even during fast actions, making the S90D TV an ideal choice for gamers and sports enthusiasts.

U7Q is indeed a very fast television, just like its more powerful version "PRO". At a resolution of 4K, it supports up to 144 Hz refresh rate, and if someone wants even more – in Full HD, you can achieve up to 240 Hz! This will mainly benefit PC gamers, but it is worth appreciating – it is a rarely seen feature in this price segment. Right from the start, it is clear that the U7Q has been designed with dynamic content in mind, such as games or sport. In films, we are not left "out in the cold" either – the U7Q offers an "Ultra Motion Smoothness" feature, where using two sliders you can adjust whether you prefer a smoother, theatrical image or something closer to a cinematic style with a visible film frame. It is good that, as with most manufacturers, we have a choice here as well and can adjust it to our own preferences.

The Samsung S90D TV is perfectly adapted to the needs of gamers, offering four HDMI 2.1 ports that support key features such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and HDR Gaming Interest Group (HGIG). With these technologies, gamers can enjoy smoother and more responsive gameplay, significantly affecting comfort and performance during intense gaming sessions. An additional advantage of the television is the special Game Bar, which allows for easy management of game settings. This functionality enables quick adjustments to parameters such as changing the TV's screen aspect ratio, which can be useful in various games and types of gameplay. Users can easily customise their preferences, making the use of the TV during gaming even more convenient and enjoyable. As for PC users, the TV pleasantly surprises. When connected to a computer, the panel is capable of achieving a refresh rate of 144Hz, and users of Nvidia or AMD graphics cards can enjoy features such as G-Sync and FreeSync. It should be noted, however, that the TV does not support Dolby Vision, which may be a drawback - but it's worth bearing in mind that Dolby Vision is not as popular for games as it is for films. Nevertheless, the S90D TV still offers excellent features for gamers, making it a great choice for gaming enthusiasts who seek top-notch picture quality and modern technological solutions.

The Hisense U7Q is a television designed with gamers in mind – and this is immediately evident from its gaming capabilities. It has practically everything you could wish for: variable refresh rate (VRR) – check, automatic game mode (ALLM) – check, and on top of that, high refresh rates of up to 240 Hz in Full HD and support for various resolutions, not just 4K. This is truly a great set of features that makes the U7Q perform well both in fast-paced first-person shooters on consoles and in more demanding titles on PC. Of course – as with most Hisense models – there is a lack of proper implementation of the HGiG feature. It's a shame because HGiG allows console brightness to be matched to a specific television, which in practice makes displaying HDR games according to the creators' intent much easier. Without this, you simply have to reckon with certain limitations in the final HDR image in games.