Samsung OLED S90D / S94D (WRGB OLED) vs LG MRGB85B

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.

LG MRGB85 offers moderate brightness. On test patterns it reaches about 700 nits, which by itself is a decent result. In actual movie scenes the values are lower and most often fall between 400 and 600 nits. Bright, expansive shots perform best. In scenes with a lot of black the TV noticeably limits luminance, trying to maintain the highest possible contrast. The HDR effect is therefore visible, but it is far from the level offered by more advanced Mini-LED designs. Especially in darker parts of films the limitations of edge-lit backlighting and imprecise local dimming become noticeable again.

HDR Colors

A much stronger suit of the MRGB85 is its colors. The TV covers about 95% of the DCI-P3 color space and 74% of BT.2020, allowing HDR material to look vivid and striking. Colors are well saturated, and the difference compared with basic LCD TVs is clearly visible. It is worth noting, however, that this is not a classic RGB backlight, where each of the three primary colors is generated by a separate diode. Red is produced by a PFS phosphor, which expands the palette and yields more saturated red shades. This solution works well for color reproduction, but it does not change the limitations of dimming itself. The LEDs are not driven independently in the way the series name might suggest... so it turns out that Mini RGB is not the same as Mini-LED RGB!

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 TV in Filmmaker Mode, because among the available settings it offered the image closest to the reference. However, the out-of-the-box colour reproduction was not perfect. The largest deviations concerned the white balance, with the image showing too much red and not enough blue, which caused the whole picture to shift noticeably towards warmer tones. Whites took on a slightly yellowish tint, and skin tones and bright parts of the image did not always look natural. It was not a fault that completely ruined the viewing experience, but in direct comparison with the same screen after calibration the difference was readily apparent.

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.

Calibration primarily allowed us to correct the white balance and remove the previously noticeable warm tint. After adjustment the whites stopped leaning towards a yellow cast and the colours became more neutral and natural. The biggest improvement was seen in SDR material, where the picture looked even and much closer to reference. A similar effect was achieved in HDR. After calibration the image became more organised, although not all of the TV's limitations could be eliminated. The greatest reservations still concerned intense reds, which were not always reproduced with sufficient precision. In practice the MRGB85 handles everyday SDR content very well, whereas in more demanding HDR material its limitations remain clearly visible.

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.

Upscaling and digital image processing perform quite well on the LG MRGB85. The Alpha 8 AI 4K Gen7 processor efficiently upscales lower-resolution content, and regardless of source you can also easily disable overscan. The TV also copes well with compression artefacts. The "Smooth Gradation" feature can effectively reduce visible banding and tonal unevenness, but it is not always precise. At higher settings it can also smooth out fine details, for example surface textures. On the plus side, it does not remove film grain. It's safest to use the "Low" or "Medium" setting, which gives the best compromise between artefact reduction and preserving detail.

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.

The LG MRGB85 is equipped with a VA panel with a native 144 Hz refresh rate, so it performs very well in terms of motion handling. The TV easily handles 120 Hz content from consoles and higher refresh rates when connected to a PC. That matters not only for gaming but also when watching sport, where camera movement is noticeably smoother than on basic models with 60 Hz panels. We also have TruMotion, which lets you set the level of motion smoothing yourself. You can keep a more cinematic feel to motion or increase smoothness, which works well for sports broadcasts and TV programmes. The adjustment range is wide, so you can easily tailor the smoothing to your 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.

When it comes to gaming, the LG MRGB85 performs by far the best. The manufacturer didn't skimp on features and has essentially brought the full suite of functions from pricier TVs to this model. You get three HDMI 2.1 ports with the full 48 Gbit/s bandwidth. Each supports 4K at 120 Hz from a console, and when connected to a PC also 4K at 144 Hz. So you don't need to worry which port to plug your console or PC into, because they all offer the same capabilities. Also on board are VRR, AMD FreeSync Premium, NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible, ALLM and HGiG. There's also Dolby Vision Gaming, which means in supported games you can use high refresh rates and dynamic HDR simultaneously on Xbox. The package is rounded off by Game Optimizer, a handy in-game menu for gamers. Without leaving the game you can change the picture profile, brighten shadow details or check the current frame rate. In terms of gaming features, the MRGB85 therefore offers almost the same as much more expensive LG models.