Samsung OLED S90D / S94D (WRGB OLED) vs TCL V6C

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.

When it comes to HDR, the TCK V6C clearly shows that this is not its strong suit. A peak brightness of around 200 nits makes it difficult to speak of true HDR effects – the image simply remains too dark to extract details in bright scenes or convey the appropriate dynamics. Although the television formally supports many HDR formats, in practice it is not equipped for such demanding content. The lack of additional coatings that enhance colours, such as QLED or PFS LED, further limits the attractiveness of the image – in more spectacular productions, colours can appear washed out compared to more expensive models. Therefore, the V6C will primarily serve as a television for everyday viewing, YouTube or SDR content, rather than as equipment for cinematic experiences in high quality.

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 started our colour reproduction tests with the Filmmaker mode, which in theory should be the best choice straight out of the box. It certainly performs better than the Eco or Dynamic modes, which significantly alter the image and spoil its natural character. As you can see from the graphs, the factory calibration of the V6C is not ideal, although it's not a complete disaster either. The biggest issue turned out to be a deficiency in red – the television clearly "cools" the image, which is particularly noticeable on human faces, giving a "corpse skin" effect. This issue was the most bothersome in everyday viewing. Looking at the colour palette in HDR content, the shortcomings in red are also noticeable, and their source is the relatively narrow coverage of the colour space. Of course, every television can be calibrated, so we decided to check how the V6C would perform after such an adjustment.

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.

My dear friends – we haven’t had such a difficult "calibration battle" in years. The V6C turned out to be one of the most stubborn televisions we have encountered in the editorial office. The calibration attempts alone took us several man-hours and required considerable patience. We finally managed to slightly warm the skin tones, which made faces stop looking like they were pulled straight from a horror film, a complaint regarding the factory settings. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it – the television reacted to our white balance corrections in a completely unpredictable manner. Where we expected stabilisation of the image in a certain area, new errors appeared, and the Color Checker measurements showed deviations that could not be rationally explained. It is hard to determine whether the issue lay with the software or the design itself, but one thing is certain – the V6C put up exceptionally strong resistance. Ultimately, the calibration brought improvement, especially in SDR content, where the image became more pleasant and natural. However, it must be clearly stated that the design limitations remain. The television still flattens the image in HDR materials and has noticeable deficiencies in colour reproduction. This device is rather intended for everyday television watching or SDR materials than for cinematic viewing in the highest quality.

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.

When it comes to upscaling, the V6C does not bring anything groundbreaking to the table. Lower quality content is heavily sharpened, making the image look very unnatural, at times even artificial. This can be somewhat mitigated by lowering the sharpness level in the settings, but the effect is not spectacular. The image still remains far from ideal. The digital processing itself performs better. The function responsible for smoothing tonal transitions works quite effectively, especially at the medium setting, where the image does indeed appear smoother. Unfortunately, its operation is rather aggressive – it heavily interferes with the overall scene, causing the actors in the foreground to start looking like characters from super smooth soap operas. Therefore, we would rather not recommend using this option if a natural viewing experience is important to us.

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.

Motion smoothing and fluidity are areas where the V6C quickly reveals its limitations. It's a 60 Hz television, so it was difficult to expect miracles here. During dynamic sports scenes, the image is rather average. This is most noticeable in darker scenes, where clear trails and blurred "glows" follow moving objects, which can be quite distracting. This is definitely a weaker point of this design. Fortunately, there is also a small plus. The V6C is equipped with a motion smoother that works while watching films. Thanks to it, productions recorded at 24 frames per second, which includes practically all cinematic titles and series, can look smoother than they were actually recorded. Importantly, the intensity of the effect can be adjusted to personal preferences – from a slight smoothing to a full "soap opera effect".

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.

Although the V6C is not a television designed with avid gamers in mind, TCL has added a few features that might appeal to more casual users. It does not have a 120 Hz panel or HDMI 2.1 ports, but there is an ALLM mode that automatically switches the television to low-latency mode. Additionally, there is quite a practical Game Bar – a simple panel for previewing basic parameters, changing picture modes, or even activating a virtual crosshair on the screen. An interesting feature is the support for Dolby Vision Gaming, intended for Xbox Series S/X consoles – a nice addition, although in practice it does not offer as much as in more expensive models. However, the biggest issue remains the configuration of HDR. The HGiG function, responsible for adjusting the brightness and contrast of games to the capabilities of the panel, does not respond as we would expect – the image can be excessively dark or too flat. As a result, the better solution turns out to be simply playing in SDR mode, where the V6C performs stably and does not try to pretend to be a HDR television.