Samsung Q60D / Q67D / Q68D vs Haier Q80FUX

The Samsung Q60D television, regardless of the scene being tested, achieves brightness above 500 nits, which is above average for this class of devices. Such a level of brightness allows one to experience a taste of true home cinema, with clearly visible details in bright parts of the image and well-reproduced contrast dynamics, especially when watching content from streaming platforms or movies played from Blu-ray. As a result, film screenings gain greater depth and realism, particularly in well-lit scenes. Despite the use of quantum dot technology (QLED), the television does not achieve outstanding results in colour reproduction. The coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space is only 90%, which may be noticeable in more demanding scenes, where the richness and saturation of colours play a key role in image quality.

Alright, let’s move on to the topic that stirs up so much discussion, namely the capabilities of the television in HDR mode. Let’s state it clearly right away: the Haier Q80FUX is certainly not a brightness demon. The panel of this receiver can generate about 350 nits at peak, which in today’s terms is the absolute minimum to even talk about the presence of High Dynamic Range (HDR). On the positive side, this power is at least stable – regardless of which test pattern or film scene we used, the measurements consistently oscillated in the range of 300-350 nits. These are therefore results that are at best sufficient, definitely far from the dazzling display of capabilities we are accustomed to with more expensive models. Fortunately, there is one aspect in which the Q80FUX compensates for these shortcomings and does so impressively. After all, we are talking about a QLED television (more precisely PFS LED), which means that thanks to the quantum dot filter applied to the panel, it can generate really juicy, vibrant colours. These are not empty promises – a DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of nearly 95% is an impressive result and directly translates into colours that are very pleasant to the eye and saturated.

Samsung has been offering a "Filmmaker" mode in its televisions for several years, aimed at providing the most faithful picture settings straight from the factory, in accordance with the vision of filmmakers. This is certainly a significant step towards cinematic quality at home; however, it is worth noting that this mode is not without its problems.

For instance, the white balance in both SDR and HDR modes exhibits an excessive amount of red hue, causing the picture to appear too warm. As a result, the skin of actors and bright scenes may seem unnaturally pinkish. The Colour Checker test further confirms this issue – colour samples often shift towards red tones, deviating from the neutral colour reproduction that would be more desirable in a professional setting.

When it comes to contrast, there is a noticeable drop at the beginning of the gamma graph, where values below 2.4 drop all the way down to 2.1. Consequently, the image in darker scenes may appear less distinct, losing depth. In terms of HDR content, the EOTF curve (responsible for brightness reproduction) shows a strong spike at the beginning of the graph, which may lead to excessive brightness in the lighter parts of the image, disrupting the natural tonal balance.

Factory settings for movie mode are rarely perfect, but in the case of the Q80FUX, we were confronted with a noticeable imbalance. In SDR content, the image was decidedly too warm, a result of excessive red in the white balance, giving the whole a slightly sepia tone. Ironically, in HDR materials, the television fell into the opposite extreme – an excess of blue caused an unnatural, cold effect in perception. However, it was not the capricious white balance that was the biggest problem with this television. The real culprit, responsible for the aforementioned issues, was hiding deeper. It turned out that the Q80FUX has completely miscalibrated gamma values and, crucial for HDR, a poorly executed EOTF curve. It was these erroneous factory settings that caused persistent clipping of the brightest parts of the image, overlaying them with that characteristic milky filter. Thus, we found the source of the problem. This state of affairs led to general, significant colour errors, which were easy to catch even for an untrained eye. Like every television we tested, we decided to calibrate this model as well, and the results of these adjustments can be found in the next paragraph.

After professional calibration of the Samsung Q60D television in film mode, users can enjoy a significant improvement in image quality. Samsung televisions have always offered 2- and 20-point grey scale adjustments, as well as an advanced CMS (Color Management System), which allows for precise colour and shade adjustments. The white balance for both SDR and HDR has been free from strong spikes and tendencies for colours to shift to red hues, greatly enhancing the naturalness of the image. Although a few more significant errors can still be observed in HDR mode, the overall colour reproduction quality has been excellently improved. Regarding contrast, although drastic changes cannot be mentioned due to limitations in the television's technology, the improvement is noticeable. Thanks to calibration, details in dark scenes are more visible, and the differences between light and dark elements of the image have been enhanced. This makes the overall viewing experience more satisfying, allowing viewers to enjoy greater depth and realism in the displayed content.

The results of our calibration procedures must, regrettably, be acknowledged as twofold. Generally speaking, the picture is undeniably better than before the corrections; however, the biggest winner of this process turned out to be SDR content. It is precisely there, after correcting the gamma and white balance graphs, that we achieved results that can confidently be called very good. After adjustment, the Q80FUX truly shines in standard dynamics, showing only slight errors in the most difficult skin tone reproductions. Unfortunately, the weakest link remains HDR content. Here lies the paradox: despite having calibrated the white balance to nearly perfection, the overall colour errors still remain at quite a high level. The reason is that the television continues to interpret static HDR10 metadata "in its own way," stubbornly enforcing that unfortunate image burn-out effect, which inevitably leads to significant distortions. Although we have successfully eliminated the factory excess of blue, it is precisely due to this interference of electronics that the screen still tends to stray into somewhat overly cold tones. That is just how this television is.

However, when it comes to processing and scaling lower quality materials, the television performs quite well. The image is rendered without overscan, which ensures full use of the available screen area. Additionally, the outlines of the model or the branches of the tree are not overly jagged, which translates to a satisfactory quality of the displayed content. Although noise reduction could be more effective, the overall results of processing lower quality materials are positive and meet expectations.

If there is one area where Haier clearly shows it still has a long way to go compared to the market leaders, it is digital image processing. The upscaling, well... is just alright. And that’s really about all that can be said about it. It does what is expected of it: it ensures that lower resolution signals do not scare us with harsh pixelation on the screen and do not look like a forcibly enlarged postage stamp. However, it is far from the finesse and “intelligent” sharpening that more experienced players in this market have developed over the years. The biggest shortcoming of the Q80FUX software is the almost complete lack of any additional "cleaning" and smoothing functions for the image. The receiver does not offer any noise reduction or gradient improvement mechanisms. This means that with older or heavily compressed materials, we simply have to come to terms with the fact that any imperfections in tonal transitions or blending of colours, which we mentioned earlier, will continually accompany us during the viewing.

Samsung Q60D is equipped with a 60 Hz panel and a film smoothness enhancement option known as "Motion Blur Reduction." This feature aims to minimise motion blur and enhance overall image smoothness, which will certainly appeal to users who are primarily looking for a television to watch films and series. Thanks to this technology, viewers can enjoy a more fluid visual experience, even in dynamic action scenes where details are crucial. However, it is worth noting that while "Motion Blur Reduction" improves the smoothness of images in films, for gaming, this panel may not be the best choice as it exhibits significant motion blur, which can be seen in the picture below.

The issue of motion fluidity and blurring is largely predetermined by the use of a 60-hertz panel, which naturally makes it difficult to recommend this receiver to enthusiasts of very dynamic content. Fortunately, in the Q80FUX, we find a few options (although, as we shall see shortly, in reality only one) that are supposed to improve the experience with older film productions. There is a "De-Judder" slider available, which actually controls the smoothness of the image and allows us to adjust it to our preferences: from raw, cinematic frame rates to a more theatrical, smoothed presentation. However, a true surprise awaits us just beside it in the menu. There is also a second slider, supposedly dedicated to removing blur – a feature we typically encounter in 120Hz panels to combat motion blur in sports. However, as we expected, recalling memories from the tests of the K85F model, this slider here is merely a façade. Its adjustment does absolutely nothing to the image and it simply appears to be an oversight by the product engineers who left a non-functional option in the software for this type of panel.

Samsung Q60D is equipped with features such as ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) and Game Bar, which significantly enhance the gaming experience. However, the lack of HDMI 2.1 implementation limits capabilities, preventing the use of VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), which could further improve smoothness and picture quality. Overall, for casual gamers, this television should perform well in everyday use, providing satisfactory gaming experiences. However, if we are more demanding in terms of gaming, it is worth considering models with a higher refresh rate and HDMI 2.1, which will ensure full functionality and better support for the latest games. In such cases, investing in a more advanced television will yield significantly better results in terms of smoothness and picture quality, which is crucial for gaming enthusiasts.

Stepping into the realm of gaming, the Haier Q80FUX proves to be quite a decent companion for the "casual gamer". Onboard, we find highly desired features such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). However, the biggest surprise is something else altogether. Although we are not dealing with a 4K@120Hz panel here, the television is capable of accepting and displaying a 120Hz signal at a lower resolution (Full HD). This is a very useful feature that allows for a conscious switch of the console to a lower resolution mode in exchange for significantly higher smoothness, which is a compromise entirely acceptable in the gaming world.

We won’t particularly complain about the lack of extras like the "Game Bar", as it's merely a nice addition. The most concerning issues arise when we delve into the world of HDR in gaming. Due to the television constantly adapting the signal "in its own way", setting the brightness on the console according to the HGIG standard is nearly impossible to achieve as per instructions. Worse still, in the Dolby Vision mode for gaming, the input lag increases to around 50 ms, which is a value high enough to render this mode practically unusable. However, in general, we would not recommend gaming on this television in HDR mode, so these are not such grave shortcomings. What is most pleasing is the presence of 120Hz in Full HD, which makes the Q80FUX a rather nice television for the occasional gamer.