Samsung Q8F vs Dreame S100

In terms of brightness, the Samsung Q8F performs surprisingly well for a television without local dimming. In measurements, it reaches up to 500 nits, which in practice means that most movie and series scenes look pleasing, and it cannot be accused of lacking the 'HDR effect'. In films such as Life of Pi or The Meg, the screen was able to burst with brightness and deliver a light effect at a satisfying level. It struggles more in difficult moments — during dark scenes with individual bright points. The global dimming used causes the television to dim the image to maintain deep blacks, but at the expense of detail brightness. This is clearly visible in the scene from Sicario 2, where the helicopter lights dropped to around 200 nits. This is a conscious design decision that gives the impression of deeper blacks, but somewhat takes away the brightness from individual elements, and one must simply keep this in mind. In terms of colour reproduction, the Q8F uses quantum dot technology, which widens the colour gamut. A coverage of the DCI-P3 palette at 91% can be considered a decent result, although it is not a record-breaking figure compared to other QLEDs.

The Dreame S100 is a relatively bright television. In movie mode, the brightness we measured reached around 600 nits. This is a really good result, although not the highest when considering the competition at this price point. In fullscreen scenes, it is evident that the television can produce an image that impresses with its brightness. Unfortunately, when more complex scenes appeared on the screen, the local dimming algorithm in this model primarily focused on maintaining the deepest blacks. However, this came at the expense of HDR performance – and in a drastic manner. In such scenes, the brightness of bright elements dropped below 100 nits, which is a frankly tragic result, far from any HDR effect. One can improve this aspect, but not without a "however." It is simply necessary to change the local dimming setting in the television's menu, but then the blacks in such scenes simply become grey. It's a pity that Dreame couldn't better refine the local dimming algorithms, and the S100 is another example that the sheer number of local dimming zones does not always translate to a better image. As a consolation, it is worth adding that the Dreame S100 is advertised as a "QLED" type television, although in reality it uses a PFS LED filter. As a result, the colours are appropriately saturated, and the colour gamut coverage of DCI-P3 we measured exceeded 94%.

We decided to check out the Filmmaker mode, as it provided us with the best image straight out of the box. However, this does not mean it was perfect. The white balance had too much blue and red, resulting in the white taking on a slight mauve-pink hue. Such an imbalance affected the visibility of practically all colours, as can be seen in the comparison photo below. The brightness characteristics in SDR content were quite well adjusted, though in HDR material we noticed that the television did not always manage its global dimming effectively — at times the screen was too dim, while at other moments it could suddenly brighten. Fortunately, issues related to colours can be effectively corrected with calibration tools, so we decided to get to work.

We tested the Dreame S100 in 'movie' mode and we definitely recommend using this setting for watching all types of content. Interestingly, within the deeper settings of the television, we also find a dedicated 'Filmmaker' mode, which is now available from almost every manufacturer. However, in the case of the Dreame S100, we do not recommend using it – it blocks all settings related to the picture and does not allow for any configuration in the menu - even motion smoothing. So, how do the factory colours of the S100 fare? Not too badly, but also not the best. The television itself was quite heavily tinted with blue components, which is clearly visible in our white balance measurements. This made the picture artificially brightened, and the colours had a slight bluish tint. This is confirmed by the Color Checker palette, which showed how the colour samples tend to drift towards blue, generating quite significant colour errors. The picture in HDR mode looked definitely better, where the colour errors were not as prominent, although they still fell far from perfection. Here, the white balance was also shifted too much towards blue, causing considerable errors in colour reproduction.

After calibration, we managed to correct the white balance to near perfection. Older SDR content looks fantastic — most errors fall within a value range of 2, which is well below the threshold of perceivability for the human eye. In HDR, we also brought the white balance to an acceptable level, but another issue arises here. So why are there still relatively large errors in colour reproduction? This mainly stems from the limited colour palette and the way the television manages brightness. The global dimming technique used does not give the user control in the settings, so when analysing the EOTF curve in HDR films, it is apparent that the Q8F can modify luminance independently. This can be regarded as a certain limitation, but despite this, the picture after calibration is still much more pleasant to view than in the factory version.

The Dreame S100 has proven to be a device very amenable to professional calibration. In its menu, we found a plethora of advanced options that allowed us to effectively correct factory errors. Thanks to advanced white balance correction – both in SDR and HDR content – we completely eliminated the excess blue components. The image immediately became much more natural and pleasant to the eye. After fully tuning the colours, the errors in the Color Checker test dropped below Delta E values of 2-3. For the average viewer, this means that any colour distortions have become nearly impossible to perceive with the naked eye. This is truly a pleasant surprise, as new brands in the television market often encounter significant issues with the correct implementation and functioning of sliders in the calibration menu. Here, everything worked as it should. The only thing we must criticise is the way the television manages its brightness in HDR. Due to the specific nature of the local dimming algorithms, anomalies can be seen on the EOTF curve we measured. Where high highlights should appear, there is a slight boosting of the curve above the reference line. In practice, this causes an unnatural brightening of some of the brightest elements in films or games. Despite this minor flaw, professional calibration brings about a huge, very positive change in this model.

Let’s check how the Q8F performs with older content, which often has poor quality. Let's start with the positives: the upscaling, or raising the image to a higher resolution, works really well. The television handles both traditional television and YouTube material quite competently, without giving the impression that we are dealing with something completely unattractive. It performs less well with very low resolutions, such as 576p — the image can be cropped, and unfortunately, the overscan issue cannot be turned off. Moreover, the digital processing itself appears less effective. The noise reduction feature, instead of eliminating unwanted disturbances, smooths out almost everything: film grain (which is desirable for many viewers) disappears along with the texture of the image, and the faces of the actors start to resemble characters from cheap Turkish soap operas. Therefore, it’s hard to consider this option useful — it’s best to leave it completely turned off. Perhaps Samsung will refine the operation of this function in future updates, but for now, it’s difficult to view it as anything other than an unnecessary addition.

For scaling and digital processing in the Dreame S100, the technology that the manufacturer proudly calls Dreamind™ Pro AI is responsible. However, it must be clearly stated that this is not a proprietary processor, but merely a marketing name for a chip made by MediaTek – more precisely, the MT5889 model. Unfortunately, we are talking about a rather outdated unit, from a time when MediaTek lagged significantly behind the competition in terms of performance. This unfortunately has a direct impact on the image as that is what this chip also deals with. The upscaling in the S100 is quite mediocre, and the processor has a tendency to heavily and artificially sharpen edges (fortunately, this can be somewhat tempered with the sharpness slider in the menu). In the options, we also find the "Contour Smoothing" feature, which theoretically is supposed to improve tonal transitions. In practice, it offers almost no improvement – setting it to any level rarely eliminates visible banding of colours, but it can unnecessarily blur elements of the image that should remain sharp.

A separate issue is the phenomenon of overscan (cropping the edges of the frame), which is noticeable here practically all the time. Although there is an option to set the screen to display the full frame in low-resolution materials, this requires activating the previously mentioned Filmmaker mode. And as you know, this mode completely blocks the adjustment of any other sliders in the picture menu. In our test tables, we marked that the television offers an option to disable overscan, as technically such a function exists in the system – however, in everyday use, when maintaining sensible image settings, you will not be able to take advantage of it.

Due to the applied 60 Hz matrix, it is difficult to call the Q8F a television designed for gaming or watching sports. The panel is not particularly fast, which makes motion blur noticeably visible. If you were hoping for spectacular, even 'stadium-like' experiences during broadcasts, you may feel slightly disappointed. Fortunately, in the case of films and series, Samsung has not abandoned the motion blur reduction feature. This is nothing but a motion smoother that allows you to improve the fluidity of productions recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. This way, you can decide for yourself whether you prefer a smoother, 'television' image or to maintain a cinematic character. It all depends on the viewer's preferences, and the ability to adjust this parameter is undoubtedly a plus.

When it comes to motion fluidity, the Dreame S100 performs really well. It features a panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, although in reality, the vast majority of people using it in a traditional way will still be limited to 120 Hz (as this is the maximum supported by today's equipment apart from PCs). Thanks to the high refresh rate, the image in motion remains really sharp, largely thanks to the well-functioning MEMC smoother. In the menu, we find predefined modes that allow the television to efficiently generate artificial frames, which effectively improves the fluidity of dynamic sports scenes, but also eliminates image stuttering in film and series materials recorded at 24 frames.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

It is not entirely clear what Samsung has meddled with this year regarding its televisions, but the Q8F is not free from all the confusion surrounding updates and shortcomings. While its older cousin, the Q67D, could still be recommended to casual gamers with a clear conscience, it is difficult to find a reason to do so here. Apart from the automatic game mode and the attractively designed Game Bar, we receive practically nothing that could attract gaming enthusiasts. The lack of proper HGiG implementation is a significant issue, especially since after the 1126 update, the feature simply disappeared. The situation regarding VRR is even worse. Although it is listed in the manufacturer's brochures and appears in the Game Bar, we were unable to activate it. The Xbox Series X console did not allow activation at all, and the option remained greyed out and inactive. It is hard to praise such a television even to casual gamers, which is a pity, as Samsung had a strong bargaining chip in the gaming segment for years.

The Dreame S100 seems almost like the perfect screen for a gamer. The television is equipped with 2 HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 40 Gbps, which means that functions like automatic game mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR) ranging from 48 to 144 Hz work seamlessly on consoles. It also features a well-designed gaming panel (Game Bar), allowing users to continuously monitor important parameters—from active picture modes to the number of frames rendered by the console, and even the option to add a crosshair in the middle of the screen. All of this looks great on paper; however, the biggest problem with the S100 is the implementation of HDR mode in games. The television does not have the HGiG format implemented correctly. As a result, an unsuspecting user may incorrectly configure the console when first using the screen. Poor configuration can lead to an image that is too dark or too washed out (as a guideline: we suggest setting the brightness in the Xbox console menu to around 600 nits, and in the PS5 to 12 clicks). The Dolby Vision format also proves problematic, as it often would not activate at all between the XBOX and Dreame S100. And when it was finally managed to be activated, playing was not possible due to a very high input lag often exceeding 100ms. If the manufacturer can improve the HDR issue in games via an update, the S100 will be truly excellent hardware for gamers. For now, however, compromises need to be accepted.