Samsung QLED Q70D / Q74D / Q77D vs Panasonic W85

The brightness that the Samsung Q70D can offer is at a fairly average level, although it cannot be said that the HDR effect will be unnoticeable. Any brightness above 400 nits allows for a clear distinction between SDR and HDR materials. As was the case in the paragraph about contrast and black levels, this time we can observe that the first scene, featuring a bright sun and a dark foreground, possesses the lowest luminance among the measured ones. The result, which can be considered very good for this price range and class of display, is the latter. In a scene where we see a large light source filling a significant part of the frame, the brightness of the television is at its highest, reaching nearly 500 nits. It is worth noting the quite low coverage of the wide DCI-P3 colour gamut, which occasionally results in noticeable gaps in the colour palette. Additionally, users can enjoy rich colours and high precision in shade reproduction, making movie screenings a special experience. It is also worth noting that the Q70D Samsung panel performs excellently in eliminating blur during dynamic action scenes, which enhances the viewing comfort of sports broadcasts or games.

Unfortunately, we do not have good news here. The Panasonic W85B is rather dim – its peak brightness does not exceed 300 nits, so it’s hard to talk about any true HDR effect. In practice, this means that scenes which can “shine” and make an impression on other screens simply look like ordinary SDR with a slight boost in colours here. Our measurements and film tests confirmed this – regardless of the content, the W85B will not extract anything more from HDR. Therefore, if someone is looking for a television specifically for HDR, it is better to look towards other models. As consolation, the fact remains that in terms of colours, the W85B performs quite well. It is a QLED television, so its colour gamut coverage is wide, and most films and series look natural, without a distinct “washed-out” effect. The colours are saturated, so in everyday viewing, there is no sense that something is strongly amiss.

The best factory mode on the Samsung Q70D is "Filmmaker," and it was this mode that we used during all our tests. Before calibration, it had several flaws that effectively prevented it from conveying the director's intentions. In both SDR and HDR materials, the white balance was dominated by red and green. As a result, there was a characteristic yellow tint on the image, causing white to appear yellowed and resulting in skin tones that were noticeably too warm. The lowered gamma in standard colour gamut materials resulted in a significant drop in contrast, which was already not the highest. This caused detail in the blacks to be accentuated but also led to overexposure in brighter scenes. The EOTF curve, in this case, proved to be much better and only brightened those scenes with relatively low luminance. This was perfectly evident in the section where we measured the television's maximum brightness in HDR materials. At that point, the frame from the film "Billy Lynn" was unnaturally bright and lacking in depth.

When testing the Panasonic W85B, we obviously started with Filmmaker mode, as this is today’s gold standard when it comes to watching content “as the director intended.” The problem is that this television is quite far from those intentions. The biggest issue turned out to be an excess of red – both in SDR and HDR. The image often appeared too warm because of this, and in some scenes, it was almost “blazing.” Additionally, there is the issue of brightness management. When we looked at the gamma or EOTF charts, it was clear as day that in most scenes, the television brightens the image more than it should. The effect was simply predictable. Details can get lost, there is flattening, and highlights are blown out across the entire screen. We know, of course, how to correct this, but it must be said honestly that it requires a lot of work during calibration. Out of the box, the W85B does not provide a picture close to reference – it is rather a television that will always interpret colours and brightness a little “in its own way” without professional adjustments. Unfortunately, this is to the viewer’s detriment.

Fortunately, Samsung provides a wide range of calibration tools in all its televisions, including 2-point and 20-point grey scale adjustment as well as advanced CMS. This allowed us to significantly improve the quality of SDR and HDR content. The vast majority of errors have been corrected, and the image that the Samsung Q70D now generates is definitely closer to the reference. Higher deltaE errors in wide dynamic range content are primarily due to the display's insufficient luminance.

Fortunately, calibration made a significant difference for the Panasonic W85B, particularly in SDR content. Here, the improvement was really noticeable – we managed to balance the whites and somewhat tame the tendency of the television to excessively brighten the entire image. The picture became more coherent, and the colours gained a naturalness that was lacking in the factory settings. Admittedly, the results from the Color Checker are not perfect, as the W85B has visible issues with green saturation, but overall, we evaluate the post-calibration effect in SDR very positively. The situation is a bit different with HDR. Here too, we managed to reduce the tendency to warm up the entire scene, so the image performed significantly better than in the factory settings. However, the same issue we mentioned earlier is still evident – the television interprets the image too much "on its own" and brightens the entire screen. The lack of local dimming only exacerbates this effect. In summary, briefly in SDR content, the W85B performs really well after calibration and is more than suitable for daily viewing. However, in HDR, even after adjustments, it remains difficult to unequivocally recommend it for serious viewing sessions.

The function responsible for improving gradation has been named "Noise Reduction" in the menu. As we have confirmed, it is worth enabling, as it has a positive effect on tonal transitions. More importantly, it does not negatively affect the film grain or the fine details, which the competition sometimes "blesses" us with.

The image scaling on Samsung Q70D should be rated as average. The manufacturer does not intend to artificially sharpen the image, but rather to leave it naturally softened.

With native SDR content, the Panasonic W85B performs very well – tonal transitions are smooth and natural, without artificial bands or prominent contours. However, the situation is worse when it comes to lower resolution materials. It is precisely there that the television has the most difficulty with "enhancing" the image. The lack of any option in the menu that would allow for improving gradation means that with older films or materials from YouTube, one can sometimes notice slight issues with colour blending.

Fortunately, upscaling, or raising the quality of lower resolution content, performs much better. This is definitely a strong point of this model – the image is scaled cleanly and in detail, and the television handles this better than one might expect from such an inexpensive piece of equipment. This is thanks to the HCX processor, which Panasonic has been developing for years, and it is noticeable that even in the lower series it can do a good job.

Samsung Q70D is the first model in the manufacturer's portfolio featuring a 120Hz panel. Consequently, its motion smoothing functions are more advanced than those in lower-tier models. Within the menu, we find three functions responsible for improving smoothness: "Motion Blur Reduction," "Judder Reduction," and "Clear Motion (LED)." We will discuss the third one later. The first function is responsible for sharpness in motion, while the second adjusts the level of smoothing. The smoother in Samsung Q70D performs satisfactorily, and each setting brings noticeable changes. Therefore, those who dislike the characteristic juddering in films or are avid sports viewers will be able to achieve a personalised level of smoothing. In the picture, we present a setting with slight smoothing, without the soap opera effect.

The panel used in Samsung Q70D features a fairly good response time for this type of display. Of course, it won't be as sharp as a proverbial razor, but at this price, it is a recommendable choice for all kinds of sports.

At first glance, everything looks good – the Panasonic W85B has a 120 Hz panel and even a 144 Hz mode, so it seems that it should cope well with smooth motion. The problem arises when we look into the settings. The options for improving fluidity are supposedly present in the menu, but in practice… they don't change anything. No matter what we choose, the image looks the same. On top of that, there is a lack of BFI, or the black frame insertion mode, which on many televisions helps sharpen motion. And suddenly it turns out that despite the strong panel, the W85B offers us no real tools to adjust motion according to our needs. It’s only good when the source itself operates at a higher frequency – for example, games at 120 Hz. But when it comes to films or sports, we simply have to accept what the television shows us, because nothing more can be done about it.

The tested television is equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports. Interestingly, all of them have a bandwidth of 40 Gbps; however, during the conducted tests, we did not find any negative effects related to this state of affairs. Moreover, and more importantly, Samsung Q70D supports all functions resulting from the aforementioned standard. This news will surely please all gamers, as it means that whether using a console or a PC, we can count on the highest possible comfort during gameplay. Given the typical absence of HDR Dolby Vision for this manufacturer, it is significant that the HGIG mode has been correctly implemented and there is no issue with setting the calibration checkerboard. We particularly note that Samsung, as the only manufacturer, allows gameplay with the smoothener turned on, without significant degradation. This means that titles running at 30 fps will be perceived like those with native 60 frames per second.

Samsung, as one of the first manufacturers, introduced the Game Bar to its televisions, which it has consistently refined since then. It contains all the necessary information regarding gameplay parameters that we can change "on the fly".

To summarise: Samsung Q70D performs excellently both with a console and a computer. All functions worked perfectly and there were no issues with them. The ability to enable the smoothener without a significant increase in input lag is a true game changer.

On paper, the Panasonic W85B looks really solid. It has two full HDMI 2.1 ports, support for ALLM, variable refresh rates, Dolby Vision in games, and of course, a high refresh rate of the panel itself. Additionally, it features Panasonic's characteristic game tools bar – a "game bar" that allows you to preview key parameters and quickly change them if needed with a single click. This sounds great, but the problem arises when we turn on HDR. Here, the W85B suffers significantly, as there is practically no HGiG implementation – the television poorly manages brightness, and instead of an accurate picture, we get scenes that are too bright, sometimes even blown out. The solution? The simplest one – turn off HDR in the console settings and leave everything in SDR. And this is where it gets really interesting, as in this scenario, the W85B shows its better side. Low input lag, high fluidity thanks to 120 Hz – all of this makes gaming look phenomenal. Indeed, HDR can be forgone, but if the priority is responsiveness and smooth gameplay, the W85B offers a lot of fun.