Samsung QLED Q70D / Q74D / Q77D vs Samsung QN80F

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.

QN80F is quite a bright screen – in synthetic tests, it achieved nearly 1000 nits, which allows for justified expectations regarding HDR content. And indeed, in many scenes, the television can truly shine. Sequences with a lot of light – like shots from the film Life of Pi or wide, bright surfaces in The Meg – look impressive. Brightness remains around 700 nits, which provides a solid effect, sufficient to feel the true "HDR magic." Unfortunately, not every scene looks that good. In materials with small, bright details on a dark background, such as in Sicario 2, the television has issues – it can significantly dim certain elements, sometimes to the point where they disappear from the image. This is the result of a limited number of dimming zones, which forces the device to make compromises: either maintain inky blacks or sacrifice some detail. QN80F usually chooses the former. As a consolation, there is quite decent coverage of a wide colour gamut – DCI-P3 at 93%. This is not the highest score on the market, but it is more than adequate for most content on streaming platforms.

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.

We test televisions always in the best available factory mode – in the case of the Samsung QN80F, this is the Filmmaker mode, and indeed, it is this mode that offers settings closest to the creators' intentions. However, this does not mean that everything looks perfect. In SDR content, the biggest problem turned out to be an unbalanced white balance – slight deficiencies in green and a noticeable excess of red led to discernible colour errors, one could even say a pinkish tint on the screen. This was well demonstrated in the colour checker test, where the colours 'escaped' beyond their target fields – to the extent that even a sensitive viewer's eye could catch this without the aid of a meter.

In HDR content, the white balance was much better, but another issue arose – brightness management. The EOTF curve resulted in an overly bright image for most of the time, which could affect the perception of contrast and caused the screen to subtly 'flicker' during dynamic light changes. We have already written more about this in the paragraphs on black levels and HDR. Fortunately, Samsung leaves the user with plenty of options. The QN80F offers a rich set of calibration options, including a 20-point white balance – therefore, we decided to check what this television is really capable of after proper calibration.

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.

After conducting a thorough calibration, it was possible to bring most of the image parameters to a really good level. The white balance in both SDR and HDR is nearly perfect – the picture is natural, neutral and devoid of the previously noticeable redness. The colours have gained depth, and the overall visual reception has become more pleasant and cohesive. It was also possible to partially master the brightness management, which in the factory version could be problematic. The EOTF chart shows that the television performs significantly better with brightness after calibration – there is no longer excessive dimming of certain elements. In films, it can still be noticed that the QN80F has a tendency to slightly brighten the smallest, light details – however, this is the effect of the device's design and the limited number of dimming zones. In short: not everything can be overcome, but what could be has been improved. After calibration, the QN80F makes a really good impression; it simply looks more mature and professional.

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.

If, while watching lower quality materials – for example from YouTube – we notice strange colour transitions or unwanted artefacts, it's worth checking the settings and turning on the noise reduction feature. In our opinion, the best setting is at “medium” – it effectively smooths out problematic colour transitions while not blurring the entire image too much. However, one must know this: this option tends to remove film grain. If someone cares about preserving this effect (e.g. in older films), it’s better to simply turn it off – regardless of the level, the grain always disappears.

When it comes to resolution scaling (or so-called upscaling), Samsung – as usual – performs very well in this area. The QN80F may not compete with top models costing tens of thousands, but for its price class, it really does impress. Materials of very low quality (e.g. from SD television or older video files) are noticeably improved and look surprisingly decent. The only noticeable drawback is the typical Samsung issue with overscan – that is, slight cropping of the image edges in very low resolutions, e.g. 576p.

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.

QN80F is truly a "fast" television. The applied panel offers a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, which in practice means that the screen keeps up with the action – whether we're watching a film, playing games, or browsing dynamic content online. The image doesn’t stutter, isn’t excessively smeared, and overall looks simply smooth and pleasing to the eye. Of course, the manufacturer hasn’t forgotten about cinema fans – in the settings, we’ll find an option to adjust motion smoothness, allowing us to tailor the effect to our personal preferences. We can maintain a more "framey" appearance (for those who enjoy the classic cinematic vibe) or ramp up the smoothness to a higher level for a theatrical smoothing effect. Importantly, the choice is ours. Watching films and playing on the QN80F is simply a delight.

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.

Samsung QN80F is a television that delivers on almost every front when it comes to gaming. We have a 144 Hz panel, four fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, support for gamers in the form of Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and even one of the best-designed game bars on the market. The cherry on top is the motion smoother, which – uniquely in the world – works in games without significantly increasing input lag. Sounds like an almost perfect television for gamers? And indeed, it is almost that.

[UPDATE] We have updated our reviews of Samsung televisions from the 2025 model year due to the release of firmware version 1131, which restored the critical gaming feature HGiG.

As usual, Samsung does not support Dolby Vision in games, but that no longer surprises anyone. However, it is much more surprising that... the HGIG function has disappeared – the system that allows the console (e.g. PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X) to precisely adapt HDR tone mapping to the capabilities of the television. In the latest firmware update for the 2025 models, this option simply vanished. It looks more like a mistake than a deliberate move, but it must be honestly noted that at the time of writing the review, the HGIG function is simply not available.

And it is precisely because of this one absence that the QN80F shifts from being nearly perfect for gamers to being 'almost' perfect. It's a shame – because everything else suggested that Samsung could raise the bar very high again in this generation.