Samsung QN900D Neo QLED 8K vs Samsung The Frame 2026 (LS03H)

The Samsung QN900D television demonstrates its high capabilities in light production in synthetic tests without any issues – 1400 nits is truly an impressive figure. It also showcased these capabilities in the first scene from the film "Life of Pi," where we see a brilliant burst of the rising sun. However, due to problems with the dimming algorithm, some issues can be noticed here. In the test scenes from "Sicario 2" and the second scene from "Life of Pi," these values are no longer as high and amount to around 500-600 nits. While this may not be the worst result among Mini LED televisions, one could expect more given the price of the television. Nonetheless, the television deserves praise for covering a wide colour gamut of DCP P3 at 96%. Although there are technologies offering higher values, this result is still satisfactory.

The Frame 2026 is a genuinely bright TV. Its peak brightness reaches around 650 nits and, importantly, it maintains similar levels regardless of the type of scene being displayed. It doesn’t really matter whether we’re watching a very bright full-screen image or just a small highlight occupying part of the screen. The backlight remains powerful, allowing bright parts of the image to stand out clearly.

This gives The Frame a solid foundation for HDR. Bright highlights can look impactful, and the picture doesn’t appear flat or overly dim. Unfortunately, there is a compromise. Without local dimming, the TV cannot darken the black areas surrounding very bright objects.

This is clearly visible in scenes 2 and 4 of our test procedure. Bright elements look impressive, but at the same time, the blacks around them become noticeably raised. As a result, the image loses some of its depth, especially when watching in a dark room. This is why The Frame performs best with HDR in bright and moderately bright scenes, where its high brightness works to its advantage. In darker scenes, the situation is quite the opposite.

Colours

The Frame also performs well when it comes to colour reproduction. As a QLED TV, it can display a wide colour gamut and produce rich, saturated colours. DCI-P3 coverage reaches around 94%, while BT.2020 comes in at around 72%. These are good results, and you can see the difference in actual content.

Colours look vivid without appearing washed out, particularly in bright and colourful scenes. Animations and other content with plenty of saturated colours can look really good on The Frame. With this type of material, the TV shows one of its stronger sides.

The television QN900D offers a Filmmaker mode that has been created with the intention of watching films in the most natural way possible, however, this mode is not without certain flaws. For HD content, the white balance shows a dominance of red and blue colours, causing the image to take on pink hues. In contrast, for 4K HDR content, the situation is the opposite – the decrease in blue and red levels warms up scenes and shifts colours towards yellow tones. This is confirmed by Color Checker tests, which clearly show that colour samples are veering in this direction.

As for brightness and the associated contrast, the gamma is significantly impaired. The biggest issue is a noticeable jump at the beginning of the graph, which indicates that dark details are excessively brightened, resulting in a loss of depth in the darkest areas of the image – this is due to local dimming. For 4K HDR materials, the EOTF curve looks quite good, however, it remains below the reference level, impacting the overall dynamics of the image.

For assessing the factory colour output we chose the Filmmaker Mode. If you’re encountering it for the first time, it’s a mode designed to reproduce a film or series as faithfully as possible. The TV then switches off most of the extra picture enhancement features, and the colours and luminance characteristics are intended to be as close as possible to what the creators of the material intended. And it must be admitted that The Frame 2026 performs really well in this respect straight out of the box. The biggest deviation is visible in the white balance. As brightness increases the blue starts to drop out and green increases slightly. As a result the picture shifts toward warmer tones. White is therefore not perfectly neutral, and in some scenes you can notice a slightly warmer cast.

The luminance response for both the gamma and EOTF curves looks good. Across most of the range they stay fairly close to the target, although in the darkest parts of the picture there is a larger deviation. In practice some details emerging from black may therefore be rendered a little more strongly. However, this is not an error that stands out during normal viewing. Overall Filmmaker Mode is a good starting point here. However the picture is a little too warm by default and not all hues land exactly where they should.

After calibration, the Filmmaker mode can indeed be called worthy of its name. The white balance for both HD and 4K HDR content has been significantly improved, making colours more natural and consistent. The image has gained in realism, and pink hues in HD content have been effectively eliminated, as has the yellowish glow in 4K HDR content. Thanks to calibration, the television now offers much better colour reproduction, positively affecting the viewing experience.

As for brightness, the situation with gamma is now quite the opposite – at the beginning of the graph, there is a noticeable drop, making the darkest details harder to discern. The EOTF curve for 4K HDR content has remained largely unchanged and is still below the reference level, meaning the television still struggles to maintain proper brightness. This is related to the aggressive dimming algorithm that affects the overall brightness of the image. You can see how the television fights to maintain high brightness or perfect black.

Despite the limitations associated with local dimming, the Samsung QN900D has improved colour reproduction quality, as confirmed by the Color Checker test results – the colour samples are now much closer to the targets, making the image more natural and pleasing to the eye.

After calibration we mainly managed to remove that warmer tint and better even out the white balance. We also smoothed the brightness response a little, which made the picture more neutral and predictable. There are, however, things calibration won't fix here. It's mainly the black behaviour, which stems from the backlight design and the lack of local dimming. In some scenes blacks will therefore still be slightly lifted and you simply have to accept that. It's more a characteristic of this model than something that can be fixed with the settings. HDR is also a limitation. Samsung doesn't allow full freedom when working with the widest colour gamut, so not all colours can be reproduced perfectly. In normal viewing it's probably hard to notice, but it's worth being aware of.

The fluidity of tonal transitions in lower-quality materials is impressive – the Noise Reduction feature effectively smooths tonal transitions while eliminating film grain. Although the removal of grain is not always desirable, the overall final effect looks very aesthetically pleasing, particularly for those who prefer a cleaner image.

When it comes to upscaling, or image scaling, QN900D shows the enormous potential of the new processor with AI technology. Images and materials in lower resolution are upscaled while preserving many details – for example, a photo of a model looks fantastic, free of unnecessary jagged edges, and the branches in the background are not overly jagged.

As with many of Samsung’s newer TVs, this one also uses the NQ4 AI processor, only the older, second-generation version. And you have to admit it handles digital image processing quite well. Lower-resolution material is sharpened effectively, and after upscaling to 4K it still looks natural. The TV can also somewhat "tidy up" weaker sources, like older recordings or lower-quality broadcasts. That doesn't, of course, mean it will suddenly turn poor footage into 4K, but at closer viewing distances the difference compared with simpler models with weaker processors is easy to spot. Edges are clearer, and fine details don't get lost as much to signal compression.

Samsung also offers a few additional image-enhancing features, but as usual it's best to use them sparingly. At stronger settings, noise reduction can very effectively reduce posterization, but it also noticeably interferes with the image. The picture then simply starts to look very artificial, for example by heavily smoothing characters' faces. So it makes the most sense with really poor sources when various types of noise are seriously distracting.

Samsung QN900D is currently the fastest television in the world – literally. A refresh rate of 240 Hz in 4K resolution is an incredible value that PC gamers will surely appreciate. As for cinema fans, they will not be disappointed either – Samsung offers a 10-step clarity scale in the picture settings, allowing for image adjustments. We can choose whether the television should provide a smoother, theatrical effect at the highest settings, or a more cinematic experience, with visible frames, at the lowest settings.

Samsung again used a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz. Refresh rates up to 120 Hz primarily offer greater possibilities with material that contains a lot of motion. The TV can use additional motion-smoothing systems that can improve fluidity in sports and other fast-moving content. However, a high refresh rate alone does not solve everything. The Frame still uses a VA panel, which has a fairly slow response time, and consequently fairly pronounced motion blur. With rapidly moving objects, especially on a dark background, trails are easy to notice. There is also a slight doubling of edges, which can be visible even when additional motion-enhancement systems are switched off. We saw similar behaviour in last year's The Frame 2025, and it's a shame Samsung hasn't addressed this issue. The 144 Hz itself provides a good foundation, but the panel's response time still limits this TV.

Samsung QN900D is a television that offers excellent compatibility with consoles and a range of features that gamers will appreciate. It has 4 HDMI 2.1 ports, although unfortunately without the full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. Nevertheless, for the average user, this is more than sufficient. Additionally, the television supports Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which means a smoother image and no screen tearing during dynamic gameplay. The G-Sync and FreeSync technologies also deserve attention, as they ensure optimal cooperation with consoles and computers equipped with the appropriate graphics cards, minimizing stuttering and providing a smooth image.

One of the unique features available only in Samsung televisions is the Xbox Game Pass app, which allows for game streaming without the need for a console. This is a very convenient solution that lets you enjoy your favourite games without the need to purchase additional hardware. Furthermore, the QN900D has a Game Bar – a special panel that enables quick access to game-related settings, making the configuration of game mode fast and intuitive.

Another interesting feature is a function called Auto Motion Plus Game, which is a special motion smoothing mode that can increase the frame rate (operating at a maximum for a 4K@60Hz signal). Importantly, this does not cause a significant increase in input lag, allowing the player to enjoy both greater image smoothness. All these features make the Samsung QN900D an excellent choice for those looking for a gaming television with the highest possible specifications.

In terms of gaming features, The Frame is practically on a par with Samsung’s top televisions. When a console is connected the TV automatically switches to Game Mode thanks to ALLM, so we do not have to change settings manually each time. There is also VRR, which matches the screen refresh rate to the number of frames produced by the console or PC. This helps avoid the characteristic screen tearing when frame rates drop. The Frame of course supports 4K at 120 Hz, so you can take advantage of the capabilities of the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X in games that offer higher frame rates. HGiG also works correctly. With HDR properly configured on the console, the TV does not try to brighten the picture further on its own, so bright effects in games are displayed as they should be. Samsung also includes a Game Bar. It is a handy menu you can bring up without leaving the game. There you can check VRR operation and the current frame rate, and quickly change the most important gaming-related settings. With a PC the possibilities are even greater, because the aforementioned Full HD mode lets you increase the refresh rate up to 240 Hz. There is essentially one feature missing that Samsung has already got us used to, namely Dolby Vision Gaming. Xbox owners will notice this most, as that console can use Dolby Vision in games. There is one more thing worth mentioning specific to this model. Its One Connect module has only one HDMI 2.1 port, so you must plug the console or PC into that port if you want to use 4K at 120 Hz. Fortunately Samsung did not combine this port with eARC. The soundbar can therefore be connected separately (3) and you still have a full HDMI 2.1 available for the console.