Samsung QN90F / QN92F vs SONY Bravia 9 II XR95M2

The Samsung QN90F can truly shine with brightness. In our measurements, it achieved over 2200 nits, which directly translates to the viewing experience. In practice, this means that when a film features a very bright scene – for example, a sunrise in The Meg – the screen looks as if it is actually lit by natural light. This is not just a number from a chart, but a real sense of image intensity! However, the television may not always deliver this full power. With smaller details like reflections or lamps, brightness drops to 500–700 nits. This is a deliberate decision by the algorithms – it allows for better control of the contrast between large and small elements, preventing the image from losing balance. Importantly, this is still a huge improvement compared to last year's QN90D, where similar details were often almost invisible, shining at just 200 nits. Here, the HDR effect is much more consistent and credible. The only downside is the colours. The DCI-P3 coverage has stalled at 91%, which in this price bracket can be considered a rather average result.

The real showcase of the new backlight architecture and Sony’s processor is HDR material reproduction. At the official launch Sony engineers said (not officially 😉) that the brightness of the Bravia 9 II should be almost identical to their professional director’s monitor BVM-HX3110, which is priced at astronomical sums. Our lab tests confirmed those were not empty promises. During synthetic measurements on the L20 test pattern the TV effortlessly exceeded the 4000 nits peak brightness barrier. Most importantly, these spectacular results translate directly to real film scenes. In most of the demanding shots we tested the screen easily maintained brightness around 2500–3000 nits. Regardless of the scene’s character, whether the light was small and pinpoint or flooded almost across the entire screen, the HDR effect was incredibly intense.

Colours

Colours are another key pillar of RGB Mini LED technology (Sony’s True RGB implementation). Specifically for testing these kinds of displays we have permanently introduced a new research section to examine how TVs handle colours in real-world conditions. Traditional tests using synthetic patterns are no longer enough to determine actual colour-gamut coverage. From now on we also measure colour saturation directly in selected film scenes by overlaying measurement points on them. So how do the colours perform?

In synthetic tests the Bravia 9 II achieves excellent results. For the popular DCI-P3 space used for HDR content the colour gamut coverage reached almost 98%, while for the extremely wide and demanding BT.2020 space measurements indicated nearly 90%. However, in real, varied scenes those values fall by a few percentage points. This is a direct result of the nature of zoned RGB backlighting. When differently coloured elements or bright white highlights appear side by side, light from adjacent zones starts to bleed together, producing a slight whitish glow. That naturally affects colour saturation, reducing it slightly. It shows that despite Sony’s brilliant algorithm for controlling the RGB LEDs, the number of zones is still too small to eliminate this effect entirely.

Is that something to complain about? Of course not. The Bravia 9 II’s final colour coverage is ultimately the same as that of a very good QLED TV, and the most important point is this: the vast majority of HDR films and series are distributed in the DCI-P3 colour space. In that standard Sony easily maintains very high colour saturation, regardless of the scene.

The colour reproduction of the QN90F was tested in Filmmaker mode and, as is often the case with Samsung televisions, this mode proves to be the best starting point straight out of the box. However, this does not mean that the image is free from flaws. The white balance in both SDR and HDR content was surprisingly good – the colours did not drift in any direction and even in its factory settings, it looked solid. A problem arose with the gamma curves and EOTF, which dictate how the television manages brightness. Here, the QN90F significantly brightened the entire image, causing blacks and colours to lose their intensity, and the overall effect resembled that of an applied milky filter. Fortunately, Samsung, unlike many competitors in the miniLED world, provides the user with plenty of tools to control the settings that we do not find with other manufacturers, such as Chinese producers. Therefore, we decided to see if we could squeeze the full potential out of the QN90F because we know that such a high-end series is capable of much more.

Contrary to appearances and high expectations, the Bravia 9 II we tested showed some issues with its factory calibration straight out of the box. Looking at the white balance charts, it’s clear it wasn’t perfect. In SDR content the red component was noticeably lacking, so the image leaned toward cooler, bluish tones. In HDR, however, the white balance in that respect was considerably better. So where do the visible errors in image reproduction come from? They result from unexpected tuning of the gamma and the EOTF curve. In both cases the Bravia 9 II straight from the factory showed a marked deviation from reference standards. In SDR material the gamma was significantly too high — at extremes it hovered very close to 2.8 instead of the target 2.4. In practice this meant the image looked artificially darkened and seemed washed of colour, with details in darker areas (the shadows) disappearing entirely. The opposite happened with HDR material, where brightness reproduction is governed by the EOTF. That curve was pushed too high above the correct value, causing the image to be artificially brightened across most luminance ranges. As with every TV we test, we subjected this unit to professional calibration. You can see the results and how we managed to correct these factory errors below.

After our adjustment of the settings, the QN90F displayed what it is truly capable of – and it must be admitted that this is one of the best images we have seen on a miniLED screen this year. As we mentioned earlier, the white balance was not a major issue even in its factory state, but only after gamma calibration did it manage to get close to reference values. The same is true for HDR content, where the EOTF curve post-adjustment presents mature and cohesive results. Indeed, in some films, it is noticeable that the smallest elements of the image are slightly brightened, and with a limited number of dimming zones, there is still a risk of halo effect. However, it should be remembered that such phenomena are characteristic of all miniLED televisions, and it is difficult to expect miracles even from the QN90F. The most important thing is that after calibration, the television delivers an image that, in terms of representing the director's vision, confidently competes with many OLED screens available on the market.

Fortunately, with professional calibration, most of the Bravia 9 II’s factory missteps can be effectively eliminated. We managed to precisely correct, above all, the white balance and the gamma curve and EOTF. After these procedures, in everyday use and during film viewings the television looks worlds better. The picture gained proper depth and modelling, the cool tint to whites disappeared, and shadow detail that previously vanished because of an overly high gamma finally became perfectly visible. Although we ultimately rate colour accuracy as very good, as specialists we must point out one fairly serious design flaw in this model. The Bravia 9 II could look even better if it were not for the complete lack of an advanced colour management system in the television’s menu.

While a basic white balance correction can be carried out here without difficulty, the settings lack options for adjusting specific colours. We tried to tackle this issue in every possible way, both with the traditional method from the remote and via dedicated calibration software for Bravia televisions. Unfortunately, that function has been completely locked. We suspect this may stem from the specifics of the new RGB architecture, which imposes its own limitations. It’s a great shame, because without it you cannot push colour reproduction to perfection. A skewed red still catches the eye. One can only hope that Sony will fix this shortcoming in time via an update.

QN90F handles upscaling very well. Materials in lower resolutions, even SD, are enhanced to a clear and sharp image, in which a lot of detail in the background can be seen. This is a significant advantage, as the television makes older content or everyday television look considerably better than on most budget screens. However, the issue of overscan remains, which is the trimming of the screen edges, and this cannot be turned off in Samsung TVs. This can cause some subtitles on the screen to disappear or Auntie's face from the wedding on the VHS tape to be slightly cut off. 😉

Digital image processing also works well. In the menu, we find a function called "noise reduction," which can smooth tonal transitions and improve the reception of lower quality materials, e.g. from YouTube. At the medium setting, the effect is most beneficial – it does not heavily interfere with details, while eliminating the problem of "stepping" in colours. However, it is worth remembering that the function can be quite aggressive and removes natural grain from older films, so it is best to use it in moderation.

Digital processing and upscaling have long been Sony’s hallmark, and after testing the Bravia 9 II we can confidently say that nothing has changed in that respect. Sony remains at the forefront of the market. Their proprietary XR image processor, which in this model works alongside the main MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chip, deserves the highest praise. That combination delivers excellent results. The upscaling of lower-resolution material itself is extremely effective and precise. However, what most deserves applause in the XR processor’s operation is its tonal transition smoothing function. The system can reduce posterization in heavily compressed material to virtually zero. Crucially, the algorithm does this in a very intelligent way. It removes only the annoying digital “steps” in gradients without blurring fine texture details or creating an artificial, “plastic” look stripped of film grain. The picture remains sharp, natural and cinematic.

The QN90F is equipped with a panel that has a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, and although this advantage will primarily be appreciated by PC gamers, it is still worth highlighting. In films or sports broadcasts, we are limited to the classic 120 Hz, but this is not a cause for concern. In practice, the additional motion smoother is of greater importance here. With the "Motion Clarity" setting, we can adjust the picture to our own preferences. The blur reduction option is responsible for fluidity and ghosting in sports. Meanwhile, the "judder reduction" function improves motion smoothness in productions shot at 24 frames, such as films and series. If we set it high, the film appears smoother and more fluid than it was actually shot. Lower values, on the other hand, preserve its cinematic "rawness" with a visible film frame.

In the Sony Bravia 9 II specification you won't find very high screen refresh rates above 120 Hz, which some more demanding PC gamers may regard as a drawback. However, in everyday use, whether during movie viewing, console gaming or watching sport, it's really hard to have any complaints about motion smoothness. The VA-type panel used here does show slight smearing, natural for this panel type, but the excellent Motionflow motion smoothing algorithms come to the rescue. In the system menu you'll find sliders for blur reduction and smoothing that let you precisely tailor the motion characteristics to your own preferences.

QN90F has almost everything to be the perfect television for gamers. There’s no need to remind anyone of features like four HDMI ports, VRR, ALLM, or refresh rates reaching even 165 Hz. The Game Motion Plus mode deserves great praise, as it is a unique motion smoother for games. Thanks to this, it adds a few “artificial” frames and makes the image generated from the console look smoother than it should. This is a very unique solution in the world of televisions – rival systems usually do not offer this – and that is why Samsung has had a strong selling point among gamers for years, even despite the lack of support for the still niche Dolby Vision in games.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung televisions from the 2025 lineup due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial feature for gamers, HGiG.

So why do we say "almost" the perfect screen? Unfortunately, like in recent Samsung models, we noticed an issue with the lack of the HGiG feature. This solution allows the television to leave the control of tone mapping up to the console, so that games look exactly as intended by the creators. What's worse, this feature was previously present and disappeared after software updates. Instead of minor improvements, we got a step back. It’s a shame, because without this absence, the QN90F could truly be the ideal choice for gamers in the miniLED category.

Aside from a fairly serious design misstep in limiting the platform to just two full HDMI 2.1 ports, the Bravia 9 II offers almost all the key gaming features available on the market. Sony has already accustomed us to such a rich feature set in its previous models. The list of supported technologies is extensive. It includes automatic low-latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), and a fully correct implementation of the HGIG standard and the Dolby Vision format tailored for gamers.