Samsung S85F (WOLED) vs Samsung R95H Micro RGB

For the majority of the time, let's say in 90% of film scenes, viewers will see virtually no difference between the versions of the S85F. When small, but very bright light points appear on the screen – a lantern in a dark alley, an explosion, the sun breaking through the clouds – this WOLED panel (similar to the smaller S85F) performs exceptionally well. Our measurements indicated a peak brightness of around 750 nits. We can state with full confidence: this is a great result that guarantees fantastic HDR effects. The problem arises in a very specific, uncomfortable situation for any OLED. We're talking about the moment when the entire screen must light up at full power brightly. Examples include a scene with a white background, a skiing scene, or our test sequences (5) from the film The Meg. And here, unfortunately, the results diverge significantly to the detriment of the variant with the WOLED panel. Our measurement equipment was able to register a maximum brightness of around 250 to 300 nits in such conditions. To be clear: the same model with a QD-OLED panel in the same test is nearly twice as bright. The second matter: colours. And here, we also have to be honest – QD-OLED has a structural advantage. Why? It's simple. QD-OLED generates colours from three components (red, green, and blue) and does not require an additional white subpixel. The WOLED panel we are testing here uses that white subpixel mainly to boost overall brightness. The effect is that QD-OLED is able to show a slightly wider colour palette and the colours are somewhat "purer". But to be clear: it's not that the colours on this WOLED panel are bad! On the contrary, they are really very good. The coverage of the DCI-P3 film palette at 97% and 71% for the broader BT.2020 palette is still high-end. We just need to honestly admit that this few percentage points of advantage in colour coverage lies with QD-OLED technology and may be noticeable in very specific moments.

In terms of brightness the Samsung R95H shows that it is still a high-end TV, although the results are not always as spectacular as one might expect from a flagship Micro RGB model. In synthetic tests the TV can exceed 2400 nits, so it clearly has plenty of headroom. Crucially, it can maintain high brightness even when bright elements occupy a larger portion of the screen. In real cinematic scenes the situation is a little more complex. The R95H most often reaches around 1000–1400 nits, which still delivers a very good, powerful HDR effect. Bright sun, reflections or lights can look genuinely impressive, and the TV has enough power for HDR to be clearly distinguishable from standard SDR.

The problem appears mainly in very dark scenes with single, small light sources. Here the local dimming algorithm prioritises deep black and reducing halo over maximising the brightness of such elements. As a result, small highlights can be noticeably dimmed. Overall HDR therefore performs well, but not without limitations. The R95H has huge brightness headroom, especially in larger and brighter parts of the image, but in difficult dark scenes its capabilities are primarily limited by the way local dimming operates.

Colours

Colours were supposed to be the biggest revolution brought by RGB backlighting, and indeed the R95H shows considerable potential here. The assessment is not, however, as simple as synthetic measurements alone might suggest. On test patterns the TV performs superbly – BT.2020 coverage reaches almost 94%, and DCI-P3 98%, so particularly strongly saturated reds and greens can look truly impressive. The situation shifts somewhat when, instead of test patterns, we start measuring real film scenes. Then BT.2020 coverage falls to about 87%, and DCI-P3 to 93%. It seems that with more complex images the RGB zones are not always able to maintain the same high colour saturation as on simple charts. They remain saturated, but the advantage of the new backlight is no longer as large as the manufacturer’s figures might suggest.

When it comes to factory colour reproduction, our test sample in SDR mode suffered from a slight deficit of red and yellow colours. This resulted in a faint yellowish tint visible in shades of white. However, this is not the biggest problem with the S85F. As with the variant with a QD-OLED panel, the main issue with this model is the way it presents HDR content. When we look at the EOTF curve chart, it is easy to see that the television has quite significant problems with strong image clipping. Such behaviour causes the final image in many scenes to become very unnatural.

For assessing factory colour reproduction we naturally chose the Filmmaker mode, the setting that is supposed to be closest to how the picture was intended by the creators. Here, unfortunately, the R95H does not fully exploit the potential of its panel. The biggest problem in SDR concerns the gamma. The image is noticeably brightened across almost the entire range, which makes it lose some depth and look flatter than it should. The white balance itself is also not ideal; as brightness increases there is a red bias and a lack of blue, making the image too warm. This is especially visible in bright elements and skin tones, which can look more "reddish" than they should.

It looks similar in HDR. The EOTF curve is above the reference value for a significant part of the range, so the R95H again brightens the image compared with how it should look. Combined with the inaccurate white balance, this means the colours here are also not as precise as we would expect from a TV of this class. The factory Filmmaker mode is therefore not the R95H's strong suit. At first glance the picture may look impressive because it is bright and highly saturated, but in terms of fidelity to the source material there is still plenty of room for improvement.

After conducting calibration in Filmmaker mode, we managed to eliminate most of the unwanted effects. In SDR content, the television performs excellently, with its colour reproduction errors not exceeding a value of 2, which is an outstanding result. HDR content looks slightly worse, though still very good. Although we were able to eliminate the significant unnaturalness of the image caused by the excessively high EOTF curve, the most discerning observers may notice that it is not perfectly aligned. It runs slightly below the reference curve, which would suggest that the S85F has minor difficulties in showcasing all the details in the image. We must emphasise here that it is very unlikely that the average viewer will notice any shortcomings in the image. The final effect after calibration is evaluated as exemplary.

The R95H responds very well to calibration. In SDR we managed to set the white balance and gamma almost perfectly, and colour errors fell to a very low level. The difference compared with the factory settings is therefore substantial and after calibration the picture looks noticeably more natural. In HDR we can also make considerable improvements, particularly in terms of white balance and overall colour accuracy. The issue of managing brightness and colour saturation is somewhat different, though. At a certain point we run up against limitations inherent in the RGB backlight and local dimming. Individual zones must control both the brightness and the colour of the light simultaneously, so in more demanding scenes it is not always possible to achieve exactly the same saturation and brightness that the TV shows on simple test patterns. Calibration simply cannot completely overcome that. Despite this, after calibration the R95H delivers accurate image reproduction, and most of the errors we saw on the factory settings can be effectively eliminated.

The processing of tonal transitions (gradients) in the S85F is at a high level. The television effectively handles posterisation (the "banding" effect of colours), even with heavily compressed content, e.g., from streaming services. However, using this feature requires a certain compromise. We noticed that the noise reduction algorithm is quite aggressive – even at the lowest setting, it can eliminate natural film grain, which for many viewers is part of the film's aesthetics. The "Standard" setting seems to be a happy medium, not causing a noticeable loss of important details, which is why we can recommend it. However, we advise against using the "High" level, which, in addition to noise, also removes desirable details such as texture or structure of objects on the screen.

The upscaling process of lower resolution content works very well in the S85F. The image is sharpened and clear. The only minor imperfection we managed to observe is occasional, subtle aliasing on the edges. The television still exhibits characteristics typical of this manufacturer, namely active "overscan" (slight image enlargement). It is worth keeping this in mind, especially when watching older content, as it may result in minimal clipping of the original frame.

The Samsung R95H uses the new Micro RGB AI Processor, but in practice we didn't notice a big leap compared with the NQ4 AI Gen2 or Gen3 chips found in Samsung's other TVs. The upscaling itself still performs very well. The image is smoothed appropriately, yet retains plenty of sharpness and does not look overly soft. That's definitely one of Samsung's stronger points. It's a pity that with very low-resolution material you still can't completely disable overscan.

The processor also handles colour gradation well and can effectively smooth unwanted posterization. The noise reduction function is really effective, but you need to use it with care. At higher settings it can start to interfere quite heavily with the image and even remove natural film grain. For that reason it's best used only when the source material is actually heavily compressed.

S85F is a model with impressive speed. The use of a 120 Hz OLED panel ensures that dynamic scenes, both in games and during sports broadcasts, meet expectations: smoothly, sharply, and without loss of clarity. A key role here is played by the instant response time of the pixels, which is a natural advantage of OLED technology. Frame transitions are instantaneous, and the image remains clear even during the fastest camera movements. Moving objects, such as a ball on the pitch or a car in a chase scene, are clear and devoid of the characteristic motion blur associated with LCD panels (the so-called "ghosting").

Samsung R95H has a 165 Hz panel, so its motion handling is really good. At 120 Hz, for example when gaming on a console or watching sport, motion blur is minimal, and when connected to a PC you can use the full 165 Hz and further improve motion clarity. However, bear in mind it is still a VA panel, so it does not respond as instantly as OLED. You may sometimes notice a faint trail behind a moving object, but from a normal viewing distance this is unlikely to be bothersome. For films and TV shows you can also use the adjustable motion smoothing. You can keep the more cinematic 24 fps look or gradually smooth the motion if you prefer a smoother picture. Samsung gives plenty of flexibility here, so you can easily choose a setting to suit your own preferences.

The 85F has practically everything on board to become the dream screen for gaming. It features four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Additionally, there's a super-detailed Game Bar, which clearly displays all the key parameters. However, the real gem is the Game Motion Plus feature. This motion smoother dedicated to games makes animations more pleasant to the eye while only slightly increasing input lag. This is a rare and well-working combination, for which Samsung deserves great applause.

Now for the moment where we have to complain a bit. The lack of Dolby Vision in Samsung TVs is already a standard, so there's no point in holding out hope (unless something changes in the future). Unfortunately, it's much harder to explain the disappearance of support for HGiG after one of the software updates. HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) is a key mode that allows for precise brightness representation in HDR games, according to the creators' intent. Without it, HDR calibration on consoles becomes less precise, potentially leaving us with images that are too dark in the shadows or excessively blown out in the bright areas. Perhaps Samsung will fix this in the next update – we have high hopes for that. Because if HGiG returns, the S85F will become nearly the perfect TV for gamers.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung TVs from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which has restored the HGiG feature essential for gamers.

In terms of gaming the Samsung R95H is almost a complete TV. When you connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM, and the TV also works correctly with HGiG. The only larger omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung simply does not support, as with its other televisions. There is also the Game Bar, already seen on other Samsung models, which lets you quickly check the frame rate, VRR status or HDR format and change the most important settings without leaving the game. You can also brighten darker parts of the picture or change the screen aspect ratio.

Samsung also offers Game Motion Plus, a motion-smoothing function developed specifically for games. It makes most sense in titles running at 30 fps, where it can noticeably improve smoothness and make camera movement feel much more pleasant. You should remember, though, that this comes at the cost of higher input lag (about 60 ms), so it is probably not the best choice for online or more fast-paced games. It's also worth mentioning the Gaming Hub, which lets you run some games directly from the cloud without connecting a console. In terms of gamer-focused features, it is therefore hard to find any major shortcomings in the R95H.