SAMSUNG S90F (WOLED) vs Sony BRAVIA 5 (XR5)

Does the S90F handle not only black, but also bright parts of the image? Definitely yes. Tales of OLEDs as “dark screens” can slowly be regarded as a myth. The Samsung S90F, like the LG C5 based on a very similar panel, achieves brightness exceeding 1000 nits. This is a value entirely sufficient to enjoy impressive and dynamic HDR imagery – both in films and series. Most of the scenes we tested look superb, with well-defined highlights and high contrast. Of course, OLED technology still has its limitations – in very bright, full-screen sequences, such as the test pattern from the film The Meg (picture 5), the television may noticeably dim the image. However, it should be emphasized that such scenes are rare. It can be considered that the HDR effect is good enough that even mid-range OLED models like the S90F can provide a cinematic experience in the home living room.

Looking at similar results in terms of blackness and contrast, we expected equally stable performance as last year's model when it came to HDR content. Unfortunately – and this needs to be said outright – there has been a regression here that is hard to overlook. The paradox is that the peak brightness of the Bravia 5 is impressive: in our synthetic tests, the television achieved around 1000 nits in HDR. Sounds great, right? The problem is that this power does not always translate effectively to all film scenes. When small, point-like elements appear on the screen, something that had usually been polished with surgical precision in Sony's case is this time noticeably lacking. The algorithms attempt to maintain deep black around small objects, but the side effect is that details can be dimmed to such an extent that they become barely visible. Just consider the example of the film Sicario 2 – in some scenes there, small light sources practically disappeared, as if someone had covered them with dark film.

Of course, not everything looks so dramatic. In simpler, brighter scenes, where the image is filled with more light, the Bravia 5 shows that it can shine: literally and figuratively. Then the television achieves values in the range of 600–800 nits, which we saw both in synthetic tests and during film screenings. The impression is really positive; the brightness adds dynamism, and the colours appear vibrant and fresh. However, there remains a certain dissonance. We feel a slight confusion because evidently something has gone in a direction it shouldn’t have. Technological progress – more zones, greater backlighting power – has not been supported by the well-crafted image management that we usually associate with Sony. Fortunately, there are elements that have not been worsened and are, in fact, at a very high level. We are talking about colour reproduction. Thanks to the application of the PFS filter, the colour palette coverage is excellent – around 97% DCI-P3 and 75% BT.2020. These are values that allow for truly broad colour reproduction, giving films a sense of naturalness and cinematic quality.

The Samsung S90F, like most modern televisions, offers many picture modes, but – in line with our testing tradition – we assessed it in the best one, which is the Filmmaker mode. This way, the image looks significantly more natural than in the default, often oversaturated settings. It was neither overly saturated nor artificially muted – just closer to what should be seen. Of course, "more correct" does not mean "ideal". Unfortunately, our S90F unit had considerable issues with white balance, especially in the blue range, resulting in a slightly yellowish filter being applied to most scenes. Someone might say it looks more "cinematic" – because it is warmer – but let's not kid ourselves, George Lucas did not film Star Wars in sepia 😉 (you will find the comparison with the scene as always below).

Additionally, in HDR materials, there was a noticeable issue with brightness management. The EOTF curve showed a clear "spike" in brightness – the television brightened the image more than it should have, which made some effects look overly intense and diverged from the reference. Fortunately, some of these problems can be eliminated through professional calibration – you will read about its effects later in the review.

Sony Bravia 5 was of course tested in the best possible mode, which is the Cinema mode. Right out of the box, it provides the most natural colours, definitely better than anything offered by the "eco" or "dynamic" modes, which are more suited for a showroom display than for a living room. However, the Cinema mode alone does not mean we can always expect cinematic picture quality. With SDR content, we had virtually no major complaints – the slightly warmed white balance gave the scenes a somewhat golden tone, but it was nothing that was visually jarring. However, the problem arose with HDR material. Here, the colour reproduction simply looked poor. The white balance was heavily skewed – with an excess of blue and a clear lack of red. At times, it resembled the store's "super vibrant image" mode, where everything is overexposed and artificially boosted.

This situation also made brightness management seem overly aggressive. The EOTF graph clearly showed that the television had problems with overexposing many scenes right out of the box. And while we know what Sony televisions are usually capable of, it was difficult to remain indifferent here – thus we quickly decided to go for calibration.

After calibration, we managed to eliminate practically all the previously mentioned errors. Older films in SDR quality finally look as they should – without the sepia effect or artificial aging of the image. The atmosphere of the classics returns to its rightful place (you’re welcome, Star Wars fans), and the colours no longer resemble an Instagram filter.

One of the key changes was also the improvement of brightness characteristics in HDR content. We managed to control the EOTF curve in almost a reference manner. Yes, the most demanding users may spot minimal deviations in brightness, but honestly – most viewers won’t even notice that. And it's no wonder, because the vast majority of errors are below a ΔE value of 3, which is below the threshold of visibility. After calibration, the S90F (WOLED) truly becomes an excellent display – one that provides nearly perfect picture quality.

After calibration, the situation changed dramatically. We managed to adjust the white balance so that entire scenes began to look more natural, and the image gained cohesion and elegance. In HDR, we finally got rid of that unwanted clipping effect that had previously marred some shots. Suddenly, it turned out that the Bravia 5 can extract significantly more from films than the “out of the box” impression suggested. Indeed, if we look at the graphs and compare them with the patterns, we can see that the beginning of the EOTF curve slightly deviates from the reference line. However, this is not so much a calibration error as it is a natural limitation of Mini-LED technology, which cannot be bypassed. Sony, instead of clinging to perfect black, prefers to prioritise the visibility of details – and in practice, it's hard to disagree with that. We would rather see the texture of the material on the screen than a pitch-black blob where all nuances are lost.

The calibration itself was truly beneficial. After about an hour spent on the settings, we felt that the image resembled that from the best cinema halls – of course on a home scale, but with the same sense of quality and refinement. And in such moments, we remember why we like Sony televisions: because when we fine-tune them, they can reward us with an image that captivates for long hours.

Digital Image Processing in the S90F:

Fortunately, Samsung, as in most of its models, effectively manages the unwanted posterisation effect in the S90F. The feature responsible for this aspect is noise reduction, which does a decent job of smoothing tonal transitions and eliminating unnatural colour connections – of course, within its limitations. Unfortunately, it operates rather aggressively, so using it comes with compromises. In addition to improving gradation, it can also remove film grain or gently soften facial features. In this case, the choice is yours – do you prefer a more "clean" image, or do you want to preserve the original texture of the material?

Image Scaling in the S90F:

In this year's model, Samsung implemented its own AI processor – NQ4 Gen3, which does quite well with upscaling. In our test scenes, the television effectively "pulled up" lower quality towards artificial 4K – the image was more pleasant to view, and the differences in sharpness between native and scaled content were minimal. Unfortunately, behind all this AI marketing facade lies a certain shortcoming. The S90F struggles with overscan. If you reach for truly archival materials – e.g. a VHS tape of your parents' wedding – you must expect that the lower part of the image may be cut off. The image adaptation function to resolution simply does not work here as it should.

Bravia 5 carries within it the genes of Sony, which have remained untouched – and thank goodness for that, because we are talking about absolutely remarkable digital image processing. It is no coincidence that for years it has been believed that it is televisions of this brand that set the standard for how a screen should handle lower quality materials. If someone still watches classic television, old films or YouTube in lower resolutions, here they get equipment that can transform such content into an unexpectedly pleasant experience. On board, we find several tools worth activating. The first of these is "digital noise reduction". Set to a medium level, it works perfectly – smoothing tonal transitions, which usually cause the most trouble in low-quality materials, while not introducing any artificial artifacts. Importantly, it also does not remove the filmic character, meaning the natural grain that is intentionally present in many productions. Another advantage of the Bravia 5 is the upscaling capabilities of the XR processor. The image displayed after scaling is soft, yet at the same time sharp and clear. The contours of characters are clearly visible, while backgrounds retain their structure without excessive artificial sharpening. It’s hard to find a better television for watching lower quality materials – Bravia 5 only confirms why Sony is regarded as a benchmark in this field.

The S90F really handles motion excellently – after all, it’s an OLED with a 144 Hz panel, so sports and games look absolutely stunning on it. The image is fluid, clear, and there’s no room for any ghosting or blurring that sometimes plagues cheaper LCDs.

The television is also equipped with motion smoothness settings, allowing you to customise everything to your preference. We have motion blur reduction and judder reduction – you can set it so that the image is super smooth (even to that soap opera effect), or more cinematic, with the classic 24-frame 'choppiness'. The choice is yours; Samsung doesn’t impose anything.

Bravia 5 received a 120 Hz panel, which in itself sounds like an invitation to watch sports, fast matches, or spectacular action films. However, the real magic begins when MotionFlow – Sony's proprietary smoothness technology – comes into play. Thanks to it, we can adjust the character of the image to our own preferences. The "smoothness" slider allows you to transition from a cinematic feel with a slight "jitter" of the film frame to a nearly theatrical fluidity, where every ball in the match glides across the screen as if on a string. The higher the value, the smoother and more fluid it is; the lower it is, the more cinematic and natural it feels. In the options, we will also find an additional setting that Sony has called "clarity". This is nothing more than the BFI function (i.e., inserting black frames), which is meant to improve motion sharpness. It sounds great in theory, but in practice, one must use it with great caution. Why? Because all higher settings cause brightness drops of up to half, and in some cases, contour doubling also appears. Therefore, if we wish to use it, we recommend the lowest possible level – "1" out of the available ten. This way, we gain a bit better motion clarity without risking a loss of half the image brightness.

When it comes to gaming features – the S90F has absolutely nothing to fault. Aside from the lack of Dolby Vision, which is already the norm for Samsung. The television operates at 144 Hz, has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so you can easily connect more than one console or PC. Onboard, we also find the Game Bar – a practical tool that allows you to quickly glance at picture settings, VRR status, ALLM mode, and other useful options. Game Motion Plus also deserves a mention – Samsung's proprietary motion enhancer that is the only one truly functioning sensibly in games. The image appears smoother, but without any artificial effects or slowdowns.

It is also worth mentioning the HGiG feature, which – much to our slight surprise – works correctly. We're mentioning this because Samsung clearly broke something in one of the last updates, and in some models, the option responsible for HGiG simply... disappears from the menu. Setting it up becomes practically impossible. Fortunately, our S90F unit did not have this issue, but the situation is dynamic, so it's worth keeping this in mind and regularly checking for updates and information from the manufacturer.

In the Bravia 5, there is a significant improvement compared to the X90L model from two years ago. The television offers literally everything its predecessor had, but this time the issues that could frustrate gamers have been fixed. The problems with setting variable refresh rate (VRR) have disappeared, and there are no longer any issues with configuring HDR content in HGiG mode. In short: we get hardware that simply works as it should, without any fuss. Therefore, the Bravia 5 has everything you could expect from a modern gaming television – and it can be reasonably advertised with the slogan “ready for PS5.” This is a statement we couldn't make about the X90L model. Well done, Sony!

It’s just a shame that this relatively high-priced model lacks a full set of four HDMI 2.1 ports. In everyday use, this won’t be a problem for most people, but if someone has a console, soundbar, and additional equipment hooked up via HDMI, at some point there will be a need to choose or juggle the cables.