Samsung S90H (WOLED) vs Samsung S85H

Samsung S90H in the WOLED variant is still an exceptionally bright TV for its price bracket, although compared with the QD-OLED version it is slightly dimmer. The difference is not as significant as in last year’s F series, where the gap could reach as much as 500 nits. Here the parameters of both panels are very similar, and differences in peak brightness are only in the order of 100–150 nits. In small-area measurements the S90H on the WOLED panel easily reaches levels close to 1500 nits. Such a reserve of power allows HDR dynamics to be reproduced phenomenally; all highlights, light reflections and explosions have the necessary punch, exactly as the creators intended in the editing studio. As with most OLED displays, when a very bright scene fills the whole screen protection systems activate and brightness naturally falls to around 700 nits. It is worth emphasising that this is still an excellent result on the market. Often noticeably better than many Mini LED screens in the same segment.

Colour gamut coverage

The biggest difference between the two S90H variants lies in colour reproduction and saturation. This results directly from the different construction of the WOLED panel, which uses an additional white subpixel. As a consequence, colours at very high brightness do not reach the same intense saturation, and the volume of the wide gamut is somewhat more limited than in QD-OLED. That does not change the fact that in everyday use these differences will be hard for most viewers to spot. The DCI-P3 space we measured reaches nearly 99% on the WOLED panel, which means that in the vast majority of real film scenes both variants will present an almost identical picture. The true distance only reveals itself in rarer, exceptionally demanding productions that use the ultra-wide BT.2020 gamut. Due to the specifics of the WOLED panel’s construction, coverage of that standard is about 15% lower compared with the S90HAT with a QD-OLED panel, so the brightest, heavily lit colours in HDR may appear slightly less vivid.

Interestingly, the new WOLED SE panel has brought a slight improvement in brightness to the S85 series. In the same movie scenes last year's model stayed closer to around 700 nits, while the S85H can reach roughly 800 nits. This isn't a change that completely transforms HDR perception, but that extra brightness is noticeable, especially with pinpoint highlights, specular reflections and stronger special effects. Around 800 nits is already a very good result for an entry-level OLED and in most films it's enough for HDR to have the proper impact. Bright elements can stand out clearly against perfect black, and it's still that contrast that does most of the work. You do need to bear in mind a typical limitation of organic panel technology. When a very bright scene covers a large part of the screen, brightness can drop by almost half. That's the effect of the panel's protection mechanisms, which limit its power with large bright areas.

Colours

The S85H can deliver very pleasing, saturated colours and in most HDR films it looks really good in that respect. We measured around 95% DCI-P3 coverage, so the palette most commonly used in movies is reproduced to a very high degree. Skin tones, greens and stronger reds still have the right intensity, and in normal viewing it's hard to fault them. Only when you look wider at BT.2020 do the limitations of the new OLED SE panel become apparent. Coverage was about 70%, a little less than previous-generation WOLEDs and noticeably less than QD-OLED panels. In films this is not a big loss, because most productions rarely use such highly saturated colours. You're more likely to notice it in games, where creators often opt for more intense colours.

In Filmmaker mode, which we strongly recommend switching on straight out of the box, the S90H offers very good factory colour tuning. Colours are natural and faithful to the creators' intent, without the irritating oversaturation found in more aggressive presets. However, as is often the case without full calibration, no two units are identical. In our test the white balance was slightly lacking in blue, causing the image to lean a little towards warmer, yellowish tones. This was most noticeable in bright scenes, such as the snowy sequences from Star Wars. Additionally, the gamma curve was slightly low at 2.2, which produced a minor lift in shadow detail. In HDR mode the tuning was somewhat better, showing only a slight undersaturation in the red region.

For colour evaluation we naturally chose Filmmaker mode, and in SDR our S85H sample was very well set up from the factory. The largest deviation is in the white balance, where, as brightness rises, there is a slight lack of blue. In practice this means whites and greys have a subtly warmer tint than they should. However, this is not a major fault and during normal viewing it is unlikely to be very noticeable. Gamma also stays close to the reference value, so the image is neither overly bright nor unnecessarily dim. The S85H’s SDR picture quality is therefore very good straight out of the box. A few more imperfections appear in HDR. Here the white balance drifts more with increasing brightness, blue starts to dominate and the red component is clearly lacking. This also translates into larger errors for some colours. They do not yet amount to shifts that completely change the character of the image, but in direct comparison with a reference the difference is easier to spot. Overall, Filmmaker mode is a very good starting point before professional calibration.

After a full calibration it’s fair to say the S90H in WOLED guise looks almost perfect. In SDR mode colour inaccuracies drop to ultra-low levels and Delta E values very rarely exceed 2. That’s a phenomenal result, so if you care about perfectly faithful colour reproduction it’s definitely worth considering calibration. The calibrated HDR mode also performs very well, with the white balance stabilised and earlier deviations eliminated. After professional fine-tuning it’s really hard to find anything to criticise, because the TV delivers an image with almost reference-level naturalness and three-dimensionality. The slightly lower score in this category compared with the QD-OLED variant is solely due to the aforementioned limitation in saturation in extremely bright scenes; the tuning options and colour fidelity themselves are at the highest level.

Calibration yields very good results on the S85H. First and foremost, it was possible to set the white balance almost perfectly, which removes the slightly too warm character of the image that was previously visible in SDR. Colour reproduction itself also improves markedly, with most errors falling to a very low level and in everyday viewing it is hard to speak of any noticeable inaccuracies. You can also make significant improvements in HDR, although some issues remain due to the TV's inherent characteristics. The S85H does not always hold the brightness curve perfectly; the darkest parts are slightly lifted, and as you approach the panel's limits small deviations are visible in the brightest areas. Added to this is the limited coverage of the wider BT.2020 gamut, which of course cannot be overcome by any calibration. Despite this, the end result is very good and, after calibration, the S85H can produce a really well-tuned, natural image.

In terms of posterisation reduction itself, Samsung has kept the solutions known from last year’s models. The dedicated gradient-smoothing function performs quite well and can effectively mask unwanted tonal banding, which is useful on a WOLED panel that is slightly more prone to banding. However, you should be aware of its aggressive behaviour. This mechanism, alongside the artefacts themselves, can clean up fine film grain and gently soften detail. Ultimately it is a matter of compromise, but if you want an absolutely faithful reproduction, it is safer to leave this option off.

Similarly, in the area of scaling it is difficult to call this a breakthrough. The S90H uses the same NQ4 Gen3 processor as its predecessor, so the upscaling quality was almost identical. The chip sharpens lower-resolution material very well, extracting a satisfying level of detail. Samsung still has not dealt with the longstanding overscan issue, though. With some older recordings or archive footage the edges of the image can be slightly cropped. It’s a minor flaw, but it’s a pity the manufacturer still hasn’t eliminated it.

Samsung has fitted the S85H with the same proprietary AI NQ4 Gen2 processor used in last year’s S85F and, in terms of digital image processing, it performs quite well. Upscaling is one of the model’s stronger points. Lower-resolution material is well sharpened, edges look natural, and the picture does not feel overly artificial. One caveat is a typical Samsung trait: at very low resolutions you cannot completely disable overscan, so the TV may slightly crop the left edge of the image. The "noise reduction" function also works very well, smoothing weaker tonal transitions. The processor can effectively remove posterisation and other imperfections visible in lower-quality material. However, you need to be careful with the strength of this function, because Samsung can be quite aggressive here. When it is activated, small image details, such as the texture of skin or clothing, can start to disappear along with the unwanted artefacts.

In terms of motion handling, the S90H is simply excellent. This year's panel offers a boosted refresh rate of up to 165 Hz, though in practice the benefit will mainly be for gamers connecting a high-end PC. For films, series or sports broadcasts such a high refresh rate makes no difference and the picture looks exactly the same as at the standard 120 Hz. Regardless of the source, however, the OLED panel's lightning-fast response time does its job, so motion is clean and the ghosting or smearing familiar from LCD screens simply does not occur here.

The S85H uses an OLED panel, so it performs excellently for motion blur. Pixels respond virtually instantly, so moving objects do not leave the characteristic trailing seen on some LCD TVs. This is especially noticeable in sport and fast-paced games, where the picture remains very clean even during rapid motion. The panel itself runs at 120 Hz. That is more than sufficient for films, TV series, sport and console gaming. It is a pity Samsung did not include a higher refresh rate aimed at PC gamers, as more and more TVs now offer 144 or even 165 Hz at 4K. However, that does not affect motion handling in films or sport.

You also have a classic motion-smoothing feature with two settings, blur reduction and judder reduction. So you can decide whether films should retain their cinematic 24 frames per second or whether you prefer to smooth them a little. The S85H gives plenty of freedom here, and the interpolation works well and, with sensible settings, does not generate too many artefacts.

Players should feel at home with the S90H, because Samsung has left few reasons to complain in that respect. The TV has four HDMI 2.1 ports, each of which supports VRR, ALLM and high refresh rates. There’s also the Game Bar, a handy menu that lets you quickly check key parameters and change settings without leaving the game. Importantly, Samsung has also improved HGiG mode. In last year’s models it could cause problems when used with a console, but on the S90H it now works as it should. What really stands out against the competition is the Game Motion Plus feature. It’s a special motion smoothing mode for games that works best with titles running at 30 or 60 fps. Motion becomes noticeably smoother, while latency remains at a reasonable level. In our measurements it was under 50 ms, so gaming is still comfortable. That’s important, because on many TVs enabling a similar smoothing feature causes such a large increase in input lag that controls become noticeably sluggish. Samsung has managed to find a good compromise here. There’s still no Dolby Vision Gaming, but in practice Game Motion Plus may prove to be a much more useful feature.

The Samsung S85H is very well prepared for gaming, essentially regardless of whether you connect a console or a PC. The manufacturer hasn't skimped on ports and all four HDMI ports support full HDMI 2.1. That means you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM without worrying which input your console is plugged into. With multiple devices that matters a lot, because you don't have to choose between a console, a PC or a soundbar connected via eARC. The feature set itself is very comprehensive. The S85H supports VRR, FreeSync and automatic game mode switching, and Samsung also offers its extensive Game Bar where you can quickly check key signal parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only notable omission is Dolby Vision, which will matter mainly to Xbox owners. This, incidentally, is typical of Samsung TVs. Game Motion Plus performs very well, and it's one of the features that have set Samsung TVs apart for years. It smooths motion in games running at 30 or 60 fps, but does so without as much increase in input lag as a conventional motion interpolator. In practice, with slower-paced games, racing titles or action games this can really improve the perceived motion, especially if you're sensitive to low frame rates.