Samsung The Frame LS03D vs Samsung Q7F

Samsung The Frame LS03D performs really well with brightness. Results of 700 nits make bright elements on the screen look striking and detailed, whether they illuminate the entire screen or appear as small points of light against a dark background. In more demanding scenes, like the fourth sequence from the film Sicario 2, the black levels are average, but we have already discussed this in the section on contrast. As for brightness – the television definitely excels here. An additional advantage is the quantum dot coating, which is QLED technology. Thanks to this, the colour palette coverage has been improved, although The Frame does not stand out in this regard compared to the competition.

Unfortunately, the Samsung Q7F is not one of the brighter televisions, and this has a direct impact on the quality of HDR films. The peak brightness of the panel is just around 250 nits, which is definitely too low to speak of true cinematic experiences. In practice, the image in HDR content does not differ significantly from classic SDR, making it difficult to talk about any "wow effect" that usually accompanies us when watching such films. During tests of film scenes, the image simply looked dark, and the brightness almost always hovered around the aforementioned 250 nits. The worst performances were with shots that included small, intensely shining elements – the global dimming technique used reacted very aggressively in these cases, dimming the entire screen to maintain the effect of black. However, it is worth noting the presence of the QLED coating that expands the colour palette. For a budget QLED model, the Q7F performs quite decently here: the coverage of the DCI-P3 palette is about 93%, and BT.2020 reaches 70%. This means that, despite the low brightness, the colours can still look quite vivid and attractive.

Samsung offers several picture modes on its televisions, but undoubtedly the Filmmaker Mode is the one that should provide the most natural representation of content. Unfortunately, as is often the case with mass production, the differences between units can be considerable, and our tested model was not free from a few issues.

In the case of SDR content, the white balance leaned heavily towards red, with a slight boost in blue. This effect was particularly noticeable in comparison images – for example, in a photograph of a boy whose face was unnaturally flushed. The gamma, or brightness characteristic, also did not perform perfectly – the image was slightly brightened, which detracted from its depth.

In 4K HDR content, the white balance was again dominated by red, this time in combination with green. Meanwhile, blue clearly lost intensity, which was easy to notice on the Color Checker palette, where colours began to "drift" in the wrong direction. The EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in HDR content, showed that the television has a tendency to excessively brighten the image, especially in the darkest elements of scenes.

Overall, while it did not look terrible, it definitely required adjustment. Fortunately, Samsung offers extensive calibration options, which provides the chance for a significant improvement in image quality. Therefore, we proceeded with professional calibration to extract the full potential from this television.

The factory colour accuracy of the Samsung Q7F is certainly not one of its strong points. In Filmmaker mode, which theoretically should be the closest to neutral, the issue with white balance immediately stands out. There is too much red on the screen, while blue is lacking. The consequences of this are very easy to notice – white, instead of being neutral, takes on warm, almost slightly orange tones. In the long run, this makes the entire image look somewhat unnatural, and bright areas of the scene may seem unrealistic. The problems become even more evident in HDR content. The graphs show that the television has significant errors in the Color Checker palette, which translates to visible inaccuracies in the actual image. Practically, this means that the colours are not presented as they should be. The Q7F also heavily manipulates brightness; darker elements are overly boosted, losing their cinematic quality, while bright parts may appear dimmed. As a result, the image seems flattened, and contrast, instead of helping to bring out details, only highlights its own limitations. This is particularly frustrating in HDR material, where every detail matters. In scenes where there should be a subtle play of light and shadow, the Q7F either oversteps by brightening too much or conversely – suppresses elements that should draw the eye. This causes the image to lose its depth, and instead of cinematic realism, we have a rather simplified effect.

After professional calibration, the Filmmaker Mode shows its full potential. The white balance in HD content is exemplary – errors at the level of 0.5 indicate almost perfect colour reproduction accuracy. The image now looks natural, and the colours are precisely as they should be. In 4K HDR content, the effect is not quite as perfect, but it still maintains a really high level. The colours are vibrant, well-saturated, and the overall picture quality can be impressive.

So where does the problem arise, given our praise for colour reproduction? Unfortunately, the entire experience is marred by brightness characteristics. The gamma in HD content looks decent, but in 4K HDR it's not as good. The EOTF curve shows that the television excessively brightens certain parts of the image, which is a result of construction limitations. The lack of local dimming means that the television cannot accurately control the differences between the brightest and darkest areas of the screen. This is a barrier that simply cannot be overcome in this model.

Nonetheless, after calibration, Samsung The Frame LS03D offers excellent colour reproduction, particularly in HD content, and the overall appearance is considerably better than before the settings were corrected.

After professional calibration, we managed to bring the Q7F into order – at least in terms of SDR content. The picture in this mode looks really good: the white balance has been set correctly, the colours appear natural, and errors in the colour palette have dropped to levels that are practically invisible to the eye. Gamma behaves exemplary, and the only minor drawback is a slight lightening of smaller elements, which results from the lack of local dimming. For everyday watching of television or films in standard quality, the Q7F performs surprisingly well.

It was significantly harder to tame HDR content. Despite adjusting the white balance, the television still heavily manipulates brightness, causing scenes to sometimes look unnatural – what should be subtly darker can be overly brightened, and bright areas of the picture can occasionally appear dimmed. The end result is better than in factory settings, but it is evident that the structural limitations of the Q7F do not allow for the full potential of HDR materials to be fully realised.

It’s time to check how Samsung The Frame LS03D performs with older, lower-quality materials. We already know that the fluidity of tonal transitions is at a very high level here, so we were curious to see how the television would handle smoothing them out.

The noise reduction feature in the "Standard" setting does its job well – tonal transitions are noticeably smoothed out, and at the same time, the image does not lose too much detail. However, it is worth noting that this effect also smooths out film grain, so its use will be a matter of individual preference.

When it comes to image scaling, the television also performed really well. The test chart turned out solid – the model was reproduced correctly, with clear details. The branches in the background, though slightly frayed in places, generally appear natural and do not stand out as imperfections.

Upscaling and digital image processing on the Q7F is a bit of a sine wave. On one hand, we have really nice upscaling – weaker sources look better than one might expect. The image becomes clearer, sharper, and even older films or terrestrial television perform adequately. Samsung has been strong in this area for years, and the Q7F confirms that. On the other hand… there are some issues. The television has a problem with overscan – part of the image is simply cut off, and it doesn't look very elegant. Additionally, we were let down by a feature called "noise reduction", which should improve the smoothness of tonal transitions in weaker materials. In other Samsungs, it works relatively well, but here it makes practically no difference – the banding in gradients is still there. It's a bit of a shame, as one could have expected more from a model that is aimed at users looking for a display for SDR content.

Firstly, it is worth noting that the model we tested in the size of 55 inches, like the 65, 75 and 85-inch versions, is equipped with a 120 Hz panel. Unfortunately, the 43 and 50-inch variants of this series only offer 60 Hz panels, which is worth keeping in mind when making a purchase. As for improving motion fluidity, the television offers a feature called “Picture Clarity”. This is a classic motion smoother that gives users the ability to adjust it using two sliders:

Motion blur reduction – this controls the sharpening of the image in dynamic scenes. The higher the value, the less blur during quick camera movements or moving objects. However, overly aggressive settings may cause the image to become unnatural, appearing like a “soap opera”.

Judder reduction – this slider influences the smoothness of frame playback, particularly in materials with a lower frame rate, such as films (24 fps). Higher settings can smooth motion but may also lead to excessive “plasticity” of the image.

Both sliders operate on a scale from 0 to 10, allowing for precise adjustment of the effect to one’s own preferences. It is worth experimenting with the settings to find the perfect balance between fluidity and a natural appearance of the image. We recommend setting them as shown in the picture.

Ghosting and motion smoothness in the Q7F are probably the most budget-friendly elements of this television. The 60 Hz panel makes itself known, with noticeable ghosting, especially in dynamic scenes, and it's rather difficult to regard this model as equipment designed for watching sports or playing fast-paced games. In tests with the little green man, a long trail was left behind, similarly to how a ball in a football match would leave streaks.

On the plus side, the presence of motion smoothing must be acknowledged. In films, it actually makes a difference – especially since most material is recorded at 24 frames per second. Here we can decide whether we prefer a more "cinematic" image, with slight judder typical of cinema, or a smoother, more "television" approach. This part works quite well and helps to improve the viewing experience for series and films.

The Frame LS03D in the 2024 version has been equipped with four HDMI ports, but only one of them supports the 2.1 standard with a bandwidth of 40 Gb/s. This is important information if we plan to connect more than one device that requires a 4K@120 Hz signal – for example, two consoles or a console and a gaming PC.

In terms of features for gamers, The Frame truly has a lot to boast about. Here we find ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), and HGiG. It is worth highlighting that HGiG has been very well implemented here, which is particularly important as the television does not support Dolby Vision in games (which is only available on Xbox consoles). In this case, HGiG turns out to be a better standard for gaming.

Samsung has also not forgotten about features that enhance gaming comfort. Game Bar is an advanced panel for gamers that allows for quick adjustment of screen settings without the need to dig through the television's menu. We can even change the aspect ratio from 16:9 to a panoramic 21:9, which may be a significant advantage for some gamers.

However, Samsung's biggest ace up its sleeve is the Game Motion Plus feature. This is a special smoothness enhancer dedicated to games that adds additional frames of animation without significantly affecting input lag. The effect is truly noticeable – the image appears much smoother, which fans of dynamic titles will particularly appreciate.

In summary – Samsung The Frame LS03D is a television that offers a solid set of features for gamers. While the limitation to one HDMI 2.1 port may be a downside, the rest of the solutions makes gaming on this television a truly enjoyable experience.

Features for gamers in the Samsung Q7F is a topic that evokes quite a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand – no sensible person expected miracles here, as it is after all a 60 Hz television and it was clear from the start that it would not be a device for squeezing the maximum out of a console or PC. On the other hand, since the manufacturer promised specific solutions in promotional materials, it is natural that we wanted to see them in practice. At the outset, it’s quite decent. The automatic game mode (ALLM) works, so there’s no need to manually fiddle with the settings; the console automatically switches the television to low-latency mode. Additionally, we have the Game Bar, which looks impressive and allows you to check a few basic parameters without leaving the game. And this is where the good news ends.

The biggest problem with the Q7F is VRR, or rather its absence. Yes, an appropriate icon appears in the menu, and you can even see it in the Game Bar, but throughout the entire test, the feature remained inactive and could not be enabled in any way. The situation with HGiG is even more painful; this option was indeed available at the beginning, but after a software update, it completely vanished, which is simply unprofessional. Therefore, the Q7F is only suited for the absolute basics. Of course, you can turn on the console, play some calmer titles, and enjoy low input lag, but if someone is counting on more advanced features that the manufacturer promised, they will be disappointed. This is not a television to buy with gaming in mind, and it's better to be aware of that before making a purchase.