Samsung The Frame Pro vs PHILIPS PUS9010 (IPS)

Samsung The Frame Pro is one of the relatively bright televisions. In synthetic tests, we managed to achieve values around 900 nits, which is quite a respectable result for a lifestyle model. In full-screen scenes, such as the board from the film The Meg or the initial sequence in Life of Pi, brightness maintained a level of 700–800 nits. These values allow you to fully enjoy the HDR effects and convey their cinematic magic. However, the situation becomes complicated when smaller, point light sources appear on the screen. The edge lighting used here, equipped with the ability to locally dim entire strips, does not manage these well. Sometimes, small elements are overly dimmed, which weakens the effect, or conversely – they are significantly brightened, but at the cost of losing the depth of black in that part of the image. This can be compared to light beams reminiscent of a laser beam spreading in dense fog – the effect is noticeable and bright, yet at the same time, it is quite unnatural and distracting. Fortunately, the colour aspect performs better. Thanks to the use of a quantum dot filter (QLED), colours are saturated, and the reproduction of the DCI-P3 palette exceeds 92%. Generally, films or series watched in HDR on The Frame Pro showcase a rich colour palette, even if contrast and the functioning of the dimming algorithms can sometimes distract us.

In the Philips PUS9010 version with an IPS panel, the HDR brightness unfortunately performs worse than in the previously tested 55-inch model with a VA panel. The difference reaches about 100 nits, which is quite noticeable given the relatively low values. While the VA version could exceed 500 nits, here the maximum brightness is around 400 nits. This level still allows for watching movies and series in HDR, especially on streaming platforms, but the effects are clearly muted. Bright elements do not have the same impact, and scenes requiring high luminance appear less impressive. On the positive side, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is commendable. The IPS version offers around 91%, which is about 5% more than the variant with a VA panel. This translates to somewhat better colour saturation in HDR content, despite the lower brightness. Colours can appear more vibrant and cohesive, especially in colourful scenes.

We achieved the best results, of course, in Filmmaker mode, which immediately showed that Samsung had put effort into the factory settings. In SDR content – the type most commonly viewed – The Frame Pro performed really well. The white balance and gamma were almost perfectly matched, giving the image a natural and cohesive appearance. Admittedly, there were some noticeable errors, particularly in skin tones and reds, which could be overly saturated, giving everything a slightly "warmed-up" character, but this didn’t significantly detract from the viewing experience in everyday use. For HDR content, the situation was similar regarding the white balance. This was at a good level; however, the biggest issue turned out to be brightness management. The EOTF curve was set in such a way that in many scenes, the image appeared blown out, with the brightest areas losing detail and turning into uniform patches of light. This severely undermined realism and caused the colours to appear overly sharpened. Fortunately, Samsung provides the option for manual adjustment of the curve in their televisions, so we opted for calibration, and its results can be seen below.

We assessed the colour reproduction, as always, on the factory settings, focusing on the movie mode, which for Philips usually provides the best starting point. This is also a good moment to demonstrate how much the same TV model can vary depending on the type of panel used. Looking at the white balance, the overall tendency remains similar to the variant with the VA panel. Excessive red in the whites is still noticeable, but in the tested unit with an IPS panel, there are also deficits in the blue channel. As a result, the image has a slightly different colour character, which can be clearly seen in the comparative materials. This is a very good example illustrating why ready-made settings downloaded from the internet do not always work even within the same model.

However, returning to the assessment itself, this unit performs quite well, especially with SDR content. Colour tests show correct saturation and consistency, with no glaring errors that could interfere with everyday viewing. In HDR materials, slight deficits in reds can already be noticed, but these are not flaws that spoil the overall perception of the image. The biggest limitations do not come directly from the colours, but rather from the white and black levels. The use of an IPS panel and slightly lowered gamma results in the image being slightly boosted in brightness, and the poor black levels further affect the perceived contrast. This makes the overall picture look brighter, but at the same time it loses depth, especially during evening viewing.

After calibration, the SDR mode looks absolutely perfect. We managed to eliminate the overly strong red saturation, which previously gave the image a somewhat excessively warm character. Colours have become more balanced, which resulted in a natural and pleasant reception of everyday content – from television to films and series from streaming or materials on YouTube. In HDR mode, the most work was required on the EOTF curve, which factory settings caused excessive brightening of the entire image. Calibration allowed us to largely "tame" this problem – the image stopped being overexposed, and details in bright areas became more visible. Of course, the limitations are set by the design of the television itself, as edge lighting reveals its constraints, and the smallest elements of light can still be overblown or blend into the background. However, this is a matter of technology, not just calibration. After the correction, The Frame Pro is significantly more enjoyable to watch, and it is certainly worth considering if you want to maximise the television's capabilities.

After calibration, the picture was brought to a truly sensible level. The overall look is coherent and natural, and when it comes to colour reproduction, it is difficult to unequivocally state whether we are dealing with a VA or IPS panel. This is a good sign, showing that the television has a solid foundation for further adjustments. It is worth noting the larger colour gamut coverage in this variant, which can subtly enhance the perception of colourful scenes, particularly in HDR content. However, this advantage is largely balanced out by the boosted black levels resulting from the use of an IPS panel. The limited black depth affects the perceived contrast, especially when watching in a dark room. Consequently, despite the noticeable improvement after calibration, the final assessment remains the same as in the variant with the VA panel. Better colours are unable to fully compensate for the weaker black levels.

Although the fluidity of tonal transitions in 4K HDR materials on The Frame Pro is not a problem at all, naturally, with a weaker signal - television, HD materials, or older Full HD films - imperfections may arise. Therefore, it is crucial how the television copes with these limitations thanks to its image processor. The noise reduction function works really effectively here. At the medium setting, it eliminates unwanted bands or artefacts, smoothing the image in a noticeable yet not excessive way. However, it's worth noting that Samsung tends to be aggressive in its approach - even at the lowest level of this function, it can "consume" film grain. So it's advisable to use it judiciously and adjust the settings to the material being viewed.

The upscaling itself is at a high level. The Frame Pro can effectively enhance older materials to a native 4K resolution while maintaining good sharpness and readability. Films and series in lower quality simply look better here. However, it should be mentioned that there is a minor drawback - typical for many Samsung televisions. With very old sources of poor quality, you may notice clipping of the image edges on the left side of the screen. It's not a problem that will ruin the viewing experience, but it's worth knowing that it might occur.

In the Philips PUS9010, we find another iteration of the P5 Perfect Picture image processor, designed to improve the quality of inferior materials. One of the components of this system is the distortion reduction function, which is responsible for smoothing tonal transitions. It works effectively and indeed reduces the visible colour gradation. Unfortunately, it does so quite aggressively. In practice, it can dim details such as the texture of materials or film grain. This is a notable compromise, so we would not recommend it for movie screenings. However, it performs significantly better with more casual content like YouTube or regular television. The P5 processor also manages quite well with lower resolution materials. The image is soft, at times even too soft, but this can easily be corrected with the sharpness slider, adjusting the effect to personal preference. A positive aspect is also the lack of edge trimming in SD materials, which is still not standard in this class of televisions.

The smoothness of motion in The Frame Pro is not only due to the matrix, which operates with a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, but also the image processor and the smoothing system. It is thanks to this that we can adjust the way films or sports broadcasts are displayed to our own preferences. There are sliders for reducing blurring and reducing judder – the first function improves the sharpness of fast movements, while the second helps to soften the effect of a "jumping" image during camera pans. So, everyone can choose between a cinematic motion character and a smoother, more "television" style.

Philips PUS9010 has a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which will be appreciated primarily by sports fans and gamers. This is especially evident in dynamic scenes where the motion is sharp, and annoying blur is almost non-existent. When it comes to movies (standard 24 fps), Philips gives us a proven set of settings known from higher series. Two sliders are used to control motion. “Smoothness” allows you to adjust the image to your own taste: at low settings, we maintain a cinematic character, while moving the slider to the right gives us a perfectly smooth, albeit somewhat “theatrical” effect. On the other hand, “Motion Blur Reduction” is a function designed for sports – it ensures that fast-moving objects do not lose detail and remain clear.

Samsung The Frame Pro does not pretend to be just a “living room” television; here, gamers will also find something for themselves. The manufacturer has ensured a full range of gaming features: we have support for variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), refresh rates up to 144 Hz, and compatibility with both G-Sync and FreeSync Premium Pro. Additionally, there is the well-known Game Bar panel, which is a quick menu where key parameters can be checked on the fly—from refresh rates to enabled image processing modes. Are there any downsides? Indeed, The Frame Pro does not support Dolby Vision in game mode, but this is hard to consider a serious issue—most gamers use HDR10 anyway... which means HGIG mode. Exactly. The biggest surprise turned out to be the latest software update. Samsung… completely removed this option from The Frame PRO. In practice, this means that the television independently interprets HDR tone mapping in games, and the user has no way to enable settings developed for consoles. This is a step backwards that may disappoint more knowledgeable gamers hoping for full compliance with HGiG guidelines. We can only hope that this issue will be resolved quickly.

An interesting feature of The Frame Pro is also the unusual arrangement of HDMI 2.1 ports. There are as many as five available—four are located in the One Connect box, and the fifth, in micro HDMI version, is directly on the television. This is quite an unusual solution, but rather practical. Samsung clearly suggests that this is the port to which you should connect your console or computer. Why? Because it minimises potential delays associated with communication through the wireless One Connect, and in the case of gaming, every millisecond matters. We have written separately about input lag, but it can already be revealed here that by connecting equipment directly to the television, we achieve the absolute maximum in response speed.

The Philips PUS9010 is a truly solid machine for gaming. It has everything that matters: VRR, automatic game mode (ALLM), and support for HGiG. The latter is a great feature – it allows HDR in games to be set exactly as the developers envisioned. The television handles 120 Hz refresh rates effortlessly at every popular resolution (1080p, 1440p, and 4K). Whether you connect a PS5, Xbox, or a powerful PC, everything functions stably and simply as it should. Gamers will also appreciate the Game Bar. This quick, clear menu immediately shows whether the low latency mode is active. This is especially useful when frequently switching between different consoles. The whole experience is complemented by Ambilight. Evening sessions with this backlighting take the atmosphere to a whole new level – the image seems larger, and dynamic scenes leave an even better impression. Even if someone isn’t a fan of such “gadgets”, it’s hard to deny that it’s impressive.