Sony A95L vs Samsung OLED S95H (S99H) (QD-OLED)

Sony A95L offers an incredible HDR effect, achieving an impressive brightness level of 1500 nits in scenes such as those from Life of Pi or Sicario 2. These results are truly remarkable – the bright elements in these films practically come to life on the screen, providing the viewer with immersive visual experiences. The only thing that can be noticed is minor issues with maintaining brightness in a scene from The Meg, where the entire scene is flooded with light. However, this is a natural effect associated with OLED technology. The wide coverage of the BT.2020 colour palette at 89% also deserves high praise, placing A95L Sony among the top televisions in terms of colour reproduction. All this is made possible by the QD-OLED panel from Samsung Displays.

When it comes to brightness alone, the S99H is an astronomically bright TV. Its peak brightness in film scenes can exceed 2800 nits. Whatever the scene, you can count on powerful HDR effects that are almost blinding, exactly what you expect from a top-tier screen. It is the nature of OLED panels that they cannot sustain the same extreme brightness in very bright, full‑screen frames as they can with small highlights, but the results are still excellent. In a bright scene from the film The Meg, the sun still exceeded 2200 nits. That means the S99H managed to sustain higher brightness than most Mini LED displays on the market. In terms of brightness, the S99H is currently the best OLED TV we have tested.

Colour gamut coverage

The S99H also handles colour extremely well, which is a direct result of the QD-OLED panel used here. Whether the test scenarios were synthetic test patterns or measurements taken with film material playing in the background, the results remained at a very high level. The S99H easily covers almost 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut, and for the more demanding BT.2020 colour space it reaches nearly 90%. That is absolute top-tier performance. These results match what we have seen in the new SQD-Mini-LED screens, and in real film scenes even outperform RGB Mini LED displays.

The best factory mode for colour reproduction in the Sony A95L is IMAX Enhanced. This mode appears to be well calibrated at first glance, but upon closer examination, several areas requiring improvement can be identified. Firstly, the white balance for both SDR content and 4K HDR is affected by an excess of blue and red, leading to a subtle pinkish hue, particularly noticeable on neutral tones. As a result, skin tones are distorted, impacting the realism of the displayed image. This is clearly visible in the comparison image below. Additionally, the Colour Checker test confirms the presence of these errors – colour samples often deviate from their reference values, indicating some inconsistencies in the factory colour reproduction of the A95L Sony. Maximum deltaE error values reach up to 5.8, which is a clear indicator that colours are not always reproduced as precisely as they should be.

Regarding brightness characteristics, gamma for HD/SDR content is generally quite accurate, maintaining an appropriate balance between brightness and contrast. Unfortunately, a significant jump is visible at the end of the graph, leading to a strong brightening of the image when the screen is entirely flooded with white. This can make scenes with a very bright background, such as snowy landscapes or bright daylight, appear too harsh and lose detail. For HDR content, the EOTF curve, which controls luminance, is slightly boosted compared to reference values. This, in turn, causes the image to appear somewhat brighter than it should, which can affect the viewing of more subtle details in the darker parts of the frame.

Samsung offers a whole host of picture modes and features, but as usual we recommend choosing Filmmaker Mode, especially if you want the most faithful rendering of the filmmakers' intent. Out of the box the TV is tuned very well, although it has minor shortcomings. These are mainly a slight drift in the white balance in SDR content and a slightly low gamma. As a result, in darker viewing conditions the picture can be a little too bright compared with the reference gamma of 2.4, which is the standard for watching films with the lights off. These are, of course, minor points, because overall colour reproduction remains at a very good level and the errors in the ColorChecker measurements are not large. However, we know that with a screen of the S99H's class you can, and arguably should, expect even more, which is why we carried out a professional calibration.

Sony A95L offers excellent tools for professional screen calibration, which allows users to unlock the maximum potential of the IMAX Enhanced mode. We utilised these tools to achieve a picture quality that will satisfy even the most demanding viewers. After calibration, the white balance for both 4K HDR and SDR content looks simply superb – almost perfect. The Colour Checker test confirmed that deltaE errors do not exceed the value of "2", which means that colour reproduction is incredibly accurate, and any deviations are practically unnoticeable to the human eye.

Calibration also brought significant improvements in terms of brightness – gamma is now perfectly balanced, eliminating the previous issue of excessive lightening in scenes with very bright backgrounds. As a result, even the most vibrant moments, such as snowy landscapes or intense daytime scenes, appear natural, without any risk of overexposure. The EOTF curve, responsible for controlling luminance in HDR content, has also been improved – it now reaches reference levels, both in synthetic tests and during practical movie watching.

As a result of the calibration, A95L Sony offers outstanding experiences, whether you are watching content from regular television or your favourite films. Every detail is reproduced exactly as the creators intended – without unnecessary brightening, with perfectly rendered colours and appropriate depth. This demonstrates that this television, after professional tuning, is capable of competing with the best screens on the market, delivering a picture that truly delights.

After professional calibration, FILMMAKER mode looks practically perfect. Because Samsung offers a rich set of advanced calibration features, we were able to fine-tune the colours to an almost perfect level. Above all, we managed to even out the white balance and the gamma curve, which resulted in noticeably improved contrast and proper image modelling. In this tuned picture profile there really isn't a single thing to criticise or call a flaw. After calibration, the S99H can deliver an essentially reference-quality image.

The tonal transition smoothing feature in Sony A95L works really well and is worth noting. We recommend setting it to "Medium" because at this level, you achieve the perfect compromise – no artifacts appear, and the image looks incredibly natural and pleasing to the eye. As a result, the transitions between different shades are smooth while maintaining the detail of the scenes, which further enhances the viewing comfort.

When it comes to upscaling, you can see the full power of the XR processor here. Sony A95L handled our test material featuring a model exceptionally well – the image is remarkably clear, there are no excessive jagged edges, and details in the background are perfectly preserved. The XR processor effectively improves low resolution, delivering very good results that allow you to enjoy materials in almost high quality, even if their source is not ideal.

The proprietary Samsung NQ4 Gen3 processor is responsible for upscaling and digital image processing. It handles upscaling lower-resolution material to 4K very well. The picture is clear without looking artificial or overly sharp. The only rather specific drawback appears with very old material recorded at 480p or below. In such cases the TV can slightly crop the edges of the picture.

The processor also copes quite well with artefacts visible in lower bit-rate material, for example heavily compressed YouTube videos. The noise reduction function effectively smooths the image and reduces posterisation, but it operates quite aggressively. It can remove not only unwanted artefacts but also some fine detail, and even natural film grain. Wanting to preserve the source material as faithfully as possible, we decided not to use it. However, if someone prefers a clean, as-smooth-as-possible picture over retaining every detail, it may prove useful.

Sony A95L is a television that should satisfy both gamers and cinema lovers. When it comes to watching films, this model is equipped with the Motionflow feature, which allows you to precisely adjust whether you want the image to be more "cinematic," like in traditional cinema, or exceptionally smooth, like in cinema-style TVs. The "Smoothness" slider lets you regulate the level of fluidity – from subtle changes to a more noticeable effect, while the "Clarity" slider is responsible for reducing flicker and artifacts, helping to achieve a more natural and clear motion. As for gaming and watching sports, the A95L Sony television offers a refresh rate of 120 Hz, making every dynamic action look incredibly smooth. Gamers will appreciate the lack of blur, while sports fans will see every movement in full clarity. Overall, the television performs excellently – both with fast-paced games and emotionally charged film sequences.

Another major advantage of organic OLED panels is their excellent motion handling. Thanks to the pixels' virtually instantaneous response time, the Samsung S99H exhibits virtually no motion blur. Fast-moving objects do not produce visible halos or trailing outlines, so the television performs very well for both watching sport and gaming. One characteristic of OLED screens compared with LCDs, however, is the way they render low-frame-rate material. With very slow camera movement the image can appear noticeably more 'choppy'. This can, however, be fairly effectively mitigated using a frame-interpolation system. Samsung lets you adjust judder reduction and blur reduction separately, so it's easy to find a compromise between smoother motion and preserving the cinematic character of the content.

Sony A95L is a television that will truly satisfy gamers, thanks to several key features that set it apart from the competition. To start with, the 120 Hz refresh rate – this is something everyone who loves fast action games, racing, or dynamic shooters will appreciate. As a result, the image is exceptionally smooth, and the gameplay is more satisfying, without annoying stuttering. The A95L Sony also has an ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) feature, which automatically engages low latency mode when we turn on the console. What does this mean? Above all, faster response on the screen, which in games where every second matters is simply invaluable. Additionally, there’s VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), which adjusts the image refresh rate to the number of frames generated by the console. The effect? No tearing of the image, and everything looks smooth and cohesive – even with variable FPS.

It is worth mentioning the support for Dolby Vision with low input lag in games – something we don’t often encounter in televisions, and here we have it onboard. Thanks to this, the image in games that support HDR is incredibly vibrant, with rich colours and excellent contrast. Both the brightest and darkest details are visible, making everything look as the game creators intended. And then there's the "Game Bar" – a small but very practical feature. With it, we have all the most important gaming-related settings at our fingertips, such as VRR or latency information. There’s no need to interrupt gameplay to adjust parameters – everything is right at hand.

However, it should be remembered that the A95L offers only two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which is designated for eARC. This may pose a limitation if we plan to connect multiple devices – for instance, a next-gen console and a soundbar simultaneously. In such a case, the eARC occupying one of those ports can be somewhat problematic, blocking the possibility of connecting a second console.

The Samsung S99H is also a great TV for gamers. It offers almost every possible and useful feature... well, except for the obvious lack of Dolby Vision for the Xbox console. It's equipped with four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports that offer the full 48 Gbps. This lets you use VRR frame-rate synchronization and the automatic game mode (ALLM) without any problems. This year Samsung also has no issues properly supporting HGiG, so HDR setup on a console is quick and straightforward. Samsung's TVs are also known for interesting extras. In the Game Bar menu you'll find options to add an on-screen crosshair, enlarge the minimap or change the displayed image's aspect ratio (PC).

Particularly noteworthy is Samsung's Game Motion Plus feature. It's Samsung's proprietary motion-smoothing system that uses interpolation to increase smoothness in games. Input lag then rises to around 40 to 50 ms (depending on the strength of the setting), which is an excellent result compared with the competition. The system makes gameplay noticeably smoother. So if someone has their eye on a demanding game (e.g. GTA 6 😉) that runs on a console at only 30 frames per second, the S99H can display it much more smoothly than competing models.