Panasonic Z95A vs Samsung QN80H

Panasonic Z95A demonstrates class when it comes to HDR performance. In brightness tests, it reaches a level of 1800 nits, which has a real impact on watching movies. Scenes from Life of Pi or Gemini Man look great – the television effortlessly reproduces details and the intensity of bright spots, impressing with its power. In more demanding moments, like the final scene from The Meg, one can see how bright light floods the screen. In such moments, brightness drops, which is typical for organic matrices. Nonetheless, a result around 1000 nits can still be considered excellent, still providing very good picture quality. Additionally, the television offers excellent coverage of wide color gamuts – up to 98.6% for DCI-P3 and 74.5% for BT.2020. This ensures that colors are not only vibrant but also deeply saturated, allowing full appreciation of the richness of details, especially in HDR scenes. Such coverage makes colors appear more realistic, and the HDR effect gains in intensity and accuracy. All this impressive HDR effect is thanks to MLA technology, which enables achieving such high luminance and excellent image detail. Thanks to this, the Panasonic Z95A offers HDR at a level that truly makes a difference.

Samsung QN80H is without a doubt a bright TV. In synthetic tests it breaks the 1000-nit barrier, which on paper already promises a solid HDR effect. In practice the screen really shows its claws, though it can't fully spread its wings (or its backlight 🤔) in every situation. The best impression comes from bright, expansive shots. Sunlit exteriors or heavily lit scenes look really good on it. Brightness then stays around 700 nits, which gives a noticeable step up in quality over standard SDR. Problems start in dark scenes with small, pinpoint highlights. The QN80H tends to heavily dim them, doing everything it can to protect black levels. On one hand we gain better contrast, on the other... we lose some of the dynamics and the sparkle of fine HDR details. The TV therefore has considerable potential, but the dimming algorithm can be too restrictive.

Color gamut coverage

Colors are good too. The QN80H uses quantum dot technology, and in our measurements it covered 93% of the DCI-P3 space and about 70% of BT.2020. Today those results won't exactly blow anyone away, but in real-world use they're more than enough to deliver vivid, natural-looking images in most movies and TV series. Colors are properly saturated and, after proper tuning, don't look artificial or overly aggressive.

The best picture mode in the Panasonic Z95A is undoubtedly the Filmmaker mode. It is a mode that offers quite good image reproduction, but it is not free from certain errors that need improvement. First of all, the white balance, both for 4K and HD content, tends to show a dominance of red and blue colors. This causes a slight pinkish tint in the image, particularly noticeable in bright, white scenes. Such deviations can be seen in the comparative photo below, which illustrates this problem well. The Colour Checker test also confirms these discrepancies, showing slight shifts of the dots towards the mentioned hues.

In terms of gamma brightness characteristics, it performs very well, with only minor issues when lightening small details. The EOTF curve, which is responsible for controlling brightness in 4K HDR content, poses greater difficulty. Here, a slight boost in brightness above the reference value can be observed, making the image sometimes too bright, especially in more demanding scenes. Although the Filmmaker mode is definitely the best choice in the Z95A, these aspects require refinement to fully exploit the potential of the television.

The QN80H's factory settings were really good, especially compared with most TVs that come into our tests. Of course, we performed measurements in Filmmaker Mode, and that's the mode we recommend turning on right after the initial setup. In SDR material our unit was set up surprisingly well. The white balance was very even, colors looked natural, and the errors were so small they were hard to spot without measurement equipment. The only weak point was the gamma. In brighter parts of the image the TV brightened them a bit too much, so the picture sometimes lost a little depth. Even so, we'd like most TVs to look this good straight out of the box.

It was a bit worse in HDR. The white balance itself was still set correctly, so the problem wasn't with the colors but with how the QN80H managed image brightness. You could see that immediately on the EOTF chart. The TV brightened large parts of scenes too much, causing the brightest elements to blow out. Interestingly, at the same time very small points were often dimmed too much. As a result some fine detail simply disappeared. So the factory Filmmaker Mode in HDR isn't bad, but it's definitely not as well calibrated as in SDR.

After calibration, Panasonic Z95A shows its full potential, offering an almost perfect image. The television provides great adjustment capabilities, which we have fully utilized. The white balance after calibration is presented almost perfectly, and errors in SDR content at the level of 0.5 fall within an absolutely reference standard. The same is true for 4K HDR content – any pink tint on the screen has been completely eliminated, and the white balance is now exemplary.

The color palette and Colour Checker test confirm the excellence of the calibration. Errors below 2 is a result that will satisfy both professional calibrators and enthusiasts of cinema-quality images. Significant changes have also occurred in brightness characteristics – the EOTF curve has been leveled, eliminating previous issues with excessive image brightness. And the small error in gamma has been reduced.

Before calibration, the image was acceptable, but now it is a completely different league. It is a true feast for the eyes, the quality of which is hard to compare to anything else. Panasonic Z95A, after fine-tuning the settings, becomes a true master of color reproduction.

The biggest difference after calibration was in HDR Filmmaker mode. SDR was already very good out of the box, so we didn't have much work to do there. In HDR, however, we managed to tame the way the QN80H handled brightness, as it had been over-brightening most scenes. After calibration the picture is calmer, more natural, and much closer to how a faithful picture should look.

In the case of lower quality materials, the "Gradient Smoothing" function is responsible for smoothing tonal transitions. The best results are achieved with an intermediate setting – although they are not spectacular, the function works correctly and does not introduce unwanted effects into the image. It can be rated as average, but sufficient to improve the quality of tonal transitions.

As for digital processing, or upscaling, the image looks surprisingly good. It is vibrant and pleasant to the eye, making lower quality content, such as standard television or YouTube, look quite decent. However, minor issues can be noticed, such as "jaggies" on edges, e.g. branches in the background. Nevertheless, this does not significantly impact the overall viewing experience, and the television handles this material in an acceptable manner.

Digital image processing in the Samsung QN80H is handled by the second-generation NQ4 AI processor. It's a chip we already know from earlier models and it still performs very well, especially with lower-resolution material. The image is effectively upscaled to 4K, but without excessive sharpening and without the feeling that the TV is forcing improvements on the source material.

The "Noise Reduction" feature also proves useful. It can noticeably reduce posterization and visible banding in poorer-quality material, particularly in low-bitrate streaming. However, it's important to remember that it doesn't work without side effects. It can remove some film grain and slightly smooth the image. So with a good-quality source we'd leave this feature off. If, however, banding and uneven tonal transitions bother you more than losing some grain, "Noise Reduction" can be a really useful addition.

Panasonic Z95A, with its 144 Hz panel, offers excellent image smoothness. For films, there is the "Intelligent Frame Creation" feature, which enhances fluidity and reduces motion blur. The user has two sliders at their disposal: "Motion Blur Reduction" – responsible for clearer and sharper details in fast-moving scenes. "Film Smoothness" – adds smoothness by creating additional frames between the originals, making the motion look smoother and more natural with a "soap opera" effect.

As a result, viewers can adjust the settings to their own preferences. Films and less dynamic materials appear smooth and natural, which should satisfy most users.

Motion blur and motion handling on the QN80H are really good, mainly thanks to the fast panel. In 4K the screen refreshes at up to 144 Hz, and when switched to Full HD and connected to a PC it can reach as high as 240 Hz. That's new for Samsung TVs and a nice bonus for people who want to use the TV for PC gaming as well. We were more interested, however, in how the QN80H performs at 120 Hz, since consoles use that refresh rate. Here it's really good. The panel doesn't have a big problem with the smearing typical of VA panels, and slight trails behind moving objects are mostly visible on dark backgrounds. This is nothing that would interfere with normal sports viewing or gaming. The TV also includes a motion smoothing system that Samsung calls "Image Clarity." You can adjust judder reduction and blur reduction separately, so it's easy to tailor its operation to movies, sports, or your own preferences.

Panasonic Z95A this year shows that the manufacturer has made a huge leap forward in terms of support for gamers. The television offers practically everything one could expect from a device in this category. Support for ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) ensures smoothness and no tearing in dynamic games. The 144 Hz panel allows for incredible fluidity, and the additional support for resolutions other than 4K provides greater flexibility, which is a significant plus for gamers using various setups.

Attention should also be paid to the unique and somewhat specific "Game Bar." Its intuitive interface stands out from the competition and allows quick adjustments to key settings such as VRR, brightness level, or picture mode without interrupting gameplay.

However, in this class of device, there is a slight disappointment – the Panasonic Z95A offers only two HDMI 2.1 ports, instead of four. This is definitely insufficient for a premium television, especially at a time when many people have more than one device requiring full HDMI 2.1 support, such as a next-gen console or a high-end computer. In this category, it is hard to accept, especially given the high aspirations of this model. Despite this, the television is an excellent choice for gamers, offering versatility and functionality at the highest level.

Samsung QN80H is a TV that scores very well on gamer-oriented features. The biggest new addition for 2026 is DLG mode, which allows refresh rates up to 240 Hz when the image is switched to Full HD resolution. This option is aimed mainly at PC users, but it also shows that Samsung is still heavily developing the gaming side of its TVs. That’s not the end of the list of advantages. The QN80H has four full-featured HDMI 2.1 ports, which in this price range still isn’t standard. You can therefore connect multiple consoles, a PC, or a soundbar at the same time without worrying which input supports the full picture capabilities. The TV also supports VRR, ALLM, and HGiG, so it’s hard to fault its basic feature set. One downside remains the lack of Dolby Vision, which may matter especially to Xbox Series X owners. That said, it’s not a flaw that rules out the QN80H as a gaming TV. Samsung includes a feature still missing from most manufacturers: its proprietary motion interpolator, Game Motion Plus. It’s a motion interpolator that also works in game mode, allowing you to improve the smoothness of titles running at 30 or 60 frames per second without a drastic increase in input lag. In practice, Game Motion Plus can make a much bigger difference than Dolby’s processing, especially in more demanding games that don’t offer a 60 FPS mode. The image becomes noticeably smoother while controls remain responsive enough. So despite the lack of Dolby Vision, the QN80H is still one of the best-equipped TVs for gamers in its class.