Philips PUS8359 (VA) vs Samsung S90H (WOLED)

The Philips PUS8359 has low brightness levels; however, dynamic tone mapping works surprisingly well, making it worth praising!

The Samsung S90H in the WOLED variant is still an exceptionally bright TV for its price class, although it is slightly dimmer compared to the QD-OLED version. The difference is not as pronounced as in last year’s F series, where gaps could reach as much as 500 nits. Here the specs of both panels are very close, and differences in peak brightness are only about 100–150 nits. In small-area measurements, the S90H on the WOLED panel easily reaches levels close to 1500 nits. That headroom lets it portray HDR dynamics phenomenally—specular highlights, reflections or explosions have the right punch, just as the creators intended in the post-production studio. As with most OLED displays, when a very bright scene fills the entire screen, the protection systems that safeguard the panel kick in and brightness naturally falls to around 700 nits. It’s worth stressing that this is still an excellent result on the market, often noticeably better than many Mini LED screens in the same segment.

Color gamut coverage

The biggest difference between the two S90H variants lies in color reproduction and saturation. This stems directly from the different construction of the WOLED panel, which uses an additional white subpixel. As a result, colors at very high brightness don’t achieve quite the same intensity, and the volume of the wide color gamut is somewhat more limited than with QD-OLED. That said, in everyday use these differences will be hard for most viewers to notice. Our measured DCI-P3 coverage on the WOLED panel reaches nearly 99%, which means that in the vast majority of real film scenes both variants will deliver almost identical images. The true gap only appears in rarer, particularly demanding productions that use the ultra-wide BT.2020 gamut. Due to the WOLED panel’s design, coverage of that standard is about 15% lower compared to the S90HAT with a QD-OLED panel, so the brightest, heavily illuminated HDR colors may appear a bit less vivid.

The best factory mode for fidelity to the source material was the "Film" mode, which we used during our tests. As with all factory modes in televisions, it has flaws, and we’ll now examine what went wrong in both SDR and HDR materials. In both cases, the white balance showed an excessive dominance of green and red, resulting in a yellowish tint across the entire image. This caused issues such as yellowed whites and problems with skin tones. This was clearly illustrated on the "ColourChecker" palette, where each tested sample shifted towards warmer equivalents. The foundation of the image lies in contrast and black levels, represented by gamma charts and the EOTF curve. Looking at the gamma chart, we saw a real rollercoaster, with both elevated and lowered gamma. The elevated gamma caused visibility issues in blacks, while the lowered gamma led to a dramatic drop in contrast. In this context, the EOTF curve performed significantly better, as it only mildly brightened the image.

In Filmmaker mode, which we strongly recommend enabling right out of the box, the S90H offers very good factory color tuning. Colors are natural and faithful to the filmmakers' intent, without the intrusive oversaturation found in more aggressive profiles. However, as is usually the case without full calibration, there can be unit-to-unit variation. In our test the white balance lacked a bit of the blue component, causing the image to lean slightly toward warmer, yellowish tones. This was most noticeable in bright scenes, such as the snowy sequences from Star Wars. Additionally, the gamma curve ran slightly low, around 2.2, which resulted in a slight boost to shadow detail. In HDR mode the tuning was a bit better, showing only a slight undersaturation in the red region.

Philips offers a wide range of image calibration tools in its higher-end and more affordable models. We used these tools, but the process was not as straightforward as many might expect. While we adjusted the white balance, significantly improved the gamma, and refined the EOTF curve in both SDR and HDR content, the deltaE errors remained extremely high. Several factors contribute to this situation, including the limited coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and the unit's maximum brightness in HDR materials.

After full calibration it can safely be said that the S90H in the WOLED version looks almost perfect. In SDR mode color reproduction errors 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 color reproduction it's definitely worth considering calibration. The calibrated HDR mode also performs very well, in which the white balance was stabilized and earlier deviations eliminated. After professional tuning it's really hard to find anything to criticize, because the TV delivers an image with almost exemplary naturalness and dimensionality. The slightly lower rating in this category compared with the QD-OLED variant is solely due to the previously described saturation limitation in extremely bright scenes; the tuning options and color fidelity themselves are at the highest level.

In this paragraph, we will take a look at two functionalities. We will once again look at the function responsible for tonal transitions, but we will also check how the television handles image scaling. The option responsible for smooth gradation is called "Distortion Reduction." As we have established, it quite effectively smooths out imperfections. However, we need to point out two things: we cannot enable it for HDR material and it blurs details in films.

The tested television cannot boast the best image scaling. There is a noticeable overall blurriness of the image, but what is worse, it blurs details. This is particularly visible on the branches and the model's hair. Additionally, a characteristic white halo can often be seen surrounding characters.

When it comes to reducing posterization, Samsung has kept the same solutions as last year’s models. The dedicated gradient-smoothing function works quite well and can effectively mask unwanted tonal transitions, which can be useful on a WOLED panel that is somewhat prone to banding. However, keep in mind it acts aggressively. This mechanism, aside from removing artifacts, can clean up fine film grain and slightly soften detail. Ultimately it’s a matter of compromise, but if you care about an absolutely faithful reproduction, it’s safer to leave this option off.

There’s also no breakthrough in scaling. The S90H uses the same NQ4 Gen3 processor as its predecessor, so the quality of upscaling was almost identical. The chip sharpens lower-resolution material very well, extracting a satisfying level of detail. Samsung still hasn’t dealt with the old overscan issue. With some older recordings or archival material the image edges can be slightly cropped. It’s a minor flaw, but it’s a shame the manufacturer still hasn’t eliminated it.

The Philips PUS8359 is not the best choice for watching sports. This is primarily due to the absence of even a basic motion smoothing feature, which given the price point, is not entirely surprising. Additionally, the television uses a VA panel, which, while offering high contrast, is not known for its sharpness or fast response times. As demonstrated in our analysis, fast-moving scenes often result in noticeable blurring, a common issue with this type of panel.

Although it is not an ideal option, the TV can be used for sports viewing with some compromises, particularly regarding motion sharpness. It's also worth noting that films are prone to stuttering since the TV lacks any form of motion smoothing, even the most basic functionality.

In terms of motion handling, the S90H is simply excellent. This year's panel offers a refresh rate boosted to 165 Hz, though in practice the benefit will be realized mainly by gamers connecting a powerful PC. For movies, TV 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, the OLED panel's lightning-fast response time does its job, so motion is clean and the ghosting or smearing seen on LCD screens simply doesn't occur here.

Unsurprisingly the Philips PUS8359/12 offers only the most basic support for consoles. When connecting a console, users can rely on features like VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). VRR is particularly commendable, as even some higher-end models can struggle with this functionality.

A noteworthy addition is the implementation of a dedicated GameBar, which allows for on-the-fly adjustments without needing to exit the game, minimising unnecessary distractions. This feature also provides options to tailor gameplay for individuals with disabilities, making it a highly commendable inclusion.

Players should feel at home with the S90H, because in that respect Samsung left few reasons to complain. 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. In last year's models it could cause issues when used with a console, but in the S90H it now works as it should. What sets it apart from the competition is primarily Game Motion Plus. It's a special motion-smoothing mode designed for games, which works best with titles running at 30 or 60 frames per second. Motion becomes noticeably smoother, while latency remains at a reasonable level. In our measurements it was under 50 ms, so you can still play comfortably. That's important, because on many TVs turning on a similar smoothing mode causes such a large increase in input lag that controls start to feel 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 far more useful feature.