Philips The One (PUS8959 / PUS8919 / PUS8909 / PUS8949 vs Samsung QN80H

The luminance chart for Philips PUS8959 shows that the television can achieve around 550 nits of brightness, which can be considered a satisfactory level. This brightness allows the effects of HDR to be felt, particularly standing out in more demanding scenes. In the tested patterns, the television performed quite well, even in challenging sequences like those from "Sicario 2". Due to the lack of local dimming, the television does not dim small bright elements, and they shine with the full "power" of the television but at the cost of the silverish blacks we mentioned in the paragraph about blacks. It is also worth praising Philips PUS8959 for its good coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette, which amounts to around 94.5%. This makes the colors vivid and close to the creators' intentions, further enhancing the quality of HDR effects and the viewing experience of high dynamic range content.

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 Philips PUS8959 television was tested in the best, theoretically most precise picture mode – Filmmaker. Although the name suggests cinematic quality, it unfortunately falls far short of the ideal. The biggest issue in this mode is white balance, both in HD and 4K content. It is characterized by a significant dominance of the red color and dips in the green level, resulting in an unnatural color reproduction. For example, white elements of the image have a distinctly pinkish hue, and the green is less intense, causing the overall image to lose its naturalness and color balance. The ColorChecker test confirms these errors – it is clearly visible how the color samples "deviate" from the correct values, which can be best observed on the sample squares that should accurately reproduce colors. The lack of accuracy in this regard affects the realism and fidelity of the image, which is particularly undesirable in Filmmaker mode.

Regarding brightness characteristics, the gamma chart resembles a real roller coaster – with small elements displayed on the screen, the brightness is excessive, causing details to become overly highlighted. Meanwhile, at higher gamma values, the image loses contrast and becomes too dark, making the overall appearance look less dynamic. Similar issues can be noticed in the EOTF characteristics – the television is unable to correctly reproduce the brightness level, negatively affecting the overall image quality.

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, the Philips PUS8959 television shows a significant improvement in color reproduction, especially in HD content. The white balance is exceptionally even, and the Delta E error values are below 1, which can be considered an outstanding result. Additionally, the gamma, which is responsible for brightness in lower-quality materials, performs very well, maintaining a stable level at 2.4, leading to an appropriate balance between bright and dark areas of the image.

Regarding 4K HDR materials, a significant improvement is also noticeable. The white balance, although not as perfect as in HD content, no longer shows issues with excessive red exposure, making the image appear more natural and harmonious. Unfortunately, in the EOTF characteristics, it is difficult to speak of any significant improvement, due to the design limitations of the television that prevent significant enhancement in this aspect.

Nevertheless, the overall performance is much better after calibration, making the Philips PUS8959 one of those televisions where it is truly worth spending time on precise calibration to achieve satisfactory image quality.

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.

When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, the "Distortion Reduction" function at the minimal setting performs quite well, effectively smoothing tonal transitions without excessive influence on other elements of the image. In tests, I did not notice that the reduction negatively affected the image structure, such as film grain or object details – everything remains in place, which is a big plus for users who appreciate the natural look of film materials.

On the other hand, regarding digital processing, the image looks quite good, although it is characterized by very softened contours, giving it an almost "misty" quality. This effect can evoke mixed feelings – some users may enjoy the fluidity and delicacy of this type of presentation, while others may find it too gentle, losing detail. It is a matter of individual preferences, but it must be admitted that the Philips PUS8959 provides quite subtle yet effective tools for improving tonal transitions without excessive interference in the natural character of the image.

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.

Philips TV PUS8959 is equipped with a 120 Hz panel, which should satisfy more demanding users, especially those who love watching dynamic sports broadcasts or playing games. Such a high refresh rate allows for a significantly smoother image, being a key aspect during dynamic scenes and fast actions.

For those who prefer watching movies, the TV offers an additional motion smoother that allows adjusting the frame rate of the film according to personal preferences. The Philips PUS8959 has a 10-step adjustment for the functions called "Smoothness" and "Motion Blur Reduction." The "Smoothness" function is responsible for increasing the number of frames through interpolation, making motion on the screen smoother, resembling the effect of so-called "soap opera." Meanwhile, "Motion Blur Reduction" focuses on minimizing blurring and improving motion sharpness, which is particularly noticeable in dynamic sequences, such as action scenes or fast sports shots.

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.

Philips PUS8959 is a television that will certainly satisfy gaming enthusiasts. It supports most modern technologies useful during gameplay, such as HGiG, allowing for better HDR effect reproduction in games. As a result, the image is closer to what the game developers intended to achieve.

The television also supports 120 Hz image display, ensuring smoothness and dynamism, which is particularly important during action games and sports broadcasts. The Game Bar feature provides quick access to game settings, making it easier to adjust the image according to user preferences without interrupting gameplay.

Unfortunately, the Dolby Vision mode does not offer low input lag, which may be noticeable during dynamic scenes. Nevertheless, thanks to the HGiG feature and high refresh rate, the Philips PUS8959 remains an attractive choice for gamers, offering good image quality and appropriate smoothness during gameplay.

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.