Samsung Neo QLED QN95D vs Panasonic W95B

The Samsung QN95D excels in HDR performance, achieving an impressive peak brightness of approximately 2000 nits. In tested movie scenes with fully lit screens, the television delivers an intense and realistic representation of HDR content, significantly enhancing the viewing experience. However, as with its handling of contrast, the dimming algorithm occasionally reveals limitations.

Despite the large number of Mini LED zones, the television doesn’t consistently provide extraordinary brightness. For instance, in scenes from "Life of Pi," featuring a bright moon against a dark background, and excerpts from "Sicario 2," showcasing intense light effects on dark backdrops, the QN95D underperforms. In such instances, the television mitigates halo effects by dimming the image to a level closer to SDR quality. While this ensures deep and uniform blacks, it comes at the cost of losing some detail in bright areas. This compromise is intended to preserve black quality but can detract from the image’s dynamism.

Despite these occasional shortcomings in the local dimming algorithm, the QN95D deserves commendation for its wide coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. Thanks to the quantum dot coating, also known as QLED technology, the television produces vibrant and richly saturated colours, adding to its appeal for HDR content.

The Panasonic W95B is truly a bright screen, capable of achieving peak luminance levels of around 1400 nits. In brighter, well-lit movie scenes, this value translates into spectacular HDR effects that can leave a big impression. However, knowing our test setup, you probably see that in very demanding shots – such as the distant moon or helicopter lights in a scene from Sicario 2 – the TV does not impress. In such situations, brightness drops to around 200 nits, making the HDR effect much less visible. This happens because Panasonic prioritizes maintaining deep black levels without lighting up the background – for many users, this shouldn't be a cause for concern. However, it's important to remember that in these moments, the image starts to resemble SDR content. The coverage of the color palette also deserves praise, as it reaches about 93% of the DCI-P3 color space thanks to the use of the PFS filter (also known from QLED technology). As a result, most movies look very good in terms of saturation and colors, maintaining a cinematic quality of the image.

The Samsung QN95D was evaluated for factory colour reproduction in Filmmaker mode, which provides the manufacturer’s optimised settings. While this mode delivers good performance, it is not without shortcomings. For HD content, notable colour deviations were observed, particularly in white balance, where a red tint dominated the chart. Improvements were noted with 4K HDR content; however, significant deficiencies in blue colour reproduction persist. This is evident in scenes such as those from Star Wars, where the main character appears in tones that are warmer than intended.

Regarding contrast, the gamma chart reveals an initial steep rise, demonstrating the television’s capability to emphasise brighter image areas effectively. However, the chart also shows a clear dip at the lower end, suggesting a potential loss of detail in darker tones. This gamma curve shape could impact the clarity of dark scenes, where details may appear overly blurred or obscured. Additionally, the brightness curve (EOTF) was mostly accurate, aside from an initial drop.

Despite these minor issues, the QN95D boasts impressive features and cutting-edge technology that solidify its position as one of the top televisions on the market. However, refinements in colour accuracy and contrast are needed to maximise its potential fully.

In Filmmaker mode, the Panasonic W95B offers an image with quite accurate color reproduction, although it is not without minor imperfections. The white balance slightly leans towards red, which can cause a subtle warming of the image, and the gamma curve is slightly elevated, making the screen appear somewhat brightened. It’s good that the manufacturer has included this mode – even in its factory configuration, it provides a fairly natural look for movies. However, knowing how susceptible Panasonic televisions are to calibration, we decided to check how much the image could improve after professional tuning.

After calibration, the Samsung QN95D delivers truly impressive results. The white balance is perfectly aligned, with error readings rarely exceeding 2, indicating faithful colour reproduction. Most samples from the Colour Checker test fall well within an acceptable error range, confirming the television's excellent performance in accurately displaying colours. Contrast has also improved significantly, and the gamma curve has become more stable, ensuring better visibility of details in both dark and bright scenes.

However, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) curve still shows a slight divergence in film tests. While the television performs well in most scenarios, some details in black may still be lost in extreme cases due to the aggressive dimming algorithm.

Despite these minor imperfections, the overall image quality remains outstanding. After calibration, the Samsung QN95D impresses with its visual performance, offering an exceptional experience that will satisfy anyone seeking a top-tier television.

After professional calibration, the Panasonic W95B shows what it is really capable of. Color errors have mostly dropped below 2–3, making them practically invisible to the human eye. The excess red in the white balance has also been corrected, which has eliminated the slight pink tint, and details in dark areas no longer get lost due to overly strong dimming in the gamma. Improvements are also noticeable in HDR content – color saturation is now more stable and does not veer towards blue as clearly as before. It is truly a great television for watching movies and series in the highest possible quality. Although we know that Mini LED screens are not always perfectly suited for this, the W95B is an excellent example that with proper refinement, an OLED-like effect can be achieved.

The Samsung QN95D television handles tonal transitions even in lower-quality materials, thanks to the noise reduction feature that works like a gentle gradation. This function is extremely effective, smoothing out the image and eliminating unwanted noise, thus significantly improving the quality of the displayed material. However, as is often the case, overly good effectiveness can lead to unintended side effects. In the case of some materials, this feature may also blur elements that should remain clear, such as film grain.

Despite this, the television performs well in terms of image scaling, eliminating larger jagged edges. In a scene where branches are visible, they are not overly artificially sharpened, which allows for a natural look, and the model does not have an artificial outline. Overall, even in more challenging conditions, the footage is presented satisfactorily on the Samsung QN95D. The only downside when watching HD/SD content (such as regular terrestrial television) is the fact that the image is slightly cropped - this is caused by the so-called overscan, which cannot be turned off.

In terms of image processing, the Panasonic W95B performs excellently. The proprietary processor responsible for digital image processing effectively upscales lower-resolution content to 4K, preserving a great amount of detail and a natural appearance of contours. The final effect is impressive – the upscaling is at a truly high level, and Full HD content can look surprisingly good. The way the television smooths tonal transitions in low-quality materials is also worth noting. The algorithm does not operate as aggressively as in some competing models, but as a result, it does not cause loss of detail or blurring of film grain.

The Samsung QN95D panel excels in motion blur and fluidity, offering a 120 Hz refresh rate along with features designed to reduce blur and judder. This allows users to adjust the picture settings to their liking, whether for movie watching or dynamic sports broadcasts. The television provides a 10-point scale for adjusting image smoothness, ranging from a frame-like appearance reminiscent of traditional film to a smoother, more cinematic effect, which is especially beneficial for sports broadcasts. This level of customization enhances the viewing experience across various types of content.

The 144 Hz panel used in the Panasonic W95B offers excellent smoothness, although in practice, considering how television content looks or the values to which next-generation consoles are limited, it's worth looking at its behavior when refreshing at 120 Hz. In this mode, the TV performs wonderfully – despite it being a VA panel, which is not known for the fastest pixel response times, motion blur here is minimal and difficult to detect with the naked eye.

The Samsung QN95D offers several features that gamers will appreciate. First, the TV supports a variable refresh rate (VRR), which eliminates screen tearing and provides smoother gameplay, especially in dynamic scenes. It also includes an automatic game mode (ALLM) that switches the TV to low latency mode when a connected console or computer is detected, resulting in more responsive controls.

Additionally, the QN95D has a game mode that reduces input lag to an impressively low level, which is vital for games where quick reflexes matter. With a high refresh rate of 120 Hz, the image remains exceptionally smooth, enhancing the experience of fast-paced action games and sports. The TV also supports G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, further improving gameplay and user comfort. An interesting addition is the 'Game Bar' – a special menu that provides easy access to all gaming-related settings, allowing users to quickly adjust the image and other parameters without interrupting gameplay.

While the Samsung QN95D does not support Dolby Vision, which is typical for Samsung models, it does feature HGiG functionality, ensuring that HDR games are displayed with the appropriate image quality in line with the creators' intentions.

Aside from the previously mentioned drawback related to the VRR mode, in which local dimming does not work, the Panasonic W95B is a true gaming monster. The television offers practically everything gamers can expect – except for four HDMI 2.1 ports, as there are only two available. On board, we find an auto low latency mode (ALLM), properly implemented HDR modes for gamers, including HGiG, as well as support for Dolby Vision in games. This is complemented by an interestingly designed Game Bar, presented in the form of circles. While it may not be the most visually appealing, it serves its purpose – allowing a quick glance at key game parameters and adjusting settings without entering the system menu.