Samsung OLED S90D / S94D (WRGB OLED) vs Sony BRAVIA 2 II (S25M2)

The Samsung S90D demonstrates impressive brightness performance in the tested film scenes, surpassing the 1000 nits mark in the first four shots—an outstanding result for an OLED display. In the final shot, which features a fullscreen flash of sunlight, the brightness dips to around 500 nits. While this is a decrease, it remains within a very good range, ensuring visibility and detail retention even in bright scenes.

Another key highlight of the Samsung S90D is its remarkable colour coverage, achieving 98% of the DCI-P3 colour space. This means the TV can reproduce an exceptionally wide range of colours, contributing to vivid and lifelike images that are particularly beneficial for films, high-quality video, and HDR content. The high colour accuracy and impressive brightness capabilities, makes the S90D an ideal choice for users seeking premium image quality across various lighting environments, whether in darker rooms or bright, sunlit spaces.

Sony Bravia 2 II is not a very bright TV and unfortunately that is immediately apparent in HDR. In our measurements brightness stayed around 300 to 330 nits, which is definitely too low for the brightest parts of the picture to look truly impressive. In practice HDR here does not differ that much from ordinary SDR. Bright highlights, the sun, or lamps are of course visible, but they lack the intensity you would expect from HDR material. The Bravia 2 II therefore performs much better with regular SDR content, and it is in that use case that its limited brightness will be least noticeable.

Color gamut coverage

Sony Bravia 2 II also doesn't impress when it comes to colors. The TV doesn't use any additional gamut-expanding filter, such as the quantum dots found in QLED TVs or a PFS phosphor layer. In our measurements DCI-P3 coverage was about 78%, and the very wide BT.2020 around 57%. That's definitely too little to talk about truly saturated colors in HDR content. More intense reds, greens, or turquoise hues will simply be less striking than on TVs with an expanded color gamut. The Bravia 2 II therefore fares much better with standard Rec.709, the gamut used for movies, series, and TV in SDR.

The S90D was tested in Filmmaker mode, which provides good colour reproduction, albeit with some imperfections that may be noticeable to more discerning users. This mode might appear overly warm, and those switching from Standard mode could find the change somewhat jarring. It is important to note that this issue stems from suboptimal settings, such as the white balance, rather than the Filmmaker mode.

In both SDR and HDR content, the device shows a drop in blue tones, resulting in colours appearing warmer than intended. In practice, this means that certain shades, such as sky blue or skin tones, may seem less natural, with a slight pink or yellow tint. The Colour Checker test confirms these deviations, indicating a shift towards warmer hues. In SDR content, the gamma chart reveals slight inconsistencies that make the image appear marginally darker, particularly in shadowed areas, which may obscure finer details in darker scenes.

In 4K HDR content, the EOTF curve exceeds the recommended level, leading to an overly bright display in some parts of the image, which can cause highlights to appear blown out. Overall, the Samsung S90D delivers a solid image straight out of the box, but for the best performance, further calibration is advised, especially with more demanding content.

Out-of-the-box color reproduction in Cinema mode was really good, at least for ordinary SDR material. The Bravia 2 II had a slight tendency to boost reds, so some colors skewed a bit warmer, at times with a faint pinkish tint. However, it wasn't a major fault, and during normal viewing the picture still looked quite natural. There was a bit more going on with image brightness. Looking at the gamma trace, you can see Sony doesn't stick exactly to the reference value. The darkest parts are slightly lifted, while as brightness increases the gamma gradually rises and a larger portion of the image becomes darker than it should. That said, the difference isn't large enough to seriously interfere with everyday viewing. Overall, SDR straight out of the box performs pretty well.

The situation is much worse in HDR. We already mentioned the limited color gamut, but the Bravia 2 II also manipulates image brightness quite aggressively here. The EOTF curve sits below the reference for a large part of the range, which means the TV renders most midtones and brighter parts of the scene darker than the source material intends. Only toward the very end of the range does the curve flatten out, as the panel reaches the limits of its capabilities. Combined with a peak brightness of around 300 nits, this results in HDR that not only lacks punch but can simply look too dim.

After calibration, the Samsung S90D in movie mode exceeds expectations. The white balance for HD and 4K HDR content has been refined to near perfection. While minor imperfections remain, they are so subtle that they don’t significantly impact the overall image quality. The colours are now more balanced, resulting in a natural reproduction of details, particularly in scenes requiring an accurate colour palette. It’s important to note that this model, in this size, uses a WOLED panel, which has a smaller wide colour gamut coverage and doesn't deliver the same vibrant colours as the 65-inch version with its QD-OLED panel.

The contrast has also seen notable improvements. Following calibration, the gamma curve now closely aligns with the expected line, achieving a better balance between the bright and dark areas of the image. The EOTF curve, which previously exhibited issues with overexposed scenes, now produces more accurate results, allowing for improved detail retention in the brighter parts of the image, especially in HDR content.

Calibration did a lot for the Bravia 2 II, especially with SDR content. Above all, we were able to even out the white balance and tidy up the gamma, which now sticks much closer to reference values. As a result, the picture no longer has the previous pink tint, and the brightness of individual areas is much better balanced. You can also see this in the color errors, which dropped to a very low level after calibration (with minor issues in the most saturated reds).

We also partially tamed the Bravia 2 II in HDR, particularly in how the TV manages image brightness. However, there is one thing no calibration can fix: the panel's inherent limitations. The narrow color gamut means the TV physically cannot reproduce the most saturated colors present in HDR content. On top of that, the IPS panel's low contrast leaves darker scenes veiled by a grayish glow, causing colors to lose some of their depth. So we can improve how the Bravia 2 II uses its capabilities, but unfortunately we can't overcome the panel's fundamental limits.

The S90D TV handles tonal transitions exceptionally well. Thanks to advanced technology, the transitions between colours are smooth and natural. The noise reduction function can further enhance the smoothness of tonal shifts, which is particularly useful in certain situations. However, it's important to note that enabling noise reduction can also blur the natural film grain, diminishing the cinematic quality of the image. For this reason, it’s advisable to use this function with caution, as preserving the natural grain can enhance the character and authenticity of the content being watched.

As always, Samsung excels in image scaling from lower resolutions. The S90D effectively processes lower-resolution content, delivering a clear and accurate picture. The model’s outline is crisp, ensuring the image looks natural and detailed. Even the finer details, such as tree branches, are well-rendered without visible jagged edges that could degrade image quality. Thanks to its effective scaling, the S90D ensures that even lower-resolution content looks appealing, satisfying users who enjoy a wide range of content sources, such as regular broadcast or cable TV.

Upscaling in the Bravia 2 II performs quite well, and in that respect the TV maintains the standard Sony has accustomed us to. Lower-resolution content is sensibly scaled to 4K, with the image slightly smoothed and without over-sharpening edges. It’s a different story when it comes to improving content with visible compression. That’s handled by the "Digital Noise Reduction" feature, which on the "High" setting can indeed smooth out some ugly tonal banding. The problem is it does so fairly aggressively, removing a lot of fine detail along with the imperfections, including natural film grain. Moreover, when there’s more motion on screen its effectiveness drops significantly and the improvement becomes minimal. So we generally avoided using this feature in everyday viewing.

The Samsung S90D television features a 120 Hz panel, with the option to "overclock" to 144 Hz when connected to a compatible PC, offering exceptional motion smoothness. Samsung has long provided a range of image sharpness settings on a ten-point scale, allowing users to tailor the display to their preferences. In the UFO test, the OLED panel shows no signs of blurring, with pixel response instantaneous and effectively capturing dynamic movements. OLED technology is renowned for its performance in this regard, making it one of the best options on the market. The image remains incredibly sharp and detailed, even during fast-paced action, making the S90D an excellent choice for gamers and sports enthusiasts alike.

The Bravia 2 II uses a 60 Hz panel and, given its capabilities, handles motion quite well. However, keep in mind this is a basic panel, and its limitations are already noticeable, especially with sports. The TV cannot interpolate 50/60 fps content to a higher refresh rate, so it can't further improve the sharpness of fast-moving objects. For movies and series, you get a standard motion smoother that can reduce the characteristic judder of material shot at 24 fps.

The Samsung S90D is an ideal choice for gamers, featuring four HDMI 2.1 ports that support key gaming technologies such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and HDR Gaming Interest Group (HGIG). These features ensure smoother and more responsive gameplay, greatly enhancing performance during intense gaming sessions. The TV also includes a dedicated Game Bar, which makes managing game settings easy. This functionality allows users to quickly adjust parameters like the aspect ratio offering flexibility for different games and gameplay styles. Customising preferences is straightforward, further enhancing the convenience and enjoyment of gaming.

For PC users, the TV impresses by supporting a refresh rate of 144Hz when connected to a computer. Users with Nvidia or AMD graphics cards can also use G-Sync and FreeSync for a smoother gaming experience. However, it’s important to note that the TV does not support Dolby Vision, which may be a drawback for some. That said, Dolby Vision is not as widely adopted in gaming as in film, so this may not be a significant concern for most gamers. Overall, the S90D offers exceptional features for gamers, making it an excellent choice for those seeking outstanding image quality and modern technological solutions.

The Bravia 2 II is not a TV particularly well suited for gaming, and the feature list makes that clear pretty quickly. You basically only get automatic low-latency mode (ALLM) and a simple Game Bar where you can view basic signal information and change a few settings. But that's where the list of advantages ends. The TV doesn't support VRR or 120 Hz (not even at lower resolutions), and on top of that it has problems with a proper implementation of the HDR HGIG format. It can, of course, be used for occasional console gaming, and thanks to low input lag controls stay responsive, but if you're mainly looking for a TV for gaming, the Bravia 2 II will simply be a very limited choice.