SAMSUNG OLED S95F (QD-OLED) vs LG QNED86A / QNED85A / QNED87A

The new generation of QD-OLED panels in the Samsung S95F shows its full potential, and the brightness results are absolutely stunning. In test film scenes, such as "Life of Pi" or "Sicario 2," where smaller light elements appear – stars, the moon, or headlights – the TV was able to achieve over 2000 nits of brightness. This is a result that surpasses even most top Mini-LED models.

The secret lies in the technology itself – instead of a limited number of dimming zones like in Mini-LED TVs, we have millions of glowing pixels here, allowing the TV to fully showcase its power without technological compromises. Of course, since it is still an organic panel, in full-screen scenes flooded with white – like in the final sequence of the film The Meg – the brightness drops to around 1400 nits. Nevertheless, the result remains excellent and definitely exceeds what any OLEDs, both QD-OLED and WOLED, have offered so far. The color reproduction also deserves special attention. Thanks to QD-OLED technology, the TV achieves almost 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette and about 80% in BT.2020. These values make the HDR image not only dazzling with brightness but also captivating with a richness of colors.

Against the backdrop of contrast and black, the brightness of the QNED86A and the overall HDR effect performs much better. This is a television that can reach around 700 nits in the best conditions, so in terms of brightness alone, there is nothing to be ashamed of. As a result, scenes with strong lights, explosions, flashes, or bright parts of the landscape look clear and can make an impression. Interestingly, even in more challenging moments with small, contrasting elements on the screen, the television handles their backlighting well, and the details are quite visible. The problem resurfaces when there are a lot of dark tones. The lack of effective local dimming causes black to virtually disappear, and instead, we get a gray glow spreading across the entire screen. This kills the sense of depth and makes the image look flat, as if it lacks a cinematic quality. In bright animations or colorful family films, this won't be an issue because colors and bright light dominate there. But in horrors or productions set in darkness, these limitations are very palpable. As a consolation, it’s worth mentioning that the QNED86A is actually a QLED television with a PFS LED filter, which gives it very good coverage of wide color gamuts. Both the DCI-P3 palette and the wider BT.2020 perform really solid here. This ensures that colors in HDR films are saturated, vibrant, and have the right depth – even if the black itself disappoints, the colors can save the viewing experience and make the image look attractive.

The best picture mode right out of the box is undoubtedly Filmmaker Mode – a mode that Samsung has been using for several years, designed to faithfully represent the creators' intentions. In SDR content, its implementation is not bad, although some imperfections can be noticed. The picture is slightly dimmed, and the screen has a slight pinkish tint resulting from the predominance of red and blue in the white balance. Color errors remained at a level of 3–4 ΔE units – and for the uninitiated: a value above 3 is the threshold where the average human eye begins to notice differences.

However, much larger problems arise in HDR content. Here, the white balance was not such a significant issue – a slight excess of blue did not cause major problems. The issue became managing brightness. In practice, the TV "overexposed" the image too much, causing details in the blacks to completely disappear. The final effect was far from what was expected, and the color errors in this mode became really large. It's hard to say why such a design decision was made, but it was clear that the factory HDR settings did not allow this TV to showcase its full potential.

We primarily tested the QNED86A in Filmmaker mode, which is designed to provide the most accurate picture. Unfortunately, right out of the box, there were quite a few shortcomings. The most noticeable issue was the poorly adjusted white balance – there was a lack of blue, causing the overall image to lean slightly yellow, and at times, even orange. An even bigger problem turned out to be the way the television manages brightness. Due to its technical limitations – namely, local dimming that only works along the edges of the screen – the QNED86A tends to over-brighten entire scenes. This is where the flattening effect we mentioned earlier comes from. Instead of distinct depth and contrast, we get something akin to "boosted brightness," which can strain the eye over time.

After calibrating, it was possible to make subtle adjustments in white balance and significantly improve the image characteristics. In SDR content, the quality has become practically reference-level—most color errors have fallen below a ΔE value of 1, which is the level at which the human eye can no longer detect differences. This is a result that places the S95F among the absolute top televisions available on the market.

In HDR materials, calibration also brought significant improvement. The tendency of the television to overexpose the image was successfully controlled, as confirmed by the analysis of the EOTF curve. A slight tendency to brighten the entire scene or occasional loss of details in the blacks can still be observed; however, it does not significantly impact the overall perception. After calibration, the S95F showcases its full potential and can be described as one of the best televisions on the market!

What was saved in the QNED86A6A is undoubtedly the colors. After calibration, the white balance was set with great precision, resulting in deviations on the Colour Checker palette mostly not exceeding the threshold of visibility for the human eye. In other words – the colors finally looked natural, without strange yellow or orange tones that previously ruined the experience. Unfortunately, even the best calibration cannot bypass design limitations. The already mentioned very modest number of local dimming zones and their unfortunate placement made the analysis of the EOTF curve in films still show clear over-brightening of scenes. The image tended to flatten, lacking cinematic depth. Fortunately, this effect is not as noticeable in older productions or SDR content. There, calibration really does its job and allows taming the QNED in such a way that the image can be pleasing. However, the specifics of this design – especially the contrast issues – cannot be entirely overcome.

The Samsung S95F offers a noise reduction feature that smooths tonal transitions. It works very effectively, but in practice, it can be too aggressive. Materials of lower quality – such as older recordings or videos from YouTube – become soft and plastic when this feature is turned on, resembling an image digitally smoothed in a graphics program. Unfortunately, this also causes the natural film grain, which often adds authenticity to the image, to disappear. Fortunately, the TV does not lose too many fine details, such as in skin textures or elements of the surroundings. Therefore, this feature is best used with caution – depending on preferences, one can achieve a smooth image, but less natural, or one that is more faithful to the original. In our opinion, the most universal choice is the “Standard” setting.

The image scaling performs significantly better. The TV handles lower resolution materials well – even 576p content looks quite decent, although a slight blockiness can be noticed. Overall, the effect is very good, although it is somewhat inferior to what Sony Bravia 8 (II) or LG G5 can achieve. It's also worth mentioning a small imperfection of the S95F – in older materials, overscan may occur, causing a slight cropping of the left edge of the image.

If someone is worried about possible "steps" when connecting colors, there is a simple way in the QNED86A. Just turn on the feature called Smooth Gradation and set it to medium level. Then the TV really smooths out all those unwanted transitions – especially in older productions – and does it in such a way that the film grain doesn't disappear, nor do strange artifacts appear. In other words, you can use it without worry.

The upscaling itself also turns out quite well. Of course, there are no miracles here – with lower quality sources, you can observe characteristic jaggedness. Fortunately, there is a sharpness slider in the menu, and if someone prefers a more "softer" image, it can be quickly adjusted to their taste.

The Samsung S95F demonstrates phenomenal motion fluidity. The panel itself operates at a native 4K resolution with a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz, and combined with QD-OLED organic technology, it delivers incredible results. Sports and games look amazing – the image is fast, dynamic, and very natural. Additionally, the built-in motion smoother and motion blur reduction system allow you to adjust the character of the image to your preferences. You can opt for a more "frame" effect with visible film structure or a smooth, theatrical performance. Every viewer will find a setting that suits them.

The QNED86A is equipped with a 120 Hz refresh rate panel, so right from the start, it's safe to say that it's suitable for both sports and gaming. And indeed, this is true – the image looks smooth, and motion blur is not very noticeable. IPS panels have always had some issues with this, and you can sometimes notice slight blurring here as well, especially in very dynamic scenes, but it's not something that ruins watching a match or a fast-paced game. For movie and sports fans, LG has added the traditional TruMotion smoother. In the menu, we have two sliders – one for movies (De-Judder), the other for sports (De-Blur). The first adds missing frames and allows you to adjust the character of motion – from raw, cinematic to more fluid, "theatrical." The second enhances sharpness during dynamic actions, so it's worth turning it up a bit if you're watching a lot of sports.

The same advantages of low motion blur and excellent motion fluidity characteristic of OLED panels are just the beginning, as the Samsung S95F was designed with gamers in mind. The manufacturer has equipped it with four HDMI 2.1 ports – although limited to a bandwidth of 40 Gb/s, in practice, this has no impact on compatibility with consoles or PCs. We get a complete set of gaming features: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic game mode (ALLM), as well as a very well-implemented HGiG standard, which allows HDR titles to appear as their creators intended. The whole thing is complemented by the Game Bar – a clear settings hub where we can preview and change all key picture parameters with one movement. The proprietary motion smoother Game Motion Plus also deserves praise, as it can smooth out animation, which is particularly useful in productions running at 60 frames, where stability is not always exemplary. Although support for Dolby Vision in games is lacking, it is hard to consider this a serious drawback – Samsung compensates for it with other solutions. This is one of the best, if not the best, gaming TVs available today on the market.

In terms of gaming, the LG QNED86A6A is a complete tool. It features four HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s, which means that whether you connect a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or a powerful PC – everything will work at full 4K 120 Hz with support for all features. This is a big plus, as some competitors still have only two such ports, which can be problematic with a larger number of devices. It also has VRR, or variable refresh rate, which eliminates screen tearing, and ALLM, which automatically activates game mode when the console is turned on. There’s also Dolby Vision Gaming and a proper implementation of the HGiG format, so titles supporting these formats look more vivid and detailed. Added to all of this is the Game Optimizer – a kind of control center for the gamer. From this level, you can view image parameters in real-time, quickly change modes, activate additional features, or adjust image settings to your preferences. The LG QNED86A6A essentially has everything one can expect from a modern gaming television.