Samsung Q60D / Q67D / Q68D vs Samsung QN85F

The Samsung Q60D consistently achieves brightness levels above 500 nits, which is above average for its class of devices. This level of brightness enhances the viewing experience, providing a more immersive home cinema feel, with clearly visible details in bright areas of the image and well-rendered contrast dynamics, especially when watching content from streaming platforms or Blu-ray discs. As a result, movie screenings gain added depth and realism, particularly in well-lit scenes.

However, despite incorporating quantum dot technology (QLED), the TV does not excel in colour reproduction. The DCI-P3 colour space coverage is limited to 90%, which may become apparent in more demanding scenes where the richness and saturation of colours are crucial for image quality. While the Q60D offers solid performance, those seeking more vibrant and accurate colour reproduction may notice some limitations.

Although the more than double number of dimming zones compared to its predecessor has not translated into a spectacular jump in black levels and contrast, we definitely felt it in the HDR effect itself. The QN85F is up to 50% brighter than last year's model, making a huge impression in dynamic scenes. The peak brightness can reach nearly 1700–1800 nits, which is truly impressive in this Mini-LED class. The best part is that almost regardless of the scene being viewed, the HDR effect remains strong and vibrant. In four out of five test scenes, the brightness was around 1000 nits, a level that in most cases allows viewers to feel the true magic of this format. Of course, in scene number 4 from the movie Sicario 2, the limitations of Mini-LED technology become apparent – the brightness of the helicopter's spotlight drops to around 500 nits. It's not an outstanding result, but it's still much more acceptable than in last year's model. Samsung deserves applause, as the improvement in brightness in the QN85F is substantial compared to its predecessor. However, it's a pity about a certain trend seen in this year’s televisions – the manufacturer has worsened the color gamut coverage. Although the QN85F has a QLED panel, its result of around 90% DCI-P3 is average, and in the most demanding films, it can lead to less vibrant colors than in the predecessor. Despite this shortcoming, the overall HDR effect is at an excellent level and really makes a big impression in this class of devices.

For several years, Samsung has included a "Filmmaker" mode in its televisions, designed to deliver picture settings that remain true to the original vision of filmmakers straight out of the box. This is undoubtedly a significant move towards achieving cinematic quality at home, but it's important to note that this mode is not without its drawbacks.

For instance, the white balance in both SDR and HDR modes tends to show an excessive amount of red, resulting in an overly warm image. This can cause actors' skin tones and brighter scenes to appear unnaturally pink. The Colour Checker test confirms this issue, as colour samples often shift towards red hues, deviating from the neutral colour representation that would be preferred in a professional context.

In terms of contrast, there is a noticeable dip at the start of the gamma curve, where values below 2.4 fall to around 2.1. This can make darker scenes look less detailed, diminishing their depth. When displaying HDR content, the EOTF curve (which handles brightness representation) shows a significant peak at the beginning of the graph, potentially leading to excessive brightness in lighter areas of the image and disrupting the natural tonal balance.

The Samsung QN85F offers several preset picture modes, but out of the box, the television starts in "Eco" mode. We could actually end the discussion here, because for such a model, using this setting makes no sense – the picture is washed out, unpleasant, and far from what we expect from a television of this class. Therefore, we conducted our tests in the best available mode, which is the Filmmaker mode. Its purpose is to faithfully reproduce what the directors saw while filming, and indeed, this setting performs best among all the factory options. However, this does not mean it is free of flaws.

Both in SDR and HDR, the QN85F strongly highlighted warm colors. This stemmed from a lack of white balance, with a noticeable absence of blue. Additionally, the picture sometimes appeared overexposed – both the gamma brightness characteristic and the EOTF curve indicated that the television has a tendency to blow out scenes. In SDR, the color reproduction errors (Delta E at levels of 4–5) were still acceptable, but in HDR, the inaccuracies became really significant and clearly deviated from what the creators intended to show us. Fortunately, Samsung provides a wide range of calibration tools in its televisions, so – as always – we proceeded with professional calibration to see how much could be improved.

After professional calibration of the Samsung Q60D in film mode, users can experience a notable enhancement in image quality. Samsung TVs have long featured both 2- and 20-point grayscale adjustments, and an advanced Colour Management System (CMS), enabling precise tuning of colour and hue. Following calibration, the white balance for both SDR and HDR content is free from significant peaks and red tone shifts, resulting in a more natural image. Although a few larger errors may still be evident in HDR mode, the overall improvement in colour accuracy is impressive.

In terms of contrast, despite the inherent limitations of the TV’s technology, there has been a marked improvement. Calibration enhances the visibility of details in darker scenes and accentuates the differences between lighter and darker elements, making the image appear more dynamic. This leads to a more satisfying viewing experience, with improved depth and realism in the displayed content.

After calibrating the movie mode, we managed to tame the colors in both modes to nearly perfection – most of them did not exceed an error value of 3, which is the limit of visibility to the human eye. The image became more natural, fuller, and at the same time devoid of the blooming that was noticeable right after taking the TV out of the box. This shows how much potential lies in the QN85F and how well it responds to precise settings. However, this does not change the fact that certain technological barriers cannot be overcome. Despite the significant benefits of calibration, limitations of the panel itself still remain. Although the number of dimming zones has doubled compared to its predecessor, the algorithms controlling the backlighting can manipulate brightness in their own way. Sometimes this leads to slight color distortions or subtly visible halo effects around bright objects. Nonetheless, the reception after calibration is really pleasant and shows how good a screen the QN85F can be if we just take a moment for the right settings.

However, when it comes to processing and scaling lower-quality content, the TV performs quite well. The image is displayed without overscan, ensuring the full use of the available screen space. Additionally, the edges of models or tree branches are not overly jagged, resulting in satisfactory content quality. While noise reduction could be more effective, the overall processing of lower-quality materials is positive and meets expectations.

Although the native tonal transitions on the QN85F perform excellently with 4K materials, we don't always deal with content in the highest resolution. That's when it becomes crucial how the television handles upscaling and digital image processing. This process is managed by Samsung's proprietary processor – AI NQ4 Gen2. In practice, it works very efficiently. If visible color banding or other undesirable phenomena appear on the screen, for example in materials from YouTube, they can be easily smoothed out using the "noise reduction" function. Set to medium, it improves tonal transitions while not excessively blurring desired details. However, it's important to remember that – as with most Samsung televisions – this feature significantly affects the film grain. Therefore, during movie screenings, it's advisable to use it cautiously to maintain the natural character of the image.

The upscaling itself looks very good. Test materials in lower resolutions were displayed sharply and clearly, with a lot of detail. The only drawback remains the issue of overscan, which is cutting off the edges of the screen. In most situations, this is not noticeable, but with very old materials below HD quality, there may be instances where part of the image on the left side is slightly cropped.

The Samsung Q60D is equipped with a 60 Hz panel and includes a feature known as "Motion Reduction," designed to minimise motion blur and improve the overall fluidity of the image. This addition is particularly beneficial for users who enjoy watching films and series, providing a smoother visual experience even during dynamic action scenes where detail is essential. However, while "Motion Reduction" enhances the viewing experience for cinematic content, it is important to note that this panel may not be the optimal choice for gaming due to a noticeable motion blur effect, which can become apparent during fast-paced gameplay.

Motion blur and fluidity of motion in the QN85F is a topic worth discussing in more detail, as the television is equipped not with a standard 120 Hz panel, but with a 144 Hz panel. The additional hertz will primarily be appreciated by PC gamers, but the mere presence of such an option can be seen as a nice addition and a sign of the times – it’s hard to complain about the trend towards faster panels, since in practice, each of us would like the image to be as fluid as possible. However, the most important thing is how the television handles typical 120 Hz refresh rates – in the case of consoles, sports, or films recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. And here, the QN85F performs really well. In movies, you can easily adjust the character of the image thanks to the “picture clarity” function, where we find two adjustable sliders. Key for viewing sessions is the one responsible for reducing motion blur. Lower values give the image a more cinematic character with preserved “frame rate,” while higher values lead to a strong smoothing that resembles television theater.

The Samsung Q60D has gaming features such as ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), and Game Bar, which contribute positively to gaming experiences by optimising response times and enhancing HDR visuals. However, the absence of HDMI 2.1 support limits the TV's potential, preventing the use of VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) which could further boost smoothness and image consistency. For casual gamers the Q60D should suffice, delivering satisfactory performance during typical gameplay. On the other hand, for more discerning gamers, models with a higher refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 support are recommended. Such upgrades enable full functionality and better compatibility with the latest games, ensuring smoother motion and superior image quality – essential for an immersive and top-tier gaming experience.

The Samsung QN85F makes a really great impression from a gaming feature standpoint. We have four HDMI 2.1 ports here, so we can connect multiple devices simultaneously without any problems. It also has variable refresh rate (VRR), which prevents screen tearing, as well as automatic game mode (ALLM), which allows the TV to switch to the appropriate settings by itself when we launch the console. Additionally, it supports refresh rates of up to 144 Hz – something that PC gamers will particularly appreciate, but the fact that such an option is available shows that Samsung is fully committed to supporting gamers. The Game Bar panel also deserves praise. It provides a quick overview of the most important parameters – from frame rates, to refresh modes, and even shortcuts to picture settings. Instead of digging through the entire menu, we have everything at our fingertips, which turns out to be really convenient in practice. However, the most interesting addition is the Game Motion Plus feature. It’s essentially a motion smoother, adapted for the gaming world. When enabled, the image becomes smoother; sometimes it even looks as though we’re getting a few more frames, and importantly – the response delay doesn’t increase enough to hinder gameplay. This is a solution that truly distinguishes Samsung’s 120Hz TVs from the competition.

The only serious drawback remains the lack of proper HGiG support. This is the standard that ensures correct tone mapping in HDR games, meaning that brightness and contrast are displayed according to how the developers intended them. Without HGiG, we have to manually adjust the brightness, which doesn’t always result in an ideal outcome. The feature was available in previous models, but it disappeared in the QN85F after one of the updates. We hope that Samsung will quickly fix this issue, and we will be keeping an eye out to see if they succeed.