Samsung QN990F vs Samsung The Frame Pro

The Samsung QN990F belongs to the bright televisions and this is immediately evident in the tests. In measurements, it achieved around 1300 nits, which in practice allows you to enjoy movies as their creators intended. Bright scenes have the right impact, lights shine, and the feeling is truly cinematic. In standard test patterns, sequences number 1, 3, and 5 performed the best – there the brightness remained around 800-1000 nits, and the image looked very natural. In more challenging segments, it could drop to about 600 nits, but still the level remained sufficient for details to be well visible. However, it should be added that with such highly contrasted shots, the halo effect returns – the same one we mentioned regarding the blacks. Bright elements can leave a glow on dark backgrounds, and this is immediately noticeable. Since we are dealing with a QLED, the color palette is expanded and the colors look impressive. The problem is that with such a flagship model, we expected better numbers. 91% coverage of DCI-P3 and about 67% BT.2020 are results that can be considered solid, but not outstanding. This results in a vibrant and attractive picture; however, competition in this and lower price segments can show even more.

Samsung The Frame Pro belongs to relatively bright televisions. In synthetic tests, we managed to achieve values around 900 nits, which, for a lifestyle model, is quite a decent result. In full-screen scenes, such as the frame from the movie The Meg or the opening sequence in Life of Pi, brightness remained at levels of 700–800 nits. These are values that allow you to fully enjoy HDR effects and capture their cinematic magic. However, the situation complicates when smaller, point light sources appear on the screen. The edge lighting used here, equipped with the ability to locally dim entire strips, does not handle them very well. It sometimes happens that small elements are excessively dimmed, which weakens the effect, or on the contrary – they are significantly brightened, but at the cost of losing black depth in that part of the image. This can be compared to light glows resembling the spread of a laser beam in dense fog – the effect is visible and bright, but at the same time, it is not very natural and distracts our attention. Fortunately, the color aspect performs better. Thanks to the use of a quantum dot filter (QLED), the colors are saturated, and the reproduction of the DCI-P3 palette exceeds 92%. In general, movies or series watched in HDR on The Frame Pro present a rich color palette, even if the contrast and the operation of the backlight algorithms can sometimes distract our attention.

We tested the QN990F in Filmmaker mode, which is the best available right out of the box. Right from the start, we noticed several significant errors. The biggest issue was with white balance. Due to too little blue and also incorrect proportions between red and blue, the image – especially in scenes with a lot of white – appeared too yellow and at times even orange. On the Color Checker palette, these errors didn't look dramatic as they hovered around a value of 4, but in everyday viewing, especially with strong whites, they were most noticeable. We also noticed issues with brightness management – the television had difficulty maintaining details in the smallest parts of the image, mainly due to the way it controls the backlight zones. Fortunately, Samsung offers a lot of room for adjustment when it comes to setting corrections. We know that with proper calibration, you can definitely get a lot more out of this screen.

The best results were, of course, achieved in Filmmaker mode, which immediately showed that Samsung paid attention to the factory settings. In SDR content – the type of content most often viewed – The Frame Pro performed really well. White balance and gamma were almost perfectly matched, making the image look natural and consistent. Yes, there were some noticeable errors, especially in skin tones and reds, which could be overly saturated, giving everything a slightly “warmed up” character, but in everyday use, this did not significantly affect the viewing experience. In the case of HDR content, the situation was similar regarding white balance. It was at a good level; however, the biggest problem turned out to be brightness management. The EOTF curve was set in such a way that in many scenes the image appeared to be overexposed, and the brightest areas lost details and turned into solid patches of light. This severely undermined realism and made the colors appear strongly over-sharpened. Fortunately, Samsung provides the option for manual adjustment of the curve in its televisions, so we opted for calibration, and its results can be seen below.

After performing calibration, we managed to bring the white balance into order and eliminate the previous deficiencies in blue tones. As a result, the image no longer appeared as if it had a slightly yellowish filter – whites are cleaner, and the overall presentation looks much more natural. We also managed to some extent to tame the brightness characteristic in HDR content. The television now handles maintaining details in blacks significantly better and does not lose them as much as before. However, when we look at the EOTF curve and how the QN990F reproduces brightness in films, it is evident that it still tends to emphasize details in dark scenes more strongly. This is a characteristic feature of Mini-LED technology, and more specifically, how it is managed by the QN990F, which is practically impossible to completely eliminate. Nevertheless, after calibration, the image looks much more natural, primarily due to the correct exposure of white light. The final effect is definitely more pleasant to receive and closer to what we expect from a flagship television.

After calibration, the SDR mode looks simply perfect. We managed to eliminate the overly strong red saturation that previously gave the picture a somewhat excessively warm character. The colors became more balanced, which translated to a natural and pleasant reception of daily content – from television to movies and series from streaming or materials on YouTube. In HDR mode, the EOTF curve required the most work, as it originally caused excessive burning of the entire image. Calibration largely helped to "tame" this problem – the image stopped being overexposed, and details in bright areas became more visible. Of course, the limits are set by the television's own design, as edge lighting reveals its limitations, and even the smallest elements of light can still be oversaturated or blend into the background. However, this is a matter of technology, not calibration itself. After the correction, The Frame Pro is much more enjoyable to watch, and it's definitely worth opting for if you want to make the most of your television's capabilities.

The QN990F deserves the highest praise for its upscaling. The processor responsible for "pulling up" classic TV to 8K resolution performs quite well. While watching content in a 576p signal, we had no illusions that we would suddenly see a marketing-style miracle where the image magically transforms into crystal-clear 8K. Nevertheless, the final effect was surprisingly good; the image looked clean and clear. It's just unfortunate that the TV, like most Samsung models, has an overscan issue, which slightly cuts off the edges of the screen on the left side.

Regarding image processing, Samsung provides a feature called "noise reduction," which in theory should improve tonal transitions in older materials, where they are usually more noticeable. Unfortunately, we felt quite disappointed here. The feature works poorly – it struggles with unwanted bands and can even introduce its own artifacts. On the plus side, the TV does not eliminate film grain when using this feature, but in practice, that's little consolation since the noise reduction itself proves to be practically useless.

While the smoothness of tonal transitions in 4K HDR content on The Frame Pro is not a problem at all, naturally with weaker signal quality – from television, HD content, or older Full HD films – imperfections may occur. Therefore, it is crucial how the television handles these limitations thanks to its image processor. The noise reduction feature works really effectively here. At the medium setting, it eliminates unwanted bands or artifacts, smoothing the image in a noticeable but not overly exaggerated way. However, it should be noted that Samsung tends to operate aggressively – even at the lowest setting of this feature, it can "eat" film grain. It is therefore advisable to use it with caution and adjust the settings to the material being viewed.

The upscaling itself is at a high level. The Frame Pro can effectively upscale older materials to native 4K resolution while maintaining good sharpness and readability. Movies and series in lower quality simply look better here. However, it is worth mentioning a minor drawback – typical for many Samsung televisions. With very old sources of poor quality, you may notice cropping of the image edges on the left side of the screen. This is not a problem that will ruin the viewing experience, but it is good to know that it may occur.

The QN990F can easily be called one of the fastest televisions in the world. In 4K mode, it can display images at a frequency of up to 240 Hz, which until now has been more associated with gaming monitors than with televisions in the living room. However, in everyday viewing, what matters more is how it handles 8K signals at 120 Hz – and it performs very well here too. Motion remains smooth, and the television manages without a hitch even with the most demanding content. Additionally, there is a motion smoother, called "Picture Clarity." With it, you can adjust the image to your own preferences – leave a slight cinematic stutter or switch to maximum smoothness, which works great, for instance, in sports broadcasts.

The smoothness of motion in The Frame Pro is ensured not only by the panel, which operates with a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, but also by the image processor and the smoothing system. It is thanks to this that we can adjust the way we display movies or sports broadcasts to our own preferences. Available are sliders for motion blur reduction and judder reduction – the first function improves the sharpness of fast movements, while the second allows for softening the "jumping" image effect during camera pans. Therefore, everyone can choose between a cinematic character of motion and a smoother, more "television-like" style.

It must be said directly – the QN990F is one of those TVs that screams it was designed with gamers in mind. Samsung has been developing its gaming solutions for years, but here we have a true package. Sure, the lack of Dolby Vision support in games is a downside that will always come up in discussions. However, apart from that, the list of features is truly impressive. To start, we have Game Bar – a handy menu that allows you to quickly check and change game-related settings. You can see, for example, VRR is turned on, the frame rate, or the aspect ratio settings. It's like a small "dashboard," allowing you not to dig deep into the menu to make adjustments. Speaking of VRR: yes, variable refresh rate is present here and works flawlessly. Additionally, there's ALLM, which automatically switches the TV to game mode as soon as the console is turned on. These may seem like small details, but together they make using the QN990F simply convenient and hassle-free.

However, the number of ports makes the biggest impression. Four wireless HDMI 2.1 ports are already great news because you don't have to choose whether to connect the console, the receiver, or maybe even the PC. There's plenty of room here for everything. And if we add an additional micro HDMI (which we recommend connecting directly to consoles), hidden in the housing, we practically have five inputs in full 2.1 standard. Add to that support for high refresh rates – 120 Hz in 8K or even 240 Hz in 4K – and we get a TV that not only keeps up with the new consoles but also feels ready for consoles that are yet to come.

Samsung The Frame Pro doesn’t pretend to be just a “living room” television; here, gamers will also find something for themselves. The manufacturer has ensured a full suite of gaming features: we have support for variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), refresh rates up to 144 Hz, and compatibility with both G-Sync and FreeSync Premium Pro. Additionally, there’s the well-known Game Bar panel, which is a quick menu where you can check key parameters on the fly – from refresh rates to active image processing modes. Are there any downsides? Yes, The Frame Pro doesn’t support Dolby Vision in gaming mode, but it's hard to consider this a serious issue – most gamers use HDR10 anyway... so, the HGIG mode. Exactly. The biggest surprise turned out to be the latest software update. Samsung… completely removed this option from The Frame PRO. In practice, this means that the TV independently interprets HDR tone mapping in games, and the user has no ability to enable settings designed for consoles. This is a step backward that may disappoint more informed gamers expecting full compliance with HGiG guidelines. We just hope that this mistake will be quickly corrected.

Interestingly, The Frame Pro also features an atypical arrangement of HDMI 2.1 ports. We have as many as five available – four are located in the One Connect module, and the fifth, in micro HDMI version, is directly on the TV. This solution is quite unconventional, but very practical. Samsung clearly suggests that this is the port to connect your console or computer. Why? Because it minimizes potential delays associated with communication through the wireless One Connect, and in gaming, every millisecond matters. We wrote separately about input lag, but it can be revealed here that by connecting equipment directly to the TV, we achieve the absolute maximum response speed.