Samsung R95H Micro RGB vs Samsung S90H / S92H (QD-OLED)

In terms of brightness the Samsung R95H shows that we’re still dealing with a top-tier TV, although the results aren’t always as spectacular as you might expect from a flagship Micro RGB model. In synthetic tests the TV can exceed 2,400 nits, so it definitely has plenty of headroom. Importantly, it can sustain high brightness even when bright elements occupy a larger portion of the screen. In real movie scenes the situation is a bit more complex. The R95H most often reaches around 1,000 to 1,400 nits, which still delivers a very good, strong HDR effect. Bright sunlight, reflections, or lights can look truly impressive, and the TV has enough power for HDR to be clearly distinguishable from regular SDR.

The problem appears mainly in very dark scenes with single, small light sources. Here the local dimming algorithm favors deep blacks and reducing the halo over maximizing the brightness of such elements. As a result, small lights can be noticeably dimmed. Overall HDR performs well, but not without limitations. The R95H has huge brightness headroom, especially in larger and brighter parts of the image, but in difficult, dark scenes its capabilities are mainly limited by how the local dimming operates.

Colors

Colors were meant to be the biggest revolution enabled by the RGB backlight, and the R95H does show considerable potential here. The assessment is not, however, as simple as synthetic measurements might suggest. On test charts the TV performs superbly. BT.2020 coverage reaches almost 94%, and DCI-P3 98%, so especially strongly saturated reds and greens can look really impressive. The picture changes a bit when, instead of test charts, we start measuring real movie scenes. Then BT.2020 coverage drops to about 87% and DCI-P3 to 93%. It seems that with more complex imagery the RGB zones are not always able to maintain the same high color saturation as on simple charts. They are still saturated, but the advantage of the new backlight is no longer as large as the manufacturer's numbers might suggest.

The Samsung S90H is a truly bright TV for the midrange among OLEDs. In synthetic measurements its peak brightness reached about 1650 nits. That's an outstanding result in this class, roughly 50% higher than what we’ve seen from previous models at this price point. Crucially, these tests translate directly to real video material. In 4 out of 5 film shots we tested the S90H’s brightness hovered around 1300–1500 nits. That headroom lets the TV reproduce most HDR movies with the same dynamics and expression the creators intended in post-production. Of course, on full-screen, very bright scenes the result is naturally lower and drops to around 900 nits. That’s a direct result of the protection systems that prevent the OLED panel from being overloaded. Even in that scenario there’s no reason to complain. Those 900 nits across the entire screen is still a very high level, ensuring excellent dynamics in HDR content.

A major advantage of QD-OLED TVs has always been color, and the S90H is no exception. The DCI-P3 gamut we measured reached a full 100% (exactly 99.9%), while coverage of the much wider BT.2020 gamut hit roughly 89%. That’s a great result, allowing you to enjoy extremely saturated, vivid colors in HDR content. It’s worth noting these figures are better than WOLED panels, which is especially noticeable in very demanding film scenes.

To assess factory color reproduction, we of course chose Filmmaker mode, the setting that's supposed to be closest to how the creators intended the image to look. Unfortunately, the R95H does not fully exploit the potential of its panel. The biggest issue in SDR is the gamma. The image is noticeably brightened across almost the entire range, which robs it of some depth and makes it look flatter than it should. The white balance isn't ideal either, as increasing brightness brings a red bias and a lack of blue, making the image too warm. This is especially visible in bright elements and skin tones, which can appear redder than they should.

It's similar in HDR. The EOTF curve sits above the reference value for much of the range, so the R95H again brightens the image compared with how it should look. Combined with the inaccurate white balance, this means colors here are not as precise as we'd expect from a TV of this class. The factory Filmmaker setup is therefore not one of the R95H's strengths. At first glance the picture may look impressive because it's bright and highly saturated, but in terms of fidelity to the source material there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The next stage of the test was to check how the S90H handles color reproduction without any calibration. As always, we took measurements in Filmmaker Mode, the best out-of-the-box picture setting. And here Samsung truly deserves praise. The factory tuning is at a very high level, and a few years ago that wasn't one of its strong points. The white balance was set correctly, as was the brightness response. The average color error (Delta E) hovered around 3, which is below the level at which most people can notice inaccuracies. Only in the brightest shades of gray did values slightly approach 4, but it's still hard to consider that a real viewing issue. For settings straight out of the box, the result is simply excellent.

R95H responds very well to calibration. In SDR we were able to set the white balance and gamma almost perfectly, and color errors dropped to very low levels. The difference compared with the factory settings is therefore considerable, and after calibration the picture looks much more natural. In HDR we can also improve a lot, especially regarding white balance and overall color accuracy. The issue of managing brightness and color saturation looks a bit different. Here, at some point we run into limitations resulting from the way RGB backlighting and local dimming work. Individual zones have to control both brightness and the color of the light at the same time, so in more demanding scenes it is not always possible to achieve exactly the same saturation and brightness that the TV shows on simple test patterns. Calibration simply can't completely overcome that. Despite this, after calibration the R95H delivers accurate image reproduction, and most of the errors we saw in the factory settings can be effectively eliminated.

Okay, but you know we wouldn’t be ourselves if we didn’t check how much more we could squeeze out of the S90H with professional calibration. And there was no big surprise here: since the out-of-the-box settings were already very good, there wasn’t a huge reserve. Even so, we managed to refine the picture almost to perfection. After calibration the average color reproduction errors fell below the threshold of perception, reaching Delta E values under 2 for both SDR and HDR material. We also improved the brightness response, so the image more faithfully reflects the creators’ intent and maintains proper tonality across the full brightness range. Not necessarily, because the factory settings already deliver a very high level. If you want the most accurate image and want to squeeze absolutely everything out of this panel, the S90H offers that potential. After professional calibration it’s simply an almost reference display.

Will the difference be spectacular for everyone? Not necessarily. It depends a lot on the individual unit. Our sample was very well tuned straight out of the box, but that doesn’t mean every S90H will perform at the same level. Even identical models can vary in their factory calibration. That’s exactly why professional calibration makes sense: it lets you bring a specific unit to the highest possible accuracy instead of hoping for a bit of luck when buying.

Samsung R95H uses the new Micro RGB AI Processor, but in practice we didn't notice a big leap compared to the NQ4 AI Gen2 or Gen3 chips found in the manufacturer's other TVs. The upscaling itself still performs very well. The image is appropriately smoothed, yet retains plenty of sharpness and doesn't look overly soft. That's definitely one of Samsung's strengths. It's just a shame that with very low-resolution content you still can't completely turn off overscan.

The processor also handles gradients well and can effectively smooth unwanted posterization. The noise reduction feature works very effectively, but you need to use it judiciously. At higher settings it can noticeably interfere with the image and even remove natural film grain. So it's best to use it only when the source material is actually heavily compressed.

In this regard Samsung has practically changed nothing compared with last year’s model, which is actually pretty good news. The function responsible for smoothing tonal transitions still very effectively reduces posterization. You should remember, however, that it works quite aggressively, because besides removing artifacts it can also eliminate film grain and slightly soften fine image details. As always, it’s a matter of compromise and personal preference. If you want the most faithful reproduction of the source, we recommend leaving this function turned off.

There’s also no revolution when it comes to upscaling. The S90H uses the same proprietary NQ4 Gen3 image processor as its predecessor, so scaling quality has remained virtually unchanged. The TV handles lower-resolution content well, effectively improving sharpness. The overscan issue still hasn’t been solved, though. With some older material, especially archival footage, parts of the image at the edges may be cropped. It’s a minor flaw, but it’s a shame Samsung left this problem unchanged for another year running.

The Samsung R95H has a 165 Hz panel, so its motion handling is excellent. At 120 Hz, like when gaming on a console or watching sports, motion blur is minimal, and when connected to a PC you can use the full 165 Hz to further improve motion clarity. However, keep in mind that it’s still a VA panel, so it doesn’t respond as instantly as OLED. You may sometimes notice a faint trail behind moving objects, but from a normal viewing distance this shouldn’t be distracting. For movies and series you can also use the adjustable motion smoothing. You can keep the more cinematic 24 fps look or gradually smooth the motion if you prefer a smoother image. Samsung gives you plenty of freedom here, and it’s easy to choose a setting that matches your preferences.

In terms of motion smoothness, the S90H delivers a very high level. New here is a panel with a 165 Hz refresh rate. In practice, when watching movies or sports broadcasts it's hard to notice any difference, because that kind of content doesn't use refresh rates higher than 120 Hz. The extra 165 Hz will be appreciated mainly by PC gamers who can generate that many frames per second. Samsung equipped the TV with advanced motion settings. You get two sliders (judder reduction and blur reduction) that make it easy to tailor the picture's character to your preferences. You can easily get very smooth motion for sports, but you can just as easily preserve a more cinematic feel with the typical 24 fps. It all depends on which effect you prefer.

When it comes to gaming the Samsung R95H is almost a complete TV. When you connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM, and the TV also works properly with HGiG. The only major omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung, like with its other TVs, simply does not support. There's also the Game Bar, familiar from other Samsung models, which lets you quickly check frame rate, VRR status or the HDR format and change the most important settings without leaving the game. You can also brighten darker parts of the image or change the screen aspect ratio.

Samsung also offers Game Motion Plus, a motion smoothing feature designed specifically for games. It makes the most sense for games running at 30 fps, where it can noticeably improve smoothness and make camera movement look much nicer. Just remember this comes at the cost of higher input lag (about 60 ms), so it's not the best choice for online or faster paced games. It's also worth noting Gaming Hub, which lets you run some games directly from the cloud without connecting a console. In terms of features for gamers, it's hard to find any major omissions in the R95H.

From the start the Samsung S90H feels like a TV designed with gamers in mind, and honestly... it's hard to blame them. The manufacturer equipped it with everything you’d expect from a gaming TV. You get four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, support for ALLM and VRR, and very high refresh rates. There’s also a clear Game Bar that lets you quickly check key picture parameters or change settings without leaving the game. Another very welcome improvement is that HGiG now works properly. Last year it could cause a lot of issues, but on the S90H it behaves exactly as it should.

Samsung’s real ace, however, is its proprietary Game Motion Plus mode. The feature works similarly to the motion smoothing known from movies, improving animation smoothness in games while keeping input lag at a very reasonable level. For titles running at 30/60 fps, with the right settings, input lag did not exceed 40 ms in our tests. That’s a very good result, especially since enabling similar features from many manufacturers can end up increasing lag three to four times. It’s a feature that partly makes up for the lack of Dolby Vision Gaming. A smoother image often provides more noticeable benefits than the HDR format itself, so for many gamers this will be a far more valuable addition.