Samsung S85F (WOLED) vs Samsung R95H Micro RGB

For most of the time, let's say in 90% of film scenes, viewers won't see practically any difference between the S85F versions. When small but very strong light points appear on the screen – a lantern in a dark alley, a gunshot, the sun breaking through the clouds – this WOLED panel (like the smaller S85F) performs wonderfully. Our measurements showed peak brightness at around 750 nits. We can confidently state: this is an excellent result that guarantees fantastic HDR effects. The problem arises in a very specific, uncomfortable situation for any OLED. We're talking about the moment when the entire screen has to shine at full power brightly. Examples include a slide with a white background, a ski jump scene, or our test sequences (5) from the movie The Meg. And here, unfortunately, the results diverge quite significantly to the detriment of the WOLED panel variant. Our measurement equipment was able to measure a maximum of about 250 to 300 nits of brightness in such conditions. Just to be clear: the same model on a QD-OLED panel in the same test is almost twice as bright. The second issue: colors. And here we also have to be honest – QD-OLED has a design advantage. Why? It’s simple. QD-OLED creates colors from three components (red, green, and blue) and does not need an additional white subpixel. The WOLED panel we are testing uses this white subpixel mainly to boost overall brightness. The effect is that QD-OLED is able to show a slightly wider color palette, and the colors are a bit "cleaner." But let’s be clear: it’s not that the colors on this WOLED panel are bad! On the contrary, they are actually very good. Coverage of the DCI-P3 film palette at 97% and 71% for the wider BT.2020 palette is still a high standard. We just have to honestly admit that this few percent advantage in color coverage is on the side of QD-OLED technology and may be noticeable in very specific moments.

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.

When it comes to factory color reproduction, our test sample in SDR mode suffered from a slight deficiency in red and yellow color. This resulted in a subtle yellowish tint visible in the shades of white. However, this is not the biggest problem with the S85F. Similar to the QD-OLED panel variant, the biggest issue with this model is the way it presents HDR content. When we look at the EOTF curve graph, it is easy to see that the television has quite significant problems with overly brightening the image. This causes the final picture in many scenes to become very unnatural.

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.

After calibrating in Filmmaker mode, we managed to eliminate most of the unwanted effects. In SDR content, the television performs exemplary, and its color reproduction errors do not exceed a value of 2, which is an excellent result. A bit worse, although still very good, are the HDR quality contents. While we were able to eliminate a significant unnaturalness in the image caused by too high a positioning of the EOTF curve, the most discerning observers may notice that it is not perfectly aligned. It runs slightly below the reference curve, which would suggest that the S85F has slight issues showing all the details in the image. We must point out right away that it is highly unlikely that an average viewer would notice any shortcomings in the image. The final effect after calibration is rated as exemplary.

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.

The processing of tonal transitions (gradients) in the S85F is at a high level. The television effectively handles posterization (the "stepping" effect of colors), even with heavily compressed materials, such as from streaming services. However, using this feature requires making a certain compromise. We noticed that the noise reduction algorithm is quite aggressive – even at the lowest setting, it can eliminate natural film grain, which for many viewers is part of the film's aesthetics. The "Standard" setting seems to be the golden mean, not causing visible loss of important details, so we can recommend it. However, we advise against using the "High" level, which removes not only noise but also desired details, such as texture or structure of objects on the screen.

The scaling (upscaling) process of lower resolution content works very well in the S85F. The image is sharp and clear. The only minor imperfection we observed is occasional, slight aliasing on the edges. The television also still exhibits characteristics typical of this manufacturer, such as active "overscan" (slight magnification of the image). This should be kept in mind, especially when watching older materials, as it may result in a minimal cropping of the original frame.

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.

The S85F is a model with impressive speed. The use of a 120 Hz OLED panel ensures that dynamic scenes, both in games and during sports broadcasts, meet expectations: smoothly, sharply, and without loss of clarity. A key role here is played by the instantaneous pixel response time, which is a natural advantage of OLED technology. Transitions between frames are instantaneous, and the image remains clear even during the fastest camera movements. Moving objects, like a ball on the field or a car in a chase scene, are clear and devoid of the characteristic motion blur typical of LCD panels (the so-called "tail").

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.

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.