SAMSUNG S95F (TANDEM OLED 83") vs LG QNED80A6A (IPS)

Samsung S95F in the 83-inch variant with Tandem OLED panel also enchants with HDR effects. In test movie scenes, such as "Life of Pi" or "Sicario 2," where smaller light points dominate – stars in the night sky, the glow of the moon, or headlights – the television easily achieves brightness values exceeding 2000 nits. This is a result that not long ago seemed unattainable for OLEDs and places this model in the same category as the best Mini-LED designs.

The limitations of organic panels reveal themselves only in full-screen scenes completely filled with white. In the case of this model, for example, in the last shot from the movie The Meg, brightness drops to around 1000 nits – a bit lower than in the smaller QD-OLED variants, where the result remained around 1400 nits. Nevertheless, we are still talking about a remarkable result, unprecedented in OLED televisions of this size. Color reproduction is equally impressive. The new Tandem OLED panel essentially catches up with QD-OLED televisions, offering excellent coverage of a wide color gamut. The results are slightly weaker than those of QD-OLED, but in practice, they still provide an image whose intensity and naturalness of colors are hard to compare with any other television.

When it comes to image dynamics and brightness, the QNED80A has its feet firmly on the ground. It is not a "light beast" – during our measurements, peak brightness oscillated around 350-400 nits. To put it plainly: these are values that will not allow HDR formats to fully spread their wings. So don’t expect the glare of the sun or car headlights in movies to blind you. However, this TV has a powerful ace up its sleeve that saves the overall view of the image – it is the colors. LG engineers have implemented an advanced filtration system here (technically likely based on a PFS phosphor, marketed as QNED/NanoCell), which does a fantastic job. Thanks to it, despite the average brightness, the screen can generate exceptionally saturated and pure colors. Our instruments showed coverage of the wide DCI-P3 cinema palette at the level of 93-94%. This result outclasses most standard LCD TVs. In practice, this means that when watching 4K HDR content, the image – while not particularly bright – is very plastic, vibrant, and pleases the eye with the depth of colors.

The best picture mode straight out of the box is undoubtedly Filmmaker Mode. This mode has been present in Samsung TVs for several years, and its intention is to reproduce the image as faithfully as possible to the creators' vision. In SDR content, it works reasonably well, although not without flaws. The picture is slightly dimmed, and the white balance tends to shift towards red and blue, resulting in a slight pinkish hue on the screen. Average color errors hover around ΔE values of 3–4, which is on the edge of what most people can perceive with the naked eye.

The limitations are much more apparent with HDR content. Here, a slight excess of blue in the white balance is not as big of a problem – the real issue becomes how the TV manages brightness. In many scenes, the picture looked as if it had been overexposed, and details in the dark could completely disappear. The final effect did not represent what the equipment of this class is capable of and led to significant color errors. It’s hard to understand why such a factory characteristic was chosen, as the HDR reception in this version definitely was not what it should be.

Here, regardless of whether you encounter the VA or IPS version, the situation looks identical. LG engineers once again served us their vision of a "gaming look," which unfortunately has little to do with accuracy. After switching to console, the white balance automatically drifts into very cold areas. The image is dominated by the color blue, making it seem artificially sharpened, and the white is so aggressive that it is almost burned out. This creates an effect that we associate with bright retail modes – everything is supposed to shine and scream "I am digital." While some may like this, we must say it straight: this is not an accurate image. If you care about naturalness, we suggest checking the settings right away and changing the color temperature to a warmer one.

After calibration, the S95F shows what it is truly capable of. The white balance was corrected, and minor inaccuracies were adjusted, making the image in SDR content look almost exemplary. Color differences have dropped below the level that the human eye can detect – looking at the screen, one simply feels a full sense of naturalness and color coherence.

In HDR, the improvement is equally noticeable. The television handles brightness much better, eliminating the "blowing out" effect of the entire frame. Bright scenes are more controlled, and blacks retain more detail, although sometimes there may still be slight brightening of the image as a whole. Nevertheless, after calibration, the S95F delivers an image that can confidently be called one of the best on the market – regardless of whether we are watching films in SDR or spectacular productions in HDR.

After professional calibration, the QNED80A in the IPS version has changed beyond recognition, especially in "regular" content (SDR). We managed to eliminate the greenish tint and calm down the overly bright gamma. In classic television or older games, color errors (DeltaE) fell below the threshold of perceptibility (value < 2). The image is now consistent, natural, and truly pleasing to the eye. The situation is somewhat more complicated in HDR mode. Although the colors are already in place, the television has trouble perfectly controlling the brightness (EOTF curve). Due to the limitations of edge lighting and the rather poor adjustment options provided by LG in this area, the television's software sometimes "does what it wants" just to mask the imperfections of black and contrast. However, this is not a cause for concern – despite these technical limitations, the image after calibration is a class better than what you saw out of the box.

The Samsung S95F model features a noise reduction function aimed at improving the fluidity of tonal transitions. Its performance is hard to call ineffective – on the contrary, it can excessively interfere with the image. Older films or materials of lower quality, such as those from YouTube, take on a soft, smoothed character because of it, reminiscent of a painted effect. The problem is that along with the noise, the natural film grain, which gives the image a cinematic quality, also disappears. Fortunately, the function does not blur essential details, so its use is more a matter of taste. If someone prefers a slightly polished and smooth image, it’s worth turning it on, but in our opinion, the most sensible setting is “Standard”.

Upscaling leaves a better impression. The S95F efficiently enhances the quality of lower resolution content – even 576p video looks quite good, although some minor artifacts in the form of blockiness can be noticed. Overall, the effect is very solid, although when compared to the competition – such as the Sony Bravia 8 (II) or LG G5 – it can be seen that those models can extract a bit more from the image. However, it's worth remembering one inconvenience: with older films and photos, there is an overscan issue that causes a slight cropping of the left edge of the image.

It often happens that cheap 4K TVs mercilessly expose the flaws of low-resolution materials. Here, it's different. The QNED80A is great equipment for watching content that isn't perfect. The processor does a great job of upscaling the image, making even older recordings look quite decent on a 4K screen – they are consistent and free of digital noise. An interesting feature is the gradation reduction available in the settings. It is quite effective in combating so-called banding (color banding) in low-bitrate materials. Of course, one should approach it with some caution. Due to the lower computing power of the chip (compared to the premium series), enabling this option can sometimes result in unwanted artifacts or blurriness. Despite this risk, we encourage experimentation, as in many cases this feature can save a poor-quality viewing experience.

In the case of the 83-inch S95F with a Tandem OLED panel, the motion smoothness also makes a huge impression. The panel in native 4K resolution offers a refresh rate of 165 Hz, and this combined with organic technology makes games and sports look remarkable. Additionally, the manufacturer added a film smoother and a motion blur reduction system, allowing each viewer to adjust the image to their own preferences – whether it's a more "frame-rate" cinematic effect or a smooth, almost theatrical spectacle.

In terms of motion reproduction, the QNED80A unfortunately has a tough time. The television is based on a 60Hz refresh rate panel, which in 2025 in the QNED series is quite a disappointment. If you are looking for perfect sharpness in dynamic soccer matches, you might feel a bit unsatisfied. A solution in this situation is the TruMotion system. It allows for artificially adding frames, which smooths out the image in movies and series. In the menu, you will find the De-Judder slider – we recommend setting it to a value of 2, 3, or 4. This is the "golden mean" that improves fluidity without turning the film into a soap opera.

The low trailing and phenomenal motion fluidity, which are the hallmarks of OLED technology, are just the warm-up. The Samsung S95F has been designed with gamers in mind – and this is evident at every turn. Four HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 40 Gb/s may sound like a compromise on paper, but in practice, neither consoles nor PCs will experience the slightest limitations. On board is a complete set of gaming features: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), and a flawlessly implemented HGiG standard, which allows you to enjoy HDR exactly as the creators intended. All of this is complemented by Game Bar – an intuitive control center where you can check and adjust the most important settings in seconds.

Particular attention should also be paid to Game Motion Plus, Samsung's own smoothing technology. It can add extra fluidity to animations, which can be a lifesaver in games running at 60 frames, where stability doesn't always hold up. Indeed, support for Dolby Vision in games is missing, but it's hard to consider this a serious flaw – the manufacturer compensates for this gap with other solutions. The S95F is one of the absolute favorites for the title of the best gaming TV on today's market.

In the gaming section, we won't sugarcoat it for you – the QNED80A is not e-sports equipment. The lack of support for 120Hz signal is a fact that must be accepted. However, LG engineers have done everything to squeeze the maximum potential out of this 60 Hz panel, providing gamers with a set of desired features. First and foremost, the television supports VRR (in the range of 48-60Hz) and ALLM. This means that the image is smooth, does not stutter, and the television automatically switches to low latency mode as soon as we pick up the controller. Accessing these options is incredibly simple thanks to the dedicated system overlay – Game Dashboard. It is also worth appreciating the support for the HGiG format. This is a nod to owners of modern consoles. Although the screen does not support gaming Dolby Vision, HGiG ensures that the television "understands" how to display games in HDR. This helps us avoid the issue of blown-out clouds, which is unfortunately a plague on cheaper LCD televisions.