SAMSUNG S95F (TANDEM OLED 83") vs TCL P89K / TCL P8K

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.

The maximum brightness of the TCL P8K is around 300 nits, although in actual movie scenes, the TV maintains more around 250 nits. These values cannot be considered sufficient for achieving a full HDR effect – they are more akin to a solid base for SDR content. Therefore, we won’t see spectacular flashes, bursts of light, or moments when the screen truly “blinds” you, as is the case with more expensive models. The image is somewhat flattened, and the differences between light and shadow are more symbolic than realistic. Fortunately, TCL has a few aces up its sleeve that save the overall impression. One of them is the coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut at around 93–94%. Thanks to an additional QLED layer (PFS LED), colors gain depth and intensity, clearly surpassing standard LCD panels. As a result, although the typical “wow effect” associated with HDR brightness is lacking here, the image can still impress with its saturation and vibrant tones, making movie scenes pulse with colors and avoiding a heavily faded appearance.

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.

In Filmmaker mode, the TCL P8K revealed certain imperfections in image reproduction from the start. We noticed that the television tends to slightly brighten scenes – its gamma was somewhat lowered, which made the image appear slightly "washed out," lacking depth, as if the contrast had slipped out of control. This was most evident in HDR content, where the EOTF brightness curve clearly deviated from the reference values. As a result, the darker parts of the image looked too gloomy, while the brighter sections didn't always reach the proper level of luminance. A second noticeable issue was a slight oversaturation of blue – the television stubbornly boosted this color, which caused some parts of the image, especially skin tones and reds, to have a slight purple tint. This is not a major flaw, but to a discerning eye – noticeable. Fortunately, most of these errors could be corrected during calibration. You can see the results of this adjustment in the graphs and photos below.

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 calibration, the TCL P8K showed a completely different face. It managed to achieve nearly perfect, even reference-level color reproduction in both SDR and HDR content. The screen no longer had a tendency towards a cool tint, and the white balance was perfectly balanced. The gamma values for SDR material also finally look as they should – the image has the proper depth and no longer appears washed out. The only remark that can still be made about the P8K concerns its "Chinese" traits, known from most TCL models. The TV still likes to manipulate saturation in HDR content in its own way – sometimes slightly boosting it, sometimes smoothing it out, which means the effect is not always fully predictable. Nevertheless, after calibration, the colors look stunning, and their accuracy is truly surprising. In most cases, measurement errors dropped below values of 1-2, which is a result that significantly more expensive models would not be ashamed of.

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.

The TCL P8K performs somewhat worse when it comes to the fluidity of tonal transitions in lower quality materials. The television does offer a feature to smooth out unwanted bands, but its effectiveness leaves much to be desired. Even at the highest setting, it’s hard to say there’s a real improvement – at times the effect is even the opposite of what was intended, as the feature can introduce small artifacts and unnatural blurriness on the screen.

On the other hand, upscaling, or scaling the image to 4K resolution, looks significantly better. The P8K handles this task surprisingly well – HD content, and even SD, is enhanced in an aesthetically pleasing manner without excessive loss of sharpness. There are indeed slight "hard" edges typical of this class of equipment, but this can easily be adjusted with the sharpness slider according to personal preferences. The final effect is more than satisfactory, especially considering the price range in which this model is located.

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.

TCL P8K is one of the cheapest televisions offering a 144 Hz refresh rate, which in itself is already a significant advantage in this price segment. Thanks to the fast panel, this model can confidently be recommended to both sports fans and video gamers – the image is smooth, and movements of the ball or dynamic actions look natural. However, this does not mean that the P8K is only suitable for sports. On the contrary – it can maintain the right dynamics in movies as well, without introducing an artificial effect of "theatricality," as long as we set the parameters wisely. The television is equipped with a motion smoother called "Motion Clarity," which features two sliders: blur reduction and flicker reduction. The first is responsible for smoothing the image by generating additional frames, which increases fluidity but may cause a slight soap opera effect. The second, on the other hand, limits flicker and improves sharpness in motion, although it may slightly darken the screen. Appropriately adjusting these two parameters allows for a really good balance between natural movement and fluidity. The 60 Hz panel is good for dynamic content, although more demanding users will notice that it is not a top-tier display in terms of motion clarity.

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.

Although the TCL P8K is a budget TV, it certainly can’t be said that it’s not suitable for gaming. On the contrary – this is a screen that can pleasantly surprise any gamer. It features two HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing us to easily output 4K at 120 Hz. For those gaming on PC, they will also appreciate the fact that the TV can even operate at 240 Hz refresh rate in lower resolution – a small thing, but it’s nice. In addition, there’s a full set of gaming-specific features: automatic game mode, Game Bar for quick parameter previews, VRR, HGiG, and support for Dolby Vision in games. All of this makes gaming on the P8K a truly enjoyable experience – the picture is smooth, the response is quick, and the TV communicates well with next-gen consoles. The TCL P8K shows that a cheap screen doesn’t have to mean giving up fun. Definitely not when it comes to gaming.