Samsung The Frame Pro vs PHILIPS PUS9010 (IPS)

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.

In the Philips PUS9010 version with an IPS panel, HDR brightness unfortunately falls short compared to the previously tested 55-inch variant with a VA panel. The difference is about 100 nits, which is clearly noticeable given the relatively low values. While the VA version could exceed 500 nits, here the maximum brightness reaches around 400 nits. This level still allows for watching movies and series in HDR, especially on streaming platforms, but the effects are clearly more subdued. Bright elements do not have as much impact, and scenes requiring high luminance appear less impressive. On the positive side, the coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette is commendable. The IPS version offers about 91%, which is roughly 5% more than the variant with the VA panel. This translates to slightly better color saturation in HDR content, despite the lower brightness. Colors can appear more vivid and consistent, particularly in colorful scenes.

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.

We assessed color reproduction, as always, using factory settings, focusing on movie mode, which in the case of Philips usually offers the best starting point. This is also a good moment to show how much the same TV model can vary depending on the panel used. Looking at white balance, the overall trend remains similar to the variant with a VA panel. There is still excessive red in the whites, but in the tested unit with an IPS panel, there are also deficiencies in the blue channel. As a result, the image has a slightly different color character, which can be clearly seen in the comparative materials. This is a very good example showing why ready-made settings downloaded from the internet may not always work even within the same model.

However, returning to the assessment itself, this unit performs quite well, especially in SDR content. Color tests show correct saturation and color consistency, without glaring errors that could interfere with everyday viewing. In HDR materials, slight deficiencies in reds are already noticeable, but these are not flaws that completely ruin the perception of the image. The biggest limitations do not stem directly from the colors but rather from whites and blacks. The use of an IPS panel and slightly lowered gamma results in the image being slightly boosted in brightness, while the weak black further affects perceived contrast. This makes the overall look brighter, but at the same time, it loses depth, especially during evening viewing.

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.

After calibration, the image was brought to a really reasonable level. Everything looks coherent and natural, and when it comes to color reproduction, it's hard to definitively state whether we have a VA or IPS panel. This is a good sign, showing that the TV has a solid foundation for further adjustments. It's worth noting the larger color gamut coverage in this variant, which can slightly improve the reception of colorful scenes, especially in HDR content. However, this advantage is largely counterbalanced by the elevated blacks, resulting from the use of an IPS panel. Limited black depth affects perceived contrast, especially when watching in a dark room. As a result, despite the noticeable improvement after calibration, the final assessment remains the same as in the variant with a VA panel. Better colors are not able to fully compensate for the weaker blacks.

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.

In the Philips PUS9010, we find another iteration of the P5 Perfect Picture image processor, which aims to improve the quality of weaker materials. One of the components of this system is the distortion reduction function, responsible for smoothing tonal transitions. It works effectively and actually reduces visible color gradation. Unfortunately, it does so rather aggressively. In practice, it can dull details such as material textures or film grain. This is a clear compromise, so we wouldn't recommend it for movie screenings. It performs much better with looser content, like YouTube or regular television. The P5 processor also handles lower resolution materials quite well. The image is soft, sometimes even too soft, but it can easily be adjusted with the sharpness slider, tailoring the effect to personal preferences. Additionally, the lack of edge cropping in SD materials is a plus, which is still not standard in this class of televisions.

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.

Philips PUS9010 has a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which will be appreciated primarily by sports fans and gamers. This is especially evident in dynamic scenes where motion is sharp, and annoying trailing is nearly absent. When it comes to movies (standard 24 fps), Philips provides us with a proven set of settings known from higher series. Two sliders are used to control motion. The “Smoothness” slider allows you to adjust the image to your taste: at low settings, we maintain a cinematic character, while moving the slider to the right gives us a perfectly smooth, albeit slightly “theatrical” effect. On the other hand, the “Motion Blur Reduction” is a feature made for sports – it ensures that fast objects do not lose details and remain clear.

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.

The Philips PUS9010 is truly a solid machine for gaming. It has everything that matters: VRR, automatic game mode (ALLM), and support for HGiG. The latter is a great feature—it allows HDR in games to be set exactly as the creators envisioned. The television handles 120 Hz refresh rates effortlessly at every popular resolution (1080p, 1440p, and 4K). It doesn't matter if you connect a PS5, Xbox, or a powerful PC—everything runs smoothly and just as it should. Gamers will also appreciate the Game Bar. It's a quick, clear menu that immediately shows whether low latency mode is active. This is especially useful when frequently switching between different consoles. The experience is completed by Ambilight. Evening sessions with this lighting are on a whole different level; the image seems larger, and dynamic scenes leave an even better impression. Even if someone isn’t a fan of such “gimmicks,” it’s hard to deny that it’s impressive.