Samsung The Frame Pro vs Samsung QN90F / QN92F

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.

The Samsung QN90F can truly shine in brightness. In our measurements, it achieved over 2200 nits, which directly translates to the viewing experience. Practically, this means that when a very bright scene appears in a movie – for example, the sunrise in The Meg – the screen looks as if natural light is actually shining on us. This isn’t just a number from a chart, but a real sense of image intensity! However, the TV cannot always deliver that full power. With smaller details, such as headlights or lamps, the brightness drops to 500–700 nits. This is a conscious decision by the algorithms – this way, the contrast between large and small elements is better controlled, and the image does not lose balance. Importantly, this is still a huge improvement compared to last year's QN90D, where similar details were almost invisible, shining at just 200 nits. Here, the HDR effect is much more consistent and credible. The only downside is the colors. The coverage of the DCI-P3 palette stopped at 91%, which can be considered a rather average result in this price range.

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 tested color reproduction in the QN90F in Filmmaker mode, and as usual with Samsung TVs, this mode proves to be the best starting point right out of the box. However, this does not mean that the image is free from flaws. The white balance in SDR and HDR content was surprisingly good – the colors didn’t shift in any direction, and even in the factory setting, it looked solid. However, a problem arose with the gamma and EOTF curves, which are responsible for how the TV manages brightness. Here, the QN90F significantly brightened the entire image, causing black levels and colors to lose their intensity, and the overall effect resembled a milky filter being applied. Fortunately, Samsung, unlike many competitors in the miniLED world, provides users with a lot of tools to control the settings that we don’t find with other manufacturers, such as Chinese brands. Therefore, we decided to check if it was possible to extract the full potential of the QN90F because we know that such a high series can deliver much more.

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 our adjustment of the settings, the QN90F showed what it is really capable of – and it must be admitted that it has one of the best images we have seen on a miniLED screen this year. As we mentioned earlier, the white balance was not a major issue even in its factory version, but only after the gamma calibration were we able to get close to nearly reference values. The same is true for HDR content, where the EOTF curve after correction presents mature and consistent results. Indeed, in some films, it can be noticed that the smallest elements of the image are slightly brightened, and with a limited number of dimming zones, there is still a risk of the halo effect. It should be remembered, however, that such phenomena are characteristic of all miniLED televisions, and it's hard to expect miracles even from the QN90F. The most important thing is that after calibration, the television shows an image that, in terms of conveying the director's vision, confidently competes even with many OLED screens available on the market.

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.

QN90F handles upscaling very well. Materials in lower resolution, even SD, are boosted to a clear and sharp image, showcasing plenty of details in the background. This is a significant advantage because the television makes older content or everyday TV look much better than on most budget screens. However, the issue of overscan remains, which is the trimming of the edges of the screen that cannot be turned off in Samsungs. This can cause some subtitles on the screen to disappear or a relative's face from a wedding on a VHS tape to be slightly cropped. 😉

The digital image processing also works well. In the menu, we find a feature called "noise reduction," which can smooth out tonal transitions and improve the reception of lower-quality materials, such as from YouTube. In medium setting, the effect is the most beneficial – it does not heavily interfere with details while eliminating the "stair-stepping" problem in colors. However, it is important to remember that the feature can be quite aggressive and can also remove natural grain in older films, so it's best to use it in moderation.

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.

The QN90F is equipped with a panel that has a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, and while primarily PC gamers will appreciate this advantage, it is still worth highlighting. In movies or sports broadcasts, we are limited to the classic 120 Hz, but this is not a cause for concern. In practice, the additional motion smoother plays a more significant role here. With the "Motion Clarity" setting, we can adjust the image to our own preferences. The blur reduction option is responsible for smoothness and trailing in sports. Meanwhile, the "judder reduction" function improves motion smoothness in productions recorded at 24 frames, such as movies and series. If we set it high, the film looks smoother and more fluid than it was actually filmed. Lower values, on the other hand, maintain its cinematic "rawness" with the visible film frame.

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.

QN90F has almost everything to become the perfect television for gamers. Things like four HDMI ports, VRR, ALLM, and a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz don't need to be reminded to anyone. It deserves high praise for the Game Motion Plus mode, which is a proprietary motion smoothing feature for games. Thanks to this, you can add a few “artificial” frames and make the image generated from the console look smoother than it should. This is a very unique solution in the world of televisions – competitive systems usually do not offer this – and that's why Samsung has had a strong bargaining chip among gamers for years, even despite the lack of support for the still niche Dolby Vision in games.

So why are we writing about a “nearly” perfect screen? Unfortunately, like in the latest Samsung models, we noticed a problem with the lack of HGiG support. This is a solution that allows the television to leave the control of tone mapping to the console so that games look exactly as the creators intended. Worse, this feature was previously present and disappeared after software updates. Instead of minor improvements, we got a step back. It's a pity, because without this shortcoming, the QN90F could truly be the perfect choice for gamers in the miniLED category.