Samsung The Frame Pro vs Samsung R95H Micro RGB

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.