Sharp GR8 vs Samsung QN85F

Sharp GR8 boasts "very high brightness" at a level of 500 nits in its promotional materials. Unfortunately, our tests showed that the reality is somewhat different – the average luminance value we managed to achieve was around 360 nits. This is rather an average result, especially in the context of the manufacturer's claims. Such brightness does not allow for a full enjoyment of HDR effects. The image is somewhat sharper than in standard SDR, but it is difficult to speak of true juiciness and depth in bright elements. However, the coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette at 95% deserves praise. This is the result of applying an additional PFS coating, known from QLED technology. As a result, colors are vivid and have a pleasant, natural tint, which partially compensates for the deficiencies in brightness.

Although the more than double number of dimming zones compared to its predecessor has not translated into a spectacular jump in black levels and contrast, we definitely felt it in the HDR effect itself. The QN85F is up to 50% brighter than last year's model, making a huge impression in dynamic scenes. The peak brightness can reach nearly 1700–1800 nits, which is truly impressive in this Mini-LED class. The best part is that almost regardless of the scene being viewed, the HDR effect remains strong and vibrant. In four out of five test scenes, the brightness was around 1000 nits, a level that in most cases allows viewers to feel the true magic of this format. Of course, in scene number 4 from the movie Sicario 2, the limitations of Mini-LED technology become apparent – the brightness of the helicopter's spotlight drops to around 500 nits. It's not an outstanding result, but it's still much more acceptable than in last year's model. Samsung deserves applause, as the improvement in brightness in the QN85F is substantial compared to its predecessor. However, it's a pity about a certain trend seen in this year’s televisions – the manufacturer has worsened the color gamut coverage. Although the QN85F has a QLED panel, its result of around 90% DCI-P3 is average, and in the most demanding films, it can lead to less vibrant colors than in the predecessor. Despite this shortcoming, the overall HDR effect is at an excellent level and really makes a big impression in this class of devices.

At the outset, it is worth noting that color reproduction tests are always conducted in the best factory picture mode. In the case of the Sharp GR8, this is the "Film" mode. As for the white balance, which is a characteristic that affects how we perceive colors on the screen, in SDR mode, the strong dominance of blue immediately stands out. This results in an unnatural cooling of the image—blue elements take on a purple hue, and skin tones acquire a pink glow, which we can see in the comparative photo from the movie STAR WARS. During the Color Checker test, it was clearly visible how the color samples deviated from the reference values, confirming significant errors in color reproduction. Gamma was not perfect either—it caused excessive brightening of the entire image, causing the scene to lose depth and proper tonal transitions.

In 4K HDR mode, the situation looks much better. The dominance of blue is much less noticeable, although there are minor issues with the combination of red and blue. This makes some shades look somewhat unnatural. The EOTF curve, responsible for the brightness of the image in 4K HDR content, showed another problem—the television tends to excessively darken the image across the entire screen.

In summary, the "Film" mode on the Sharp GR8 would require some adjustments to fully utilize the potential of this television. Fortunately, we addressed this and proceeded to calibration.

The Samsung QN85F offers several preset picture modes, but out of the box, the television starts in "Eco" mode. We could actually end the discussion here, because for such a model, using this setting makes no sense – the picture is washed out, unpleasant, and far from what we expect from a television of this class. Therefore, we conducted our tests in the best available mode, which is the Filmmaker mode. Its purpose is to faithfully reproduce what the directors saw while filming, and indeed, this setting performs best among all the factory options. However, this does not mean it is free of flaws.

Both in SDR and HDR, the QN85F strongly highlighted warm colors. This stemmed from a lack of white balance, with a noticeable absence of blue. Additionally, the picture sometimes appeared overexposed – both the gamma brightness characteristic and the EOTF curve indicated that the television has a tendency to blow out scenes. In SDR, the color reproduction errors (Delta E at levels of 4–5) were still acceptable, but in HDR, the inaccuracies became really significant and clearly deviated from what the creators intended to show us. Fortunately, Samsung provides a wide range of calibration tools in its televisions, so – as always – we proceeded with professional calibration to see how much could be improved.

Sharp GR8 is one of those televisions that really gains a second life after proper calibration. Both in HD and 4K content, the white balance performs very well, especially considering the price segment of this model. The image becomes much closer to what the director wanted to show – colors look natural, and skin tones acquire the appropriate depth and warmth. The brightness characteristics also leave a very positive impression. Both gamma and the EOTF curve show really solid values. Although minor imperfections can be noticed, they are subtle enough that it's hard to see them during everyday viewing. In summary, calibration makes the Sharp GR8 show its best side, offering an image that is not only pleasant to the eye but also faithfully conveys the creators' intentions.

After calibrating the movie mode, we managed to tame the colors in both modes to nearly perfection – most of them did not exceed an error value of 3, which is the limit of visibility to the human eye. The image became more natural, fuller, and at the same time devoid of the blooming that was noticeable right after taking the TV out of the box. This shows how much potential lies in the QN85F and how well it responds to precise settings. However, this does not change the fact that certain technological barriers cannot be overcome. Despite the significant benefits of calibration, limitations of the panel itself still remain. Although the number of dimming zones has doubled compared to its predecessor, the algorithms controlling the backlighting can manipulate brightness in their own way. Sometimes this leads to slight color distortions or subtly visible halo effects around bright objects. Nonetheless, the reception after calibration is really pleasant and shows how good a screen the QN85F can be if we just take a moment for the right settings.

The Sharp GR8 is equipped with the "10-bit color reproduction" feature, which theoretically should improve the smoothness of tonal transitions. In practice... well, the effect is surprising, but not in a very positive way. Even at the highest settings, it's hard to notice any impact on the actual tonal transitions. Instead, the function surprisingly smooths out things it shouldn't – walls, shirts, or other flat surfaces look almost like they have been steam-pressed. In the test, we had to note that there is simply no actual impact on tonal transitions.

When it comes to image scaling, the Sharp GR8 performs significantly better here. The television is capable of giving the image a plastic, smooth characteristic, making even lower resolution content look quite good. Of course, with more demanding details, such as thin tree branches in the background, you can see slight jaggedness, but this is not something that would significantly affect viewing comfort.

Although the native tonal transitions on the QN85F perform excellently with 4K materials, we don't always deal with content in the highest resolution. That's when it becomes crucial how the television handles upscaling and digital image processing. This process is managed by Samsung's proprietary processor – AI NQ4 Gen2. In practice, it works very efficiently. If visible color banding or other undesirable phenomena appear on the screen, for example in materials from YouTube, they can be easily smoothed out using the "noise reduction" function. Set to medium, it improves tonal transitions while not excessively blurring desired details. However, it's important to remember that – as with most Samsung televisions – this feature significantly affects the film grain. Therefore, during movie screenings, it's advisable to use it cautiously to maintain the natural character of the image.

The upscaling itself looks very good. Test materials in lower resolutions were displayed sharply and clearly, with a lot of detail. The only drawback remains the issue of overscan, which is cutting off the edges of the screen. In most situations, this is not noticeable, but with very old materials below HD quality, there may be instances where part of the image on the left side is slightly cropped.

This is where the Sharp GR8 has the chance to stand out against the competition in its price segment. The TV is equipped with a 144 Hz refresh rate panel, which is an impressive result, especially if we plan to use it for dynamic content such as action movies, sports broadcasts, or video games. Additionally, the manufacturer has included a motion smoothing feature, commonly referred to as a "smoothener." The user has three levels of adjustment available, allowing them to tailor the effect to their own preferences – from subtle smoothing to more aggressive intervention in motion fluidity. This is a nice addition, especially for those who mainly watch movies and value smooth, cinematic sequences without annoying stuttering or frame drops.

Motion blur and fluidity of motion in the QN85F is a topic worth discussing in more detail, as the television is equipped not with a standard 120 Hz panel, but with a 144 Hz panel. The additional hertz will primarily be appreciated by PC gamers, but the mere presence of such an option can be seen as a nice addition and a sign of the times – it’s hard to complain about the trend towards faster panels, since in practice, each of us would like the image to be as fluid as possible. However, the most important thing is how the television handles typical 120 Hz refresh rates – in the case of consoles, sports, or films recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. And here, the QN85F performs really well. In movies, you can easily adjust the character of the image thanks to the “picture clarity” function, where we find two adjustable sliders. Key for viewing sessions is the one responsible for reducing motion blur. Lower values give the image a more cinematic character with preserved “frame rate,” while higher values lead to a strong smoothing that resembles television theater.

If a television has a 144 Hz display and two full HDMI 2.1 ports, it is clear that it has been designed with gamers in mind. The Sharp GR8 offers exactly that – high refresh rates and the right connections to maximize the performance of modern consoles and PCs. It also features ALLM, which automatically switches the television to low-latency mode, and VRR, which prevents screen tearing even in more demanding moments. In practice, everything works as it should, and it is hard to find any faults. However, there are some shortcomings. It lacks support for HGiG, which is a feature that better adjusts HDR for games, as well as a Game Bar that makes it easier to quickly adjust settings without leaving the game. Despite these downsides, the Sharp GR8 is a really solid option for gamers.

The Samsung QN85F makes a great impression in terms of features for gamers. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so we can easily connect several devices at once. There is also variable refresh rate (VRR) to prevent screen tearing, as well as automatic game mode (ALLM), which allows the TV to switch to the appropriate settings automatically when we start the console. Additionally, it supports refresh rates of up to 144 Hz – something that PC gamers will particularly appreciate, but the mere fact that such an option is available shows that Samsung is fully supporting gamers. The Game Bar panel deserves praise as well. It's a quick glance at key parameters – from frame rate to refresh mode to shortcuts for picture settings. Instead of sifting through the entire menu, everything is at our fingertips, which turns out to be really convenient in practice. However, the most interesting addition is the Game Motion Plus feature. It's nothing more than motion smoothing, transferred into the gaming world. When enabled, the picture becomes smoother, sometimes it even looks as though we're getting several more frames, and importantly, the response delay does not increase enough to interfere with gameplay. This solution truly sets Samsung's 120Hz TVs apart from the competition.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung TVs for the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial feature for gamers, HGiG.

The only serious downside remains the lack of proper HGiG support. This is a standard responsible for correct tone mapping in HDR games, ensuring that brightness and contrast are displayed as intended by the creators. Without HGiG, we have to adjust the brightness manually, which doesn’t always yield ideal results. The feature was available in previous models, but it disappeared from the QN85F after one of the updates. We hope that Samsung will quickly fix this issue, and we will keep checking to see if it has been resolved.