SONY Bravia 9 II XR95M2 vs Samsung The Frame Pro 2026 (LS03HW)

The real showcase of the new backlight architecture and Sony’s processor is the reproduction of HDR content. At the official launch engineers at Sony said (not officially 😉) that the Bravia 9 II’s brightness would be almost identical to the capabilities of their professional director’s monitor BVM-HX3110, which is priced at astronomical sums. Our lab tests confirmed these were not empty promises. During synthetic measurements on the L20 test pattern the TV easily exceeded the 4000 nits peak brightness barrier. More importantly, these remarkable results translate directly to real movie scenes. In most of the demanding shots we tested the screen easily maintained brightness around 2500–3000 nits. Regardless of the scene, whether the light was small and pinpoint or flooded nearly the entire screen, the HDR effect was incredibly intense.

Colors

Color is another key pillar of RGB Mini LED technology (True RGB as implemented by Sony). Specifically for testing these kinds of screens we added a permanent new testing section to see how TVs handle colors in real-world conditions. Traditional synthetic test patterns are no longer enough to confirm real color-gamut coverage. From now on we also measure color saturation directly in selected movie scenes by overlaying measurement points. So how do the colors perform?

In synthetic tests the Bravia 9 II posts excellent results. For the popular DCI-P3 color space for HDR the color-gamut coverage was almost 98%, while for the very wide, demanding BT.2020 space the instrument indicated nearly 90%. However, in real, varied scenes these values drop by a few percent. This is directly due to the nature of zone-based RGB backlighting. When differently colored elements or bright white highlights appear side by side, light from the zones starts to mix slightly, creating a white backlight. This of course affects color saturation, slightly reducing it. This shows that despite Sony’s brilliant RGB LED control algorithm, the number of zones is still too small to eliminate this effect entirely.

Is this a reason to complain? Of course not. The Bravia 9 II’s color coverage ultimately matches that of a very good QLED TV, and it’s important to remember: the vast majority of HDR movies and series are distributed in the DCI-P3 gamut. In that standard Sony easily maintains very high color saturation, regardless of the scene.

You can't deny The Frame Pro one thing: brightness. We measured a maximum of around 850 to 900 nits, so the TV already has enough power to render many HDR scenes really impressively. Bright, full-screen shots and more colorful frames look best here. In those scenes The Frame Pro can make a good impression because the image is bright, strong, and delivers the effect we expect from HDR. In our measurements some scenes reached over 800 nits, and even in trickier sections the TV maintained a fairly decent brightness level.

The problem starts when HDR relies on small bright elements shown against a dark background. Individual lamps, stars, or highlights can be bright, but very often the black level across much of the image also lifts. As a result, the bright point itself may look good, but the whole frame loses a lot of quality. That is why The Frame Pro shows HDR best in scenes that are simply full-screen. If a movie or series contains many such shots, the effect can be really enjoyable. In darker material the limitations of local dimming become much more noticeable.

Colors

The Frame Pro deserves praise for its color gamut coverage. The TV uses quantum dots, a solution known as QLED, which allows it to produce very well-saturated colors. In our measurements coverage of the important film color space DCI-P3 was about 94.5%, while the more demanding BT.2020 was around 72%.

Those are very solid results that in most scenes deliver pleasant, saturated colors. Of course, these values are not as striking as those in the latest displays using RGB backlighting, but The Frame Pro makes up for that with something else: color stability. Regardless of the scene, color saturation remains fairly consistent, and there is no situation where the TV loses a lot of color in more demanding shots.

Contrary to appearances and high expectations, the Bravia 9 II we tested showed some issues with its factory tuning straight out of the box. Looking at the white balance charts, you can see it is not perfect. In SDR content the red component was primarily lacking, causing the picture to shift toward cooler, bluish tones. In HDR the white balance in this respect looked much better. So where do the visible errors in image reproduction come from? They result from unexpected tuning of the gamma and the EOTF curve. In both cases the Bravia 9 II straight from the factory showed a clear deviation from reference standards.

In SDR content the gamma was definitely too high; at its most extreme it hovered very close to 2.8 instead of the reference 2.4. In practice this meant the image was artificially darkened and appeared washed-out, with details in dark areas (shadows) completely disappearing. The opposite occurred with HDR material, where brightness reproduction is handled by the EOTF curve. That curve was pushed too far above the correct value, resulting in the image being artificially brightened across most luminance ranges. As with every TV we test, we subjected this unit to professional calibration. You can see the results and how we managed to correct these factory errors below.

In SDR material The Frame Pro in Filmmaker mode performs quite well, though it falls short of perfect. White balance is relatively even, but as brightness increases the blue component starts to drop, so brighter parts of the image can have a slightly warmer tint. A bigger difference is visible in the gamma, that is how screen brightness is managed. Across most of the range it runs below our reference point, which means the TV brightens midtones a bit. As a result the image can appear slightly brighter and less contrasty than it should. The color errors themselves are not huge, but they are visible enough that calibration can still make a substantial improvement. In HDR content the white balance looks similar: across much of the range it is fairly even, with larger deviations appearing only at higher brightness. The EOTF curve is more revealing. The Frame Pro follows reference values fairly well in the brighter parts of the image, but noticeably brightens the darkest portions. This stems mainly from the TV’s backlight design. That also affects colors. With less saturated colors the errors are still moderate, but they grow significantly as saturation increases. In ColorChecker measurements a large portion of samples already register high error values. The out-of-the-box HDR can therefore be considered decent, but it is definitely not an image we would call very faithful.

Fortunately, with professional calibration, most of the Bravia 9 II's factory missteps can be effectively eliminated. We were able to precisely correct, above all, the white balance and the gamma curve and EOTF. After these adjustments, in everyday use and during movie sessions the TV looks much better. The image gained proper depth, the cool tint in the whites disappeared, and shadow details that had previously been lost due to too-high gamma finally became clearly visible. Although we ultimately rate color accuracy as very good, as specialists we must point out one fairly serious design flaw in this model. The Bravia 9 II could look even better if not for the complete lack of an advanced color management system in the TV's menu.

While basic white balance correction can be performed here without issue, the settings lack options for adjusting specific colors. We tried to tackle this in every possible way: both the traditional method using the remote and via dedicated calibration software for Bravia TVs. Unfortunately, that function has been completely locked. We suspect this may stem from the specifics of the new RGB architecture, which imposes its own limitations. It's a real shame, because without it you can't refine color reproduction to perfection. The inaccurate red still stands out, for example. One can only hope Sony will fix this shortcoming over time with an update.

After calibration the biggest improvement is visible primarily in SDR content. White balance was evened out, but the more important change was the gamma correction, which before calibration had the greatest impact on the picture's character. After adjustments the gamma response is now very close to the reference, so the image is not as bright in the midtones and simply looks more natural. Color errors have also been noticeably reduced, so the effect of calibration in SDR is clearly visible. In HDR the situation is a bit more complex. White balance was improved and over part of the range the TV tracks the reference much better, but deviations still appear at higher brightness levels. The same applies to color reproduction, as some errors can be corrected but not all result from the settings themselves. This reveals the limitations of the TV's design and the way the backlight and local dimming affect the HDR image. That's why, for The Frame Pro, calibration makes the biggest difference for everyday content. Regular broadcast TV, YouTube, and SDR movies and series (mainly those from cheaper streaming tiers) can look noticeably better after calibration.

Digital processing and upscaling have long been Sony’s signature strength, and after testing the Bravia 9 II we can confidently say nothing has changed on the market in that respect. Sony is still at the forefront. Their proprietary XR image processor, which in this model works with the main MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chip, deserves the highest praise. That combination delivers excellent results. The upscaling of lower-resolution content is extremely effective and precise.

However, what most deserves praise in the XR processor’s performance is the tonal transition smoothing feature. The system can reduce posterization in heavily compressed material to virtually zero. Crucially, the algorithm does this in a very intelligent way. It removes only the annoying digital "steps" in gradients without blurring fine texture details or creating an artificial, "plastic" look that lacks film grain. The image remains sharp, natural, and cinematic.

The Frame Pro uses the NQ4 AI Gen3 processor, so in terms of image processing it behaves very similarly to Samsung's other recent TVs. Upscaling works really well; lower-resolution material is sensibly sharpened and the image remains clear without overemphasizing edges. With regular broadcast TV or lower-quality YouTube clips, this can provide a noticeable improvement, although viewers watching much older material, for example from VHS tapes, may notice a slight left-side cropping (overscan).

It's a bit different when it comes to improving more heavily compressed images through noise reduction and artifact suppression for issues like posterization. The "Noise Reduction" function can improve weaker material, but fairly quickly it starts to interfere with the image and remove fine detail or grain. So it's best used sparingly and mainly when the source truly needs it.

The Sony Bravia 9 II's specifications don't list staggering refresh rates above 120 Hz, which some more demanding PC gamers may view as a drawback. However, in everyday use, during movie sessions, playing console games, or watching sports, it's really hard to find any complaints about motion smoothness. The VA-type panel used here does show some slight, inherent smearing typical for this panel type, but excellent Motionflow motion smoothing algorithms come to the rescue. In the system menu you'll find sliders for blur reduction and smoothing that let you precisely tailor the motion characteristics to your preferences.

The Frame Pro is equipped with a 144 Hz panel and, when connected to a PC, also supports 240 Hz at Full HD resolution. That’s, of course, a feature aimed mainly at PC gamers, but the TV also performs very well at the standard 120 Hz refresh rate we use for watching sports or playing on consoles. A big plus is its minimal motion blur. For a VA panel The Frame Pro does really well in this regard. You don’t see strong, dark trails following moving objects that are fairly common on TVs with this type of panel. As a result, fast sports and dynamic games remain clear in motion. It also includes motion smoothing with adjustable smoothness, so for movies and sports broadcasts you can tune the motion character to your preferences. Our recommended settings can be found in the photo.

Apart from a fairly serious design oversight, limiting the platform to just two full HDMI 2.1 ports, the Bravia 9 II offers almost all key gaming features available on the market. Sony has already accustomed us to such a rich package in its previous models. The list of supported technologies is very long. It includes automatic low-latency mode (ALLM), variable refresh rate (VRR), as well as a proper implementation of the HGIG standard and the Dolby Vision format specifically designed for gamers.

Function-wise for gamers The Frame Pro has a lot to offer. The TV supports 4K at 120 Hz, VRR, ALLM and correctly implemented HGiG. When you connect a PC you can also use 144 Hz at 4K, and even 240 Hz if you drop to Full HD. Samsung also adds its standard set of gaming extras: a robust Game Bar that lets you quickly view and adjust key settings, and Game Motion Plus, which can improve the smoothness of games running at 30 or 60 fps. There’s also the Gaming Hub and the ability to play in the cloud without needing to connect a console. The only real omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung doesn’t support. Otherwise The Frame Pro offers practically everything you can expect today from a well-equipped gaming TV.