What They Say
HDTV Test’s Vincent Teoh published a detailed review of the Samsung QN95A UltraHD Neo QLED (miniLED) TV which has a separate connection box and VA panel in the UK. Here are some key points from the video:
- Native contrast of 2400:1 at 120 cd/m² peak, 0.05 cd/m² black in SDR. Screen uniformity was average.
- Panel was VA but with good viewing angles – glare filter is not as effective as last year, but with ‘slight haze’
- Peak brightness was 1,488 cd/m² at 10% with D6500 and could be sustained for 30 seconds before dropping to full field brightness at 600 cd/m².
- Distinct RGB spectral peaks from QDs and colour coverage was 95% of P3 and 75% of Rec. 2020
- 44 x 18 local dimming zones (792) with ‘most stable brightness control to date’ from Samsung
- Undefeatable HDR tone mapping at all times which made some content look brighter than the standard but brighter HDR content looked very good.
- Some posterisation around very bright HDR elements but this could be avoided by switching modes, at the expense of accuracy.
- There was some kind of ambient control at all times.
- Some vignetting because of prioritisation of reduced haloing at the expense of shadow detail
- Some blooming, but halation was well controlled. OLED was still better, but away from side-by-side review, the images looked good.
- Colour accuracy was very good.
- Good motion without BFI – which was good as it introduced flicker. Scrolling backlight is always on.
- Upscaling good, but a bit softer than some others, but jaggie removal was good.
- Game mode had fast response and the set is well specified for gamers. Better colour volume than OLED was visible on some HDR games.
- Less visible flicker than OLED in VRR gaming
In conclusion, Teoh said that the set was a ‘Step in the right direction’ and it’s one of the best LCD TVs in 2021.
What We Think
I could almost imagine switching to LCD with this set. If I was a gamer. And if I didn’t watch in a darker environment mostly.
Samsung does seem to have done quite a good job on the engineering, although the inability to switch off the dynamic tone mapping is slightly surprising. As a buyer, I’d like the option. (BR)
