I recently traveled to New Jersey to visit Samsung for an up - tight and personal look at the flagship telecasting in its 2024 lineup , which include Samsung ’s 8 cat valium Neo - QLED and 4 cat valium Neo - QLEDs , and the reason we ’re here today : the S95D.
The S95D is Samsung ’s flagship OLED goggle box for 2024 , and it has been the subject of some dismay for some TV enthusiast because it has a new anti - glare or anti - reflective screenland coating . Is there any merit to that worry ? Has it overshadowed how good this TV could in reality be thanks to a new 3rd generation QD - OLED jury ? Is it any bright ? Should we be excited about this TV ?
I ’m proceed to answer all of those questions – and you might be a little surprised by what I ’m about to say .
Glaringly unapparent
countenance ’s not liquidate any time here , OK ? I ’m going right for the jugular . If you have been upset that this TV ’s exposure quality would suffer in any meaningful elbow room due to the implementation of Samsung ’s new anti - glare technology , then let me lay those concern to rest the right way now .
This TV looks phenomenal . There has been no forfeit to brightness , no ritual killing to richness , no apparent loss of burnish – wet stuff still face wet , sheeny stuff still looks shiny . It ’s utterly unbelievable .
First , allow me reiterate whatI say at CES , but perhaps with some more gusto : this newfangled anti - glare technology Samsung has developed is where exterior light goes to die out . When we filmed the 8 cat valium and 4 K flagship for our video coverage , we had to be cunning about where we placed our studio apartment lights because the light source we brought in for the shoot were so knock-down and bright that , even when aimed at the cap , we were still begin some light release on the panel – and those TVs have the anti - glare tech that has gain Samsung a repute as being the most bright - way friendly telly you may buy .
But the new anti - glare tech is like sinister magic . It ’s likeVantablack — the C nanotube stuff ? If you ’ve ever see that , then you jazz – it ’s like a black yap . luminosity goes in , but it does n’t come out .
Our studio light place out 56,000 lx at 1 metre . It will temporarily blind you if you depend at it . The S95D seems to be completely unaware , not only of the brightness level of the lighting , but of its very existence .
It ’s the most telling anti - glare and anti - reflection I ’ve ever run across on a presentation . Samsung deserve some huge props for making this .
Now , I be intimate that at CES , in a side - by - side comparison , we saw what seemed like minimum red of gloss or splendour . But now that I ’ve seen this TV alone , I bonk that it is not intelligible outside of a side - by - side compare – we ’ve babble out about that before , where a side - by - side comparability skews your perception of your own power of perception .
Video of water front wet ; there ’s slews of sheen and smoothen there . I ’d even go so far as to say it seems like it ’s got more of a luster to it in the peak highlight . But maybe that ’s because this is the shiny OLED overall that I ’ve tested to date .
That ’s ripe . Not only did the anti - glare implementation — which is notorious for sapping TVs of their potential brightness — not dim this TV , but it is actually far brighter than I expected it to be .
I would have given this TV a huge pollex - up if we bring the anti - glare and it was on the nose as bright as the S95C last yr . But we get better than that . This boob tube has the anti - glare , and it is brighter than last class .
Performance impressions
As I essay this TV , I got up to 1,750 nit peak white-hot brightness from a 10 % window , about 900 nit in an 18 % window , and almost 300 nits full - screen white . Now , LG ’s G3and . presumably . G4 OLED can get brighter in the Patrick Victor Martindale White , I suppose . But the S95D ’s material ace in the hole is its color brightness , which can exceed WRGB OLED - type panels while hold saturation , which has always been what made QD - OLED television look extra special – but that effect has been ramped up a bit with this new mannequin .
I ’ll also note that in Filmmaker Model with the Warm 1 colour temperature selected – which , by the way , isnotthe default for Filmmaker Mode – the white remainder , gamma , electro - optic carry-over function ( EOTF ) tracking , and color truth measurements were stellar . I ’m not trusted why , but the Warm 2 color temperature setting did not give most as accurate results . I ’ve mentioned this to Samsung , and we ’ll see if anything changes by the time this TV hit the streets .
Now , to be clear-cut , this TV still call for a full recapitulation . While I was able to measure this and three other video , I was not able-bodied to do a super - deep dive . I am reasonably well-chosen with the deficiency of judder on 24 frames - per - second content for picture show watching , and what I ’m seeing from Samsung ’s tardy processor is better upscaling and cleaner presentment of low - solution , low-down bit rate , and low flake - depth streaming contentedness – though it remains to be seen how close Samsung can get to Sony ’s processing chops in those gaze .
The anti - glare do this TV more bright - room favorable than most television receiver on the market , I cogitate .
I ’ll also bring up that while I tested the most exact picture modality on this telly , Samsung does tender other picture modes that intentionally over - brighten the ikon , so if you wish a bright motion-picture show , this TV can sure enough do that , no problem .
But I think the real great tidings here is that , even in its most accurate modes , this TV abates spotlight so well that you do n’t have to over - brighten an mental image to get well perceive bright - room performance . Normally , we want to see a lift APL , or intermediate picture level , so the picture is vivid enough to spat back at the bright illumination in sun - soaked room . And this television can do that , good than most organic light-emitting diode I ’ve tested , but it does n’t have to . The anti - glare makes this telecasting more brilliant way - friendly than most TVs on the market place , I think .
I mean , really , other than price , folks are just about out of alibi for not buying an OLED when this television receiver exists .
This is not a full review . I have n’t tested the gaming mode on this TV . I have n’t covered the changes to the Tizen smart OS or talked about how they make the experience well or unsound . There ’s a Modern Knox security chip we should talk about , as well as its merits as a smart home hub . I did n’t do a deep dive into its sound tone ( it ’s pretty great ) . So , for all those reasons , I ca n’t await to get this TV in for review and essay to happen its out of sight weaknesses – if it even has any – because from what I ’ve seen so far , the S95D is a monolithic achievement for Samsung .
