Samsung S95H Review: The Most Versatile OLED We’ve Tested — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00The Samsung S95H has the highest mixed
2. 0:03usage score out of any TV we've ever
3. 0:05tested, which isn't surprising since
4. 0:07this is one of the most versatile OLEDs
5. 0:09on the market. This year's model brings
6. 0:11a few changes. Most notably, Samsung's
7. 0:13decision to drop the Slim One Connect
8. 0:15Box that came with previous versions of
9. 0:17this flagship OLED. If you want to see
10. 0:19more reviews like this one, be sure to
11. 0:21subscribe. All right, let's get into it.
12. 0:26The QD-OLED version of the Samsung S95H
13. 0:29is available in 55, 65, and 77-in
14. 0:32models. There's also an 83-in model, but
15. 0:35it uses an RGB tandem panel instead. So,
16. 0:38this review doesn't apply to that size.
17. 0:40Most TVs don't really stand out
18. 0:42visually. Some are thinner, some have a
19. 0:44cool design on the back, and the
20. 0:46location of inputs can differ, but most
21. 0:48TVs look similar to each other from the
22. 0:50front. This must have been eating away
23. 0:52at the design team at Samsung because
24. 0:54the S95H has a pretty radical design.
25. 0:58The display is surrounded by a large
26. 1:00metallic bezel that makes it look like
27. 1:01the screen is floating.
28. 1:03It's clearly designed to be
29. 1:04wall-mounted, but you can still use the
30. 1:06TV's included feet instead. You just
31. 1:09can't remove the large bezel, so it
32. 1:11looks a little odd when it's not
33. 1:12mounted. Samsung plans on offering
34. 1:14additional frames that will snap on top
35. 1:16of the bezel, so it gives you options to
36. 1:18match it with your own decor. It's an
37. 1:20interesting design choice, to say the
38. 1:22least, and you might find yourself
39. 1:23either loving or hating this new look.
40. 1:26The S95H has four HDMI 2.1 ports on the
41. 1:29back of the TV, but you can still buy
42. 1:32the One Connect Box separately to bring
43. 1:33the total amount of ports to eight.
44. 1:36Although the S95H is known for its
45. 1:38bright room performance, it still looks
46. 1:40its best in a dark room. It displays the
47. 1:42inky blacks that OLEDs are known for
48. 1:44with no haloing around highlights and
49. 1:46subtitles due to its pixel-level
50. 1:48control.
51. 1:49Since the S95H is a QD-OLED, it also
52. 1:52displays an incredibly wide range of
53. 1:54rich and vibrant colors. It covers the
54. 1:57entirety of the DCI-P3 color space in
55. 1:59SDR, and it maintains that full coverage
56. 2:02at 1,000 nits in HDR. This means the TV
57. 2:05can show the full range of colors in
58. 2:07most HDR content. It can even show a
59. 2:09good chunk of colors in the rarely used,
60. 2:11but super wide BT.2020 color space. So,
61. 2:14you're getting one of the most colorful
62. 2:16TVs on the market here.
63. 2:18Not only are colors vivid, but they're
64. 2:20also extremely accurate out of the box
65. 2:22in both SDR and HDR. Even a purist
66. 2:25likely won't feel the need to get this
67. 2:26TV calibrated. [music]
68. 2:28On top of that, the TV's EOTF tracking
69. 2:30is excellent. It's not perfect, since
70. 2:33some shadows, mid-tones, and highlights
71. 2:34are slightly brighter than intended, but
72. 2:36those inaccuracies are hard to notice in
73. 2:38real-world content.
74. 2:40All in all, this TV really respects the
75. 2:42content creator's intent when you're
76. 2:44using Filmmaker Mode. It's also one of
77. 2:46the brightest OLEDs we've tested. In
78. 2:48HDR, it peaks at around 2,900 nits with
79. 2:52a 2% and 10% window. So, small specular
80. 2:55highlights really pop. Since it's an
81. 2:57OLED, full-screen brightness is much
82. 2:59lower. However, it still pumps out a
83. 3:02respectable 460 nits with a 100% window.
84. 3:05So, scenes with large areas of
85. 3:07brightness don't look dim. It also
86. 3:09performs well with our HDR real-scene
87. 3:11brightness test. So, its performance
88. 3:13with test slides carries over into
89. 3:14real-world content.
90. 3:16The S95B also provides outstanding SDR
91. 3:19brightness, reaching over 1,100 nits
92. 3:22with our real-scene test. This TV is
93. 3:24more than bright enough to overcome
94. 3:26glare, especially when you consider its
95. 3:28screen coating.
96. 3:29When Samsung switched to a matte coating
97. 3:31a couple of years ago, it was a divisive
98. 3:34decision. The matte coating is here once
99. 3:36again, and whether you love it or hate
100. 3:38it, you can't deny how well it minimizes
101. 3:40reflections.
102. 3:42You can have lamps or windows directly
103. 3:44facing the TV, and you can barely see
104. 3:46them on the screen.
105. 3:48Unfortunately, image quality does take a
106. 3:50hit in a bright room, since blacks are
107. 3:52noticeably raised due to the lack of a
108. 3:54polarizer. You lose those inky blacks
109. 3:56that the TV displays in a dark room, and
110. 3:58they look more like purple-tinged
111. 4:00charcoal. Low luminance colors also take
112. 4:03a hit, and they lose some perceived
113. 4:05saturation. But, since the TV is so
114. 4:07colorful to begin with, the image still
115. 4:08looks punchy. No one will be complaining
116. 4:11that your S95B looks dull in a bright
117. 4:13room.
118. 4:14Not only do games look amazing on this
119. 4:16TV, but gaming on it just feels good. It
120. 4:20supports up to 4K at 165 Hz, so it
121. 4:23easily covers the 120 Hz that modern
122. 4:25consoles max out at. If you have a good
123. 4:27gaming PC, you can put that 165 Hz to
124. 4:30good use. On top of that, it supports
125. 4:32FreeSync, HDMI 4 and VRR, and it's
126. 4:35G-Sync certified, so screen tearing is a
127. 4:37thing of the past, regardless of the
128. 4:39console or GPU that you own.
129. 4:41Motion is crystal clear, thanks to its
130. 4:43nearly instant response times, and its
131. 4:45input lag is very low. If you like to
132. 4:47tweak your settings, there's a
133. 4:49convenient game bar that allows you to
134. 4:50enable settings like Game Motion Plus
135. 4:52and virtual aim point.
136. 4:54>> [music]
137. 4:54>> Whether you're watching movies or
138. 4:55playing games, you might be sitting at
139. 4:57an angle from the screen. Fortunately,
140. 4:59this TV has a nearly perfect viewing
141. 5:01angle. The image looks just as good from
142. 5:03the sides of the screen as it does when
143. 5:05you sit directly in front of it. So,
144. 5:06it's a fantastic choice for rooms with
145. 5:08wide seating arrangements.
146. 5:10Like pretty much any TV, the S95B
147. 5:13supports the basic HDR10. You also get
148. 5:16HDR10 Plus, which uses dynamic metadata
149. 5:18to help map HDR content to the
150. 5:20capabilities of your display. Like any
151. 5:23Samsung TV, this TV doesn't support the
152. 5:25Dolby Vision format. It's not a
153. 5:27deal-breaker by any means, especially if
154. 5:29you stream your content, since super
155. 5:31bright TVs like this one don't really
156. 5:33need that dynamic metadata most of the
157. 5:35time to help them tone map. And HDR10
158. 5:37Plus is now supported on many streaming
159. 5:39services. However, it's a bit
160. 5:41disappointing for physical media
161. 5:43enthusiasts, since the version of Dolby
162. 5:45Vision found on some discs is a bit more
163. 5:47advanced, and it can lead to a slight
164. 5:49uptick in image quality. At this point,
165. 5:51we're not expecting Samsung to ever add
166. 5:53Dolby Vision to their TVs, but it would
167. 5:55be nice.
168. 5:57So, how does this TV compare to other
169. 5:59models on the market?
170. 6:01If you're considering the S95B, there's
171. 6:03a good chance you're also considering
172. 6:05the LG G6. The S95B has a bit of an
173. 6:08advantage when it comes to colors, and
174. 6:10it's also brighter with real scenes in
175. 6:12HDR. [music] The S95B also does a better
176. 6:14job handling direct reflections due to
177. 6:16its matte coating.
178. 6:18However, the G6 is certainly no slouch
179. 6:20when it comes to handling reflections,
180. 6:22and it does a much better job retaining
181. 6:24its image quality in a bright room since
182. 6:26blacks aren't nearly as raised. The G6
183. 6:28also supports Dolby Vision, which many
184. 6:30people do like to have. In the end, both
185. 6:33TVs are outstanding. So, it really comes
186. 6:36down to what you care about the most.
187. 6:38The S95B is one of the most versatile
188. 6:40OLEDs on the market. It looks amazing in
189. 6:43a dark room, and it's top-tier handling
190. 6:45of reflections also makes it a solid
191. 6:47choice for bright rooms. Gamers will
192. 6:49also be pleased by the wealth of
193. 6:50features it provides, so it's incredible
194. 6:52for mixed usage. Some people might be
195. 6:54put off by its matte coating and its
196. 6:56unusual design, but if you like the way
197. 6:59it looks, it is a solid option if you're
198. 7:01after one of the best TVs on the market.
199. 7:03That's a wrap on our review of the
200. 7:05Samsung S95B. Do you like the new
201. 7:07metallic border, or would you rather an
202. 7:09OLED that looks more basic? [music]
203. 7:11Let us know in the comments.