Samsung S95D OLED TV Review The Most Versatile OLED TV

Show video

Thanks to Reolink for sponsoring a portion of this video I have never in all my years as a tech  reviewer seen such intense feelings emoted over   a TV that being the case this might be the  most controversial TV review I've ever done   I guess that's just how it's going to be are you  ready am I ready only one way to find out   welcome back everyone I'm Caleb Denison and  this is my review of the Samsung S95D QD OLED   TV Samsung's flagship OLED TV for 2024 and the  subject of some controversy albeit mostly among   TV enthusiasts now if you're in the market for  a premium TV and you've just come here hoping to   get my take on how well this TV performs worry  not I've got you covered however there's just   no reviewing this TV without talking about why it  has created something of an uproar in the comments   sections across reviews I mean if you read the  comments you'll see what I mean now through an   effort to try to compartmentalize the discussion  around this TV's one controversial feature in its   own video I learned well a lot of things chief  among them though is that I can't do this TV   review without addressing that one feature again  from just about every angle in this review for for   those of you not already aware that uproarious  feature to which I'm referring is the S95D's   anti-glare/anti-reflective technology which  some like to describe as a matte coating or matte   finish it is not I repeat not a matte finish in  the sense that the panel appears to have texture   to it like Samsung's the frame TV does a trick  that helps that TV's image really look like art   on canvas no this anti-glare and anti-reflective  technology doesn't go that far it does however   keep the TV screen surface from looking like  a dark mirror now I think it makes sense that   Samsung would want to offer an OLED TV that  could look great in conditions under which OLED   TVs typically suffer namely rooms with a lot of  light in them be they natural light sources like   windows with sunlight spilling in or manufactured  light sources like bright floor lamps table lamps   overhead lights Etc. part of the solution to that  challenge was was to make a bright OLED TV which   Samsung has done here and the other part of that  solution was to dissipate ambient light rather   than have it direct reflected by ditching the  mirrorlike effect coming on OLED TVs the result is   the following whether the light source is direct  and concentrated like a bright light bulb or sun   flooded window sitting right behind you or more  generalized room filling light the S95D spreads   that light light out over a large amount of screen  surface area the result of that effort is that   instead of getting a reflection in one part of the  screen thereby harshing a specific section of the   picture that you're trying to see it disperses  that light over a wide area thus having a more   gentle less invasive effect but it occurs over  most of the screen my guess is that most folks   will prefer a more diffused light over a more  intense focused reflection but from the comments   I've been reading about this TV many enthusiasts  would prefer the opposite to have just one part   of the screen impacted leaving the rest of the  screen looking better on balance now as many of   you correctly pointed out in that anti-glare video  I didn't talk about how the TV looked in those dim   light controlled conditions and perhaps that was  a mistake so please forgive me I wanted to talk   about the S95D's merits as a bright-room TV on its  own figure and I would and I will I'm about to get   to the dim or dark room performance in this very  review video and I hope you're going to get what   you need out of this review video Lord knows I'm  going to do my best because I have indeed lost   sleep putting this review together so you can bet  I'm doing everything I can to get it right so with   my personal opinion that the S95D is going to be  a great bright room OLED TV choice for many people   let's talk more generally about its performance  and about how it is looked to me over the last few   weeks because due to all kinds of circumstances  This TV has ended up as my daily driver so to   speak for a few weeks now before I get into  picture quality let's cover some Basics the S95D   is a QD OLED TV which means it can fundamentally  produce higher color Purity and a slightly wider   color gamut with better saturation in very bright  colors than a WRGB OLED TV does that enhanced   performance is not something so easily seen in  a vacuum but if you put this TV next to say an   LG G4 as I will in our next video you can see the  difference in some cases especially in the way it   handles Reds whether you like that is going to be  up to personal preference but from a measurements   perspective this TV tech does have the ability  to produce stunning and accurate color the S95D   comes with Samsung's one connect box which longed  the bane of many custom installation professionals   does allow a single cable connection to the TV  which can be advantageous so long as you can   hide the one connect box and I will freely admit  that I've been a fan of the one connect box for   some time and I will now also freely admit that  it isn't always a big help to everyone but that's   how this TV comes so there it is a quick word  about the TV's audio system the speakers are rear   firing you got panels of speakers lining the edges  here and you have eight of these base transducers   I think this kind of speaker system design is  going to work best if this TV is wall mounted   I have heard it that way and it is impressive but  it can also work well if the TV is stand mounted   too it just helps if the TV is placed in close  proximity to the wall behind it because it relies   a great deal on reflection of the Audio Waves to  sound its best unfortunately for me I have sound   absorbing slat wall material in the studio here  so I did not get the best sound out of this TV   fortunately for me though I still have Samsung's  flagship Dolby Atmos Soundbar which remains one   of the best Soundbar systems you can buy and it  along with Samsung's Q Symphony sound utilizing   the TV speakers as enhancement provides one hell  of an Atmos cinematic experience I mean really   it's an awesome pairing guys lest you think I'm  just going to Fanboy all over this TV I am not   I'm not the biggest fan of Tizen Samsung Smart  TV operating system now to be fair some of the   the reason I don't care for it is because it takes  too many clicks to get to picture settings and   such which is a problem suffered more by reviewers  than by the average user also to be fair Tizen   is pretty freaking Snappy I mean the TV boots up  really quickly when you turn it on and the smart   TV interface is immediately usable which is more  than I can say for the experience you get from the   LG G4 running web OS But ultimately I'm going to  and I did put an Apple TV box on this thing even   if the TV does not support Dolby Vision I  just prefer the experience on the Apple TV   over what's built into Samsung's TVs which sorry  Samsung that's just how it is for me Samsung solar   rechargeable remote is kind of small but never  having to worry about batteries not taking up a   huge amount of space anywhere that's pretty great  but also a little easier to misplace and not back   lit though they're really aren't that many buttons  to try to keep track of anyway oh one more thing I   don't enjoy assembling the stand that comes with  this TV but there's no denying that once you've   jumped through those hurdles it is extremely  solid and supports the TV really well oddly enough   though it does have just the slightest little lean  back at least this test unit does introducing the   Reolink Argus 4 Pro built as the world's first  4K all day color vision battery powered home   security camera with blind spot free 180° view a  lot of the innovation in this security camera l   in the Dual 4mm lenses which seamlessly stitched  together give you that 180° blind spot free view   but also the lens's large f1.0 aperture combined  with an oversized sensor allow The Argus 4 Pro   to deliver all day color fidelity and super crisp  night vision without any need for infrared lights   which dramatically improves battery life a battery  which by the way can be charged from 0 to 100%   capacity in as little as 10 minutes it's got Wi-Fi  six on board flexible and easy installation and   setup Reolinks great smart detection with accurate  alerts diverse local video storage and anywhere   access as well you would typically pay just 220  bucks for The Argus 4 Pro and a solar panel that   charges it but Digital Trends viewers can save  10% by using this code if you order between June   10 and June 16th plus Reolink has its 15th  anniversary sale running June 177 through June   23 so you can save on all of real link great gear  don't miss out on the Argus 4 Pro thanks again to   Reolink for sponsoring this portion of our video  now I've got some surprises for you in a segment   I call Numbers for Nit Nerds the S95D measured  really well I did need to change the color temp   setting in filmmaker mode to warm two to get the  best white balance so I suggest you do the same   if you want the most accurate picture but in SDR  filmmaker mode I got about 200 nits and of course   you can seriously brighten that up up if you  want right around 200 should be pretty accurate   for SDR content white balance is acceptable  a little heavy on the blue so a bit cool but   no outrageous errors as you can see in this chart  color accuracy was excellent too and grayscale on   the whole was quite good in HDR again dark room  for measuring I got about 1,450 nits from a 10%   and 5% white window that's a little lower than  some of the of the measurements I've seen from   other Publications but more on that in a moment  EOTF tracking was solid top to bottom under normal   testing conditions HDR color accuracy was great  and the gray scale was very good if not the best   we've seen from an OLED TV color gamut in HDR  was outstanding 100% of DCI P3 and about 90% of   bt2020 and the color volume was super impressive  even the brightest colors remain really saturated   that's the QD OLED Tech at work filmmaker mode  in both SDR and HDR put up great results can be   refined even more with a professional calibration  if you want as well another thing I noticed is   that when testing this TV's Peak brightness yeah  the TV maxes out its capabilities when it sees a   test pattern window but when the whole screen is  lit up doing its thing I don't think you're going   to be getting 1,400 nit Peak highlights that's  actually pretty typical also the TV does throttle   the brightness after about 20 seconds with an  excruciating test pattern like this you can see   it dimming aggressively if you push it too hard  and you can see that it does get hot when pushed   hard I measured a temperature increase of about  50° fah before the TV started to force a dimming   down and this intense test window also caused a  bit of image retention though it goes away pretty   quickly and again real content is is not likely to  cause this this is a torture test but if you watch   say hockey with the TV set to be the brightest  it can be so the APL is super high and you pause   it or the image lingers a bit you might catch a  little auto brightness limiter coming in briefly   until the picture starts moving again for the more  Discerning viewers among you there are a couple of   things to consider when the lights are up really  up you may notice that black areas aren't as Inky   as old TVs made with WRGB type OLED panels frankly  it's never bothered me once the screen is lit up   with content the contrast is still so good that I  can look past large sads of dark areas not being   as Inky the advantage of pixel level dimming is  still quite evident making it a more contrasty   picture on the whole than most LCD based TVs with  backlights now for my take on this TV's picture   quality let me start with a little summary  that I think is going to help a lot of you   most of you out every single person I have  brought into this room to see This TV has been   nothing short of Gob smacked just smacked all up  in their Gob at how gorgeous the picture quality   is I brought in friends family neighbors  and professional videographers and Imaging   Professionals and they all every single one of  them were like damn that TV looks amazing with   the lights on in total darkness everyone saids  says this TV is just straight fire I think that   fairly represents what most folks are going  to think of this TV the S95D tends to be a   bit brighter than what's considered accurate in  SDR even in its filmmaker mode picture preset   and then of course you can really juice up the  brightness by picking a brighter picture mode   or just turning up the OLED light level Samsung  has also introduced a new color booster setting   which again strays from accuracy by juicing  up color saturation but that's a look that   a lot of folks like so it's nice to have the  option available and as a bonus it doesn't just   completely toss accuracy to the wind it's just a  little extra oomph that is likely to Delight a lot   of viewers in really bright rooms the anti-glare  treatment makes the image more watchable than with   glossy screens I think but there's no denying that  the TV will lose some of its contrast as the light   is scattered across the screen but I maintain  that in harsh lighting conditions this is still   the most watchable OLED TV on the market in dim  rooms with I'd say about 70 to 75% of the lighting   scenarios that I tried that's moving light sources  around to various places in the room and varying   the intensity by three different levels I found  the s905d looked great we'll investigate how it   looks compared to an OLED TV like the LG G4 In the  comparison video which I'm doing next but blacks   looked Inky contrast was outstanding and guys I'm  telling you that image has luster is that luster   slightly marginally less than competing glossy  OLED TVs yes it is observable in a comparison but   in isolation guys I think the S95D looks excellent  on the whole in most scenarios it may not be the   brightest OLED TV on average I think that award  will have to go to the lg4 but it is more than   sufficiently bright for dim room applications HDR  highlights have pop colors are bright and well   saturated more to the point most of the time I  watched this TV I did not see an obvious hazy   smearing effect even though the measurements show  objectively that it is happening you know what   else I'm going to keep watching and testing but  the motion resolution on this TV hasn't bothered   me yet I mean I'm about 3 weeks into watching  this TV and I've just enjoyed it a bunch I do   think it may be doing a weird frame skipping  thing because there have been a couple of times   I noticed a weird it's almost like a skip in the  video content but that hasn't happened off enough   for me to say guys we have a problem and honestly  it could be streaming content that's doing it the   game mode on this TV the picture may be a little  over brightened but again it's super enjoyable   on balance y'all know I'm not a big gamer and I'm  not going to pretend to be qualified to say that   it is an excellent gaming TV but I'll say I'll  be surprised if more gaming Savvy reviewers end   up marking it down for something I think the  game mode and game Dash dashboard is pretty   freaking great so is the S95D the reference  grade OLED TV of 2024 no is this TV going to   summarily win shootout matches with other OLED TVs  under the most Ardent of expert scrutiny probably   not but is it an excellent TV that is likely to  land in more homes than other similarly priced   OLED TVs yeah I think it will look guys we're  talking about Samsung's flagship QD OLED TV here   it starts at a baseline of awesome after that  the scrutiny has to go deep to find its flaws   and I'll do my best to show you those when I put  this TV against the G4 and perhaps some other   OLED TVs on the whole though it is beautiful I  I think it's yummy I think a lot of you really   want me to admit that I was wrong about this TV  because I said I was willing to be proved wrong   so how about I meet you halfway I was wrong if  I ever said that the anti-glare screen on this   TV was going to be virtually indistinguishable  from a glossy OLED TV in most conditions in a   totally dark room I think most people would have  a hard time identifying it but when light is   involved in the room you can see a difference if  you have a Keen Eye which several of you awesome   nit nerds out there do have so I admit it the  anti-glare screen does visibly alter the image   in many different viewing scenarios with that said  I stand by my take that the anti-glare is is a net   positive for most situations and it's going to be  a benefit to the most amount of customers still I   hear you guys out there who want an S95D without  this particular anti-glare treatment and I agree   with you on this point I have a certain level of  influence in this market and not only do I have   all of you to thank for that but I agree with you  that the influence comes with a certain level of   responsibility so I want you and I especially want  the decision makers at Samsung to hear me loud and   clear on this Samsung great job making an OLED  TV that will serve an audience that hasn't been   served before keep making a TV like this however  there is a voracious knit nerd fan base out there   that for their enthusiastic engagement in forums  and comment sections and through their purchasing   power deserves credit for helping to propel your  brand and has influence on the sales of your   products those folks want to Flagship QD OLED TV  from Samsung with the one connect box and all the   other cool stuff with a more traditional screen  I think you should give it to them I know you   probably can't just wave a magic wand and whip up  a new production line or convert an existing one   I realize that the ROI on such a move is probably  not going to pay immediate financial dividends and   I realize that we may not see such fan service  from you until the 2025 product year but look   the fans want it so to whatever degree I can lend  weight to that ask I'm doing it here and I'll be   doing it face to face the next time we meet that's  my review I hope you got what you needed out of it   I hope you know I put more heart and soul into  this review than I have any other in a long time   I did it for you and I appreciate you thanks so  much for watching everyone let me know what you   think down in the comments I know you will be  nice if you can but be authentic above all else   I hope to see you on the next one and until then  here's two other videos I think you might like for those of you not aware that  uuus feature uuus notorious

2024-06-22

Show video