Samsung S90D 4K OLED TV Review

QN65S90D QD-OLED 4K HDR SMART TV (120Hz)

Intro

Samsung first introduced the S90C in 2023 as a less expensive option to their highly acclaimed S95 series. The S90C received rave reviews for its high-end performance which was on par with the S95C. And just like that, the S90C became a huge hit with consumers and solidified its place as one of the best OLED TVs available, regardless of price.

Fast forward to 2024 with the release of the highly anticipated S90D. And I’ll say from the jump the S90D continues with the awesome performance attributes as its predecessor, the S90C. However, there is what some will consider a major drawback to the S90D and that is the dreaded panel lottery.

What this means is that Samsung will be using both QD-OLED and WOLED panels on its S90D TVs. The 42”, 48” and 83” models will exclusively use WOLED panels. Where things get complicated and according to a Korean media source (The Elec), Samsung will mix both QD-OLED panels and WOLED panels on the 55”, 65” and 77” screen sizes, and there will be no indication to consumers which panel type is being used. This will become a problematic issue for consumers who prefer a QD-OLED panel which provides higher brightness and better color rendering than WOLED panels.

Update: Rtings.com recently released a YouTube video review of the S90D claiming that the 55”, 65”, and 77” models only use QD-OLED panels. Stay tuned for updates.

As noted above, the S90D is available in 42”, 48”, 55”, 65”, 77” and 83” screen sizes.

Design and Features

The S90D is a beautifully sculpted display that focuses on its ultra-thin panel that provides great aesthetic appeal, especially when viewed from the side. However, the lower portion of the back panel does protrude due to the housing of the TV’s electronic components and the connection ports. The TV’s borders are stylishly thin and measure just over ¼ of an inch. The screen surface has a glossy finish. The center-mounted pedestal stand is compact yet gives the 65” panel plenty of support with minimal panel wobble. Overall, the S90D has good build quality.

Feature highlights:

• OLED’s pixel-level dimming enables each of the panel’s pixels to brighten, dim, or power off completely, displaying exceptional picture detail, contrast, and depth
• Self-illuminating OLED display panel produces infinite contrast, vibrant color, and absolute black levels
• Pantone Validated for rich, full-range color fidelity
• EyeComfort Mode evaluates your room’s brightness and adjusts the TV’s contrast settings accordingly
• HDR10, HDR10+ Adaptive/Gaming, and HLG for extended picture contrast and brightness when viewing HDR content
• NQ4 AI Gen2 processor uses multi-layered neural networks to analyze and enhance video for incredible picture quality on all kinds of sources
• Neo Quantum HDR OLED+: Provides a premium High Dynamic Range (HDR) experience, with a higher level of contrast between light and dark images
• Real Depth Enhancer increases foreground contrast to make content feel more lifelike
• 4K AI Upscaling enhances standard-def and high-def video signals for optimum display on a 4K screen
• Filmmaker Mode automatically adjusts picture settings to preserve the director’s intent
• Motion Xcelerator 144Hz blur reduction
• Supports enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC), VRR, ALLM, and 4K at 144Hz

Smart TV features:

• Tizen OS smart TV platform
• SolarCell voice remote control: can be charged using room lighting or USB connection
• Built-in Bixby and Amazon Alexa voice control assistants
• Compatible with Google Assistant devices
• Built-in support for Zigbee and Thread/Matter
• Smart Hub makes navigating to your favorite content easy
• Built-in Apple AirPlay 2 allows wireless streaming from your Apple device
• Mobile-to-TV wireless mirroring, including Multi View split screen
• Samsung TV Plus lets you enjoy subscription-free TV with 150+ channels

Gaming features:

• Game Motion Plus optimizes settings for smooth gameplay
• All HDMI inputs support 4K up to 144Hz
• Supports ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode)
• Supports variable refresh rate via FreeSync Premium
• Super Ultrawide GameView lets you adjust the aspect ratio from 21:9 to 32:9 and move the screen position to eye level for compatible PC games
• Game Bar on-screen menu lets you double-check your input lag and make adjustments to your fps (frames per second), HDR, wireless headset settings, etc.
• Gaming Hub lets you stream games directly on your TV with a compatible controller (sold separately; subscriptions required)

Sound features:

• Built-in 2.1-channel speaker system (40 watts total power)
• Supports Dolby Atmos for immersive overhead effects
• Object Tracking Sound Lite tracks sounds where they appear on-screen
• Active Voice Amplifier Pro analyzes ambient room noise and enhances voices for clear dialogue
• Q-Symphony for a fuller soundstage with select Samsung soundbars
• Bluetooth wireless audio streaming to a compatible speaker or set of headphones

Connectivity

• 4 HDMI 2.1 inputs/ HDCP 2.2 compliant
• 1 Digital optical output
• 2 USB 2.0 inputs
• 1 RF input for antenna/cable signals
• 1 Ethernet input
• NextGen TV Tuner (ATSC 3.0)
• eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) HDMI input 3
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
• Bluetooth wireless audio streaming to a compatible speaker or set of headphones

Performance

When it comes to overall best picture quality, OLED TVs reign supreme, and you are practically guaranteed great picture quality regardless of model or brand. Nevertheless, there are and can be noticeable differences in picture quality between models and brands, most notably picture brightness, in addition to more subtle differences in the form of detail, clarity, image depth, and color rendering.

The trademark of OLED TVs is their outstanding contrast and black levels that set the foundation for all OLED TV’s amazing picture quality and the S90D effortlessly meets these high standards.

The S90D’s excellent contrast range allowed for deep inky blacks and bright peak highlights to co-exist on the screen at the same time without any of the bright picture highlights spilling over into the dark areas of the picture image. And of course, due to OLED’s self-illuminating pixel technology, there was no blooming around bright objects or white text set against a black background. Another great attribute of the S90D’s contrast range was the ability to produce picture images with exceptional dynamic pop and realism, in addition to bright and vibrant color rendering.

Out-of-box color reproduction was excellent on the S90D, displaying a rich, vibrant, and beautifully rendered color pallet with excellent color accuracy. Samsung’s new “Color Booster” feature increases color saturation and works well if you desire more color in your picture images. The S90D has an exceptionally wide color gamut that covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space.

The S90D produces a slightly brighter picture image when compared to last year’s S90C. The S90D has excellent HDR peak brightness and did a great job with HDR content allowing for top-notch performance when displaying bright specular highlights.

SDR peak brightness was good on this TV. Standard dynamic range content had plenty of brightness when watching in an environment with bright lighting. Furthermore, the S90D was bright enough to overcome picture glare in the same viewing environment.

*HDR peak brightness: 10% window 1,193 nits

*SDR peak brightness: 10% window 493 nits

The S90D had great picture detail and clarity that was easy to see in facial closeup shots and outdoor landscape scenes. Image depth and transparency were also great, allowing for a more three-dimensional picture presentation.

Motion handling was good on this TV while viewing sporting events and other fast-action content, I didn’t experience any motion artifacts. However, if you do encounter motion issues; you can apply the TV’s motion control settings to your liking to reduce or eliminate motion artifacts.

The S90D had great off-angle viewing performance and maintained color saturation and contrast regardless of the viewing positions around the TV’s screen.

The 2024 Tizen OS has been redesigned to bring content front and center in a fresh layout. New in 2024, each member of the household can create a profile for personalized recommendations and get a more customized overall experience. The Tizen OS continues to deliver a smooth and intuitive interface with easy access to your favorite content, and functionality wise its very fast.

Sound quality: The S90D has a decent sound profile and delivered good mid-range and high-frequency extension and surprisingly had a small amount of low bass frequency extension which gave the overall sound output a more balanced presentation. Spoken dialogue was clear and easy to discern.

The S90D is a great TV for gaming and has all the latest advanced gaming features as noted above. It also has great input lag: 1080p @ 60Hz approx. 10.0 ms,1080p @ 120Hz is approx. 5.4 ms, 4K @ 60Hz is approx. 10.0 ms, 4K @ 120Hz is approx. 5.4 ms, 4K @ 144Hz approx. 4.8 ms

An Observation – Comparison to the S95D 

During my evaluation, I did a quick comparison of the two models and found their performance very similar. However, there were moments with certain content that I preferred the picture quality of the S90D over the S95D. This was due to the S90D having a glossy screen finish, whereas the S95D has a matt screen finish. This made certain content look slightly dull and showed less dynamic punch, clarity, and transparency when compared to certain images I viewed on the S90D’s glossy screen finish. And because of these observations, I would personally choose the S90D over the S95D.

Conclusion

Samsung’s second generation S90D is the follow-up to the hugely successful S90C. The S90D does offer performance improvements over the S90C. Here’s the rundown: The S90D is marginally brighter in both SDR and HDR modes, which makes highlights in HDR content stand out a bit more. It also has better color rendering and color volume, allowing it to display a better color palette. The S90D also has a new processor that enhances its overall picture quality when compared to the S90C.

The S90D delivers the top-notch performance that is expected from a high-end OLED TV, which means the S90D can produce some of the best picture quality images currently available.

So, is the S90D worth the upgrade from the S90C? Well, if you find the small performance improvements mentioned above worth the extra cash, then moving up to the S90D may be a worthwhile investment. However, keeping your current S90C or making a first-time purchase of the S90C will give you most of what the S90D is offering in picture quality without having to shell out more cash for the S90D. You still have time to decide while the S90C is available. The choice is yours.

The Samsung S90D is HDTVs and More recommended.

Check out HDTVs and More’ YouTube video review for the Samsung S90D OLED TV here.

Image credit Samsung

*Source Rtings.com