Samsung S95B OLED TV Review

QN65S95B QD-OLED 4K HDR Smart TV (120Hz)

Intro -Samsung returns to OLED

Back in 2012, Samsung had a brief stint with OLED TV technology with its short-lived ES9500 OLED display. After that short run, Samsung was out of the OLED TV game. Then about six years later there were rumors that Samsung could return to the OLED TV market. Fast forward to the end of 2021 when info appeared that Samsung was indeed ramping up to produce OLED TVs again. And now for the first time in 10 years, Samsung has released a new OLED TV – the S95B.

The release of Samsung’s S95B was highly anticipated by enthusiasts and consumers alike. And before writing this review, I read about all the hype the S95B has been generating and the general consensus among enthusiasts and consumers alike has been that the S95B is an awesome TV.

And after doing my own evaluation and experiencing the performance with this TV, I most certainly agree with all the hype. I will talk more about the performance of the S95B later in the review.

As I mentioned above I did my own evaluation on the S95B in addition to gathering info from other sources and then bringing it all together here in this review.

What is QD-OLED and how is it different from traditional OLED TV technology?

Traditional OLED (WOLED) TVs use WRGB panels. The “W” stands for white. RGB stands for red green and blue respectively. To create a picture image, WRGB uses blue OLED pixels covered in a yellow phosphor to make a white light which then passes through a color filter to make red, green and blue primary colors that all other colors can be derived from.

However, using a color filter cuts down on the light output (brightness) of the panel. To counter this, WRGB OLED panels use a white sub-pixel to improve the panel brightness.

QD-OLED panels also use blue OLED pixels but instead of coating the blue OLEDs with yellow phosphor to make white light, QD-OLED uses a sheet that has tiny nanoparticles called quantum dots printed on it and placed in front of the blue OLED pixels, and subsequently, when the blue light hits the quantum dots, they glow red and green. The end result is an RGB panel with no color filter that reduces brightness and no white sub-pixels are necessary to enhance brightness.

QD-OLED vs. WOLED

The advantages of QD-OLED over traditional WOLED TVs are readily apparent and include higher brightness output, deeper and brighter colors, more accurate colors, and a wider color gamut in addition to better black levels and shadow detail.

S95B Design & Features

The S95B has nothing special in the design section and is typical of what is usually found on an OLED TV. Depth wise the panel is ultra-thin which has been a key form factor that makes OLED displays so aesthetically pleasing to consumers.

The glossy glass screen is surrounded by very slim borders giving the panel a bezeless appearance. The rear panel is a bit thicker on the bottom section due to the compartment that contains the TV’s electronics. The TV uses a center-mounted stand and has a small footprint. The stand provides good stability for the panel, with only a slight wobble when rocking the panel back and forth, nothing to be concerned though.

Note: The S95B does not use a One Connect box. All connections are made directly to the TV.

The S95B is available in 55” ($1,799.99) and 65” ($2,799.99) screen sizes.

Feature highlights:

• Self-illuminating Quantum HDR OLED (Quantum Dot Organic Light Emitting Diode) display panel produces infinite picture contrast and absolute black
  • 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
  • Quantum Dot layer expands color volume for vibrant color even at high brightness levels
• Neural Quantum Processor 4K uses multi-layered neural networks to analyze and enhance video for incredible picture quality on all kinds of sources
  • Real Depth Enhancer increases foreground contrast to make content appear more lifelike
  • 4K AI Upscaling enhances standard-def and high-def video signals for optimum display on a 4K screen
• Pixel HDR Pro (HDR10, HDR10+ Adaptive/Gaming, and HLG) for extended picture contrast and brightness when viewing HDR content
• EyeComfort Mode evaluates your room’s brightness and adjusts the TV’s contrast settings accordingly
• Expert Calibration for perfect color out of the box
• Filmmaker Mode automatically adjusts picture settings to preserve the director’s intent
• Motion Xcelerator Turbo+ blur reduction
• NextGen TV ATSC 3.0 tuner for over-the-air 4K broadcasts
• LaserSlim Design has a minimal bezel and an ultra-thin side profile
• Anti-reflection screen
• Samsung Smart Hub – Tizen OS
• Smartphone picture calibration
• Dolby Atmos and Object Tracking Sound – Object Tracking Sound uses speakers built into the TV’s frame to create sound that tracks every onscreen motion
• Wireless Dolby Atmos with a compatible Samsung soundbar
• Built-in Voice Assistant – Bixby, Alexa, Google Assistant
• Built-in Apple AirPlay 2 allows wireless streaming from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac
• 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, optimizing your playing experience
• Free Sync Premium ProGame Motion Plus optimizes settings for smooth gameplay
• 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.
• SolarCell Remote w/ voice control – the remote can be charged using your home’s lighting or USB
• All HDMI inputs support 4K@120Hz

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
• eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) HDMI input 3
• 1 Analog audio out 3.5mm
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
• Bluetooth wireless audio streaming to a compatible speaker or set of headphones

Performance

The S95B QD-OLED produced all the attributes of traditional OLED displays starting with exceptional contrast and absolute black levels that are trademarks of OLED displays. Extremely dark content was rendered with outright deep and inky blacks.

And one of the things I enjoy most about OLED picture quality is that there is no haloing or blooming around white text or objects set against a black background. Nor do I have to be concerned about blooming spreading into the black bars when there are bright picture elements near the black bars. These aforementioned concerns are commonplace with LED/LCD TVs.

The S95B also did a good job with shadow detail in semi-dark scenes without crushing highlighted areas in those particular scenes.

One thing I would like to point out is that you may experience raised black levels in dark content when viewing this TV in a brightly lit room or even a room with ambient lighting. This is due to the S95B’s panel design not using a polarizing filter. Keep in mind this is just a perceived rise in black levels due to how the panel interacts with bright room lighting. To avoid this scenario, watch the S95B in a dark room. Nonetheless, the TV’s OLEDs are working correctly and the deepest blacks are still present yet not completely visible to the naked eye.

Color rendering – As mentioned earlier the S95B uses quantum dots in its display panel. The QD’s provide high brightness and exceptionally rich and vivid color rendering for a more life-like viewing experience.

The S95B has an exceptionally wide color gamut that covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space; color volume is also outstanding on this TV and determines how many colors the TV can display at different luminosity levels.

With real-life content, the color reproduction on the S95B was absolutely amazing. I’ve seen great color rendering on other OLED TVs, but the S95B takes it to another level. Colors had an exceptional level of brightness and pop which made the color palette extremely vibrate while adding a greater sense of realism.

Out of the box, the S95B delivered very good color accuracy. I recommend using the “Filmmaker” or “Movie” picture setting modes to get the most accurate picture outside of getting the S95B fully calibrated which really isn’t necessary for this TV in my opinion.

The S95B had great picture detail and clarity and was readily apparent in scenes with plants and other foliage as one example. Image depth was also great allowing for a more three-dimensional picture presentation.

The S95B had great off-angle viewing performance and maintained color saturation and contrast regardless of the seating positions around the TV’s screen. In addition, the TV handles screen reflection well.

Black screen uniformity was rendered as expected for an OLED TV which was a completely black screen. Gray screen uniformity was good with virtually no dirty screen effect.

Screen brightness was very good on the S95B, especially for an OLED TV, and is the brightest OLED TV I have seen to date. That being said, large bright scenes are still dimmer than smaller highlights due to the TV’s Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL).  This is common behavior with OLED TVs.

Rtings.com has posted “real scene peak brightness” for SDR (standard dynamic range) peak brightness at 423 nits, and HDR (high dynamic range) peak brightness in a 10% window is 1,036 nits.

Motion handling was good on this TV and when 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.

Gaming – I’m not much of a gamer so I usually don’t comment on any given TV’s gaming performance. Nevertheless, I know this is an important performance criterion. That being said, I did some internet research and found the S95B to be a great gaming TV which is related to its gaming features mentioned above. I suggest you do your own research to learn more about its gaming capabilities.

Input lag is excellent on this display: approx 10.0 ms with 1080p and 4K signals @ 60Hz. With 1080p and 4K signals @ 120Hz, input lag was less than 6 ms.

As was expected the sound quality from the S95B was decent and had good mid range frequency extension and decent high-frequency extension. On the other hand, it didn’t produce much bass output. However, the TV does play loud and outputs clear dialogue. Furthermore, the “Dolby Atmos” + “Object Tracking Sound” features do add to the TV’s overall sound quality creating a more spacious and enveloping sound presentation with an added audible sense of being able to track objects in motion as they move about the screen. That being said, I still recommend using a soundbar with the S95B to experience much better sound quality.

The Tizen Smart Hub smart TV platform has been updated and sports a revamped interface. The interface now fills the entire screen instead of the bar that appeared on previous versions. The operation was smooth and intuitive with easy access to the content of my choice. The new interface has also added a new sidebar with preset categories. Furthermore, the Smart Hub now allows you to video chat with friends and family while watching your favorite shows and movies. Video chat requires an external USB-enabled camera (sold separately).

Conclusion

Samsung has definitely hit it out of the park with the S95B QD-OLED 4K TV. Its overall picture performance is stellar and ranks as one of the best TVs for 2022. And depending on how it stacks up to Sony’s A95K QD-OLED, the S95B could earn the honors for the best TV of 2022.

The use of quantum dots has definitely set a new benchmark in how OLED TVs perform. QD-OLED high peak brightness and amazing color rendering take OLED TV picture quality to the next level. Samsungs first generation of OLED TVs is very impressive, and I can only imagine how much more the technology will improve with future models.

If you’ve been considering an OLED TV in the near future or you just want to experience how great picture quality can be on a TV; then check out Samsung’s S95B. You won’t be disappointed.

HDTVs and More recommended.

You may also like this review of LG’s C2 OLED TV.

Image credit Samsung