The S95H’s 4K OLED panel has a 165Hz refresh rate and supports high dynamic range (HDR) in HDR10, HDR10+, and hybrid log gamma (HLG). Samsung continues to be one of the very few holdouts among TV manufacturers to eschew Dolby Vision. HDR content is almost always available in HDR10, but that format uses static metadata, which makes it more limited than Dolby Vision and Samsung’s own HDR10+, both of which use dynamic metadata that can adjust signal information to best fit the TV’s capabilities and the scene. It’s true that HDR10+ technically offers the same benefits as Dolby Vision, and some studios and streaming services support it, but it isn’t nearly as widely embraced. The S95H also has Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and an ATSC 1.0 tuner, but not ATSC 3.0.
OLED TVs have been steadily getting brighter, but the S95H outshines all others I’ve tested. Using a Klein K-10 colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman software, I measured the S95H’s picture in a variety of modes and test patterns. I found the best performance for both brightness and color to be HDR Movie, where it puts out 419 nits with a full-screen white field, 1,715 nits with an 18% white field (a white box covering 18% of the screen, against black), and a blazing 2,604 nits with a 10% white field.
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Typically, I use 18% white field measurements to compare TVs across all types, but with OLEDs specifically, I also look closely at 10% white field numbers. That’s because OLEDs show the biggest changes as the white field shrinks. At 18%, the S95H actually falls a little short of the Panasonic Z95B’s peak brightness (1,775 nits). At 10%, it blows other OLEDs I’ve reviewed out of the water, including the Z95B (2,015 nits) and the LG G5 (2,386 nits).
It almost goes without saying that the S95H puts out more light than its predecessor, the S95F (1,451 nits 18%, 2,138 nits 10%). Brightness has historically been one of the biggest weaknesses of OLED TVs, but now flagship models like the S95H rival all but the brightest high-end mini-LED TVs like the TCL X11L (3,421 nits 18%, 3,776 nits 10%), and are more than bright enough to comfortably watch in any room lighting.
This incredible brightness only applies to top-of-the-line OLEDs, though; I also tested a preproduction version of the S90H OLED and measured 1,217 nits with an 18% field and 1,529 nits with a 10% field. Similarly, the midrange LG C5 shows a peak brightness of just 944 nits at 18% and 1,269 nits at 10%. Both still comfortably sit at or above the 1,000-nit threshold to do most HDR content justice, but they’re downright dim compared with the S95H, the G5, or the Z95B.
(Credit: PCMag)
Color performance is unsurprisingly fantastic on the S95H. The above charts show the TV’s color measurements in Movie mode with an SDR signal compared against Rec.709 broadcast standards and with an HDR10 signal compared against DCI-P3 color levels. In both cases, whites are very close to perfect. Most SDR colors are spot-on, though oddly, greens, yellows, and reds are just a touch undersaturated. HDR colors far exceed the DCI-P3 color space, and are generally very well-balanced, even if magentas and yellows run slightly warm. It’s the widest color range I’ve seen on an OLED, though it doesn’t hit the range covered by certain very expensive high-end LED models like the TCL X11L, the Hisense 116UX, or Samsung’s own RGB TVs.
