Neo QLED: Samsung QN95A review

Luca Fontana

15/7/2021

Translation: Julia Graham

Samsung has Mini LEDs. Finally! Bear in mind, Chinese giant TCL already launched its backlight technology last year. Anyway. Samsung now has it, too – and it’s impressive.

At first glance, Samsung’s choice of name for this year’s UHD flagship seems sensational: Neo QLED QN95A. What’s actually new about the device is the backlight technology – Mini LED. According to Samsung, this promises even better contrast while simultaneously reducing blooming.

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Samsung QE55QN90A

55", QN90A, NeoQLED, 4K, 2021

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Samsung QE65QN90A

65", QN90A, NeoQLED, 4K, 2021

236

TV

Samsung QE55QN90A

236

TV

Samsung QE65QN90A

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The question is, is this enough to take on the OLED competition?

Mini LED, the anti-blooming technology

What is Mini LED? Mini LED means that thousands of closely spaced LEDs provide the backlight. To put this in context, LCD pixels cannot light up by themselves. And the LED light gets sealed off by light crystals and polarisation filters in the areas where pixels are meant to stay black. In theory. But in practice, a little light always penetrates. Which is why LCD televisions tend to be dark grey where there should only be darkness.

That’s why TV manufacturers came up with Full Array Local Dimming (FALD). In other words, hundreds of LEDs that dim locally. This ensures superior black levels and thereby also superior contrast that should be able to take on the OLED competition.

Basically, Mini LED is like FALD. Just with thousands of LEDs as opposed to hundreds. There’s enough space for them in the TV as Mini LEDs are much smaller than FALD LEDs. Hence the name. To put it another way, Mini LED is the logical development of FALD.

Why are smaller LEDs better than big ones? The main reason is they reduce annoying blooming, which is a kind of halo that occurs when there isn’t precise illumination on light edges that appear on a dark background. That’s why LEDs also light up in areas where it should be black. So, it follows logically that smaller LEDs provide more precision than fewer, bigger LEDs. And as Mini LED TVs boast a lot more LEDs than FALD televisions, there are also more dimmable zones and consequently there’s less blooming.

Let me give you an example: LG’s SM9900 are rumoured to have about 100 dimming zones in the 65-inch model. Pay attention to the shirt in the HDR image below. Or the dark area to the left of the woman's face. It’s as though they shimmer. What’s actually happening is that the background LEDs aren’t illuminating the faces or the light, white shirt precisely enough. As a result, they also light up those pixels that are actually supposed to stay black.

That's blooming.

In Samsung’s UHD FALD top model from last year, the Q95T, there are about 120 dimming zones in the 65-inch version. And it has proportionally less blooming in the same scene. However: local dimming is also set a lot less aggressively. LEDs illuminate more regularly across the whole image, just less brightly. Because this makes black areas look more like dark grey, blooming isn’t as noticeable.

It’s a trade-off.

That’s something that annoyed me in the Q95N test. My criticism being that Samsung intentionally gave its 2020 UHD model second-rate treatment and equipped it with far too few dimming zones. All in order to make the 2020 8K model look better, as that has around 500 dimming zones. This set-up allows for much better local dimming without risking blooming. So, customers come to the conclusion that «ah, the 8K image is a lot better than the UHD image», which makes them opt for the much more expensive 8K model.

Will the Neo QLED with Mini LED change anything about that?

It almost has to. Samsung can’t afford negative reviews of its new technology. After all, last year TCL presented the X10, the first TV on the market with Mini LED technology. Around 768 dimming zones are built into the 65-inch model. I don’t know how many dimming zones Samsung incorporated in the Neo QLED. No one at Samsung was able to tell me either. TCL is the only TV manufacturer that’s relatively open with these kinds of figures.

Just as they were with me in this interview.

Fortunately, we’ve got TV tester extraordinaire Vinent Teoh. He established that the 65-inch version of the Neo QLED QN95A has around 792 dimming zones. That’s not a bad amount. Given the size of the display, the 75-inch version Samsung has given me to review must have more. But as I’ve said, the exact amount more is anybody’s guess.

In fact, my first test shows that there’s nothing shabby about the QN95A. Let’s take the same scene from «Westworld» again, as above. There’s hardly any blooming. Instead, there’s lots of nice, rich black.

But don't take these comparisons too seriously. I shot these photos months apart and the lighting was different. This may have affected the pictures. I do try to keep the lighting conditions roughly the same, but my methods are far from highly precise. This also applies to the images and comparisons in the rest of the article.

But I want to show you how everything looks with or without blooming in video stills. First, let’s take a look at what LG has to offer. It’s best to fast-forward straight to the 25-second mark. That’s when you’ll see blooming from hell.

Now compare this to Samsung’s QN95A.

Poles apart, aren’t they?

I’m impressed. Mini-LED is cool. And not just with HDR. Even SDR stuff looks fantastic – when I feed the TV material that’s actually crying out for blooming.

Admittedly, blooming in SDR would be like a declaration of failure. After all, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. In other words, for big differences in light intensity between the darkest and brightest pixels. This is what ensures a clear distinction of colours. But the background LEDs have to shine brighter than SDR material in order to provide high contrast.

Therefore, it’s less of a huge surprise to me that the SDR material looks so good, as far as the QN95A in «Westworld» goes. That’s really almost OLED level, even if the black level doesn’t quite reach OLED black. This is purely due to physics. And no amount of marketing can change physics.

Absolutely solid HDR image – and that’s totally fine

Enough about blooming. I want to know how Samsung’s Neo QLED fares when up against other competition.

I start by comparing «Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom». I've seen this film on so many different TVs that I can easily tell what I like about the image, where I spot the imperfections and what it excels at.

And now LG’s OLED image: Lastly, according to the marketing, Mini LED should be able to measure up to OLED.

At first, the Samsung image seems noticeably sharper. But that’s because I was given the 75-inch model to test out. LG’s G1 only has a 65-inch screen. When I’m sitting at the same distance from the screen, that means I enlarged a much smaller field of view for the display in this review. That’s why Samsung’s image seems a lot sharper.

So, forget the sharpness and pay attention to the rest.

I’m thinking of the bright headlights against the dark background in the top left, for starters. They’re typical candidates for blooming. The QN95A skillfully masters the situation. The colours seem natural, and the details are also clearly visible in the dark image areas. With LG on the other hand, in true OLED form, a few too many details get swallowed up – something that’s known as black crush.

That’s why you can see the difference between the Mini LED black and OLED black in the top right. I also like LG’s warmer, more natural colour. That’s because Dolby’s HDR format Dolby Vision is closer to the shade that Hollywood colourists calibrate on their screens. Samsung still doesn’t support Dolby Vision, «only» HDR10 and HDR10+.

It’s a shame. Nevertheless, if you compare Mini LED QLED to Samsung’s old FALD QLED, the quality differences will be a lot more obvious. But above all, they show how far Samsung once was from the OLED competition on an image quality level – even if the company would never admit it.

And that’s where you’ll see what I mean when I talk about the difference between FALD and Mini LED. Especially when it comes to black. Neo QLED doesn’t close the gap entirely. But it does make it a darn sight smaller.

Right, next scene.

And now the OLED image from Sony’s flagship, the A90J.

Samsung’s image is light, but it doesn’t fade. I particularly like the warm orange of the scenery that you get in the early morning hours. As far as Samsung’s Q95T is concerned, I couldn’t find any awful red tinge to complain about. It is there, but without a direct comparison, it’s barely noticeable.

However, in comparison, Sony’s colour seems a bit more natural. In real life, the slightly darker image with its better black level provides more punch and appears to be more high-contrast. As for Samsung, the shadows are brightened in such a way that, were it not for the orange tinge, I’d immediately think the scene was in the middle of the day.

Here are some more comparisons that let you see how intensely the shadows are brightened on Samsung. I liked it in the T-Rex scene, but not so much here.

Now let’s have a look at one final scene. This one’s from «Blade Runner 2049». It’s neither particularly dark nor particularly bright, which makes it a good benchmark to compare LCD and OLED.

To start off, let’s look at Samsung’s QN95A again.

And now LG’s G1 OLED image:

This time there’s no doubt in my verdict. LG’s OLED image packs a punch, it’s a lot more high-contast and it hardly swallows any details in the dark image areas. Pay attention to Ryan Gosling’s jacket – even his skin tone looks more natural. In comparison, Samsung’s Neo QLED image seems slightly cold. This is mainly due to the fact Dolby Vision isn’t supported.

But overall, I’m still really pleased with Samsung’s HDR image. The difference is rarely as stark as in the «Blade Runner» example. You can see as much in the «Jurassic World» example with the T-Rex. The image is more contrast-rich, natural, features very good black levels and there’s practically no blooming.

New processor = better upscaling?

The TV processor. It’s the brain of the television set and is there to calculate video signals from HDMI or LAN and improve them if necessary. For example, when you watch a TV show in Full HD and it's upscaled to Ultra-HD resolution.

Samsung has given its new processor the same name as the TV: Neo Quantum processor 4K. It removes noise, enhances colours, smooths edges, makes the image fluid through Black Frame Insertion (BFI), adds any missing pixel information where the source has no UHD resolution, and enhances the contrast.

It’s not a simple task.

My favourite example of this is in «The Walking Dead». The series was deliberately shot on 16mm film and in SD resolution, so that the old-fashioned grain including image distortion creates the feeling of a broken, post-apocalyptic world. Let’s see what the Neo processor makes of it.

Spoiler alert: not that much.

Put it this way, the makers of «The Walking Dead» would have had a great time with the image. It’s as hazy as a snowstorm. Although the image doesn’t have as much noise in real life as my camera would have you think.

That being said, there’s still the same problem I had and explained in the «Jurassic World» example above with the plane. In fact, the scene takes place at night in the forest. So, the background should actually be a lot darker. Samsung’s processor obviously doesn’t understand that the shadows don’t need to be brightened so much to reveal the little image information it has. That’s why it’s just hazy as hell instead.

To put this in context, LG’s OLED image shows the other extreme.

This is more what the scene ought to have looked like. Darker. And therefore less hazy. But still high-contrast. Pay attention to the left of the screen where you see the red of the blood on Rick’s cheek. Or to the right at the red of Negan’s scarf. The only thing I’d want there to be a bit less of is the black crush.

Incidentally, Sony is a halfway house in this scene, but I still prefer LG’s image.

Let’s look at another film. «1917» by director Sam Mendes. It brings a lot of TV processors out in a sweat. That’s down to Mendes’s cinematography in the film. The camera is in slow, continuous motion without any visible cuts. Pixels have to react incredibly quickly in those areas where there are hard edges in front of a blurred background. If they don’t, you get ghosting. Silhouettes that are still visible even though they’ve already meant to have moved.

In the scene below, pay attention to the wooden beams on the dilapidated barn.

It almost hurts your eyes, doesn’t it? Here’s the same scene with LG’s Alpha 9 processor to give you a comparison.

It’s right at the limit but it’s more comfortable. Even though I have to say, the image above is an extreme example. I mean a really extreme one. 99% of what you’d normally watch will hardly bother your eyes. That’s because almost all TV processors in flagship TVs have now become so good that you can only really tell the poorer ones apart in extreme examples.

Check this out.

That’s not such an easy scene to display either. It’s precisely elements such as the fluid movements, hard edges around the soldiers’ metal helmets and the blurred background that make it difficult. But Samsung’s Neo processor puts up a good show.

To let you compare, here’s LG’s Alpha 9 processor with the same scene. Without a direct comparison, you might not even notice that LG’s processor displays the scene with slightly more fluidity.

I like it. Some people don't, especially not old school purists. They say it’s like a soap opera effect. As far as purists are concerned, films should have a cinematic style. That includes a faltering 24-images-per-second image.

What about gaming?

An important argument for gamers could be the four HDMI 2.1 ports with UHD resolution, 120 Hz, Freesync and VRR support. Most of the 2021 LG and Sony models I’ve tested only have one of these kinds of ports. That’s tedious for anyone who wants to hook up more than one next-gen console at the same time.

While we’re on the subject, the Samsung QN90A, also known as the QN95A’s little brother, actually only has one HDMI 2.1 port. Both TVs are built practically the same apart from one difference. The big brother has one external One Connect box, a separate little box for the external ports. There’s just a single, fairly inconspicuous cable that connects the One Connect box to the TV and provides power to the screen.

So, if you want an elegant solution, you can hide the box away in a drawer within your TV unit along with the cable spaghetti.

The One Connect box has the following connections:

• 4× HDMI 2.1 ports (4K120 Hz, FreeSync premium pro and HDMI Forum VRR), one with eARC, all inputs support HLG, HDR10 and HDR10+
• The TV can send Dolby Atmos to an Atmos-compatible external soundbar or receiver.
• 2× USB 2.0 ports
• 1× Toslink output
• 1× LAN port
• 1× CI+ 1.4
• Antenna ports

As with LG, Samsung has a new submenu that appears when you switch on the games console – the Game Optimiser. This gives you quick and easy access to game-based settings. Things like activating variable refresh rate (VRR) or boosting the HDR effect. It means you don’t have to fiddle around with the perfect settings yourself.

The Game Optimiser menu also lets you switch on «Super UltraWide Gameview» mode. This expands your field of view to the left and right to a ratio of up to 32:9, just like on an ultra-wide gaming monitor. When you do this, you get black bars at the top and bottom edge of the screen when you’re gaming, which isn’t really my thing. That’s why I’ve never activated it.

With the help of Leo Bodnar’s input lag tester, I measure an average and respectable input lag of 9.8 ms in game mode – less than the 12 ms that the LGs G1 records. It’s a great result, but it does come at the expense of image quality to a certain extent. Black often looks slightly grey, because local dimming is clearly less in order to take the load off the processor and, in doing so, achieve better input lag values.

What’s more, the processor does funny things to the brightness. The problem isn’t that the image is too dark. Quite the opposite. It's more about peak brightness. In bright areas, it’s way too strong. And that makes the image almost pale. Take a look for yourself:

This overly bright image is a feature in all the games I regularly play. For instance, in «Fifa 21» or recently in «Spider-Man: Miles Morales» when I web swing through the house ravines of New York at horrendous speed. In that instance, I prefer the game mode in the LG or Sony competition.

Verdict: Mini LED advances Samsung’s LCD TV

Nope, I still can’t call it OLED level when it comes to image quality. Or at least, not according to my definition of OLED image quality. But the Neo QLED still allows Samsung to take a big leap in the right direction. It all comes down to the backlight technology, Mini LED.

This allows Samsung to improve local dimming in its LCD TVs considerably. That in turn leads to better black levels, better contrast and louder, more natural colours. When you put it side by side with the UHD QLED predecessor, the Q95T, it’s clear Samsung has managed to take a quantum leap – pun intended.

Don’t get me wrong, the QN95A isn’t devoid of shortcomings. For one thing, upscaling looks like it hasn’t been sufficiently optimised. There’s also the fact games look too pale and blown-out in game mode. Nevertheless, for once, it would actually be worth upgrading from last year’s to this year’s model if you already splashed out on a Samsung TV.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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