LG OLED C4 vs Samsung S85D

The HDR performance of the LG OLED C4 is impressive, firmly placing it in the higher tier. Most films exceed 700 nits, delivering a highly realistic image. While none surpass the 1,000-nit mark, the combination of these results with the TV’s infinite contrast and perfect blacks significantly enhances the visual experience. The final scene, with a full-screen flash of sunlight, is slightly less bright than the others but still maintains a solid level of brightness. Another highlight is the excellent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, which ensures incredibly vibrant colours. The HDR technology in the LG OLED C4 delivers exceptional colour and detail reproduction. The dynamic tone mapping feature optimises brightness levels, ensuring ideal light reproduction in every scene, even in the most demanding high-dynamic films.

Brightness is an important factor in televisions, and the S85D offers a level similar to older OLED models. While it’s not outstanding in this area, it comes at a very competitive price. With peak brightness at 600 nits, HDR content looks sharp, delivering a hint of cinematic quality at home. Like many budget OLEDs, though, very bright, full-screen scenes—such as the final shot in The Meg—may cause the brightness to drop by nearly half, which is noticeable compared to pricier models. However, with 99% DCI-P3 colour coverage, the S85D delivers vibrant, accurate colours.

The best factory mode on the tested television was "Filmmaker," which served as the basis for all evaluations. In terms of colour reproduction, this mode performed reasonably well; however, certain flaws significantly detracted from the overall viewing experience. The most fundamental issue was the white balance, which exhibited a noticeable dominance of red, skewing the image characteristics. This resulted in a pronounced yellow tint to whites and a general shift of all colours towards warmer tones.

The gamma, an equally crucial—if not more important—aspect, was notably lowered, leading to a marked reduction in contrast. Additionally, the television frequently lost detail at the start of the gamma curve. These issues were most apparent in SDR content.

When examining HDR materials, the same yellowing effect in the white balance was observed, as seen with SDR content. However, the EOTF curve, which replaces the gamma curve for HDR, was near perfect and left little room for criticism.

The Filmmaker mode on the Samsung S85D offers the best factory settings, but it is not free from flaws, particularly noticeable in colour reproduction. The white balance chart for HD and HDR content shows clear issues – both red and blue are significantly weakened, leading to a dominance of green. The result is an unnatural yellowish glow that can affect the perception of realistic scenes. The Colour Checker test also highlights issues, with colour samples deviating from expected values – for HD materials, colours tend to be too saturated, with a noticeable shift towards green, as seen in the white balance chart. In contrast, for 4K HDR content, colours appear too dull and lack depth, diminishing the attractiveness and naturalness of the image. This effect is particularly noticeable in delicate scenes where colour precision plays a key role, which can be disappointing for discerning viewers who expect faithful reproduction of details and colour intensity.

When it comes to brightness, the gamma chart for HD content produces positives, but there is a noticeable spike at the end, exceeding a value of 2.4. Although this is not a major problem in most scenes, in more demanding sequences it can affect the clarity of bright details. For 4K content, the problematic aspect is the EOTF curve, responsible for delivering brightness. The initial part of the chart shows a small spike. This phenomenon can result in excessive boosting of brightness in the brightest areas of the image, leading to loss of detail in very bright scenes.

Although the Samsung S85D’s factory settings are reasonable, especially in Filmmaker mode, it is worth considering a manual adjustment of settings to improve some imperfections, particularly in colour reproduction.

As mentioned, LG televisions come with advanced tools to facilitate an accurate calibration process. By utilising these tools, we meticulously adjusted the image to align with the director’s original vision. Without overstating, the results were outstanding. Both SDR and HDR content now achieve a level of visual fidelity that reflects how films are intended to be seen.

Examining the colour accuracy on the "ColourChecker" palette reveals impressive results, with almost all colour errors falling below a delta of "1," aside from two minor exceptions. Post-calibration, the LG OLED C4 demonstrated a marked improvement in colour reproduction, particularly in SDR and HDR modes. Testing the TV after calibration highlighted its capacity for delivering exceptionally accurate colours, underlining the high calibre of this model. The LG C41LA offers a stunningly precise colour palette, sure to satisfy even the most discerning viewers.

After calibration, Filmmaker mode on the Samsung S85D truly stands out. White balance adjustments across all content types yield significantly more natural colour reproduction. In the Colour Checker test, colour reproduction errors are minimal and well within acceptable limits, reflecting precise and true-to-life hues. Factory settings fell short in this regard, but now colours appear realistic, as though accurately rendered according to the creators’ intent. This marks a substantial improvement over previous generations, where colours often appeared distorted or overly saturated.

Brightness also benefits from calibration, becoming sharper and more refined. The Gamma, already fairly consistent, is now even more stable, delivering a deeper and more natural image. Adjustments to the EOTF curve enhance detail visibility in darker areas and improve contrast balance. With these refinements, the television provides a nearly reference-quality image, greatly enriching the experience of movies and HDR content.

Let us revisit the function responsible for smooth gradation and consider its role in improving lower-quality materials. The default smoothing of tonal transitions, while decent, can be further enhanced. The feature includes a slider for adjusting its strength, and we recommend selecting the first option. This setting strikes a balance, offering excellent results without compromising important details through unnecessary blurring.

The image scaling on the LG C4 is commendable, though not entirely without flaws. By default, the image appears slightly sharper, though not to an intrusive degree. While jagged edges on elements like trees are occasionally visible, this issue is relatively minor compared to similar offerings from other manufacturers.

Samsung S85D performs excellently in image scaling and smoothing tonal transitions. Like other Samsung models, the TV offers three noise reduction modes: off, standard, and high. While it improves gradation well, it unfortunately also removes film grain, which many viewers desire to give the image a cinematic character. Grain often adds authenticity and a certain rawness to films, which is lost after smoothing. Removing grain can make the image look too sterile and smoothed out, which takes away some of the charm of the original film material. As for image scaling, the Samsung S85D handles lower resolution content perfectly – the model in the photo and the branches in the background are shown correctly, without significant jagged edge issues. The only noticeable drawback is the presence of overscan, which can sometimes cut off parts of the image, which may not be to everyone's taste.

The LG G4 supports a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz, achievable only when connected to a high-performance PC. Otherwise, the television operates at a maximum of 120 Hz, the recommended setting for viewing sports or content with fast-paced motion. For those prioritising smooth image quality, LG has included a versatile motion smoothing feature called "TrueMotion." This function is split into two adjustable sliders: De-Blur, which sharpens moving images, and De-Judder, which reduces jitter. Both sliders offer a range of settings from 0 to 10, enabling users to fine-tune the motion smoothness to their preference.

The LG OLED C4 boasts an impressive average response time of less than 1 millisecond, as confirmed by our measurements. This results in exceptional image clarity, far surpassing LCD televisions, which often have response times of several milliseconds. This clarity is evident in tests like the "UFO Test," where no trailing blur is visible behind moving objects.

As expected from an OLED television, the Samsung S85D offers excellent motion fluidity. Equipped with a 120 Hz panel and a fast response time, the television delivers very smooth playback of dynamic scenes without visible blurring. For movie enthusiasts, there is a feature called "Image Clarity Settings," which allows you to adjust motion fluidity to individual preferences on a 10-point scale. Motion blur reduction increases the sharpness of fast-moving objects, while judder reduction smooths out motion, eliminating the "stuttering" effect. This allows every user to set the appropriate level of clarity that best suits their taste, from a more cinematic effect to clearer, smoother movements.

The LG C4, like nearly all OLED televisions from the manufacturer, excels in its compatibility with consoles and PCs. With the inclusion of four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 48 Gbps, the TV incorporates a range of features to enhance the gaming experience. Notably, it offers simultaneous support for FreeSync and G-Sync, making it an ideal choice for gamers using AMD or Nvidia graphics cards. For those seeking the best possible gaming quality, the integration of HDR Dolby Vision and HGIG mode is particularly impressive. HDR Dolby Vision operates with remarkably low input lag across all settings, ensuring smooth and responsive gameplay.

A standout feature in LG's televisions is the GameBar, which allows users to adjust settings in real-time without leaving the game. This includes options for customising the image for viewers with visual impairments, a thoughtful addition. Additionally, enabling VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) does not result in a loss of contrast—a benefit of the OLED panel's self-emissive technology, eliminating the need for conventional backlighting. While some slight flickering of grey tones may occur, this is a characteristic of VRR technology across all manufacturers.

In summary: The LG C4, like the brand's other OLED models equipped with high-refresh-rate panels and HDMI 2.1, provides a seamless and immersive gaming experience. For gamers demanding top-tier performance, this TV is an outstanding choice.

The Samsung S85D is an excellent choice for gamers due to its many modern features that facilitate and enhance gameplay. The TV has four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing you to connect the latest consoles without worrying about image quality or frame rate limitations. This means support for 4K resolution at 120 Hz, which is ideal for modern titles. Additionally, the Samsung S85D has an ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) function that automatically switches to low latency mode when it detects a gaming device. This way, you don't have to manually switch settings—the TV takes care of ensuring a quick response time, which is crucial in games where every second counts.

The VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) feature and G-Sync support are further elements that make gameplay smoother. VRR adjusts the refresh rate to match the frame rate generated by the console or PC, eliminating screen tearing and stuttering. This is particularly useful in dynamic games where the frame rate can fluctuate. Auto Motion Plus Game is a feature that Samsung has introduced with gamers in mind, and it's worth appreciating. Thanks to it, the image in games becomes smoother—30 frames per second looks like 45, and 60 Hz gains fluidity, approximating a 90 Hz effect. Meanwhile, there is no significant increase in input lag, which remains below 25 ms, distinguishing this feature from others available on the market. Gamers can enjoy smoother visuals without worrying about a decline in responsiveness.

Samsung has also taken care of something extra—the TV has a built-in Xbox Game Pass app, which means you can play in the cloud without the need for a console. This is a great solution for those who want to enjoy gaming without investing in additional hardware. All you need is internet access, and you have a vast library of games at your fingertips. This makes the Samsung S85D a great choice for both casual gamers and more advanced ones.