Samsung S85D vs Sony X90L

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.

HDR on the Sony X90L television looks promising. The luminance chart showed that the TV has a solid power reserve, reaching a maximum of 1000 nits in synthetic tests. But how does it perform in real scenarios? In scenes such as the first one from Life of Pi or the final sequence from The Meg, the TV can deliver this power on HDR content, achieving around 800 nits. Unfortunately, displaying small light elements on a black background, as in the scene from Sicario 2, poses greater challenges for the X90L – here the results reach about 600 nits. Despite this, when looking at competitive models with mini-LED technology, the effect looks very good and can shine enough to impress us. The color gamut coverage is also noteworthy, with a result of 96% for DCI-P3 and 76% for BT.2020, indicating good color reproduction in HDR content.

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.

The best mode in Sony televisions is the IMAX Enhanced mode. Although IMAX is mainly associated with the cinematic experience, here the color reproduction right out of the box is average. In the case of lower quality materials, such as HD – regular TV or YouTube – it is worth paying attention to the white balance. It is characterized by a deficit in red and an excessive dominance of blue, which gives the image a pinkish hue. The brightness characteristic, or gamma, for HD content is quite decent, but a slight boost may cause the image to become washed out and appear as if it is behind a light fog.

In 4K HDR content, the situation looks a bit different. The white balance shows a significant boost in blue, which makes the image appear unnaturally sharp and gives it an artificial feel. Such an exaggeration in color reproduction may not appeal to everyone, especially if one prefers more realistic shades. Additionally, the EOTF curve in Sony X90L looks quite decent at first glance. However, at the end of the graph, there are certain fluctuations that suggest the television is trying to maintain the appropriate brightness to avoid overexposing larger elements.

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.

Sony offers many tools to improve image quality, including two additional image modes that we decided to use during testing and apply calibration to them. This solution significantly facilitates the calibration work and is very effective, provided that the right tools are available. In the case of HD content, the white balance has been almost perfectly aligned – only one shade of gray exceeds the error value of "1", which is an excellent result. The same can be said about the brightness characteristic (gamma), which looks nearly perfect, with microscopic deviations of around 0.01.

In the case of 4K HDR content, the situation is not as ideal. Although the white balance has been significantly improved, it has not been possible to completely eliminate the dominance of blue color. Nonetheless, errors in the Colour Checker test only occasionally exceed the value of "2", which means that image distortions are practically unnoticeable. As for the EOTF curve, it is worth activating the filter in the upper right corner "EOTF in Movies" – the graph looks correct, but the television encounters difficulties illuminating very small elements, which results from the limited number of backlight zones. Despite these minor flaws, it is thanks to the calibration carried out that the IMAX Enhanced mode in the Sony X90L makes watching movies resemble a true cinema experience.

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 Sony X90L TV features a tone transition smoothing function known as Smooth Gradation, which is incredibly effective. Even at the "low" setting, the effects are satisfactory, but at the "medium" setting, it works like a dream – we recommend using this option for the best results. The image scaling on the Sony X90L is simply excellent. The image is not overly sharpened, which gives a natural effect and makes everything look cohesive. It is evident that the engineers really put effort into this aspect, creating a solution that impresses and works well in everyday use. Because of this, even when watching content like regular television or YouTube, where the image is not inherently stunning, one can enjoy a smooth, cohesive, and visually pleasing experience.

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.

Sony X90L with a 120 Hz panel is a great choice for both gamers and movie enthusiasts. The TV is equipped with the Motion Flow smoothness feature, which allows you to adjust motion smoothness using two sliders: "smoothness" and "clarity." The "smoothness" slider controls the level of motion fluidity, which helps reduce image stuttering, while "clarity" is used to reduce blurring and improve motion sharpness, which is especially useful in dynamic scenes.

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.

Sony X90L is a television that performs well in terms of compatibility with consoles and features for gamers. Its 120 Hz panel and two HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s allow for smooth play in high resolution and at a high frame rate. Gamers can also take advantage of the ALLM feature, which automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, and VRR, which provides smooth gameplay without screen tearing. Game Bar is an additional advantage – an intuitive tool that allows for quick access to the most important settings and gaming features, making it easier to control gameplay.

Unfortunately, in terms of HDR in games, the Sony X90L has its limitations. There is no support for HGiG, a standard that many gamers consider essential for precise HDR reproduction in games. Although the TV supports Dolby Vision, which theoretically could improve image quality in games, the practical application of this feature is problematic. Dolby Vision in game mode is associated with very high input lag, making gameplay less comfortable and precise movements more difficult. Additionally, it is not possible to enable Dolby Vision along with VRR. This means that despite numerous advantages, gamers seeking perfect HDR in games may feel a sense of disappointment.