Samsung’s S95D is a masterpiece of display technology and it’s unlike any other OLED TV on the market thanks to its anti-glare matte screen.
And right now, at the time of publishing, it’s on special. Up to A$2,000 off for the 77-inch version. This makes it cheaper than its main rival the LG G4. So if you’ve been thinking about getting one, now is the time.
- Currently Discounted
- Anti-Glare Matte Screen
- Unmatched Bright Colours
- SDR HDR Peak Brightness
- Beautiful Design
- Wide Viewing Angle
- 4x HDMI 2.1
- Perfect Screen Uniformity
- 24p Judder Removal
- No Blooming
- Normally Expensive
- Stutter on Slow Panning
- Aggressive ABL
- No Dolby Vision
- No DTS Audio
- Anti-Gare Screen Lifts Blacks in Bright Rooms
ANTI-GLARE SCREEN
The S95D is different. It has an anti-glare display that some will love and some will hate. It really comes down to personal preference.
The S95D 4K QD-OLED comes in three sizes – 55, 65 and 77-inches – I tested the big one. You certainly notice the matte finish when you walk in the room. Normally TVs look like mirrors when off but this television makes reflections disappear, leaving a soft ‘glow’ instead.
Check out the two images below from my review video.
There is a drop in contrast with a lot of light but during bright scenes this is not an issue.
Reflections are ‘converted’ to a soft ‘glow’ which spreads across the screen. This results in the appearance of lifting black levels in bright conditions. When the lights are off, contrast is near perfect.
Personally I prefer a glossy screen but only when lighting is under control. The S95D actually won me over in the room I was using to test the panel.
Below you can see a glossy screen from another TV I recently reviewed and it’s very distracting to watch with multiple reflections.
Reflections can really take you out of the moment like in the example above. Below you can see how a single light source is a clear distraction.
The S95D gets rid of intense ‘spotlight’ reflections and ‘wider’ reflections caused by large windows. In the room I was using there was a massive window on the left and several in the ceiling. Combined with my TV production lights, this was an extreme viewing test.
Trying to view “Game of Thrones – The Long Night” in these conditions was surprisingly good. Yes, there was drop in contrast but the overall image was watchable, whereas on a glossy screen, it’s virtually impossible.
PICTURE QUALITY
When set up in ideal cinema conditions, you quickly forget about the matte screen. QD-OLED technology produces bright, rich, saturated colour at levels that essentially can’t be matched. Although LG is doing its best to squeeze every last drop out of WOLED technology.
With almost an infinite contrast ratio the S95D produces a jaw-dropping picture in ideal lighting conditions. As an OLED TV, the S95D will display inky blacks and brilliant highlights. There is no blooming due to its self-lit pixels
There is a colour booster addition for those wanting that extra pop. This will cost you accuracy but it’s surprisingly good. Overall the colour gamut is very wide and shows the full range of the DCI-P3 colour space.
Thanks to QD-OLED as the foundation technology, the S95D has amazing colour volume. It can show saturated colours at very high brightness. It also does well with dark colours. The TV will reduce brightness to protect itself when showing large, static white scenes but this is rarely seen during real world viewing.
Although the S95D is an amazing HDR TV, you won’t get Dolby Vision.
MOTION
OLED televisions have an almost instantaneous response time and that’s an issue for slow panning shots. You can make adjustments in PICTURE CLARITY SETTINGS for several issues concerning motion.
The key is to not overdo it. You can get some wonky results if you go too hard with JUDDER, BLUR and BFI (Black Frame Insertion). BFI is the CLEAR MOTION button and best used for sports. I never use it as it dims the screen and I can’t stand the flicker. The S95D automatically removes judder from 24p content.
When it comes to gaming this TV supports all VARIABLE REFRESH RATE options and 144 HZ PC gaming.
AUDIO
The S95D has serviceable sound system but it deserves a soundbar with sub and satellite speakers if you can make it work.
On its own the sound is OK and generally Samsung TVs do a reasonable job with built-in speakers but this model lacks punch in the bass department.
The HW-Q990D Q-Series Soundbar was amazing. Watching “Top gun – Maverick” was simply awesome with the this sound system. The Q-SYMPHONY feature brought all the speakers together for a mighty audio experience.
What a combo.
CONCLUSION
The S95D is a masterpiece.
Out of the 2024 models I’ve reviewed, it is only beaten by LG’s G4 WOLED in my opinion. And only just. But I must say at the current discount prices, I would snap it up.
The matte screen is excellent, if you hate glossy screens with annoying reflections. There is a slight contrast penalty during the day or under lights, but the end result is much better for many people, including myself.
Colour and brights are big winning factors and when coupled with a rocking sound system, the S95D is the ultimate home cinema television.
