One of the vital spectacular TVs in latest reminiscence.
Execs
- Beautiful brightness and colors
- Impressively deep blacks
- Full-array native dimming
- Beautiful end
Cons
- Not fairly OLED ranges of shadow element
Key Specs
- Evaluate Value: £3799
- HDR with HDR10, HLG and HDR10+
- 4K UHD decision
- 2000 nits brightness
- 15.5ms latency in Recreation Mode
- 4 HDMI
- Three USB
What’s the Samsung Q9FN?
The Samsung Q9FN (full identify QE65Q9FN) is probably the most spectacular TV I’ve reviewed in years. It successfully combines the sturdy brightness and color of QLED, or Quantum Dot LED, with the deep blacks and nearly the lighting precision of OLED. That’s an enormous deal in a world the place you typically select one or the opposite.
The Q9FN is a massively versatile performer, one that basically reveals off what next-gen image processes are all about. And the result’s correctly impactful excessive dynamic vary to go together with the 4K Extremely HD decision, plus the liberty to view it with as few or as many lights on as you need.
This Samsung TV is definitive proof that there’s loads of life left within the previous LCD but, and a worrisome roadblock on OLED’s obvious warpath.
What’s extra, Samsung has priced it competitively, making the Q9FN considerably of a temptation, at the least in comparison with 2017 costs. The 65-inch 4K TV reviewed right here prices £3799, which is over £1000 lower than any flagship mannequin final 12 months. The 55-inch Samsung UE55Q9FN prices £3000. That’s proper in the course of OLED territory – the brand new LG C8 prices about the identical.
On a private be aware, this can be a nice shock. Lower than two years in the past, I’m positive I offended a Samsung consultant by stating that OLED was the one manner ahead, and that LCD had peaked. I’m happy to say I used to be very unsuitable.
Observe: within the US, this mannequin is named the Samsung QN65Q9FN, whereas its smaller sibling is the Samsung QN55Q9FN.
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Samsung Q9FN – Design and options
The very first thing you have to know in regards to the Samsung Q9FN is that it’s a backlit mannequin with full-array native dimming (FALD). Samsung tried going all edge-lit for 2017 and it backfired – for the 2000 nits’ brightness it boasts, you want FALD.
There are a lot of advantages to a superb backlit system, but it surely does add to the thickness of the TV. The TV is about 3cm at its thickest, tapering to about 2cm in the direction of the sides. That’s a way from LG’s ‘wallpaper’ OLED TVs, however I don’t suppose it’s an enormous deal. Most TVs have deep stands and take up the identical quantity of house. I’d reasonably the image efficiency was good than have a touch thinner TV.
Since a waif-like TV isn’t an possibility, Samsung has determined to go premium with the physique. There’s a variety of steel, however not like earlier designs, this one isn’t flashy. There are not any shiny chrome accents or oddly formed toes to be seen – the Samsung Q9FN has a matte gunmetal look, and the stand is an easy T-bar. Using steel extends to the distant management, which is beautiful.
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Samsung has gone to nice lengths to make the TV look much less like a machine. It achieves this primary by minimising cable muddle. The TV makes use of a single cable, which runs to a separate connections field. Samsung has used this ‘One Join’ system earlier than, however that is the primary time a single cable handles each information and energy.
Extra spectacular is the truth that the cable is barely 3.35mm thick. It isn’t fairly invisible, but it surely’s tough to identify and has the looks of fishing wire. I’m instructed it’s a form of optical hybrid – and like all optical cables, you’ll wish to be sure you don’t bend or twist it. The bundled cable is 5m lengthy, however you should buy a 15m one. Both manner, you possibly can arrange your video games console and Blu-ray participant away from the TV, in case you so want.
The worth of a skinny (for an FALD) TV and a skinny cable is that the One Join field is now not so compact. It’s wider than an Xbox One S and about half as deep. Or roughly the scale of two stacks of 4 UHD Blu-rays, aspect by aspect. It was a slight shock to unbox the unit, however I’ve nonetheless discovered it simple sufficient to cover in my AV rack, in the identical spot the place I hid the final One Join field. Sadly, it doesn’t home any extra connections – it’s nonetheless 4 HDMI sockets and three USB ports, plus the standard Ethernet, aerial and figure-of-eight mains socket.
A recent addition is the Ambient Mode, which first made its look on Samsung’s lifestyle-heavy The Body TV. It appears the concept of utilizing your TV as an enormous image body is catching on, so Samsung is providing it right here. Consider it as a super-sized screensaver.
You possibly can have paintings, headlines, a clock, rippling water or add your personal images. You possibly can even take an image of your wallpaper and have your TV in ‘see-through’ mode. And for these involved in regards to the energy draw, Samsung says it’s similar to the power-saving mode in your telephone, which turns off different options to avoid wasting battery. I’m instructed it’ll value about $0.59 or £0.68 a month, primarily based on three hours’ use a day. I discover it pointless, however that is the form of function my mum has been wanting for years.
Cell integration is one other welcome addition. This protects you from having to enter your Wi-Fi password in your TV, which is tedious. Simply obtain the Samsung Join app onto your telephone and you’ll arrange the TV from there, together with selecting your favorite apps. As soon as setup is full, the app even serves as a second controller, in case you lose the bodily distant. It really works like a allure – Samsung kindly lent me a Samsung Galaxy S9 to check out the function, but it surely additionally labored on an iPhone 6S.
As for image specs? I’ve already talked about the backlight and FALD system. Samsung wouldn’t give me an actual variety of dimming zones, but it surely did say it’s round 500, just like the Sony ZD9. Elsewhere, we’re taking a look at a couple of enhancements over final 12 months’s QLEDs. You get the usual 4K Extremely HD decision and a 10-bit panel. Help for prime dynamic vary is available in HDR10 and Hybrid Log-Gamma.
Like different producers, Samsung is dipping its toes into dynamic metadata, a flavour of HDR that optimises the image scene by scene. The corporate has chosen the HDR10+ camp as an alternative of Dolby Imaginative and prescient. There’s little or no real-world distinction proper now due to a basic lack of dynamic metadata content material, however Samsung would name it futureproofing.
In a bid to ramp up black efficiency, Samsung has added layers of black and anti-reflection filter, designed to minimise inner gentle leakage and exterior glare. The panel additionally features a layer made up of a prism-like construction, which goals to enhance viewing angles and cease the image washing out when seen from side-on.
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Samsung Q9FN – Efficiency
Bravo, Samsung. Significantly, properly executed.
Normally in TV land you select to prioritise gentle efficiency (LED LCDs) or low-light efficiency (OLEDs). Positive, there are LCDs that supply respectable shadow element, or OLEDs that supply nice highlights, however there simply hasn’t been a TV that excels in each extremes. Till now, that’s.
What it means is that viewing circumstances could be as dim or as vibrant as you need. If you wish to shut the curtains and switch off the lights for a correct cinematic expertise, nice. If your own home seems to be extra like a showroom and also you’ve received a window going through the TV, no downside.
That this newest QLED does an important job with vibrant gentle and color isn’t a lot of a shock – we stated as a lot about final 12 months’s Q9F, calling its vibrant efficiency ‘unprecedented’. That’s nonetheless very a lot the case right here – you received’t discover a brighter TV image. Nor will you discover as a lot color quantity: the saturation of colors as the image will get lighter.
Do you want 2000 nits’ brightness? For movies, no. I’ve spoken to Hollywood colourists and been instructed on quite a few events that movies are typically mastered with 1000 nits in thoughts, usually much less, to keep away from eye pressure. However this isn’t the case for sports activities, the place a soccer discipline is bathed in spotlights. If you’d like an intense, vibrant image for the World Cup 2018, that is it.
As for black efficiency? Let’s get this out of the way in which first: it doesn’t beat OLED. You simply can’t replicate the lighting precision of OLED (an emissive medium) with backlighting (transmissive). That stated, Samsung has come darned shut, to the purpose the place I couldn’t inform the distinction from throughout the room. It was solely once I received inside two metres of the display screen that I may inform the Samsung Q9FN is an LCD.
Firstly, the depth of the blacks is just beautiful. We’re speaking correct blacks, not the kinda-black-actually-grey that you simply get with nearly all of LCDs. The bars that seem on the highest and backside of widescreen motion pictures? They’re jet black.
You’ll spot the uncommon little bit of blooming in case you actually go on the lookout for it, however more often than not the highlights are splendidly localised. Samsung is utilizing a brand new dimming algorithm that targets vibrant areas and dims their edges – and it really works wonders.
Normal lighting uniformity is nice, too, though I’d count on as a lot from an FALD mannequin. No ugly patches of undesirable gentle, nor ‘soiled display screen impact’ to be seen wherever.
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The one niggle is that, from time to time, I discovered the dimming a little bit too efficient, leaving barely intense black areas the place there is perhaps some element. That is simply remedied by bumping up brightness to 1 or 2, whereas preserving Native Dimming on Excessive (for HDR) and Customary (for SDR). Oh and Film mode is greatest. And switch off the Eco mode power-saving stuff, as that solely serves to dampen the enjoyable.
Viewing angles have been improved, too. Beforehand, I’d be afraid to maneuver out of about 20 levels from centre, or danger a drop in color and brightness. The Samsung Q9FN doesn’t have OLED-levels of viewing flexibility, however you possibly can safely transfer round as much as 40 levels from centre.
I’ve left movement final as a result of it’s the least exceptional ingredient right here. It’s neither superb nor horrible. It does properly sufficient that there’s not a lot in the way in which of artefacts with all of the processing turned off, however I’d suggest manually setting Blur Discount to seven or eight, and Judder Discount to 2 or three. Sony is forward on this division – I’ve seen higher movement dealing with on final 12 months’s Sony A1 OLED and this 12 months’s Sony XF90.
It’s excellent news for avid gamers, too. Samsung has tweaked its Recreation Mode to cut back latency. Final 12 months’s lag hovered round 20ms, which is already wonderful, however now the Q9FN can deal with 1080p at 60Hz with about 15.5ms. If you happen to get destroyed in a sport, it most likely received’t be right down to the TV. Oh, and there’s help for VRR (Variable Refresh Charge) for PC avid gamers.
As for audio efficiency, I’m happy to say this TV is greater than ok to be seen in isolation, with out the necessity for a soundbar or further audio system. After all, they’ll assist with huge film soundtracks, however I used to be in no rush to fetch the sonic reinforcements. There’s sufficient weight to do justice to voices and small explosions, and the treble is rarely harsh. There’s even a good stab at results steering. A neat addition is the Auto Quantity Mode, which equalises sound ranges to keep away from sudden spikes – helpful for night-time viewing.
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Why purchase the Samsung Q9FN?
TVs are filled with compromises. That’s the rule. That is why I spend a lot of my time guiding folks on whether or not they need to purchase LCD, or OLED – it typically is dependent upon whether or not you worth gentle or darkish efficiency.
The Samsung Q9FN affords about as little in the way in which of compromise as I’ve ever seen on a TV. It is a uncommon beast that appears as snug in pitch black as it’s with the lights blazing. Its gentle and color efficiency is, because it was final 12 months, unprecedented. And whereas its black efficiency doesn’t fairly provide OLED ranges of element and management, it’s greater than ok.
Desire a TV to indicate off what excessive dynamic vary is all about? That is it.
If you happen to’re the affected person sort, you could wish to wait a little bit. The Sony ZF9 LCD TV has simply been introduced. The final time Sony unveiled a TV this late into the 12 months, it managed to beat the Samsung flagship on the time. This can be an attention-grabbing battle and you’ll learn extra in regards to the new fashions right here: Sony’s new Grasp Collection 4K TVs could possibly be the last word solution to watch Netflix.
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Verdict
One of the vital spectacular TVs in latest reminiscence.
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