The Samsung S90D/S90DD (QD-OLED) is a high-end TV in Samsung's OLED lineup and only sits below the flagship Samsung S95D OLED. The TV features Samsung's new Neo Quantum 4k AI Gen 2 processor, designed to improve performance and deliver better overall picture quality than its predecessor. It has the same features as its predecessor, the Samsung S90C, but it adds a new one called Auto AI mode, which uses AI technology to automatically adjust the picture settings based on the genre of game it detects. The TV has 40W 2.1 channel speakers built-in, uses the 2024 Tizen OS, and is available in six sizes: 42-inch, 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, and 83-inch. The 42-inch, 48-inch, and 83-inch models use WOLED panels.
It's important to note that Samsung's 2024 OLED lineup is confusing. They're releasing S90Ds with both WOLED and QD-OLED panels, and the type of panel you get varies by the TV's size and what region you're in. A QD-OLED panel's performance and overall picture quality is typically better than a traditional WOLED panel, so this decision will surely lead to some disappointed customers. Our review is based on the QD-OLED version of the TV. You can find more information on the S90D's different panel types here.
Our Verdict
The Samsung S90/S90DD is a superb TV for any usage. Its incredibly wide viewing angle makes it a great option for watching sports or TV shows with a group, and it also has a nearly instantaneous response time for clear motion, which makes it fantastic for watching sports or playing video games. If you regularly watch movies in a dark room, the TV's remarkable contrast and excellent HDR brightness deliver an impactful HDR experience. The TV overcomes glare in a bright room, so it's also a good option for use during the day or with some lights on. The TV is also an exceptional option for gamers due to its advanced gaming features.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks with no blooming around bright highlights.
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Incredibly wide viewing angle for a consistent image from the sides.
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Good peak brightness in SDR makes it suitable for a bright room.
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Colors are vibrant, bright, and lifelike.
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Excellent HDR peak brightness that makes highlights stand out.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is excellent for watching TV shows. Its incredibly wide viewing angle makes it a great choice for watching TV with friends since anyone sitting to the side sees a consistent image. The TV also has exceptional reflection handling and good SDR brightness, so it overcomes glare in a bright room. If you like to watch shows on DVD or regularly watch low-quality streams, the TV is very good at upscaling low-resolution content and does a decent job at smoothing out low-quality content. Finally, the built-in Tizen OS is loaded with streaming apps, so it's easy to find your favorite shows.
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Incredibly wide viewing angle for a consistent image from the sides.
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Good peak brightness in SDR makes it suitable for a bright room.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is excellent for watching sports. The TV has exceptional reflection handling and gets bright enough to overcome glare, which makes it a good choice for use in a bright room. It's a fantastic choice for watching the game with friends due to its incredibly wide viewing angle, so anyone watching from the sides will see a consistent image. The TV's nearly instantaneous response time delivers clear motion, with no noticeable blur behind quick-moving objects and players. If you watch sports like hockey with large areas of uniform colors, you won't be distracted by the dirty screen effect due to the TV's amazing uniformity.
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Incredibly wide viewing angle for a consistent image from the sides.
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Amazing gray uniformity with no noticeable dirty screen effect.
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Good peak brightness in SDR makes it suitable for a bright room.
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Nearly-instantaneous response time for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is exceptional for playing video games. Motion is clear with no noticeable blur due to the TV's nearly instantaneous response time, and there is no noticeable delay between your controller inputs and what happens on screen due to its incredibly low input lag. The TV has exceptional reflection handling and good SDR brightness, so it's a good option for gaming in a bright room. Enabling Game Mode doesn't have any major effect on image quality, so you don't have to worry about a worse overall picture if you want the best performance while gaming. The TV supports up to 4k @ 144Hz with VRR, making it a good choice to pair with computers with high-end graphics cards or modern gaming consoles.
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HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four ports.
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Incredibly low input lag for a very responsive experience.
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Good peak brightness in SDR makes it suitable for a bright room.
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Nearly-instantaneous response time for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is fantastic for watching movies in a dark room. Thanks to its remarkable contrast and incredible black uniformity, it displays deep and inky blacks with no blooming when bright highlights are on screen, so it looks spectacular in a dark room. The TV's exceptional color gamut and fantastic color volume lead to vibrant and lifelike colors, and it removes 24p judder from any source, so movies are judder-free no matter how you watch them. Its HDR brightness is excellent, so bright highlights stand out, leading to an impactful HDR experience. Finally, the TV has excellent pre-calibration SDR accuracy, so you don't need to get it calibrated if you care about accurate colors.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks with no blooming around bright highlights.
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Removes 24p judder from any source.
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Colors are vibrant, bright, and lifelike.
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Excellent HDR peak brightness that makes highlights stand out.
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No Dolby Vision support.
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Noticeable stutter due to the TV's fast response time.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
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No DTS audio support.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is exceptional for playing games in HDR. It has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four of its ports for up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it's an excellent option to pair with modern gaming consoles or PCs. It also supports VRR, so you get a nearly tear-free gaming experience, and its nearly instantaneous response time displays fast motion with no noticeable blur. There is also no noticeable delay between your controller inputs and what happens on screen due to the TV's incredibly low input lag. Highlights in HDR games pop due to its excellent HDR brightness, so you get an impactful HDR experience, and its remarkable contrast delivers deep and inky blacks when gaming in a dark room.
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Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks with no blooming around bright highlights.
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HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four ports.
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Incredibly low input lag for a very responsive experience.
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Nearly-instantaneous response time for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
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Colors are vibrant, bright, and lifelike.
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Excellent HDR peak brightness that makes highlights stand out.
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No Dolby Vision support.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is outstanding for use as a PC monitor. Due to the TV's incredibly wide viewing angle, you can sit close to the screen, and the edges remain consistent with the center. It also has a fantastic response time, so there's no noticeable blur behind quick cursor movements or when quickly scrolling through pages, and its incredibly low input lag provides a very responsive desktop experience. The TV overcomes glare in a bright room due to its good peak brightness in SDR and exceptional reflection handling, and it has amazing uniformity, so you aren't distracted by the dirty screen effect when looking at large areas of the same color, like when browsing the web. Unfortunately, the TV doesn't use a standard RGB subpixel layout, so text isn't very clear, and there is color fringing at the edges of bright windows or images due to the subpixel structure of QD-OLED panels.
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Incredibly wide viewing angle for a consistent image from the sides.
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HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four ports.
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Incredibly low input lag for a very responsive experience.
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Amazing gray uniformity with no noticeable dirty screen effect.
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Good peak brightness in SDR makes it suitable for a bright room.
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Nearly-instantaneous response time for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
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Noticeable color fringing.
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Aggressive ABL can be distracting with large areas of brightness.
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Risk of permanent burn-in.
- 9.0 Mixed Usage
- 8.7 TV Shows
- 8.9 Sports
- 9.4 Video Games
- 9.0 HDR Movies
- 9.3 HDR Gaming
- 9.5 PC Monitor
- Updated May 17, 2024: Added information about what sizes use a QD-OLED panel and what sizes use a WOLED panel in the Introduction, Differences Between Sizes and Variants, and the Pixels section of this review.
- Updated May 02, 2024: Clarified that the TV doesn’t support ATSC 3.0 in the Inputs Specifications section of this review.
- Updated Apr 18, 2024: Review published.
- Updated Apr 12, 2024: Early access published.
- Updated Mar 29, 2024: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Mar 28, 2024: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Mar 25, 2024: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 65-inch Samsung S90D/S90DD (QD-OLED), and these results are also valid for the 55-inch and 77-inch models that use QD-OLED panels. In North America, the 42-inch, 48-inch, and 83-inch models use a WOLED panel (EXZA), and the 55-inch, 65-inch, and 77-inch models use a QD-OLED panel (FXZA). Our results don't apply to any WOLED version of the TV.
Internationally, it's a bit more complicated. In Australia, for example, the model codes are different, and the 55-inch and 65-inch sizes that use QD-OLED panels end in 'WXXY,' whereas the 77-inch and 83-inch models that use WOLED panels end in 'EXXY.' These last four digits vary between different regions, but if the fourth last digit of the model code is an 'E,' the TV very likely uses a WOLED panel.
The TV is also sold as the Samsung S90DD at warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club with a longer warranty. There's also a Canadian variant known as the Samsung S92D. The S90DD and the S92D offer the same features, picture quality, and processing capabilities but have more powerful speakers (60W vs. 40W on the S90D). In Canada, the last digit of the model code in all sizes and variants of the S90D ends with 'C,' but there's no difference in performance.
| Size | US Model | Costco Model | Short Model Code | Display Technology (North America) | Maximum Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42" | QN42S90DAEXZA | - | QN42S90D | WOLED | 144Hz |
| 48" | QN48S90DAEXZA | - | QN48S90D | WOLED | 144Hz |
| 55" | QN55S90DAFXZA | QN55S90DDFXZA | QN55S90D | QD-OLED | 144Hz |
| 65" | QN65S90DAFXZA | QN65S90DDFXZA | QN65S90D | QD-OLED | 144Hz |
| 77" | QN77S90DAFXZA | QN77S90DDFXZA | QN77S90D | QD-OLED | 144Hz |
| 83" | QN83S90DAEXZA | QN83S90DDFXZA | QN83S90D | WOLED | 144Hz |
Our unit was manufactured in March 2024; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other TVs
The Samsung S90D/S90DD (QD-OLED) is an exceptional TV and is one of the best OLEDs you can buy. It's a bit brighter than its predecessor, has less banding, and does a better job at smoothing out low-quality content, but it's also currently a lot more expensive. Unless you need the incremental upgrades it offers, you're better off buying the cheaper Samsung S90C OLED while it's still available.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best OLED TVs, the best 4k TVs, and the best TVs for watching movies.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is mostly better than the LG C4 OLED. The Samsung gets brighter in HDR, so bright highlights stand out more on it, and it maintains its HDR brightness better while in 'Game Mode.' The Samsung TV also has a wider color gamut, better color volume, and better HDR gradient handling, so colors in HDR are more vibrant, lifelike, brighter, and have less banding. The Samsung has a wider viewing angle, and the image doesn't have a green tint that worsens as you move off-center, so it's the better choice for watching TV in a group setting. However, the LG supports Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats, so it's the better option for those looking to get the most out of their physical media.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is marginally better than the Samsung S90C OLED. The S90D is a bit brighter in HDR, so highlights in HDR content stand out a little bit more, and it has better color volume, so it can display very bright colors a bit better. The S90D also has slightly better processing, so there's less banding in colors, and it does a better job with smoothing out low-quality content.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED and the Samsung S95D OLED are very similar TVs, but there are some differences. The S90D has less banding in colors due to its better HDR gradient handling and better pre-calibration SDR accuracy. On the other hand, the S95D has better PQ EOTF tracking and slightly better color volume, so HDR content is closer to the content creator's intent, and the TV can display colors a bit brighter. The S95D also comes with Samsung's Slim One Connect Box, so it's more versatile if you need quicker access to its ports, and its matte screen finish does an amazing job at essentially eliminating reflections caused by glare, albeit at the expense of picture quality.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED (QD-OLED) is better than the Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED. The Samsung gets a lot brighter in HDR, so highlights pop out more in HDR content. The Samsung also displays more lifelike, more vibrant, and brighter colors than the Sony with less banding. On top of that, the Samsung is more accurate in both SDR and HDR, has an even wider viewing angle, and supports 4k @ 144Hz for PC gamers with high-end graphics cards. However, the Sony is a bit better when it comes to upscaling low-resolution content and smoothing out low-quality content.
The QD-OLED version of the Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is better than the Samsung S85D OLED. The S90D is a lot brighter in HDR, and it maintains its brightness much better while using 'Game Mode'. The S90D also supports up to 4k @ 144Hz for PC gamers with high-end graphics cards. The biggest advantage of the S90D is its ability to display more vibrant and lifelike colors with almost no banding due to its QD-OLED panel. The S90D is also the more accurate TV in SDR pre-calibration.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED (QD-OLED) is better than the Samsung QN90D/QN90DD QLED. The S90D displays deeper blacks in a dark room due to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, and there's no blooming. The S90D also has a much wider viewing angle, so no matter where you or your friends sit, you'll see a consistent image. The S90D really shines when it comes to colors, and its much wider color gamut displays incredibly vibrant and lifelike colors with no noticeable banding in color gradients. The S90D also has a faster response time, so there's no noticeable blur behind quick motion. The QN90D is the brighter TV overall, so it fights more glare in very bright rooms, but the S90D is also no slouch in that regard.
The Samsung S95C OLED and the Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED are very similar, but there are some minor differences. The S90D has better processing, so there's less banding in colors and fewer artifacts present in low-quality content, and it does a slightly better job at upscaling low-resolution content. The S90D is also a tad brighter in HDR, so highlights pop a little bit more on it. However, the S95C comes with Samsung's Slim One Connect Box, so if you need a versatile way to plug in your devices, it's the better option.
The LG G4 OLED and the Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED are both amazing TVs, but there are some differences worth noting. The Samsung has a wider color gamut, so it can display more vibrant and lifelike colors, and it has better color volume, so it can display brighter colors. The S90D also has no noticeable banding in colors, while the LG does have some banding in certain colors. On the other hand, the LG has better low-quality content smoothing, so it's the better choice if you regularly watch DVDs or low-quality streams. The LG also supports both Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats, which is great if you're looking to get the most out of your 4k Blu-ray collection. On top of that, the LG has better SDR brightness, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is mostly better than the LG C3 OLED. The Samsung has a wider color gamut, so colors are more accurate and lifelike, and it can display colors brighter due to its better color volume. The Samsung also has better HDR brightness, so bright highlights stand out more in HDR content. However, the LG is brighter in SDR, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room. The LG also has better low-quality content smoothing, so it's the better option if you regularly watch DVDs or lower-quality streams, and if you collect Blu-rays, the LG is the better choice due to its Dolby Vision and DTS audio support.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is better than the LG B4 OLED. They both look amazing in dark rooms due to their nearly perfect contrast, but the Samsung is noticeably brighter in HDR. The Samsung also has a much wider color gamut, giving it a more impactful HDR viewing experience. Regarding image processing, the Samsung model has much less banding in its HDR color gradients. Still, the LG has slightly better low-quality content smoothing, so streaming content looks a bit cleaner overall. The LG model supports Dolby Vision, while the Samsung instead supports the less widely used HDR10+ format. Finally, the Samsung is superior for PC gamers due to its four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports, while the LG is limited to 120Hz on its four ports.
The LG G3 OLED and the Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED are similar TVs, each with their own strengths. The LG gets brighter in SDR, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room. The LG also does a better job at smoothing out low-quality content, so if you regularly watch DVDs or lower-quality streams, it's the better option for that. If you're a fan of physical media, the LG is the better option due to its Dolby Vision and DTS audio support. On the other hand, the Samsung has better HDR brightness, so highlights in HDR content pop a little more on it, and its better color volume means it can display brighter colors. If you're a PC gamer, the Samsung supports up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it's the better TV to pair with PCs that have high-end graphics cards.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is better than the Sony A80L/A80CL OLED. The Samsung is significantly brighter in HDR, especially in Game Mode, delivering a more impactful HDR experience. It's also a bit brighter in SDR, with better reflection handling, giving it the edge in brighter rooms. It's also better for gaming due to its four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports, while the Sony is limited to two 4k @ 120Hz ports, one of which doubles as the eARC port. The Sony model does have better image processing than the Samsung, so it cleans up low-resolution and low-bitrate content better.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is better than the Samsung QN85D/QN85DD QLED, but they use different panel technologies. The S90D is an OLED, so it has perfect contrast, making it far superior to the QN85D when viewed in a dark room. The S90D is also a bit brighter than the QN85D in HDR, although the latter has a clear edge in brightness in SDR content. The S90D also has far better reflection handling and a significantly wider viewing angle, so ultimately, it's just in a different league than the QN85D.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is better than the Hisense U8/U8N in most contexts, although the Hisense does have its advantages. While the Samsung is a very bright OLED, it still can't match the Hisense in that aspect, especially in SDR. This makes the Hisense a better product for brighter rooms or if you tend to play or watch very bright content most of the time. Otherwise, the Samsung model has the edge in picture quality due to its nearly infinite contrast, wider color gamut, and more accurate image. It also has an almost perfect viewing angle, while the Hisense's viewing angle is rather narrow. Finally, the Samsung is far better for gaming due to its nearly instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports; the Hisense is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports.
The Sony A95L OLED and the Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED are very similar TVs. The Sony gets brighter in SDR, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room. The Sony also has better processing for low-quality and low-resolution content, so lower-quality streams or DVDs look better on it. However, the Samsung has less banding in colors. When it comes to gaming, the Samsung has lower input lag for a more responsive experience, and it supports up to 4k @ 144Hz for PC gamers with high-end graphics cards.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED (QD-OLED) is better than the Panasonic Z85A OLED in most ways. The Samsung is brighter in HDR and displays a wider range of colors with almost no banding in color gradients, so it delivers a more impactful HDR experience. The Samsung also supports 144Hz, which is great for PC gamers, and it performs better in a bright room thanks to its better reflection handling and SDR brightness. On the other hand, Panasonic has better overall image processing.
Video
Test Results
The Samsung QN65S90DAFXZA looks and feels like a premium TV. It's heavy and sturdy and held in place well by its small metallic stand. The TV is thin and feels modern and classy.
The stand is small but is solidly built from metal. It holds the TV very well and lifts the screen about 3.35 inches above the table, so almost any soundbar fits in front of it without blocking the screen.
Footprint of the 65-inch stand: 14.37" x 10.51"
The back of the Samsung S90D/S90DD is the same as the Samsung S90C OLED but with a matte finish. The central panel housing the inputs is made of smooth plastic, with included covers and clips that you can use to help with cable management. Like most TVs, the inputs are hard to reach if you have it wall-mounted with a fixed mount.
The Samsung S90D has good build quality overall. There's some wobble on the stand when the TV is pushed forward or backward, but it quickly settles and won't cause any problems. There is a bit of flexing on the plastic central housing on the back, but this is normal and isn't concerning.
What's more concerning is the misaligned HDMI ports on our unit that makes two of the HDMI ports unusable. Our panel is also slightly bent and bows outwards in the center, although it's hard to notice when watching the TV head-on. These issues are likely isolated to our unit, but it's a knock against the TV if these issues with build quality are more widespread.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED has remarkable contrast and a nearly infinite contrast ratio. Due to OLED's self-lit pixels, the TV can display bright highlights next to perfect inky blacks, making it very impressive in a dark room.
Since OLEDs don't use local dimming and instead have individual pixels that can be lit up to their maximum brightness next to pixels that are turned off, there's no blooming when bright elements are surrounded by deep blacks.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD is an OLED and doesn't have a backlight, so its self-lit pixels give it the same performance as a TV with perfect local dimming and no zone transitions. We still film the zone transition video on the TV so you can see how it compares to a TV with local dimming.
Although Game Mode slightly over-brightens the image, there's no other difference in dark scene behavior between the calibrated picture modes and when the TV is set in Game Mode.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has excellent HDR brightness. It gets bright enough for highlights to really stand out and delivers an impactful HDR experience. Unfortunately, large bright scenes are significantly dimmer than smaller specular highlights due to the TV's aggressive Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL).
The TV's Automatic Static Brightness Limiter (ASBL) is surprisingly aggressive with the sustained 10% window, so small bright highlights are dimmed considerably when they're on screen for more than a few minutes. This behavior is not noticeable with real content.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
- Picture Mode: Filmmaker
- Brightness: 50 (Max)
- Contrast: 50 (Max)
- Contrast Enhancer: Off
- HDR Tone Mapping: Static
- Color Tone: Warm2
- Color Space Settings: Auto
- Peak Brightness: High
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has excellent HDR brightness in Game Mode. It slightly over-brightens the image, which makes it brighter and more vibrant overall, but it isn't as accurate.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
- HDR Picture Mode: Game Mode
- Game HDR: Basic
- Brightness: 50 (Max)
- Contrast: 50 (Max)
- Contrast Enhancer: Off
- HDR Tone Mapping: Static
- Color Tone: Warm2
- Color Space Settings: Auto
- Peak Brightness: High
The Samsung S90D has fantastic PQ EOTF tracking, so content is mostly displayed at the correct brightness level. Darker shadows and midtones are a bit brighter than intended by the content creator, but the TV follows the curve closely until it reaches the TV's maximum brightness. With content mastered in 600 or 1000 nits, there is a very slight roll-off to preserve some detail in highlights. With content mastered at 4000 nits, there is a more gradual roll-off to preserve detail in very bright highlights.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has good SDR peak brightness, and it's bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room. Unfortunately, the panel's brightness is dimmed considerably by its Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL), so large bright scenes are significantly dimmed. It's the most distracting when watching sports like hockey with bright playing surfaces.
These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:
- Picture Mode: Movie
- Brightness: 50 (Max)
- Contrast: 45
- Gamma: 2.2
- Color: 25
- Peak Brightness: High
- Color Tone: Warm2
- Color Space: Auto
The TV has an exceptionally wide color gamut. It displays the full range of colors in the DCI-P3 color space that's often used in HDR content, and colors are very accurate overall. Its coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space that's increasing in popularity isn't as good, but it's still excellent, with only some highly saturated colors being off from what they should be.
New to Samsung TVs in 2024 is the 'Color Booster' feature. This setting oversaturates colors but does a surprisingly good job at maintaining accuracy within the DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020 color spaces. Colors are still more accurate with the setting turned off, but it works well if you want more saturated colors without losing too much accuracy.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has fantastic color volume. The panel shows very bright colors well and gets very close to the same brightness as pure white. It also displays dark, saturated colors very well.
The Samsung S90D has excellent pre-calibration SDR accuracy. Gamma is very close to the 2.2 target, but everything is a bit brighter than it's supposed to be, and the white balance is excellent, with blues being only slightly overrepresented. The color temperature is excellent and is only a bit cooler than our target of 6500K. Colors are very accurate across the board, but cyans do lean towards blue.
After calibration, the Samsung S90D/S90DD has exceptional accuracy. White balance, color temperature, and color accuracy have no noticeable issues. Gamma is almost perfect, but very dark scenes are still displayed a bit brighter than intended.
You can see our full calibration settings here.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has amazing gray uniformity. If you look closely, there is some minor vignetting in the corners and very faint vertical lines on the panel, but these aren't noticeable from a normal viewing distance.
Because OLEDs can turn off individual pixels, the TV has incredible black uniformity with no blooming or halo effect around bright objects.
The Samsung S90D has an incredibly wide viewing angle that remains consistent from almost any angle, so it's an excellent choice for watching TV in a group setting.
The TV has exceptional reflection handling. Its glossy screen finish significantly reduces the intensity of direct reflections and does an excellent job at reducing the intensity of indirect reflections. However, due to the lack of a polarizer, the TV has a pink tint to it when exposed to light.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has exceptional HDR native gradient handling. There is no banding in any colors except dark greens, and even then, it's barely noticeable unless you specifically look for it.
The TV's low-quality content smoothing is decent. It does a very good job at preserving detail, but there is still noticeable macro blocking in dark scenes.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD does a very good job at upscaling low-resolution content like DVDs or lower resolution streams. Details are clear enough, but small hard-coded text is hard to make out.
Sharpness processing was calibrated with no over-sharpening for low-resolution content, with the following settings:
- Sharpness: 5
The Samsung S90D (QD-OLED) uses a unique subpixel structure. Instead of having all three subpixels in a row, each pixel forms a triangle, with the larger green subpixel at the top. This leads to color fringing, which is noticeable when displaying any content with horizontal lines, and it's especially bad when you use the TV as a PC monitor. For example, on a bright window on a Windows PC, you might notice a green fringe at the top since that's where the green subpixel is.
Similarly, you can notice a purple fringe at the bottom of bright windows, as that's where the red and blue subpixels are. Furthermore, with this subpixel arrangement, text has just okay clarity on a PC, as Windows ClearType settings aren't designed for this subpixel structure and can't correct for it.
In North America, the 42-inch, 48-inch, and 83-inch sizes use a WOLED panel, which has a different subpixel structure than the other sizes of this TV. Internationally, the type of panel used varies by size and region. You can find more information on this here.
The Samsung S90D has a nearly-instantaneous response time, which results in incredibly clear motion with almost no blur behind fast-moving objects. Due to the sample-and-hold nature of OLED technology, there's still some noticeable persistence blur when gaming at 60Hz, but it's hardly noticeable at higher refresh rates.
This TV isn't technically flicker-free, as a small decrease in brightness corresponds with the display's refresh cycle. This is very different from pulse width modulation flicker (PWM) on TVs with LED backlights, and it's not noticeable.
The TV has an optional black frame insertion feature (BFI) that reduces the appearance of persistence blur caused by the TV's nearly instantaneous response time. It can only insert black frames at a 60Hz refresh rate.
This TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to improve the clarity of motion. It does a good job at smoothing out slower scenes, but there are some noticeable artifacts present. In faster moving scenes, it can't keep up, and there are distracting artifacts and haloing.
Unfortunately, due to the nearly instantaneous pixel response time of the TV, there's stutter with low frame rate content, which is most noticeable during slow panning shots.
The TV automatically removes judder from all sources when watching movies or shows that are in 24p, even if they're in a 60Hz signal, like from a cable box.
Unfortunately, if you're using the BFI feature, you have to enable 'Judder Reduction', which introduces motion interpolation.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD supports all three types of variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing. It works well across a wide refresh rate range and supports sources with Low-Frame-Compensation (LFC), which ensures your games remain nearly tear-free even when your framerate drops very low.
Unfortunately, there is an issue when using NVIDIA graphics cards that effects frame rates above 120 fps. The TV essentially duplicates parts at the bottom of the screen.
This TV has incredibly low input lag when set into Game Mode, which ensures a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between your actions with your controller or mouse and the action on-screen.
The Samsung S90D supports most common resolutions up to 4k @ 144Hz. Chroma 4:4:4 signals are displayed properly with all supported resolutions when the TV's input label is set to 'PC', which is important for text clarity. Unfortunately, even though it can display chroma 4:4:4 properly, text from a PC isn't clear due to the unusual subpixel structure (see the Pixels section of the review for more on this issue).
Unfortunately, the TV has inconsistent issues with displaying 1440p. 1440p @ 60Hz works without issue, but when trying to display 1440p @ 120Hz and 1440p @ 144Hz with scaling disabled on both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs, the TV only displays a cropped window, so the TV isn't doing any upscaling. Strangely enough, this behavior is intermittent, and sometimes 1440p @ 120Hz and 1440p @ 144Hz work fine. There are also no issues with 1440p @ 120Hz when connected to a PS5 or Xbox Series X, which makes the issue even harder to identify.
The TV is fully compatible with everything the PS5 offers, like 1440p @ 120Hz and 4K @ 120Hz, as well as HDMI Forum VRR. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to Game Mode to get the lowest input lag.
The TV is fully compatible with almost everything the Xbox Series X|S offers, including 1440p @ 120Hz, 4k @ 120Hz, HDMI Forum VRR, and FreeSync Premium Pro. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to Game Mode to get the lowest input lag. Unfortunately, Dolby Vision isn't supported on the TV, so gaming in Dolby Vision isn't possible.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD supports the full 48Gbps bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 on all four HDMI ports. This allows you to take full advantage of multiple high-bandwidth devices, like if you own both current-gen consoles and a high-end gaming PC. Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn't support Dolby Vision and supports HDR10+ instead, which is similar but not as widely supported. The TV also has variable analog audio out, so you can change the volume of any plugged-in analog devices, like headphones, using the TV's remote.
Unlike the Samsung S90C OLED, the S90D doesn't support ATSC 3.0 for 4k over-the-air, as Samsung has dropped that feature on their 2024 4k models.
Two of the TV's HDMI 2.1 inputs face downwards and two face the sides. There's also a separate section for the headphone jack.
Our unit has a serious build quality issue around the inputs, so two of the HDMI ports were completely unusable.
This Samsung S90D supports many audio formats, including all Dolby Digital options. Unfortunately, it doesn't support DTS formats, which is disappointing, as many Blu-rays use DTS for their lossless audio tracks.
The TV has a decent frequency response. It actually produces a bit of bass, the sound profile is very well balanced overall, and dialogue is clear. It still sounds pretty good at maximum volume, but the TV doesn't get very loud.
The TV has satisfactory distortion performance. It doesn't get very loud, but there isn't very much distortion near or at max volume.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD runs the 2024 version of the Tizen OS, and it's fast and easy to use. Unfortunately, there is a problem when switching the input label from 'PC' to anything else. The label will change but the TV is still stuck in 'PC', so you're limited to the features that are available in 'PC' mode. To fix this, you can hit the home button or turn the TV on/off.
Like most TVs on the market, there are ads throughout the interface of the TV, and although you can disable targeted ads, there's no option to disable them completely.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD has a great selection of apps, so it's easy to find your favorite content. You can also cast content from your phone onto the TV or play videos from a USB stick.
The remote is identical to the one included with the Samsung S90C OLED. It's slim, compact, has quick access buttons for the most popular streaming apps, and is easy to use. The remote has a built-in rechargeable battery with a solar panel on the back of the remote. You can also recharge it via USB-C if it dies unexpectedly.
The TV is compatible with the Bixby and Alexa voice assistants, and its remote has an integrated microphone for voice commands. You can use your voice to launch apps, switch inputs, ask for the weather and time, and adjust certain settings like the TV's brightness.
A single button is located at bottom right of the TV. You can use it to power the TV on/off, change channels, adjust the volume, and switch inputs. You can control the TV hands-free with your voice using the TV's built-in microphone, but you can also turn the microphone off using a small switch located on the bottom right of the TV.
