Samsung S95C OLED Review (QN55S95CAFXZA, QN65S95CAFXZA, QN77S95CAFXZA) (2024)

Curved No

The Samsung S95C has a very premium design and looks incredible in any room. The central stand looks great and takes up very little space, and Samsung's decision to switch to the external Slim One Connect box for the inputs results in a more uniform thickness, similar to the LG G3 OLED.

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After ten months, the TV shows no signs of permanent image retention. Its brightness has dipped slightly but has remained mostly the same.

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Wall Mount VESA 400x400

The back of the TV is very different from the 2022 Samsung S95B OLED. Samsung has decided to move the inputs to an external Slim One Connect box, so you can place the input box away from the TV. It's a versatile feature, as you can leave the input box on your table or mount it to the back of the TV or the back of the stand. There are no other clips or anything for cable management, though.

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Borders 0.28" (0.7 cm)

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Max Thickness 0.47" (1.2 cm)

The TV leans back about three degrees, but this isn't noticeable when you're sitting in front of it.

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The Samsung S95C has fantastic build quality. Samsung has redesigned the shell of the TV, resulting in a more uniform thickness, and it feels more solid, so it's unlikely that it'll have the same issue with bent panels that affected the Samsung S95B OLED. The stand is very robust and stable, and even though it still wobbles a bit, it's not bad at all. There's some flex to the back casing, but it's very minor and won't cause any issues.

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Contrast

Native Contrast

Since OLED displays use self-emissive pixels instead of a backlight, the Samsung S95C has a nearly infinite contrast ratio.

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Since this TV uses self-emissive OLED technology, there's absolutely no blooming around bright highlights or subtitles in otherwise dark scenes.

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Local Dimming

Backlight

Dimming Zones Count Of Tested TV

The Samsung S95C doesn't have a backlight, but thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, it's equivalent to a perfect local dimming feature with no zone transitions. We still film the zone transition video on the TV so you can see how the screen performs and compare it with a TV that has local dimming.

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Switching to the 'Game' picture mode doesn't result in any noticeable difference in contrast or black crush. Contrast is perfect even in 'Game' mode.

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Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)

Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)

Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)

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Sustained 100% Window

Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)

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Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)

Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)

Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)

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Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)

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600 Nit Tracking Delta

1000 Nit Tracking Delta

4000 Nit Tracking Delta

The TV has superb PQ EOTF tracking, which ensures that most content displays at the correct brightness level. There's a sharp cutoff near the TV's peak brightness for content mastered at 600 and 1,000 nits, so there's some clipping in really bright scenes in content mastered at those levels, which is most content. There's a smoother roll-off with content mastered at 4,000 nits, with less clipping, but very little content is mastered at that level.

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Real Scene Peak Brightness

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Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)

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Wide Color Gamut

DCI P3 xy

DCI P3 uv

Rec 2020 xy

Rec 2020 uv

The Samsung S95C has an incredibly wide color gamut. It can display the full range of colors in the DCI-P3 color space used by most HDR content. Coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space isn't as good, although it's still amazing. Still, highly saturated colors in Rec. 2020 are slightly off from what they should be.

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1,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage ITP

10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage ITP

White Luminance

Red Luminance

Green Luminance

Blue Luminance

Cyan Luminance

Magenta Luminance

Yellow Luminance

This TV has exceptional color volume. Thanks to its QD-OLED panel, it displays dark, saturated colors perfectly, and colors are bright and vibrant. Colors are bright relative to pure white, and this is one of the main advantages of QD-OLED panels like this one over WOLED panels like the LG C3 OLED.

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White Balance dE

Color dE

Gamma

Color Temperature

Picture Mode

Color Temp Setting

Gamma Setting

Even without calibration, the Samsung S95C has excellent accuracy in SDR. The white balance is great, with no noticeable issues, and gamma follows the 2.2 target for a moderately lit room well. Most colors are displayed well, except for reds, which are a bit off but not noticeably so. The color temperature is very close to the target.

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White Balance dE

Color dE

Gamma

Color Temperature

White Balance Calibration

Color Calibration

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50% Std. Dev.

50% DSE

5% Std. Dev.

5% DSE

The Samsung S95C has excellent gray uniformity. There's very little variation in brightness across the screen, which is great for any content. There's also almost no distracting dirty screen effect in the center, which is great for sports fans.

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Std. Dev.

Native Std. Dev.

Since OLEDs can turn off individual pixels, the Samsung S95C has perfect black uniformity, with no distracting blooming or halo effect around bright areas of the screen in dark scenes.

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Color Washout

Color Shift

Brightness Loss

Black Level Raise

Gamma Shift

The Samsung S95C has an exceptionally wide viewing angle. Although it's close to perfect, the image fades slightly at extremely wide angles. In practice, you can move around the TV and see a consistent image at almost any angle.

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Screen Finish

Total Reflections

Indirect Reflections

Calculated Direct Reflections

The Samsung S95C handles direct reflections incredibly well, but like the Samsung S95B OLED before it, there are some flaws. The glossy anti-reflective coating significantly reduces the intensity of direct reflections, but due to the lack of a polarizer, the TV has a pink tint to it even when it's off.

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100% Black to 50% Gray

50% Gray to 100% White

100% Black to 50% Red

50% Red to 100% Red

100% Black to 50% Green

50% Green to 100% Green

100% Black to 50% Blue

50% Blue to 100% Blue

The Samsung S95C has superb gradient handling in HDR. There's some minor banding in dark grays and bright blues and greens, but it still looks great. If you want even better HDR gradient handling, check out the Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED.

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Smoothing

Detail Preservation

This TV has just okay processing capabilities with low-quality content. It can't smooth out macro blocking very well, so it's still very noticeable, especially in dark scenes. On the other hand, it preserves fine details well. The Sony A95L OLED does a much better job smoothing out low-quality content.

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Subpixel Layout

Type OLED

Sub-Type

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80% Response Time

100% Response Time

The TV has a nearly instantaneous response time, resulting 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.

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Flicker-Free

PWM Dimming Frequency

This TV isn't technically flicker-free, as there's a small decrease in brightness that corresponds with the refresh cycle of the display. This is very different from pulse width modulation flicker (PWM) on TVs with LED backlights, and it's not noticeable.

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Optional BFI

Min Flicker For 60 fps

60Hz For 60 fps

120Hz For 120 fps

Min Flicker for 60 fps in Game Mode

The Samsung S95C 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.

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Motion Interpolation (30 fps)

Motion Interpolation (60 fps)

This TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to improve the clarity of motion. It works well with slower scenes, but in fast-paced action, it can't keep up, and there are noticeable artifacts and haloing.

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Frame Hold Time @ 24 fps

Frame Hold Time @ 60 fps

Unfortunately, due to this TV's quick response time, slow-paced motion and panning shots stutter a lot.

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Judder-Free 24p

Judder-Free 24p via 60p

Judder-Free 24p via 60i

Judder-Free 24p via Native Apps

The TV is always judder-free when watching 24p movies or TV shows, even from sources that can only send a 60Hz signal, like a cable box. It's even judder-free with the BFI feature enabled on a 60Hz signal.

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Native Refresh Rate

Variable Refresh Rate

HDMI Forum VRR

FreeSync

G-SYNC Compatible

4k VRR Maximum

4k VRR Minimum

1080p VRR Maximum

1080p VRR Minimum

1440p VRR Maximum

1440p VRR Minimum

VRR + Local Dimming No Local Dimming

The Samsung S95C supports variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing. It works well across a wide refresh rate range, even when your frame rate drops low, as it also supports Low Framerate Compensation or LFC. It's also compatible with all three types of VRR, ensuring it's fully compatible with all sources that support VRR.

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1080p @ 60Hz

1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode

1080p @ 120Hz

1080p @ 144Hz

1440p @ 60Hz

1440p @ 120Hz

1440p @ 144Hz

4k @ 60Hz

4k @ 60Hz + 10-Bit HDR

4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4

4k @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode

4k @ 60Hz With Interpolation

4k @ 120Hz

4k @ 144Hz

8k @ 60Hz

This TV has incredibly low input lag, ensuring a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between your actions with your controller or mouse and the action on-screen. With BFI enabled at 60Hz ('Game' Mode, 'Game Motion Plus' enabled, and 'Clear Motion' enabled), the input lag is 29.4ms.

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Resolution 4k

480p @ 59.94Hz (Widescreen)

720p @ 59.94Hz

1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4

1080p @ 120Hz

1080p @ 144Hz

1440p @ 60Hz

1440p @ 120Hz

1440p @ 144Hz

4k @ 60Hz

4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4

4k @ 120Hz

4k @ 120Hz @ 4:4:4

4k @ 144Hz

8k @ 30Hz or 24Hz

8k @ 60Hz

The Samsung S95C supports all common resolutions up to 4k @ 144Hz. Chroma 4:4:4 signals are displayed properly with all supported resolutions, 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). 4k @ 120Hz signals are displayed properly, with no resolution-halving or other issues.

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Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)

4k @ 120Hz

1440p @ 120Hz

1080p @ 120Hz

HDR

VRR

This TV can take full advantage of the PlayStation 5 system. It supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to 'Game' mode to get the lowest input lag.

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Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)

4k @ 120Hz

1440p @ 120Hz

1080p @ 120Hz

HDR

VRR

With the exception of Dolby Vision support, this TV can take full advantage of the Xbox Series S|X systems. It supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to 'Game' mode to get the lowest input lag.

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HDR10

HDR10+

Dolby Vision

HLG

HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth

HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth

CEC Yes

HDCP 2.2 Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)

ATSC Tuner

USB 3.0

Variable Analog Audio Out No

Wi-Fi Support Yes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)

Although the TV supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four HDMI ports, all four ports are limited to 40Gbps. In practice, this doesn't cause any issues or limitations with any current source. Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn't support Dolby Vision. However, it supports HDR10+ instead, which is very similar overall but not as widely supported.

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The TV itself only has two inputs: a USB-C port that appears to be for service only and an input for the OneConnect cable. All the audio/video and USB connections are housed on the external OneConnect box instead.

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HDMI 4

USB 3

Digital Optical Audio Out 1

Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0

Analog Audio Out RCA 0

Component In 0

Composite In 0

Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1

Ethernet 1

DisplayPort 0

IR In 0

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ARC/eARC Port

eARC: Dolby Atmos Over Dolby Digital Plus

eARC: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1

eARC: LPCM 7.1 Over Dolby MAT

eARC: Dolby TrueHD 7.1

eARC: DTS:X Over DTS-HD MA

eARC: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1

eARC: LPCM Channels (Bitstream)

ARC: Dolby Digital 5.1

ARC: DTS 5.1

Optical: Dolby Digital 5.1

Optical: DTS 5.1

This TV supports eARC, which lets it pass uncompressed high-quality audio from a connected source through to your soundbar or home theater system without sacrificing audio quality. Sadly, it doesn't support any DTS formats, which is disappointing, as many Blu-rays use DTS for their lossless audio tracks.

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Low-Frequency Extension

Std. Dev. @ 70

Std. Dev. @ 80

Std. Dev. @ Max

Max

Dynamic Range Compression

Unfortunately, the Samsung S95C has just decent sound quality. It has a well-balanced sound profile, so dialogue is clear and easy to understand, but it's not very loud, and it has horrible bass, with no thump or rumble at all. On the other hand, there's almost no compression at all.

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Weighted THD @ 80

Weighted THD @ Max

IMD @ 80

IMD @ Max

This TV has decent distortion performance. There's very little audible distortion at normal listening levels, and since it can't get very loud anyway, even at max volume, it's not very noticeable.

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Smart OS Tizen

Version 2023

Ease of Use

Smoothness

Time Taken to Select YouTube

Time Taken to Change Backlight

Advanced Options

The Samsung S95C runs the 2023 version of Tizen OS, which is fast and easy to use. The Smart Hub interface is smooth and has lots of advanced options, and it's easy to find your favorite content.

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Ads

Opt-out

Suggested Content in Home

Opt-out of Suggested Content

Unfortunately, like most TVs on the market, there are ads throughout the interface, and there's no option to disable them completely. There are a few privacy-related options, so you can limit things like ad-tracking, but this doesn't reduce the number of ads you see, as it just makes them less personalized.

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App Selection

App Smoothness

Cast Capable

USB Drive Playback

USB Drive HDR Playback

HDR in Netflix

HDR in YouTube

The included apps cover most of the common streaming services, and there's a great selection of additional apps available in Samsung's app store.

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Size

Voice Control

CEC Menu Control

Other Smart Features

Remote App Samsung SmartThings

The remote is very slim and compact and is easy to use. It 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.

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The controls are on the bottom bezel of the TV near the right corner. There's a single button to power the TV on/off and change channels, volume, and inputs.

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Power Consumption 142 W

Power Consumption (Max) 398 W

Firmware 1100

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