The Samsung QN900D is packed with technology. It’s a Mini LED panel with Quantum Dots, with a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels, so four times the resolution of a 4K TV. The use of Mini LED with Quantum Dots helps to boost the brightness, with increased dimming zones to try to control that LED illumination and control “blooming”, where the illumination from one part of the picture spreads into other areas.
Starting at the top, I filmed some 8K content on a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and was rewarded with staggering quality. Even the mundane looks breathtaking at this scale, showing off that pixel-perfect picture. Other 8K content is scarce, however, limited to demo content on YouTube and not much else.
Everything else you watch is upscaled, so I arranged to see a 75-inch Samsung QN90D (one of Samsung’s top-tier 4K TVs) alongside the QN900D for comparison, to see how much of a difference the upscaling makes. On all content types, I found the 8K TV to offer better colour, to be able to upscale fine detail better and give a brighter picture.
Even when playing native 4K content – where you’d expect the 4K TV to have the edge – the QN900D uses its AI to give you more colour, more brightness in the highlights and better detail and the result is a more immersive and realistic image. Anyone who buys a QN90D will be happy, but the QN900D is just a bit better in all areas.
I tested content from streaming services – which all upscales nicely – but the richness from 4K HDR content from services like Netflix, Amazon Video or Disney+ is remarkable. There’s no Dolby Vision support, something Samsung doesn’t offer on any of its TVs, but there’s no lack of HDR skill. Ultra HD Blu-ray looks sensational, but that’s an expensive hobby and the rewards from streaming are rich enough.
Even broadcast TV gets the upscaling treatment and while there are limitations to what you can do, the message here is that this TV will make it look better at this size than on other sets.
Compared to OLED – which many shopping for a high-end TV will want – there’s a touch less skill in those dark areas and blooming still happens in places. That means that if you have a white title on a black background, there will be a bit of a glow around the title, as the light spreads into the dark areas. But the brightness on offer here gives a punch to those highlights and that may be all the compensation you need. The viewing angles are a little less accommodating than OLED too.
