OLED Gains for Samsung But QLED Still Rules

Samsung’s brightest OLED TVs yet are starting to light up retail showrooms across the country just as the company pips South Korean rival LG to become the market leader in US sales of the technology.

Although LG Electronics continues to rule OLED sales globally, Samsung’s US achievement is remarkable given it’s only been marketing OLED TVs since 2022 whereas LG has been in the game since 2013.

According to the Omdia report, Samsung’s share of the US premium OLED market has leapt from 14% in 2023 to 50.3%.

Samsung still promotes QLED (Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode) as its flagship tech — see this What Hi-Fi analysis of the key differences — but early reviews of its 2025 OLED range suggest these TVs are among the best you can buy and represent a significant upgrade over 2024 models.

“Last year’s S95D surprised me with how bright it could get, and this year’s S95F takes it even further,” AVS Forum says. “At times I almost forgot I was watching an OLED.

“This brightness boost gives HDR performance some serious headroom, and I think most viewers will like how dynamic the image can get when needed.”

Rtings calls it “an amazing TV for any usage” and “a fantastic choice for a bright room thanks to its high peak brightness, and distracting glare from lights or windows is a thing of the past thanks to its matte anti-reflective coating.

“HDR content looks better than ever thanks to its incredibly colourful screen and perfect contrast. It’s also a dream machine for gaming, with a nearly instantaneous response time, low input lag, support for VRR, and for PC gamers, a 165Hz refresh rate.”

UK-based AVForums says “the S95F excels at HDR10 performance in dark environments, boasting exceptional peak brightness in specular highlights, near-black detail retrieval, and impressive mid-tones that add depth and texture to HDR images.

“However, there is no perfect TV and raised blacks in ambient lighting, the lack of Dolby Vision support and the matte anti-reflective screen coating may be drawbacks for some, but not all users.”

Despite its critical and popular success with OLED TVs, Samsung’s benchmark TV tech is QLED.

It argues this for three reasons:

• Uncompromised brightness and longevity, without the risk of burn-in or overheating
• Energy efficiency and performance without sacrificing visual quality, to optimise a safe and long-lasting experience
• Industry-leading innovation for the best combination of cutting-edge picture quality and durability

Recently, QLED’s supremacy was questioned when the Korea Times reported complaints against TCL’s quantum dot claims.

Samsung responded with this in-depth briefing paper that backgrounds its development of QLED as a “game changer in display technology”:

Samsung’s QLED lineup was revealed in 2017, setting a new standard for premium TVs that overcame the limitations of OLED TVs. By applying metal quantum dot technology, Samsung achieved the Digital Cinema Initiative’s color standard DCI-P3 and achieved 100% color volume for the first time in the world — thereby presenting unparalleled color expression. Notably, the use of inorganic quantum dot technology protected the screens from burn-in to ensure consistent picture quality over time.

It’s highly technical but well worth reading if you’re interested in TV tech or are tossing up between buying a QLED TV and an OLED.