Samsung QN95C QLED Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the 65-inch Samsung QN95C, but they're also valid for the 55-inch, 75-inch, and 85-inch models. These settings apply to most types of content, except for gaming or use as a PC monitor, which requires a few additional changes, listed below.

These settings are meant to provide a starting point; they're not meant to be copied 1:1. They provide the most accurate image, but you should adjust them to match your personal preferences and viewing conditions.

For SDR content, there are a few different preset picture modes available to choose from. The 'Movie' picture mode delivers the most accurate image out of the box and allows for the most customization, so that's what we used for our calibration and all SDR content.

From the Expert Settings menu, the Brightness setting controls the intensity of the backlight. You should adjust this to your viewing conditions and personal preferences. Changing this setting has no impact on the overall picture quality. If you have the Brightness Optimization setting enabled from the Power and Energy Saving menu, this setting will adjust automatically depending on the level of ambient light in your room.

We left Contrast at '45' and set Sharpness to '5'. We left Color at the default value of '25' and Tint (G/R) at '0'. Finally, we chose the 'Warm2' Color Tone, as it's closest to our calibration target of 6500K. If you're not satisfied with the picture quality of your set, adjusting the Color Tone is a good place to start. We set the Gamma to '2.2', as that's also closest to our calibration target for a dark room. You should adjust that setting to your viewing conditions. Most of our testing was done with Local Dimming set to 'High', but if you find the zone transitions distracting, you should set this to a lower setting.

HDR is automatically enabled for native apps. When you start playing HDR content, a small HDR icon appears next to the picture mode on the quick settings menu, and some of the settings change automatically, including Brightness, which increases to 'Max.' We left all the picture settings at their defaults in HDR, but you should adjust them to whatever looks best. In HDR, the 'MOVIE' HDR Picture Mode delivers the most accurate image overall, as it tracks the PQ EOTF the best. It ensures that most content is displayed at the brightness level the content creator intended.

It's usually best to leave Color Space set to 'Auto', as the TV will automatically choose the color gamut to match the content. For HDR to work from external devices, Input Signal Plus usually has to be enabled from the External Device Manager menu for the input you are using.

The following are the results of calibrating the white balance of our unit to 6500K in HDR. They are provided for reference, and you shouldn't copy them as the calibration values vary per individual unit, even for the same model and size as the TV we reviewed, due to manufacturing tolerances. If you want to try them, you'll need to enter all values shown, as all of them are active at the same time. If you end up with worse picture quality, simply reset them to the default values.

Although we disable most motion-enhancing functions for most of our tests, you should adjust these to whatever looks best for you. Some settings may need to be adjusted depending on the specific content you are watching or because of your personal preferences.

Although we usually leave these settings disabled during most of our testing, you should adjust the settings in the Picture Clarity Settings menu to your liking, as different people prefer different levels of motion interpolation. If you want to enable motion interpolation, set Picture Clarity to 'Custom,' and adjust the Blur Reduction for content that's 60fps or higher and the Judder Reduction slider for low frame rate content, like Blu-Ray movies. The Clear Motion setting controls the backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion.

The Samsung QN95C QLED can remove judder from all sources, but some additional settings are required. To remove judder from any source, set Picture Clarity to 'Custom', with both sliders set to '0'. This combination of settings removes judder without adding any additional motion processing or soap opera effect.

From the base SDR and HDR settings, very few changes are required for a great gaming experience. When you start gaming, it's best to enable Game Mode from the Game Mode Settings tab in the External Device Manager to get the lowest input lag and then use the same settings for SDR or HDR. To take full advantage of this TV, make sure you enable the Input Signal Plus setting for the input you're using. You should only disable this setting if you have compatibility issues with older devices.

Included in the Game Mode Settings menu is the Dynamic Black Equalizer, which is similar to the Black Stabilization feature found on many gaming monitors and is designed to make it easier to spot objects or players hiding in shadows by adjusting the gamma. You should adjust this setting to whatever looks best to you, and it may need to be adjusted depending on the specific game and level you are playing.

This TV supports FreeSync, HDMI Forum VRR, and G-SYNC Compatible variable refresh rate technology. It's enabled automatically when the TV is in 'Game' mode.

The Samsung QN95C QLED supports low latency motion interpolation, which improves motion on low frame rate games. The options are almost identical to the Motion Interpolation settings. To enable motion interpolation in Game mode, enable Game Motion Plus and adjust the sliders to your preference. The Blur Reduction setting adjusts the interpolation of high frame rate content (60 fps and higher), and the Judder Reduction slider adjusts the interpolation of low frame rate content (30 fps). The Clear motion setting enables the black frame insertion feature.

The Samsung QN95C QLED usually automatically detects when it's connected to a PC and enters 'PC' mode to ensure proper chroma 4:4:4 support, which is essential for clear text from a PC. You can manually change the Source from the home menu to 'PC on TV'. To get a low input lag in 'PC' mode, you must also enable Game Mode.

The Samsung QN95C QLED supports both ARC and eARC, allowing it to pass high-quality audio from a connected source through to a connected soundbar or home theater receiver. To use it, you must set the HDMI eARC Mode to 'Auto', and Digital Output Audio Format to 'Pass-Through'.

If you notice any delay between the action on-screen and the audio, you may need to adjust the Digital Output Audio Delay setting. The setting needed varies depending on the audio device, so you'll have to play with the setting to get the audio to match. For eARC devices, this should adjust automatically, but you might still need to adjust it.

From the Intelligent Mode Settings menu, we enabled the Adaptive Sound+ setting for our sound testing, as it's part of the TV's room correction feature, which adapts the TV's sound equalization to suit your room. Depending on your room, you may have better sound quality with this enabled.

We disabled Adaptive Volume for our testing, but if you find that commercials are louder than the content you're watching, this setting can even things out for you. We also disabled Adaptive Picture, which adjusts the TV's brightness to the lighting of your room using a built-in light sensor, as we don't want the brightness to change with different content.

From the Power and Energy Saving menu, we left everything disabled, as we don't want the screen to change while taking measurements. There are a few helpful settings here that you may wish to enable, though. The Brightness Optimization feature automatically adjusts the brightness level based on the ambient light level in your room, so if you watch at night, it automatically dims the TV from your daytime viewing setting. If this setting is enabled, you can set a minimum brightness level by adjusting the Minimum Brightness setting.

The Brightness Reduction and Motion Lighting settings are power-saving modes. Again, we left these disabled, but if you want to limit the power consumption of the TV, these settings help.

The Samsung QN95C QLED has a huge selection of accessibility features. It supports automatic closed captioning, high contrast mode, or even grayscale mode, just to name a few. There's also an option to disable the picture entirely, leaving the audio, which is great if you want to listen to music and don't need the screen on.

This TV supports the Bixby and Alexa voice assistants, but you can only have one active at a time. You can adjust the wake word for each assistant and adjust specific settings for some of them. It also supports pass-through to a connected soundbar if your soundbar supports this feature.