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The QE50QN90B’s main event is its Mini LED lighting system, which crams far more and much smaller LEDs into the 50-inch screen than is possible with regular LEDs. This enables it to deliver more local light control and, potentially, more contrast and brightness than regular LED TVs can. Especially when partnered as here by a local dimming system which, in this case, sees the TV able to output different amounts of light from no less than 448 separately controlled zones. If you’re wondering at this point how Samsung’s QN90B range differs from the more expensive QN95Bs, aside from tweaks to the design the only really significant thing is that the QN95B uses an external connections box, while the QN90B’s connections are built into the TV’s bodywork. Note, too, that there’s no 50-inch QN95B; that step-up range begins at 55 inches. Tizen is divided into four (technically five) sections: Search, Ambient, Gaming, Media and Menu. Ambient is where you can turn the screen into an art installation with a selection of prints (you’ll also have to contend with the dreaded NFTs). The Gaming Hub features cloud services such as Utomik and Xbox Game Pass, Samsung TVs are the only TVs you’ll find that app on. Media features streaming apps along with curated content from the likes of iPlayer, and Menu is where you’ll find options to tweak picture, sound, etc. We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
Its biggest audio issue, though, is the way its sound struggles to project forward, leaving film and TV audio mixes sounding rather swallowed and as if everything is happening somewhere behind the screen. Not surprisingly this can leave you feeling rather distanced from what you’re watching. Verdict The QE50QN90B continues Samsung’s tradition of delivering ultra sharp and detailed 4K pictures too, despite the screen being relatively small by today’s standards. What’s more, while the screen is obviously at its best with native 4K content, Samsung’s AI-assisted upscaling is also outstanding, adding detail and sharpness galore to HD sources without exaggerating noise or generating unwanted side effects. Starting out viewing test patterns via a 4K signal generator and the Spears & Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark disc, a full-screen 100% white pattern and a lower-level gray one both showed a slight amount of color tinting and non-uniform brightness, though I can’t say I noted the same issue when watching regular programs. Better news: the QN90B was able to retain brightness and color vibrancy at viewing positions up to 45 degrees off from center, proving the effectiveness of the Ultra Viewing Angle feature. I was also impressed by how good pictures looked with overhead lights on – that anti-glare screen in action – though I did most of my evaluation with room lights switched off.Samsung describes the QE50QN90B as a Neo QLED model, alerting us to the fact that it uses Quantum Dots to generate its colours rather than colour filters. This should, if other aspects of the TV are also up to snuff, result in a wider and more subtle colour gamut well suited to the extra colour range that typically accompanies high dynamic range content. Sat head-on, there’s slight blooming to night-time scenes like the opening of the She-Hulk episode Ribbit and Rip It. I can see a slight haze surrounding the lights in the car park as Leapfrog tries (and fails) to take on a couple of robbers. Move off-axis and the blooming becomes more noticeable.
Converted to Test Bench 1.10. With this update we've revamped our Gradient testing, added a new test for Low Quality Content Smoothing, and expanded our Audio Passthrough testing.As stated above, the QN90B series features Samsung’s Neo Quantum processor 4K. It supports the HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats, along with HGiG ( HDR Gaming Interest Group), but, as with past Samsung sets, Dolby Vision HDR has been left out in the cold. The QN90B’s maximum picture brightness measured on a 10% white window in Dynamic mode was in the 2,000 nits range – way more than enough to deliver the goods with most HDR content. Other measurements showed input lag with a 4K test signal generator to be an excellent 9.8ms (milliseconds) and 12ms with a 1080p source, both in Game mode.
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