Samsung’s latest Mini LED TV takes the fight to OLED
65in Mini LED TV | £3699 | whf.cm/QE65QN95C
After achieving only a relatively mild improvement over their predecessors with its 2022 Mini LED TVs, Samsung has moved things on much more convincingly. A near doubling of the number of dimming zones for the QN95C has elevated almost every aspect of picture quality. Aided and abetted by an also much-improved video processing system, it produces pictures that we can only describe as spectacular.
The QN95C diverges quite significantly from its 2022 predecessor, the QN95B, by adopting an ‘Infinity One’ design (previously found only on Samsung’s 8K TVs) that means an ultra-thin frame that gives way round the back to a slender (by direct-lit LCD standards) rear that is pretty much as flat as the front. Add a tasteful corrugated finish to this rear and a metallic look to the TV’s slender sides and you have a handsome attempt to deliver a true 360-degree design.
The main attraction here is undoubtedly the uncompromising design of its screen. It uses Mini LED technology, where a huge number of much smaller LEDs than those found in normal LED TVs have been fitted directly behind the screen to contribute to both more potential brightness and, more importantly, finer control of where light goes in the finished picture.
The QN95C’s predecessor also used Mini LED – so more interesting is the fact that the 65in model enjoys 1344 zones of local light dimming against its predecessor’s 720, an increase of nearly 90 per cent. And, given how generally impressive Samsung has tended to be with its management of much lower dimming-zone counts, hopes have to be very high indeed for the 95C.
This is a VA panel, designed both to suppress reflections and to support far wider viewing angles than regular IPS LCD panels. Driving the new dimming-zone array – and everything else associated with the QN95C’s picture, sound and smart functionality – is a new Neural Quantum processor that now draws on the picture experience gained by no fewer than 20 separate neural networks when identifying and figuring out how best to respond to different types of picture source.
A significant new Real Depth Enhancer Pro feature attempts to micromanage multiple facets of a picture to create more holistic, object-based images that are more in keeping with the way our eyes tend to take in the real world. The new processor is also said to bolster Samsung’s already pretty dependable upscaling of HD to 4K, and is adaptable enough to kee
