00:04What's the best OLED TV for bright rooms? We've just tested the LG G6 and this is the new king
00:11of the living room for sports, gaming and movies in all conditions, beating the Samsung S95F that
00:19we previously recommended for bright rooms. Mirror-like reflections, where objects are
00:27clearly reflected in the screen have always been the main downfall of the typically glossy and
00:33historically not that bright panels of OLED TVs. The reason they are particularly distracting is
00:39twofold. They have very clear and contrasty details that mean the eye is more likely to catch and focus
00:45on them than a hazy reflection and when you focus on them involuntarily, your eye has to refocus
00:52because the reflection is actually on a different focal plane to the TV panel.
00:56More recent OLEDs have made a valiant effort at handling mirror-like reflections while still
01:01having a glossier screen that produces richer black tones but ultimately none of them could beat the
01:07Samsung S95F's OLED glare-free 2.0 screen which uses a matte coating to turn all reflections just
01:15into a haze so you literally can't focus on them anymore. It's highly effective but it has a downside.
01:22The Samsung S95F's black tones are not as deep or rich as you'll find on OLEDs with glossier screens
01:28when there is a light creating a haze across the screen. It's a compromise but had been the best
01:34option for bright rooms anyway until now. The LG G6 uses a glossy screen with a new anti-reflective layer
01:42and
01:42it is the most effective screen we have seen so far at balancing reducing reflections with keeping those
01:50black tones looking black. We compared it directly with the Samsung S95F in our testing rooms at the
01:57same time so here is why we think the LG G6 is the winner.
02:04In a brightly lit room the G6 clearly demonstrated richer black tones and more dynamic contrast than
02:11the S95F exhibiting better shadow detail in near black areas so elements that might crush into the
02:19black or grey tones on the S95F stay as distinct elements on the G6. While the S95F is so effective
02:27at blocking mirror-like reflections black tones look more raised in comparison and shadow detail just
02:33therefore isn't as good with the same subtle objects we could clearly see on the G6 looking more obscured.
02:40In brighter scenes especially with strong highlight areas in them these look punchier on the G6 as well
02:46at least in part because the deeper black tones it's capable of still holding on to create a more
02:52powerful perceived contrast difference with the bright tone. And throughout all of this the G6 still
02:58does a superb job of limiting mirror-like reflections. While some are still present it didn't distract from
03:05our viewing experience in the way that it would on the OG G5 and other glossy OLEDs in our same
03:11consistent
03:12bright room testing conditions. However one thing that cannot be denied is the Samsung S95F's
03:21reflection killing skills. That TV does such an effective job at eliminating those mirror-like
03:26reflections not only of objects that you might see but direct light as well turning even reflections of
03:33the sun or a lamp just into a haze. Looking at overhead lights in our testing lab against both screens
03:39the S95F could completely eliminate the shape of the light totally whereas on the G6 you can
03:46still see the shape of the light itself on the black screen. So if you've got a room with a
03:51light source
03:51you can't move and you view your TV from a certain angle where that's visible in it the S95F might
03:57still
03:57be the best option for handling that. Now I should mention here that the Samsung S95F does have some tricks
04:04you can pull to improve its perceived contrast even when there's a strong haze on the screen. Using
04:09the movie mode instead of filmmaker mode really improves the black crush but does also make the
04:15image overall more oversaturated and less accurate. As a result we still preferred watching the G6 because
04:23even if it's filmmaker mode with a few reflections those reflections are now so limited enough that they
04:28don't overwhelm the image but you still have that beautiful accurate colour rich picture.
04:36Now Samsung does have a new flagship OLED TV coming in 2026 which is called the S95H in the US
04:44and the
04:44S99H in the UK. They are the same TV they are just named differently. Early testing suggests that this
04:50has an improved version of the glare free matte coating so we are looking forward to testing that against the
04:56LG G6 but at the time of recording the S95F is still Samsung's latest elite OLED that is available to
05:04buy and while we used to think it was the king of bright room viewing we are switching our allegiance
05:10to
05:11the LG G6. If you've got any questions about how other TVs perform in bright rooms or other questions about
05:18the
05:18Samsung and LG TVs I've talked about here please let us know in the comments below.
