Samsung has announced that its flagship 2023 S95C 77-inch OLED TV is now available for pre-order in the US, with shipping expected to begin later this month. The TV will cost $4,499.99 (around £3,750) and customers who pre-order on Samsung.com (opens in a new tab) or participating retailers will receive a free in-home installation – usually for an additional $250.
Samsung first released OLED TVs using the company’s QD-OLED display technology in 2022, but only in 65- and 55-inch screen sizes. Despite last year’s limited size range, Samsung’s new TVs with QD-OLED, a technology that combines a self-emissive OLED panel with a layer of quantum dots, impressed us greatly, with a 65-inch OLED S95B earning 5 stars and a place on our list of the best 4K TVs.
New 77-inch version was originally announced at CES 2023, where we declared it the best TV we’ve seen at CES (under “The TV You’re Likely to Buy This Year”). Like last year, Samsung will have 65- and 55-inch versions this spring, although prices for these models have yet to be announced.
The key advantage of QD-OLED is the improved brightness compared to regular OLED models. Last year’s S95B was the brightest OLED TV TechRadar has ever tested, and the new S95C TVs will boost light output to a peak of 2,000 nits – a level of brightness usually only achieved by top-of-the-line mini-LED backlit QLED TVs like Samsung’s QN95B.
The new Quantum HDR OLED Plus feature, which uses AI deep learning to fine-tune brightness on a pixel-by-pixel basis, is responsible for the brightness boost in the new TVs. Other image quality enhancements in the S95C lineup will be introduced by the Quantum Neural Processor, which scales images to 4K resolution using AI-based algorithms. This processing takes place scene by scene while the set simultaneously adds HDR10+ dynamic tone mapping.
New Samsung TVs for 2023 it also includes enhancements to the company’s Smart Hub, which combines streaming, ambient, and gaming options, along with Samsung TV Plus, a portal to 250 free, ad-supported and on-demand channels. The Samsung Gaming Hub provides console-free play of select games from Xbox, NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna, Utomik and more. For the S95C, the company claims a response time of 0.1 milliseconds with a 4K source and a refresh rate of up to 144Hz for games with low input lag.
Analysis: A larger QD-OLED is a welcome addition – but at what price?
The QD-OLED display technology that Samsung has developed for its OLED TVs is an impressive engineering feat that has elevated the state of the art of OLED by providing better off-axis brightness and color saturation. Samsung’s QD-OLED models really look good from all angles, making them an easy favorite in the race for the best OLED TVs.
As picture quality improves in 2023, Samsung’s new S95C series OLED TVs will feature a built-in 4.2.2-channel Dolby Atmos speaker system. And while we haven’t yet heard the movie soundtracks streamed through the S95C series set, this feature likely allows you to use the TV without a soundbar. That said, it will also support the Q-Symphony feature that allows the Samsung models on our list best Dolby Atmos sound bars to work with the TV’s built-in speakers for enhanced audio immersion.
With the release of the new 77-inch OLED S95C series, Samsung is kicking off the 2023 TV season with a bang. But are American viewers willing to spend over $4,500 for the privilege? That’s a fair amount of cash to be expected at a time when the economic winds are causing people to generally back out of spending.
But let’s say you bought a new TV. For $2,500, you can now buy a 77-inch LG C2 OLED, TechRadar’s best TV for 2022, or a 77-inch LG G2 OLED for around $3,500. If image brightness was an issue, the G2 uses an OLED Evo panel with Brightness Booster Max technology, a feature that can achieve much better than average light output for an OLED TV, although it can’t quite reach the same specs that Samsung has cited for its new S95C models.
Like the S95C TVs, the LG G2 also features an ultra-thin Gallery design that uses an external box for all input connections.
With the arrival of the new and apparently even brighter LG G3 models, and possibly Sony’s new 77-inch QD-OLED model, there will be plenty of big-screen OLED competition this year. If you’re in the market for a premium set, this will be an embarrassment to TV wealth.