Ever since its introduction in 2024, Samsung’s OLED Glare Free anti-reflection screen has served as a simple yet effective way of watching most content, even darker movies, easier in brighter rooms by limiting mirror-like reflections.
Mirror-like reflections, where objects are clearly reflected in the screen, have often been the main downfall of the typically glossy and historically not-that-bright panels in the best OLED TVs. The reason they're particularly distraction is two fold: they have clear and constrasty details that mean the eye is more likely to catch and focus on them than a hazy reflection; and when you focus on them involuntarily, your eye has to refocus, because the reflection is on a different focal plane to the TV panel.
More recent OLEDs, such as last year’s LG G5 have made a valiant effort at handling mirror-like reflections while still having a glossier screen, but ultimately couldn’t beat the Samsung S95F’s OLED Glare Free 2.0 screen, which uses a matte coating to turn all reflections into a haze.
While the lack of mirror-like reflections is welcome, the S95F’s blacks aren’t as deep or rich as you’ll find on OLEDs with glossier screens when there's a light creating a haze. It's a compromise, but one I thought was the best balance if you'll watch in bright rooms a lot — at least, I did until now.
At a recent LG event, I got to see the new LG G6 in-person and noted that its reflection handling was a major step above its predecessor. I’ve just received the LG G6 at our testing labs, so there’s no better time to test the G6’s anti-reflection screen using my reference discs in the environment I'm used to for comparing TVs.
The Batman: the ultimate test
Regular readers will know that The Batman is one of my main testing discs, primarily for testing nuance in contrast. It also serves as an excellent ‘torture’ test for TVs due to its low, 400-nit mastering brightness (as opposed to the industry-standard 1,000 nits).
Not only does this mean you’re more likely to experience black crush (where detail is lost in dark areas on screen), but it’s also very challenging to watch in a bright room, especially on a traditional glossy OLED.
Firing up my usual testing scenes from The Batman, I knew the S95F would do a solid job limiting reflections, but I’d have to compromise on black level accuracy. However, this wasn’t the case with the LG G6.
In the opening subway fight scene, with both TVs in HDR Filmmaker Mode (the most accurate but one of the dimmest picture modes), the G6 clearly demonstrated richer blacks and more dynamic contrast. It also exhibited better shadow detail, with more objects in the background such as the outline of the kiosk clearer against the dark background.
While the S95F was effective at limiting mirror-like reflections, blacks looked more raised in comparison and shadow detail wasn’t as good, with the same objects I could clearly see in the background on the G6 now more obscured. This wasn’t helped by the slightly crushed blacks either.
Moving onto a slightly brighter scene, the crime scene in Mayor Mitchell’s house, again the G6 demonstrated better detail in darker areas on screen. As a cop stops Batman, the G6 showed more texture in Batman’s armor and cowl than the S95F. The hallway lights looked punchier on the G6 as well, again creating more powerful perceived contrast.
During a close-up shot of Batman’s face as he speaks to Gordon and another detective where he is half in shadow, the G6 again showed more detail in Batman’s left eye (the more hidden side) namely the white of his eye. This again was more obscured on the S95F.
Finally, another scene where Bruce rides into the Batcave on his motorcycle demonstrated the G6’s shadow detail superiority. As the camera zooms out to reveal the whole cave, more of the rocks in the ceiling are visible on the G6 compared to the S95F, and blacks are still deeper.
During all of these scenes, the G6 did a superb job of limiting mirror-like reflections and while some were still present, it didn’t distract from my viewing experience as I’d found on the LG G5 and other glossy OLEDs.
Other scenes
I decided to test some other dark scenes out, but from more brightly-mastered movies. In Dark City, as John speaks to the desk clerk in the opening, both TVs delivered excellent contrast, with great balance between the bright lamp and the shadows cast onto the two characters.
The gap between the G6 and S95F was narrowed here and even though its black levels still weren’t as rich or accurate as the G6’s, it was an improvement over The Batman.
The Last Voyage Of The Demeter is another movie with a ton of dark scenes and most of them again really showed the G6’s prowess. While there were still some mirror-like reflections on the G6, but none on the S95F, the G6 showcased much better shadow detail.
In one scene where Clemens stands on deck next to the wheel, much more of his lower half and the corner of the stairs in the foreground are visible on the G6 compared to the S95F, where black crush really kills the details. This was the case throughout a lot of scenes.
Reflections vs accuracy
One thing that can’t be denied is the S95F’s mirror-like reflection killing abilities. The S95F does a very effective job at eliminating mirror-like reflections of not only objects but direct light as well, turning it into a haze. Looking at the overhead lights in our testing lab against both screens, the S95F completely eliminates both the light and shape of the light, whereas on the G6, the light itself is visible.
While the above is an extreme example, it’s something to note for people who may have light sources they can’t move that are in view of their TV screens. The S95F will be more effective at getting rid of that pesky reflection. The difference now is that only the most extreme light will overtake the G6's picture, whereas before it didn't take much before reflections were visible.
I decided to try out the subway scene from The Batman with the S95F in its brighter Movie picture mode, and although the black crush issue was resolved, everything looked a bit too bright and oversaturated, compromising the tone and accuracy of the movie. I preferred watching the G6, even in its Filmmaker Mode with some reflections — they're just limited enough now not to overwhelm the image.
While the S95F is still the out-and-out best at totally removing mirrorlike reflections, the G6 has done an exceptional job at eliminating enough reflections for bright room viewing while delivering more accurate blacks and contrast than the S95F.
For a glossy OLED, the G6’s anti-reflection is downright impressive and if I had to pick one to buy for a bright room, the G6 would now be my choice.
