Potentially low MPRT on many 4K and 8K Samsung QLED TVs (lots of RTINGS BFI Test image comparisons)

[purplemelon1]

More testing done and a few observations.

I'm completely happy on the motion blur side of things.
At 60hz the afterimage effect seen on UFOtest full screen strobe crosstalk test is almost never detectable on real world content.
Motion clarity at max (50) brightness is already great but at daylight viewing SDR-level (25) is is absolutely excellent.
There are two levels on the Game Motion Plus settings, one labeled "fast" another named "fastest". Those terms being relative to input lag.
Using the "fastest" mode doesn't seem to impact 60hz strobing performance.

While a few ULMB monitors can do clearer motion with less crosstalk/afterimage effect (most notably, my new PG27AQN, and my PG27VQ/PG278QR from 2018), these monitors don't hold a candle to the QN90D's contrast, peak brightness, and of course panel size.
KSF phosphor red trails seems to be a near universal problem in high performance ULMB2 LCDs which is another thing the QN90D is able to avoid.
I feel confident recommending a 43" model as a main monitor for PC use over these, provided your desk can accommodate such a large display (which isn't my case).

120hz Game Mode strobing (achieved by simply lowering the brightness the reach the desired compromise) is good but not per se clearer than the 60hz mode. It's less flickery and you get the input lag advantage of 120fps gaming, so it's good that it is there but it's not an automatic +100% boost in motion clarity VS 60hz.
50hz and 100hz strobing also work but I suspect these are automatically interpolated to 60/120, because I detect some artifacts. Since they do work in Game Mode I have to assume the lag would be minimal though, I don't have a time sleuth and can only rely on future gaming sessions to ascertain that fact.

Speaking of 120hz, for those few games where input lag is completely irrelevant (imagine let's say, an absolutely gorgeous turn-based RPG), I am happy to report that in 120hz Filmmaker Mode (and perhaps some other modes), there is a MASSIVE interpolation effect turned on by default.
Which means that at zero brightness loss, you get near CRT-level motion. I believe it reaches the motion clarity of the maximum flicker rate of the TV which is 960hz. I don't know how they can make interpolation so clear but I've seen it and it's real.
It's far, far clearer than my GX/G1 OLEDs interpolating the picture to 120hz with De Blur/De Judder cranked to max.
Again, like any traditional interpolation on any TV, it's very laggy so it's only for video or slow menu-based games, anything that requires responsible controls need to rely on Game Mode backlight strobing, with a brightness penalty.

The black levels are very impressive. Even with white text end credits the blooming is tolerable, though I'm not sure yet what Local Dimming settings is the best overall. I can still tell it is LCD if for instance I let my Ribbons screen saver play on the TV, but it is very, very impressive nonetheless.

One problem regarding black levels though, is that I'm experiencing black crush and I have yet to find a perfect solution.
I can play with local dimming, use the Black Details setting and for BT1886 gamma mode specifically, you can raise the picture a little bit, but I was playing an old dark game (Alien Trilogy on Duckstation specifically) and it was still harder to see than it should have been.

Black levels are set to Auto (Low) because in my case using High results in washed-out grey-ish blacks. I believe it is only for the 4:4:4 color space, which it appear we can only have by setting the input to PC Mode (or perhaps it is a limitation of my GPU, the DP>HDMI 2.1 adapter or Splitter that I use, I dunno).
Since motion options appear to be disabled in PC input mode, if you want to use Game Mode BFI and/or low-lag interpolation, you forfeit access to full color space, which in itself shouldn't be a big deal, but I fear my black-crush issues could only be solved that way.

I have no idea if doing stuff in the service menu will bring out even more potential out of the TV. I hope I can improve real-content HDR brightness in Game Mode (RTINGS test show a noticeable drop in real scene brightness, however the theoretical white window test seems perfectly acceptable in comparison to non-Game-Mode HDR).
I hope I can find time and hopefully the solutions to fix these few issues.

Overall I'm very impressed and excited and it would definitely be worth it to calibrate the TV to the best possible performance.
In general the TV doesn't suffer from the comparison to a CRT, Plasma or my older W-OLEDs. Some retain an edge over others in certain things of course, but I would say the QN90D is, as of today, my most well-rounded, does-everything-well option.
Which is high praise if you take a look at my humble personal selection in my signature.

I'm of course not suggesting that the picture quality competes with the latest, best QD-OLEDs however, that is simply impossible.
But at the moment these TVs have abysmal motion options so there we are.

Thanks for the postings jim. One thing to note. The 43 inch versions are not the same panel as the rest of the lineup. Last checked about 2 years ago. Im not sure the 2025 lineup would be. People would need to get the 55 inch version to be sure they can replicate your results.
It may actually even be better to use a big display for esports. Nvidia did a study showing the bigger displays got more accurate scores. Going the opposite of esports wisdom.

As for the rest. Well, it's hard to say much without more visual examples/results of what you were testing. For example, the interpolation. LG displays have had the marketing of 240hz. Which i assume means actual 240hz output but not input. If samsung has the same thing, they may be interpolating to 240hz. And then strobing was applied in your case. I do not fully understand as I do not know what you tested. My comment may be gibberish.

Lastly. I see the rtings bls photo would reach 360hz clarity if not for the crosstalk. Maybe we can get hardware unboxed on board to test this. 960hz on tvs would be good.

[JimProfit]

Thanks for the postings jim. One thing to note. The 43 inch versions are not the same panel as the rest of the lineup. Last checked about 2 years ago. Im not sure the 2025 lineup would be. People would need to get the 55 inch version to be sure they can replicate your results.
It may actually even be better to use a big display for esports. Nvidia did a study showing the bigger displays got more accurate scores. Going the opposite of esports wisdom.

As for the rest. Well, it's hard to say much without more visual examples/results of what you were testing. For example, the interpolation. LG displays have had the marketing of 240hz. Which i assume means actual 240hz output but not input. If samsung has the same thing, they may be interpolating to 240hz. And then strobing was applied in your case. I do not fully understand as I do not know what you tested. My comment may be gibberish.

Lastly. I see the rtings bls photo would reach 360hz clarity if not for the crosstalk. Maybe we can get hardware unboxed on board to test this. 960hz on tvs would be good.

I know that the 43" and 50" versions are dimmer, not sure by how much, but I remember some youtube reviews mentioning they peaked at ~1400ish nits rather than ~2000, but I'm not sure if their measurements are as scientifically valid as those found on RTINGS.
The 98" model also does 120hz max (so no 144hz), which to me is no big deal.
The panel type itself is the same, and the software used for local dimming, backlight strobing and interpolation ought to be the same as well.
But the point still stands that in terms of contrast, HDR brightness, and panel size, they trounce ULMB LCD gaming monitors on the market today.

Part of me really respects my newly acquired PG27AQN, it is objectively one of the best gaming monitors on the market, probably the best in terms of crosstalk-free backlight strobing performance, and the responsiveness at 240/360hz is probably insane (I don't really play anything at the required framerate) but:
-27" 1440p only
-The reddish KSF phosphor trails visible at 120hz is annoying
-HDR is mediocre (this monitor is bright compared to others, but monitors are far behind TVs in general)
-Contrast is downright poor and the near-worthless local dimming is disabled in ULMB mode
-The semi-gloss coating, while a good compromise if you happen to also work near a sunlit window, and certainly less gross than most matte finish, is nonetheless not as pleasant as the high gloss screen seen on most TVs.

So perhaps if my desk/overall setup could have accommodated it, I would have gone with a 43 incher QN90D, deal with the crosstalk and slightly less performing backlight strobing, partly compensated by the lack of red trails, and a massive, massive leap in picture quality...

As for the motion clarity at 120hz Filmmaker mode and the comparison with LG OLEDs, I'm not sure, please take my words with a grain of salt, I don't want to propagate inaccurate info without proper testing. I'm also not an expert in the technology itself.
I am pretty sure that my LG GX/G1, with max interpolation and no rolling-scan BFI, interpolate the signal to the maximum panel refresh rate, which is 120hz only.
The magic of the old rolling-scan BFI tech, is that it works at sub-refresh level. So on the CX/GX, 60hz Motion Pro High is 240hz equivalent, and on the C1/G1 is is 158hz equivalent. At 120hz Motion Pro High, they all reached 315hz equivalent, I believe (twice the motion clarity of the 2021 models at 60hz Motion Pro High.

Now, I'm not sure how to explain what I saw on the QN90D in 120hz filmmaker mode. The maximum PWM dimming frequency is 960hz, and RTING reports Filmmaker Mode works at this rate, that is a fact.
Does it mean however that the LCD panel (not just the backlight LEDs) is able to internally refresh at this frequency and that interpolation to this refresh is possible? This sound a bit too good to be true doesn't it?
My testing was limited, but it did appear to me that the Blurbuster's Game Motion test performed at-or-near the maximum motion clarity the TV could offer in low brightness/pulse width BFI mode, except in this case the brightness was set to max I could not see any evidence of brightness drop.
Remember that in 120hz Game Mode, Brightness 50 is very blurry (8.33ms MPRT + LCD-specific issues) and by progressively lowering it down to SDR-levels, motion clarity gets better and better.
In 120hz Filmmaker Mode it's both very bright and clear in motion, at the price of (probably game-breaking) input lag.

Do take note that on the RTINGS review, the pursuit-camera shot of both interpolation mode appear very clear. Basically on par with their BFI test picture. Compare that to the test for my LG OLEDs, you can see a big difference between interpolation to 120hz on the LGs, and whatever voodoo we see on the QN90D.
I'm extremely busy these days but I hope I can get more testing time with my thinking cap on and figure out exactly what's going on.

[roginthemachine]

Thanks for doing all this research jim

Getting that full 4:4:4 chroma at the same time as getting high motion clarity is important to my set up. Is there really no way to enable LED Motion Clear or other Motion settings while in PC mode?

A quick google search suggests that LED Motion Clear can be toggled in the service menu… not sure if you’re willing to test that? Understand if not, as it may come with implications for the warranty.

Also worth noting that the RTings review of the QN90d states that the input lag for 4K60Hz at 4:4:4 chromo (presumably in PC mode) is 11.8msec, which implies that you can get low-lag gaming at 4:4:4 chroma. Perhaps just forcing LED clear motion on via the service menu on top of this would get the result you're after?

[JimProfit]

It may take some time before I fully explore all my options. In my journey so far, many of the things that were problematic at first try have been worked out, so I'm hoping for more good surprises when peeking under the hood.
It's just that my head is not in it at the moment as I'm dealing with a few urgent situations at the same time these days, so maybe I'm making mistakes and overlooking simple solutions here and there.

I have ColorControl, but my TV is not detected by default. On my older downstairs PC on which I've done initial testing, I had to manually enter the MAC address and so forth, and even doing so my options were limited.
Unlike the LGs, I have no access to the service menu (it may require a special remote) and, confusingly, all the options available in the scroll down menu are labelled the same as on my GX/G1. So I didn't really try anything at the moment.
I have yet to set up ColorControl on my main PC upstairs now that the TV is finally moved to it's designated spot, but I will repeat the procedure when I get the chance.

I will report any breakthrough here but it may be drop by drop or it may just take a while.
It is a superlative TV when it comes to motion clarity.
It is, in my relatively informed opinion, the best CRT replacement because high brightness gives it the most headroom for strobing and filters, and the contrast levels are so good for an LCD, that it competes with CRT/Plasma. Even if I miss out on full color bandwidth in order to use BFI, zero buyer's remorse here.
But the menus are just infuriating and I'm still glad to have my LGs where the options to get everything right are a lot more straightforward.

Now that I think about it, on the LG in PC 4:4:4 mode, interpolations options are disabled as well. You still have access to Motion Pro fortunately, but no De-Judder/De-Blur.
I happen to think that for SDR movies, De-Judder 2 + Motion Pro Medium is the best setting (24fps content interpolated to 30fps for minimal soap opera effect, removing the increased stutters seen on OLED, judder free 4x strobes thanks to Motion Pro Medium).
To me it's the best compromise. The closest I'd get to my Kuro. And since I do not believe movies benefit from 4:4:4 color bandwidth, I set up picture modes in both regular/limited mode and PC/Full color modes.
In any case, it may very well be the case that on the Samsung, all motion options are disabled when in PC mode, regardless of whether it involves interpolation or not. I'll try to test the 120hz Game Mode BFI trick in PC mode next.
Double strobed 60fps content in 120hz BFI may be worth it if 60hz BFI is unavailable.

[roginthemachine]

Ah, no stress! Good luck with everything else going on. Will keep an eye out to see if you've made any promising discoveries in the meantime.

[JimProfit]

Here's a little testing update, overall my understanding of the TV's inner working and its confusing menus are steadily improving, and I'm still very happy with my purchase.

Let's get the bad things out of the way first though.
To my knowlege, setting the HDMI input to PC is the only way to access the full 4:4:4 chroma bandwidth, in which there are no motion option available, period. Doesn't matter if you use Game Mode, or the non-Game modes named Entertainment or Graphics.
No interpolation, No BFI mode, nothing.
This contrasts with my LG OLEDs, on which PC Input disables interpolation options but retains Motion Pro/BFI.
It is understandable since interpolation traditionally adds tons of game-breaking lag, but it's a shame since Game Motion Plus on Samsung TVs is low-lag (~25ms?). Perhaps it is a processing resources limitation, the QN90D's chip cannot handle chroma calculations and frame interpolation at the same time? Dunno...
However it is still useful when gaming at 120hz, as you still get pulse width control when lowering the brightness, so you can consider that 120hz BFI does still work.
With an actual PC output, as frame gen and software strobing options become more available/less buggy, it may still be the go-to mode for some people.


However in most situations I'd rather resort to non-PC modes.
Setting the TV black levels to Auto (Low) and making sure that the NVidia control panel is set to RGB Limited for the TVs output, has resolved my black levels crush.

I have a better grasp of how BFI works, however since the TV behaves very differently in different modes, it's all still very confusing.
In 100/120hz Game Mode, like in every other mode, there's no BFI toggle or motion options of any kind, but lowering brightness increases motion clarity, no complaint there.
In 50/60hz Game Mode, you need to turn on Game Motion Plus, even if you only want backlight strobing.
The most "CRT accurate" settings involved turning on LED Motion (backlight strobing), using the Mode 1 setting (faster - no interpolation) and then lowering brightness to the minimum level suited to your purpose.
At full brightness it is already a big boost to motion clarity and definitely bright enough for >HDR400 peak highlights.
I should mention that, whenever using LED Motion, De-Blur becomes unavailable, but De-Judder (interpolation that affects only 23>30fps content) remains available. I assume it is there in case you want to interpolate movies and are too lazy to switch out of Game Mode, perhaps in low-fps games, or perhaps De-Judder 10 works well on very-low FPS games, I don't know.
Turning on any kind of interpolation toggles the Game Motion Plus Mode 2 i.e. low-lag interpolation, laggier than Mode 1 but still very reasonable.

If you don't mind that small added amount of input lag, I'm happy to report that, by disabling BFI and cranking up De-Blur, the TV behaves as if it was in 120hz mode, meaning that the Brightness/Pulse Width Control trick still works. I think this is huge.
You get the same Game Motion Plus low-lag frame-gen as on Samsung's QD-OLEDs, but on top of that, you can trade off brightness for extra motion clarity at will. You couldn't do that on today's OLEDs' abysmal BFI modes. And obviously if you are flicker sensitive this is the way to go, as the 120hz mode is much less bothersome than the regular BFI mode which strobes at 60hz.


Outside Game Mode, things get a lot more complicated.
I think the LED Motion option (set this time within the picture clarity menu) is way too dim even at full brightness. I don't know why it seems so much dimmer than in Game Mode.
And since film is 24fps (120hz:5), I don't think a hard-set 60hz strobe is the way to go for most videos.
Since lag is abysmal anyway outside Game Mode and of no concern for video watching, and that De-Blur interpolation (for 60hz content interpolation) appears mostly artifact-free, I crank this to the max and use Brightness/Pulse Width Control to increase motion clarity a little bit.
This yields judder-free 5x Strobe of film content, 4x Strobe of 30fps videos, and perfect interpolation of 60hz content.
Setting De-Judder to 2 also interpolates film content to ~30ish fps, resulting in less double-image artifacts while not overly soap-opera-y.
Worth it on a per-movie basis IMO.

But what is very strange is that the brightness behaves differently in different modes, I have yet to figure it out completely.
Since Filmmaker Mode goes the brightest and that Brightness/Pulse Width Control behaves in the most predictable way, I use this mode for the HDR conversion option.
I tested it on 4K movies that were released in SDR only (The Neon Demon, Brosnan-era Bond films, Gone Girl,...) and overall it works pretty well.

For SDR accurate viewing, I will instead use Movie Mode, which hopefully can be calibrated as well as Filmmaker mode would.
But in this mode the brightness behaves very weirdly. Turning Brightness down from 50 to 24 does absolutely nothing, then at 23 it appears to switch gamma mode (actually becomes brighter than 24 and stays the same for a few steps and the last ten or so, become dimmer and dimmer down to next to nothing.
My belief is that brightness is capped to remain SDR accurate, which is why motion looked so clear in non-BFI, max interpolation mode.
So it's still basically 120hz BFI at a short pulse width, despite brightness being set to max.
Therefore please disregard my previous conjectures about the 960hz strobe rate, not only was it for non-Game, non-Filmmaker modes, but it is still basically pulse width control just with brightness levels that behave very strangely.

And when feeding an HDR signal, all brightness restrictions are lifted in Movie Mode so basically I use that for Active tone-mapping and Filmmaker mode for more accurate, Static HDR.


I still have to organize my thoughts, which mode to use in which situations, how to set them up as best as I can, not to mention better defining a clear "protocol" for which of my other displays to use for which content.
But it's all very exciting. I truly think I got the best overall gaming TV on the market. Which also happen to be no slouch for everything else, a truly great compromise between brightness, motion and picture quality.

HDR conversion is fairly convincing and would be particularly useful to non-PC users who don't have a lot of options.
The ability to fine tune the brightness/motion clarity arbitration to reach a compromise that suits your content, even in HDR, is something that OLEDs simply cannot do.

The local dimming performs so well, the blacks are so deep, I feel like I'm not missing out too much compared to gaming on an OLED (though I will still do it for slower-moving games).
I often use the "Ribbons" screen saver to show my friends the huge difference between my OLED TV and my LCD gaming monitor side-by-side in my office but as far as the QN90D is concerned, it truly takes a trained eye to spot the small amount of blooming.

[hammelgammler]

I just saw this thread and would like to thank you for all your investigations!

I’m currently looking for the best 60Hz/60FPS display for (retro sdr) gaming and got into the rabbit hole of Plasma TVs. Then I decided maybe a CX/GX is likely the better option all things considered, as it should have the same or better motion clarity than a Plasma.

I see that you own a lot of displays, which one (besides the FW900, simply unobtainable without breaking the bank) would you say is the best for retro sdr gaming?

For HDR I’m using a Samsung S90C, as it can do 2000nits peak. Very pleased in general. Besides that I own two 65CX and one 48C1. I don’t think I will ever use 120Hz BFI, as I prefer the low lag 144Hz instead.

Also, would you give Plasma the edge in videos, especially 24FPS?

[JimProfit]

I just saw this thread and would like to thank you for all your investigations!

I’m currently looking for the best 60Hz/60FPS display for (retro sdr) gaming and got into the rabbit hole of Plasma TVs. Then I decided maybe a CX/GX is likely the better option all things considered, as it should have the same or better motion clarity than a Plasma.

I see that you own a lot of displays, which one (besides the FW900, simply unobtainable without breaking the bank) would you say is the best for retro sdr gaming?

For HDR I’m using a Samsung S90C, as it can do 2000nits peak. Very pleased in general. Besides that I own two 65CX and one 48C1. I don’t think I will ever use 120Hz BFI, as I prefer the low lag 144Hz instead.

Also, would you give Plasma the edge in videos, especially 24FPS?

You're very welcome. I know exactly where you're coming from and I think it's pretty cool that you're willing to look at all kinds of display tech, old and new.
While there are some displays that clearly stand out as one of the best at their time of release, some discontinued pieces, especially display types no longer being manufactured (CRT and PDP) stood the test of time and retain certain qualities that no modern displays fully matches.
When you look at the best models of each display tech, it's always a tradeoff, even across the decades.

I was very lucky to get my FW900 at a very decent price, and I try to only use it when "the vibes" truly require it. Therefore I am always on the lookout for the best CRT alternative as a daily driver, with all the advantages of modern tech like HDR compatibility, higher res, much larger display size,...
Because of the fact that I made the jump from consumer CRT to an absolutely awesome, late model Kuro Plasma HDTV, and the fact that I was a PC CRT straggler, I've been one of LCD's harshest critics for what seems like the longest time.
Which is ironic since I am now strongly advocating for the select few LCDs with high-performance backlight strobing, that are the only modern options that compete with CRT motion clarity.

No display type is perfect in every categories. I've curated a selection of displays that are, to the best of my knowledge, the "Creeeeeam of the cropppNGG" of their respective technology. Not all PC CRTs are as good as the FW900, not all Plasmas are as good as the Kuro, and most definitely not all LCDs are as good as this QN90D. There are definitely competing options worth looking into though.

It's hard to give you a definitive answer without being rambly, but I'll try to succinctly explain the pros and cons of some of the contenders for your requirements

Why you should own a PC CRT:
-Best motion clarity (even at low refresh) and great contrast at the same time (may require long warmup).
-Can look sharp at any supported resolution (on flat panels only the native resolution looks sharp, and perhaps some integer modes if you're lucky)
-No input lag.
-Since most retro games are 4:3, there's no real need to hunt down rare widescreen models.
But they are small, SDR only, not very bright, and have all sorts of issues (geometry, convergence, purity,...) that are hard to fix.

Why you should own a high-end Plasma:
-Near-perfect contrast and great color.
-Better 60hz motion quality than most LCD/OLEDs (some rare exceptions exist).
-They are indeed a good way to view 24hz content, especially if they can use a double strobe 48hz mode yielding a good motion clarity boost with minimal double-image artifacts.
But they are limited to 1080p60 SDR, not too bright and input lag ranges from mediocre to terrible.

Why you should own an older CX/GX/C1/G1 OLED:
-Ultra-high-def, Perfect contrast and HDR compatibility.
-Good BFI options at both 60hz and 120hz: At 60hz BFI high, the 2020/X models approach the clarity of the best plasmas (240hz equivalent), but appear quite dim, barely enough for dark room SDR, using every trick in the book to bring out the most brightness at the expense of fidelity.
The 2021/1 models only achieve 158hz equivalent at 60hz BFI High, but are plenty bright for SDR.
-Great input lag in Game Mode of all modern displays (refresh rate depending)
But they are somewhat obsolete for HDR gaming, because you can either get a good Samsung LCD (much brighter even with the higher performance BFI, at the price of a modest downgrade in contrast levels) or a newer high-end (QD-)OLED (with much higher brightness and perfect blacks, at the price of worse BFI options)

Why you should own a high-end modern Samsung LCD TV:
-Ultra-high def with superlative, adjustable motion clarity via backlight strobing (60hz and 120hz), and a very high HDR/SDR brightness level to support it.
-Contrast levels that compete with CRT/PDP thanks to its great local dimming.
-Input lag is very good, tolerable even with Game Motion Plus interpolation.
-While not the absolute best in any category (except perhaps sheer fullscreen brightness?) it is, uniquely, great at everything.
But they do have some light, residual ghosting that may or may not be visible in real content, and the high performance local dimming, might overly dim white objects on black backgrounds => star fields or city lights won't look as good as on OLEDs because either the highlights get too dim, or you risk getting too much blooming around the light sources.

To me this last TV has the least downsides out of everything on the market, the main being that is that it is unintuitive in its function, and my enthusiasm for it cannot hide the fact that the best OLEDs retain picture superiority when the content is static or slow-moving.
I'd rather go for a 2024 model since newer ones have a matte coating I disapprove of.

The QN90D is guaranteed to have 120hz BFI by lowering brightness, I do not know if the higher-end QN95D, or the 8K model QN900D do as well. If someone could confirm me that these other models have the 120hz BFI brightness trick, they could be better than the QN90D overall (though, as shown in the RTINGS compare tool, they absolutely trade blows).

I currently do not own a newer bright (QD-)OLED TV (waiting for 60hz motion options to get better somehow), nor a high refresh (QD-)OLED monitor (waiting for universal CRT Simulation implementation/better frame generation).
Those have their advantages for sure but not compelling options to me at the moment of writing.
I use a high performance LCD gaming monitor (PG27AQN now, PG27VQ before that), but the picture quality is lacking and it's only really good for 120hz+ competitive gaming (in ULMB mode for >CRT motion clarity).
In my view none of those are very relevant for retro SDR gaming.

As you may have understood, my choices of TVs over the years has been consistent with the pursuit for the closest equivalent to a giant CRT. This is Blurbusters after all, and it is safe to assume that the pursuit for higher motion clarity is a common preoccupation around here.
-In 2009 I bought the Kuro because it trounced any LCD, it had worse motion and much worse lag than CRT but it was a giant screen with high resolution and high contrast (by the standards of the time).

-I side-graded with a Panasonic LCD in 2018, the EX780E, known to be the last/among the best TV to support 3D, including decent conversion. OLED at the time was quite dim and had zero options to increase motion clarity.
The fact that it was a good entry point to 4K HDR only sweetened the deal, and the contrast was already getting better, but overall the picture quality and especially motion clarity was lower than the Plasma.
I wasn't aware of the fact that there had been a handful of Sony LCDs at that point with Motionflow Impulse, which may have been the better option for motion clarity on a big screen and a good first step to give LCD a chance. To my knowledge the Sony X850C would have been the better model, though dimmer that my Panasonic.

-I got a GX and G1 OLED in 2022 when it became clear that the motion options had been nerfed on newer models. The GX went into my bedroom and served me well for older SDR game with Motion Pro High, while the less aggressive and brighter G1 went into my office/home theater room to get the best movie HDR experience.

-Finally, giving LCD another go with the QN90D solves a lot of problems for me all at once:
You can see the flagrant similarities with CRT, when you can describe a screen as having high motion clarity, decent contrast and input lag at the same time. You're well on your way to make CRTs redundant.
Also, you can use the massive brightness for HDR movies highlights, or turning it down to decrease pulse width and further increase motion clarity, it is incredibly versatile.
You even have options to preserve all the brightness and get a 2x motion clarity boost with a small lag penalty (Game Motion Plus De Blur 10 Brightness 50).
It's basically the only game in town for low MPRT on a TV at this time as OLEDs were far behind in that aspect and they're not even as good as they used to.

If you play retro games on emulators, it's no question that I would go for the QN90D (motion-centric content) and a GX if you can find one (contrast-centric content). As you can take advantage of the ultra-high-def and even the higher refresh rate via frame gen.
If you don't need more than 1080p, a low-hour, well maintained high-end Plasma is a compelling choice in lieu of a CX/GX/C1/G1: Nearly as black as these OLEDs, potentially brighter at comparable motion clarity (when Motion Pro High is engaged on the CX/GX), and a very pleasant incandescent image.
Like all retro tech it is a bit of a crap shoot though, they dim with age, they may show burn-in, they kick off a lot of heat and draw too much power, and they'll probably not be very responsive in games.

But again, the motion clarity on the Samsung is the absolute closest you can get to CRT in modern televisions and the contrast is good.
It is bright enough to do short-pulse-width BFI (high motion clarity) AND scanline/CRT filters at the same time, which might be important for you.
Hard to beat that, for any content.

[JimProfit]

Here's another straightforward way to look at it (using my models for reference, but you can adapt the general idea to what you have access to, and reorder criterias according to your main priorities).

Display Size: G1/QN90D > GX > KRP500A >> PG27AQN > FW900
Resolution: QN90D/G1/GX > PG27AQN > FW900 (limited by dot pitch around the ~1300p mark) > KRP500
Peak Brightness (No BFI): QN90D >> G1 > GX > PG27AQN >> KRP500A (SDR Only, Impulsed) > FW900 (SDR, Impulsed)
Fullscreen Brightness (Adjusted for 60hz BFI at max brightness): QN90D > G1 > KRP500A (SDR, Impulsed) > FW900 (SDR, Impulsed) > GX
Motion Clarity (50/60hz sources Strobing, Max Brightness): FW900 > QN90D >> KRP500A ≥ GX > G1 [PG27AQN disqualified]
Motion Clarity (100/120hz sources Strobing, Max Brightness): PG27AQN ≥ FW900 > QN90D >> G1/GX [KRP500A disqualified]
Contrast: G1/GX > KRP500A > QN90D (local dimming high) ≥ FW900 (requires 30min warmup) >> PG27AQN

[hammelgammler]

Thanks! Do you happen to also have experience with a Panasonic VT50 or VT60? Those can be bought for pretty cheap in Germany, a Kuro on the other hand is a lot more expensive.

To be honest I truly hate LCDs with a passion, but maybe the QN90D might still be okayish if the clarity at 60Hz actually can approach a CRT. Does the 50” inch can also get as close or only the 55”?

In terms of least flicker it seems to be Plasma > FW900 > CX/GX > QN90D right? Could be hard to live with even more flickering than my CX, but tbh I didn’t use it long enough to get a feel if it’s actually bothering me.

What I’m most interested in would be the comparison in input lag. I guess the FW900 will be the best at any Hz. A CX/GX have around 26ms with 60Hz BFI, a Panasonic VT50/VT60 around 40ms from what I can read online, but what about the QN90D? If it’s significantly less than this would be a very compelling argument, especially for precision retro games.