Samsung Accused Of Blatant TV Benchmark Cheat, Promises A Software Fix?

Samsung is once again being accused of cheating on benchmarks, but this time it involves the company's TVs. HotHardware previously reported on the company throttling performance in games and other applications on its Galaxy smartphones, while leaving benchmarking applications like 3DMark alone.

It isn't unusual for companies to try and put their best foot forward and highlight strengths of their products. Some will pick and choose which benchmarks to showcase, while leaving those where it may not perform quite well out of the conversation. Pretty much every company does this. But one of Samsung's algorithms for its TVs is being called into question.

Most recently the company has been accused of programming at least two of its TVs, the S95B and the QN95B, to recognize when someone is running test patterns on them. Typically TVs are tested, calibrated and reviewed with test patterns that utilize 10% of the screen. With that in mind, Samsung has reportedly programmed its televisions to operate differently when just 10% of the panel is being used.

FlatPanelsHD noticed this particular behavior when it chose to use a 9% test pattern window. During this test, it observed very different brightness and color accuracy from the exact same TV. You can see the difference between the test above (10%) and the one below (9%).

The QN95B boosts its peak brightness from 1300 nits (normal) to 2300 nits (10 percent mode), according to FlatPanelsHD. The result was only encountered when testing the television with a window that covered 10% of the screen. Once a 9% window was used, the TV brightness did not exceed 1300 nits. It also does not go past 1300 nits when showing normal content from any source, including HDR video, YouTube, and gaming.

Samsung has responded to the accusations, saying it will address the issues in a future update. In a comment made to FlatPanelsHD, the company responded, "Samsung remains committed to relentless innovation to provide the best picture quality to our consumers. To provide a more dynamic viewing experience for the consumers, Samsung will provide a software update that ensures consistent brightness of HDR contents across a wider range of window size beyond the industry standard."

What are you thoughts on Samsung's practices here, and how the company has responded? Let us know in the comments.

Top Image Credit: Samsung