Samsung 55" TU8000 HDR Smart 4K TV with Tizen OS Black

Product Information

There’s no doubt that if you’re looking for a well-specified 4K UHD TV that won’t break the bank, the TU8500 is an enticing prospect. It’s more cutting-edge than you might first think (Samsung can’t help itself), and smart connectivity is excellent. Although some options have been moved around, there are no major functional additions to the Picture setup menu when compared to last year’s high-end models. Samsung’s excellent calibration controls (which include a three-axis Colour Management system and 10-point Greyscale/Gamma control) are present, and should allow the images put out by the UE55D8000 to be adjusted to nearly perfect levels. 2D Calibration

Samsung UA55TU8000 review | What Hi-Fi? Samsung UA55TU8000 review | What Hi-Fi?

The Samsung UE55D8000 can receive Freeview HD broadcasts via its DVB-T2 tuner, and, new for this year, has an input for a Satellite dish, too (the TV also carries the “Freesat” branding in the UK market). In addition to this, Samsung are heavily pushing the concept of “Smart TV” this year. Just as consumers are getting more and more used to multi-functional smartphones, the Korean consumer electronics giant hopes that buyers will be enticed by the idea of using “apps” on the big screen in their living rooms, too. Closer in on the action, there’s still plenty of intensity to the colours, if not quite the same subtlety as we saw at 4K. There are plenty of layers to the blue of Electro’s pulsing form, the yellow of the New York taxis is as we’d expect and the bright red and blue of Spidey’s outfit looks great against the night-time streets. For this reason, we chose to watch Blu-ray Disc material with [Game Mode] enabled. This cuts out the noise reduction, and delivers all of the original texture and detail of film images. The disadvantages here are that you lose access to the [10p White Balance] and [Motion Plus] features, and also that more visible motion judder is introduced. Even outside of [Game Mode], the Samsung UE55D8000 would show some small telecine judder with film content, but [Game Mode] has a little extra visible judder. You’d think that losing [Motion Plus] would make motion blur more apparent in [Game Mode], but in reality, this isn’t the case, for two reasons. Firstly, the NR system can cause a selective motion-blurring effect of its own (if the content you’re watching is grainy enough), and secondly, 24fps material generally doesn’t reveal the limitations of LCD motion, anyway.Apart from Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness and Color, there aren’t many settings to worry about on this TV, however a couple of them are particularly significant. We’re used to having four HDMIs to choose from, even at this price, but the TU8000 only has three. That means even a fairly humble setup of a set-top box, Blu-ray player and games console will use up those parts from the off, with one lost if the set is wall-mounted. If you don’t have a tonne of streaming service subscriptions, and an accompanying bank account littered with direct debits, then fear not. The Roku Channel is here to bring you a taste of premium content for free. It’s a – yes, we’re going to say it – smorgasbord of films and TV shows as well as over 30 Roku Originals too, many of which are well worth your time. The Samsung TU8000 has poor HDR peak brightness. It's slightly less bright in HDR than in SDR, and again, small highlights in dark scenes are dimmed considerably by the TV's frame dimming. The EOTF doesn't follow the target curve very well, and most scenes are darker than the content creator intended. The roll-off near the TV's peak brightness is smooth, so there's no loss of fine details in bright scenes.

55 Samsung UE55D8000 Full HD 1080p Freeview HD Smart 3D LED TV 55 Samsung UE55D8000 Full HD 1080p Freeview HD Smart 3D LED TV

It works really well, even automatically adding the wi-fi details it digs out from your device so you don’t have to mess around with on-screen keyboards, which is always welcome. That’s because the peak brightness of this set is on the low side. Even with brightness turned up high in settings, you will likely find yourself wanting more, especially with dark scenes in well-lit rooms. As is usually the case with Samsung TVs, two remotes are included in the box — a chunkier standard-looking one and a more slender, simplified option. The latter has all the main features you’ll use most often, without the ones you won’t. This includes a ring-shaped D-pad, channel and volume controls, shortcuts to Netflix, Prime Video and Rakuten TV and buttons for activating Samsung’s Ambient Mode (more on that later), your voice assistant of choice and for general navigation. year’s Samsung 3DTV models for use with the Sky 3D channel in the UK, since the video signal is both 50hz and side-by-side encoded! Samsung’s Ambient Mode is now included as standard on the TU8000, with the feature expanding its horizons beyond the QLED range for the first time this year. It’s a feature that’s been adapted from the Art Mode initially launched on the Samsung Frame, and allows you to have a selection of arty pictures, patterns or your own snaps appear on screen when you’re not watching TV.The Samsung UE55TU8000 has two built-in speakers, each with 10W power. The total output power of 20W is usually sufficient, unless you are too far from the TV. In this case, you should buy external speakers that turn your room into a home theater. If you buy external speakers, you can also use the multi-room link technology. The sound is very clear, but it depends on the quality of the content. We will give 4/5 points for the Samsung UE55TU8000 review part of the sound. Design