HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality was consistently Excellent. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Excellent. Image detail was very exaggerated and made images appear less natural, despite our attempts to minimize this with the sharpness control. Color accuracy was Excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, look very natural and lifelike. Excellent contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images great depth and dimension. Black levels were Excellent, and delivered very deep blacks that enhanced contrast in dark scenes. Samsung's full array local-dimming feature helped. This was among the brightest models we've tested (with the Brightness backlight control turned up), so the picture was well suited for a very sunny room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content was generally Excellent and free of "jaggies" (jagged edges), whether for for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images, deinterlacing of 1080i video, or film mode detection from 1080i content.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY Overall 4K UHD picture quality was Excellent. In our UHD testing, we played native-4K movies and test videos (non HDR) thru the TV's HDMI input, and found their image detail was all there. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performed similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE HDR performance was very effective. In our tests, the display's very high peak brightness capability was Excellent, and greatly helped reproduce the realism of our HDR 4K content. It excellently revealed the contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights, while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were preserved. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail, from black to white, with no obvious banding within the gradually shaded areas. There was no visible loss of detail within the highlights of the brightest areas. Brightly colored objects remained nicely saturated.
VIEWING ANGLE This Samsung model has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide fairly consistent picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions—say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. Our examination at various viewing angles indicated reasonably good consistency. When we viewed the TV from the sides the image had some loss of quality. The picture showed a moderate loss of color, so flesh tones looked a bit washed out. Black levels brightened slightly. Halo effects around objects in darker scenes (a side effect of the local dimming feature) also become more prominent at off angles. We viewed the image from above and below center screen, and noticed Good vertical viewing angle performance, with only slight changes in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this Samsung TV had generally Excellent motion performance, with only slight blurring thanks to Samsung's "Blur Reduction." This feature is designed to reduce motion blur, a shortcoming of most displays. Although this TV also includes a "LED Clear Motion" setting that we found was slightly effective at reducing motion blur, it limited the brightness of the image and added some flicker to the picture so we left the feature off.
SOUND QUALITY We got Good sound quality, about average among the models we've tested. When watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it can deliver decent performance but just not like the better performers. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequencies) to be adequate but lacking a sense of fullness and lacked some definition, and had a very noticeable amount of rattle or buzzing during our bass-heavy sound clip. Treble (high frequencies) was satisfactory. This TV should be OK in rooms large or small, noisy or quiet—we found the speakers could play at a fairly loud volume level and without obvious distortion. Overall, though imperfect, most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is only 15 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. On first power up, an on-screen guide appeared—which you could choose to follow when setting up the TV. The remote controls the TV via an RF signal and doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a simplified design with a reduced set of buttons. It includes many of the typical buttons: power, channel up/down, volume control, menu, and exit. But the mute button is hidden—you must press down on the volume rocker—and the remote lacks a source-input button. The remote and the TV each have a microphone for accessing a built-in voice assistant feature. It also has dedicated buttons for streaming Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Samsung TV Plus. The remote's rechargeable battery is sealed inside and is not user-replaceable. To stay charged and working, you must either charge it via its USB-C port, or routinely let bright light shine on the back of the remote.
INTERNET FEATURES This TV provides internet functionality via its "Tizen" portal, with access to a library of applications, and a full web browser. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney, Apple TV and HBO Max. More so, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Disney and Apple TV can be streamed in 4K UHD. It includes built-in Samsung Bixby, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa virtual assistants, which allow you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming by talking to the remote or to the TV. Claimed support for external voice assistants (not built in to the TV) include Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
CONNECTIONS This model has four HDMI inputs (one supports eARC, enhanced audio return channel). It also has three USB ports, an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking, DLNA—to access files within your home network, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV. It has an ATSC 3.0 tuner for receiving "Next-Gen TV" signals, a feature many other sets lack.
WHAT'S INCLUDED You get with this TV: a printed user manual, a quick start guide, an electronic user guide via the TV's menu, a remote control, and a detachable power cord.
ABOUT UHD TESTING Ultra-high definition "UHD" can refer to both the TV and program content. While the UHD industry standard includes 4K and 8K, most UHD TVs and UHD content at this time are 4K. A 4K UHD image is presented as 3840 x 2160 pixels—four times the pixel-count of HD. An 8K UHD image is presented as 7680 x 4320 pixels—sixteen times the pixel-count of HD. We test UHD TV picture quality using 4K UHD movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We examine the TV's ability to reproduce 4K UHD image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR)—for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a UHD movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, and from files stored on USB flash drive. We also check how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
