HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was very good. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Color accuracy was excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, looked very natural and lifelike. Lack of contrast gave images a somewhat flatter appearance with little depth. Depth of black level was below average, with darker scenes in particular looking hazy, with little contrast. Image brightness was very good (with the backlight control turned up), so the picture is well suited for a brighter room. A lower backlight setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Samsung has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same 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. The picture did show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we found distracting. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY. 4K UHD picture quality is very good. All native 4K content (non HDR) we played on this model, including movies and test videos, was presented in full 4K detail with excellent fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performs similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance is very limited. The display's lack of high peak brightness capability (by HDR standards) limited its ability to show the benefits of HDR to full effect on our test videos, while revealing little contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, with no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations. There was no visible loss of near-white shadow detail in the brightest areas. Brighter colored objects remained nicely saturated.
MOTION BLUR. This Samsung TV has good motion performance, with some blurring on our motion tests. Although this TV includes a "LED Clear Motion" setting that was effective at further reducing motion blur it limited the brightness of the image and also added some flicker to the picture, so we left the feature off.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. The screen surface on this model has one of the shinier mirror-like surfaces we've seen, which makes it very susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has fair sound quality with below average performance. It's acceptable for typical programming, but shortcomings become obvious with movie soundtracks and music. Bass was lacking, but treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was thin and closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments and without obvious distortion. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE. The dark labeling of the connections on the TV console is very difficult to read. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Samsung includes a basic remote that has traditional button navigation controls and number keypad. The buttons have high contrast labeling making them easier to read in a dimmer viewing environment. Consider the TV's stand is 35 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides Internet functionality via its "Smart Hub" 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, HBO Go and HBO Now.
CONNECTIONS. This model has two HDMI inputs—one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), no component input, and no composite input. It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; DLNA, to access files within your home network; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network; Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED. A printed user manual. A quick start guide. An electronic manual in the TV's menu. A remote control with batteries. A detachable power cord.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. 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.
