HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality was Very Good, overall. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Excellent. We did note some added edge enhancement processing which makes the image look a little less realistic. Color accuracy was Very Good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Very Good contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images convincing depth and dimension. Black levels were OK and maintained some contrast in darker scenes, but they fell short of the better TVs. The quality appeared worse as we viewed from the sides—see our Viewing Angle results, below. Image brightness was Good (with the Brightness backlight control turned up), making it a suitable choice for all but the sunniest rooms. There was slight display non-uniformity in our test sample—it appeared as brighter cloudy areas which were most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie)—the severity can vary from model to model. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images fell short with some visible "jaggies" (jagged edges); deinterlacing of 1080i video was Excellent; and film mode detection from 1080i content was Excellent.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY Overall 4K UHD picture quality was Very Good, overall. 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 ineffective. In our tests, the display did not have the peak brightness capability necessary (by HDR standards) to reproduce the extended contrast on our HDR content. It could not reveal much contrast between the moderately bright and very bright highlights, while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were slightly low.
VIEWING ANGLE This Samsung model has a moderate viewing angle overall, decent, but not quite as good as the better-performing TVs we've tested. The optimal seating position for best picture quality is directly in front of this model. We examined the picture at various viewing angles, and saw the image quality was not consistent. When we viewed the TV from the sides, image quality got worse. The picture showed a slight loss of color. Black levels visibly brightened, and reduced the contrast especially on dark scenes. We viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw Very Good vertical viewing angle performance, with minimal changes in color, contrast, and black level.
