Samsung UE55MU8000 evaluation

That wasn’t the case as it became the pleasant-acting TV of 2016. There were objectively more successful alternatives. Instead, it took the prize as it managed to bring a highly incredible 4K and HDR viewing experience down to an affordable price at a time when most producers had been booking the tech for flagship gadgets.

This year, Samsung has made a point of dividing its top-tier TVs from its midrange. The lovable quantum dot era that propped up older SUHD fashions is now reserved for the pinnacle-tier QLED variety, along with ramped-up luminance and a proportionately better price tag.

If that’s a bit rich, do not forget the MU variety. The MU8000 sits on top of that with the Samsung MU9000. While it’s clear that Samsung has reserved its nice for the QLED variety, the MU8000 packs a few nice surprises. If you’re after an excellent 4K and HDR performance and are no longer hell-bent on disposing of a mortgage for a QLED version, the MU8000 is probably for you.

It’s flat. That might appear like a strange place to start; however, Samsung is the handiest producer, nonetheless strongly pushing curved TVs. For folks who aren’t fans of the MU9000’s curve, the MU8000 is an appropriate opportunity because it has the same specs essentially somewhere else.

The layout takes cues from the final year’s top KS models – slender bezels (the top and facets) and a Y-fashioned stand. The thin body surrounding the TV is metal, but anywhere else is plastic. To be blunt, it feels a bit cheap up close – I observed a few difficult edges after I turned into putting it up, and the unmarried-neck method is going to wobble a bit in case you nudge it.

Still, it seems high-quality from the couch. And on a practical note, I’m glad to see a TV with a center stand instead of having it properly on the corners—you don’t want a bench as huge as the TV.

As is now conventional on Samsung’s extra-fancy TVs, most of the connections are housed one at a time in a One Connect field. There are four HDMI ports (all 4K and HDR compatible), USB ports, aerial connections, and digital optical output. On the TV itself, there is also an ethernet socket and one more USB port.

Sadly, there’s no sign of the top-notch-skinny, almost invisible cable that runs from the TV to the One Connect box. It’s a chunky cable, even though the stand’s lower back peels away to show a neat cable management channel.

There are remotes: a conventional one with loads of buttons and a ‘clever one with a streamlined layout and fewer buttons. TV smart remotes are usually a piece hit and pass over, but Samsung’s attempt is one of the better ones, and I observed myself using it much more than the conventional one. This year’s clever faraway has been improved with a higher grip and rubberized buttons.

The MU8000 has a ten-bit panel with a 4K Ultra HD resolution (3840 × 2160 pixels). It offers a wide dynamic variety inside the common HDR10 format and the imminent broadcast-pleasant HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma).

Alas, there’s no Dolby Vision, which is generally considered better than HDR10 because its dynamic metadata can optimize the photograph frame through the frame. But Samsung isn’t ruling out dynamic metadata—it’s presenting HDR10+, a competitor to Dolby Vision. HDR10+ is an open-supply format that Amazon Video has already signed up to apply.

It’s an area-lit LED unit – Samsung isn’t providing an unmarried direct-lit unit this year. I’d be truly concerned about it weren’t for the fact that closing 12 months’ Samsung KS7000 provided some very lasting dimming competencies, and Samsung is virtually assured.

The MU8000 claims a brightness of 1000 nits. That’s the brightness provided by the remaining year’s top models, but less than Samsung’s QLED variety this year, which can hit 1500-2000 nits.

Samsung has been rocking its Quantum Dot generation for some years now. However, this year, that’s been reserved for the QLED fashions, including the Samsung Q7F. Instead, the MU8000 is based on the ‘Dynamic Crystal Colour’ engine, which claims to supply more than a thousand million sun shades.

On the clever TV in the front, the MU8000 is geared up with Samsung’s Eden interface. It’s a launcher bar system that pops up on the pinnacle of something you’re watching without making you pause or kicking you out.

I would have accused Samsung of shamelessly ripping off LG’s webOS interface a couple of years ago. However, these days, it’s grown to be a distinct beast. The launcher bar gives two tiers of icons, several of which might be customizable. It’s a quick way to jump between your preferred apps and resources and as easy as channel hopping.

I like how the interface robotically recognizes the resources you’ve plugged in – the MU8000 efficiently identified my sports consoles and surround sound amplifier.

Picture performance may be stunning, so long as your mood is your expectations. After all, 4K HDR TVs are nevertheless in their relative infancy, and if you step away from the cutting-edge models, you’ll grow to greater compromises. The MU8000’s photograph is excellent in a mixed bag. However, the appropriate does outweigh the terrible.

I’ll start with the negatives. As is commonplace with aspect-lit LED TVs, there are some lighting troubles. Now and then, I spotted some clouding. It’s especially considerable in dark regions on the pinnacle and bottom of the display screen – in case you’re looking for a movie with black bars on top and bottom, you’re much more likely to look at it. It’s quite moderate, as some distance as clouding is going – there’s much less here than there was on closing 12 months’ KS7000. You’ll most effectively see it in a dark room, and even then, getting used to it is possible. The flatform component of the MU8000 might assist – our overview of the curved Samsung MU9000 had some distance harsher phrases on this branch.

Viewing angles aren’t fantastic. Samsung has long passed for a VA panel, which is right for assessment but negative for angled viewing. If you move out of 25-30 levels from the center, you’ll lose out on evaluation and saturation, and the lighting will look incredibly non-uniform.

As for hues, I’ve seen more potent ones from Samsung, which is a 2D-tier performance. What you get here is vibrant, but the Quantum Dot models this 12 months and the ultimate year look richer and extra subtle, with an extra numerous palette. There are also occasionally a few stripings in HDR, but thankfully, they are rare.

Moving on to the positives. What I virtually like about the MU8000 is its comparison. It receives masses vibrant, and it gets masses dark. It’s now not pretty 1000 nits – we’re searching at a maximum of about seven hundred, but that’s enough to provide you a tangible, visible impact, especially while the blacks are so fantastic.

Blacks look black instead of barely hollow and gray. That is what I’ve come to count on from LED LCD TVs. There’s not as much above-black shadow element as you would possibly locate on a perfect OLED TV, and you also get minimum crushing on all but the maximum intensity of HDR pictures.

Highlights do simply well, too, with little clipping on brilliant areas, headlamps, and explosions. Combine the 2, and you have been given a level of comparison and dynamism strong enough to present you with that HDR hit.