You’ve come a long way baby! Said so many of the Camel cigarette ads, so has a contemporary TV if we turn our head and glance backwards. From a resolution of fewer than 480 pixels per square inch TV gradually increasing to 480-720 then 1080 Pixels HD TV to 4K Pixels or more accurately 3840*2160 pixels.
Yes, no doubt, you’ve come a long way baby! The brief comparison made was only with pixels, when in fact so many other factors have radically improved over older TV’s like colour depth and Gamut (Entire colour span available), Absolutely near to nature, realistic colours and accurate skin tones, vastly improved input lag times for gaming, TV frames per second improved from less than 30 FPS, frames per second to 240 FPS giving the effect of a seamless harmonic motion on the screen, much wider screens and so much more. Yes, in the case of TVs, newer is certainly better!
The 4K Samsung NU8000 UHD TV is just about the best TV money can buy for the upper-middle class, just one notch below premium TV which is economically only in the reach of the super-rich. Although LG is a better option too, in comparison of LG SK8000 Vs Samsung NU8000, we realized that Samsung is still a better choice to make.
- REGARDING SMOOTH HARMONIC FLOW in picture motion, the NU 8000 is a cut above other TV’s as this supports the variable FreeSync system. Normally HD and even many UHD TVs are around 30FPS, frames per second. The FRAME referring to one still picture. On the Samsung, the frame rate can go as high as 240 frames per second! This is one of the highest rates in the TV industry at the current time. In the variable FPS rate, should the input signal be low, say for example 30FPS, the TV will automatically adjust to the lower FPS rate, as there is no advantage of displaying a higher frame rate with a lower FPS input. As a result, this translates to a very smooth, seamless and harmonic motion on the screen, a joy to behold. There are no copyright or license charges for using the FreeSync system so that helps in keeping the TV price very affordable in terms of value.
- CONTRAST RATIO. The TV has a great contrast ratio displayed via a VA panel with excellent Black Sync. That means fine detailing in the black colours is apparent. Contrast ratio is how much depth and range the TV can display for the two extreme opposite colours, black and white. Thanks to the VA panel operation on the Samsung the contrast ratio is superb. Due to the high contrast ratio, viewing this TV in a darkroom is a very nice viewing experience, say for example viewing a movie in a room with the lights out and children asleep, and headphones on. Some 4K UHD TVs with an IPS panel do not perform well in a dark room and the blacks appear as grays, this effect is reduced when such IPS panel TVs is viewed in an average lit room.
- COLOUR BRIGHTNESS and especially colour accuracy is very commendable on the Samsung, the highs being around 850 nits and the average brightness is just a shade below 500 nits.
- WIDE COLOUR GAMUT is excellent when considering close to nature and reality, especially in regards to skin tones. The Samsung has been lab-tested to show the minimum variance to colour shades so much so that the minute variations are beyond the detectable perception of the human eye. Consequentially human skin tones seem so lifelike and realistic on the Samsung screen.
- BEST INPUT LAG TIMES. The TV has one of the highest input lag times, close to 13 milliseconds. That is one of the fastest recorded times in a TV lab. This makes gaming very responsive and enjoyable on this TV
- SCREEN SIZES. Available in 49”-55”-65” 75” and 82” screens. The built quality on this TV is good. Viewed from the side, the TV is fairly slim, however minutely wider than previous Samsung TV’s but then you do get more performance value. The cables are hidden from view as they are routed at the back of the TV in an embedded groove that further routes the cable to exit via the vertical centre beam of the stand, that is for the cables to exit away from view. The frame bezel is fairly thin on 3 surround sides while the corners are rounded. Made of black painted metal, the finish is quite attractive. The bottom bezel straight frame member is slightly wider and finished in brush metallic grey, thus creating a striking two tone bezel finish. This lower bezel beam has the Samsung logo in the centre and the logo is not lit. The right side back, when viewed from the front, has space for 4HDMI ports and more connections. When wall mounted these HDMI ports are easily accessible. The table mounted stand being coloured in combination black and brushed metallic grey is nicely proportioned forming a T with a short and a longer parallel to the screen member.
- The cons of the TV are poor local dimming due to the backlight LEDs mainly placed at the bottom of the screen and a colour fade when viewed from a steep side angle due to the VA panel.
- Summarizing this is a wonderful TV overall, with a beautiful harmonic, flowing picture due to the FreeSync and very high 240 FPS, has very accurate and realistic colouring, so close to nature, a bright picture with an impressive colour gamut. The TV is very good value for the money. Additionally, as the world is becoming more CO2 emissions conscious due to mother Earth heading towards a climate catastrophe, this TV consumes very little electricity, in the 4K class being around 42 Watts per hour on the average.