Since last year, display manufacturers have been doing their best to convince the consumer that Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K is the future. The plethora of technological advancements behind these ultra-high resolution displays give manufacturers an excuse to sell a large and avid market of consumers a new TV all over again. With HD finally entrenched as the standard among consumers, it’s time once again to convince them that they’re missing out on the best their viewing experience has to offer if they don’t upgrade.
Leading this charge is Samsung Electronics, who have released a full lineup of UHD televisions this year. Near the top of their 2015 line-up sits the UN65JU7500, a full 4K (2160P) display that features a curved display measuring 64.5 inches diagonally, 40W of sound output, built-in Wi-Fi and 4 HDMI inputs. Like the rest of Samsung’s new lineup, the JU7500 uses Samsung’s “One Connect Mini” box to provide the HDMI and USB inputs, and also makes it much easier to connect sources to a TV that would be rather inaccessible once wall mounted.
Design & Features
The JU7500 comes with a plethora of features, including Samsung’s Smart Hub technology, which offers a variety of apps including Netflix, YouTube, and a broad selection of third party apps including MGo which allows access to downloadable 4K content. Samsung’s design team has done a great job on the JU7500, giving it thin bezels measuring just over a half-inch thick, and a beautiful curved stand that nicely complements the curve of the screen. Due to the curve, the JU7500 is quite a bit thicker in the back than the latest flat panels, measuring about 3.5” thick.
In terms of control and calibration, this is a very well featured set featuring both 2 point and 10 point white balance adjustments as well as a full color management system.
Color & Calibration
I measured and calibrated the JU7500 with my X-rite EyeOne Display 2, a rather low end colorimeter and a little out of date also. Regardless, gray scale calibration was accomplished relatively easily and resulted in excellent overall tracking after using the included 2-point and 10-point white balance calibration options. I struggled with color calibration in the CMS, as my colorimeter was not reading properly. Regardless, the net result was a very nice picture that is extremely accurate and excellent for viewing in the home. Here are my final results:
In terms of actual viewing, post calibration the picture of the JU7500 is about as natural and organic as one can hope for with an LED screen, and is the best I’ve seen to date. Skin tones and foliage look very natural while primaries have sufficient pop to give the picture a sense of depth and dimensionality. Note the color results here are very likely my meter, and not the set. A replacement is on order.
Contrast
After calibration I was still somewhat disappointed by the black levels on the JU7500, as they appeared more dark gray than black in a dark room. That said, in a bright room with the backlight cranked up perceived contrast improved dramatically. Those who purchase this set for a dark room should definitely consider bias lighting.
During my contrast evaluation, I also checked for backlight uniformity. It turns out that the curve of the screen does create some noticeable backlight bloom towards the edges of the screen but this is rarely noticeable during actual viewing.
Local Dimming
I turned on Smart LED initially to see if it improved my black levels on the JU7500, however the zones are very large and this reduces the usefulness of this feature to the point that I personally preferred it entirely turned off. I also noticed some occasional issues with this option enabled in dark content where dimming became noticeable to the extent it distracted from my viewing experience. For viewers who have dark rooms, I suggest you turn this off.
Motion & Judder
Motion on the JU7500 was generally very smooth with both 24p and 60p content. Samsung’s ‘Auto Motion Plus’ technology is included in the JU7500 if you enjoy the soap opera effect, however in my case this was left off as I detest the way it affects PQ.
3D
Due to an incredibly bright backlight, quality panel and fast response time I found the 3D experience on the JU7500 to be absolutely fantastic, with no visible crosstalk or eye strain. 3D lovers will certainly enjoy this TV.
Resolution & Clarity
Samsung’s 4K VA panel in the JU7500 is an absolute delight with respect to clarity, pixel density and sharpness. I reduced the sharpness setting to 10 for my purposes and found native 4K material provided by Samsung looked absolutely great on the JU7500. I also had the opportunity to view some of Sony’s 4K demo material that came with my projector and it also looked stunning both in static shots and in motion.
When viewing 1080p content on Blu-ray up scaled to 4K by the TV resolution also looked fantastic, though not quite as good as Sony’s competing sets at the same price point.
I also took the time to test the JU7500 as a computer monitor, turning on PC mode under input settings and enabling UHD Color, which allows 4:4:4 chroma reproduction. While additional calibration via ICC was required to get truly optimal color reproduction in PC mode, the lag was very reasonable for gaming at 4K and looked absolutely spectacular.
Conclusion
Samsung’s 4K televisions are changing rapidly, with SUHD models already on the market promising eventual obsolescence for the JU7500. These advancements include high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG), and from what I have seen thus far will not be small improvements, they will in all likelihood be as significant as 4K itself.
Buyers who are interested in having a top-tier television that is both future proofed and capable of reproducing the best picture quality available would be better served by purchasing Samsung’s latest JS9000 series. For cost-conscious consumers who are not early adopters looking for a full featured media room or family room TV that is an excellent all around performer, the JU7500 series seems to have everything one could hope for at a more reasonable price point than the new SUHD series.
From excellent industrial design and smart apps to full featured calibration capability and picture quality the JU7500 deserves top marks all around. Held back slightly by less than stellar contrast and black levels and some minor issues with backlight bleed in dark scenes, the JU7500 falls just short of our highest recommendation, yet remains a worthy display for anyone looking to make the jump to 4K. Recommended.
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