Big box store tv quality (1 Viewer)

[Spencer Coles]

Hey guys, I bought Costco’s 82” Samsung 4K UHD tv. I typically buy my electronics from them because of their warrantee and return policy. I have 90 days to try this bad boy out and 7yrs or warrantee. But I was told by someone that Costco TVs are “dummed down” so they can sell them cheaper. Is there any validity to that?

Also, I haven’t been super impressed with the quality of the picture unless it is playing 4k content (then it looks amazing!). It looks pixelated and blurry a lot with some judder every so often. Is this a tv quality issue? I have the option to buy the LG 86” SUHD for only a few hundred more, but that has a zero return policy and only a 1yr warrantee. Is the image quality much better with SUHD? Is it worth not having a 7 year warrantee???

 

[Todd Erwin]

Costco TV's are only dumbed down when they have a Costco-specific model number, which is the case if your TV is UN82MU800DFXZA. Other retailers, such as Best Buy and Amazon, have a similar TV, UN82MU8000FXZA.

On the surface, these two are identical. The real problem is trying to find out exactly what the differences are, since Samsung does not list the Costco model on their website (they never do). In the past, it usually came down to the retail version would have one more HDMI or USB port than the Costco, but both models have 4 HDMI and 3 USB. It is possible that the Costco model's 4 HDMI ports are not all HDCP 2.2 compliant, which is required for 4K content. It is hard to say, since, again, there is no publicly available spec sheet. I would pull out your owner's manual, turn to the Specifications page, and compare them to what is listed on Samsung's site for UN82MU8000FXZA.

As for picture quality on non-4K content, what is your source? This is a very large TV. Watching lower resolution content is never going to look spectacular. It is much like looking at a low-resolution photo on your computer, then enlarging it to fill your screen. Upscaling will try to fill in as much missing information as possible, but it is never perfect. I remember when 4K TVs first came out back when I was working at Best Buy, and we were getting a lot of returns from the senior community across the street, claiming poor picture quality. The real culprit was the community's cable company, who offered very little HD content, most of it was still SD. It's like the old saying, "garbage in, garbage out."

I would stick with Samsung unless you are willing to go with OLED technology, then I would recommend LG or Sony.

 

[Spencer Coles]

My model number is UN82MU800D. No FXZA after the D. Does that mean it is the dummed down version?

As for source, I mainly use the Plex and Netflix app on the tv. I have noticed it more in our older movies (through Plex) which are 1080 or even 720 resolution which makes sense with up scaling. But I have noticed it as well on some newer movies we have. I will dive into the owners manual and see if here are any differences. Thanks for the tip.

I have an LG in my exercise room and I love the Samsung remote and interface so much more so I would definitely prefer keeping this one unless SUHD is really that much better with LG.

 

[Todd Erwin]

LG's non-OLED are known for having adequate to poor contrast compared to Samsung.

 

[Spencer Coles]

Sorry, I edited my post after I saw that you replied, I found the model number and it looks like it is the Costco specific model number but a little differently from what you wrote down. Thoughts?

 

[Todd Erwin]

FXZA has no real meaning. Everything before that is what matters. Costco sells the 800D, while everyone else sells the 8000.

 

[Jim517]

Spencer, can you tell me more about the 7 year warranty? Thanks.

 

[Spencer Coles]

Spencer, can you tell me more about the 7 year warranty? Thanks.

They told me 7 when I checked out at the store, but looking at the paperwork it is only 5. First 2 years covered by either the manufacturer or Costco Wholesale, and three extra years came free through their SquareTrade Protection Plan.