Samsung 55" TU8000 HDR Smart 4K TV with Tizen OS Black

Product Information

The out-of-the-box colour performance on the UE55D8000 was already very good indeed, but we used this HDTV’s Colour Management controls (Samsung calls them “Colour Space”) to bring things closer to perfection:

Samsung UN55TU8000 review | What Hi-Fi? Samsung UN55TU8000 review | What Hi-Fi?

Last year’s Samsung LED TVs were not as gifted for sound as they were for picture performance and it’s the same balance again. There are three main audio settings to choose from – Standard, Adaptive and Amplified – and they offer increasing levels of weight, but at the expense of clarity. Ultimately, we choose the middle option, but even a budget soundbar will offer a big improvement. That’s because the peak brightness of this set is on the low side. Even with brightness turned up high in settings, you will likely find yourself wanting more, especially with dark scenes in well-lit rooms. However, it’s worth noting that one of the HDMI ports will become unusable in this position due to being rear-facing, which is a shame considering what’s there is already a fairly stingy offering. Each of several items in a list, preceded by a bullet symbol for emphasis. For easy access to this data, refer to the "BulletPoints" tag in XML or JSON.A Smart TV is a platform that can run 3rd party Apps. 3rd party content providers may remove Apps from the Smart TV platform or stop supporting them at any time, and we cannot guarantee an App’s availability. When new Smart TV products are launched, there may also be a delay before certain Apps become available. Availability of Apps is not included within the terms of the manufacturer’s warranty, or the John Lewis 2-year Guarantee for audio visual products, or the 5-year Guarantee for TVs.

Samsung UA55TU8000 review | What Hi-Fi? Samsung UA55TU8000 review | What Hi-Fi?

Note: The specific model we tested was the Samsung UE55D8000YUXXU, which is the 3-pin-plug UK version. While we did not review the smaller Samsung UE46D8000 or UE40D8000, there should not be any major difference in picture performance given similar specifications bar screen size. DesignThis has a massively positive impact on the 3D experience, allowing you to watch 3D for longer without feeling tired, and finally making it possible to see without distraction just how detailed and crisp Samsung’s 3D engine can make full HD 3D material (from Blu-ray) look. Furthermore, the huge reduction in crosstalk also makes the 55D8000’s images seem to have a greater depth, without your eyes having to work overtime to resolve everything. Smart TV or not, we think the first thing people will notice about the Samsung UE55D8000 is how stunning it looks. Some of us have questioned the practicality of an ultra-thin TV (unless it’s in the middle of a room, will anyone ever notice how thin it is?), but what’s undeniable is the attraction of the nearly non-existent bezel. There is only about 1 centimetre’s worth of silver plastic separating the 55-inch LCD panel from the rest of its surroundings, which makes the screen feel bigger than it really is. This 50” screen has four times the number of pixels than 1080p Full HD TVs, delivering stunning realism, natural motion and incredible detail. If you want to connect your TV to a blu-ray player, games console, soundbar or soundbase then you'll need a HDMI cable. This isn’t a demanding screen to set up. We like the fact that Samsung doesn’t over complicate its image menus. In addition to Movie mode, there’s a simple choice between Standard, Natural and Dynamic. The latter looks a little over bright and oversaturated, but Natural is a good catch-all. It’s a little more colour rich and contrasty than Standard, on this particular set at least.

Samsung UE55D8000 55 inch 3D LED TV - Appliances Direct Samsung UE55D8000 55 inch 3D LED TV - Appliances Direct

What really matters about the 55D8000’s 3D capabilities, though, is that they deliver the 3D goods much more successfully than those of Samsung’s first-generation of 3D TVs.We’d usually recommend turning all added picture processing off for the purest picture, but in this case, Samsung’s Contrast Enhancer works wonders for giving this picture the added oomph it needs, particularly in darker scenes. With SDR content you can probably keep it switched on low, but with HDR content, you’ll get more impact, albeit with less subtlety, set at high.