Samsung QN75Q900R Overview

8K’s affect is not fairly as dramatic at 75 inches, however it’s nonetheless there and vital

Professionals

• Fantastically dynamic and punchy HDR footage
• 8K decision is mesmerising with native 8K content material…
• …however upscaled non-8K sources look excellent too

Cons

• At present no native 8K content material
• Restricted viewing angles
• Some backlight instability in Customary preset

Key Specs

• Overview Worth: £6999 / $6499
• QLED color expertise
• HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ excessive dynamic vary help
• 75-inch LCD TV with a local 8K decision
• Direct LED lighting with 480 native dimming zones
• Eden sensible TV platform

What’s the Samsung QN75Q900R?

The Samsung QN75Q900R is a 75-inch 8K tv. Sure, that’s proper, 8K – which means it has 7680 x 4320 pixels squeezed into its display screen.

It additionally makes use of Samsung’s QLED expertise to ship distinctive brightness and color quantity, and the corporate’s new 8K AI processor to transform non-8K sources into 8K. That is fairly helpful, on condition that there are basically zero native 8K sources obtainable proper now.

We’ve already examined and been dazzled by the 75Q900R’s larger, 85-inch brother. However can the affect of 8K nonetheless hit house on a smaller display screen?

Associated: Samsung QE85Q900R overview

Samsung QN75Q900R – Design and construct high quality

The QN75Q900R is impressively nicely constructed. It’s one of many heaviest TVs my aching again has needed to take care of up to now 12 months, and its rear and sides present no signal in anyway of flexing or buckling.

Its bodywork isn’t in itself essentially the most engaging I’ve seen. It’s comparatively chunky around the again by as we speak’s requirements, for example. Its angled toes look fairly plain, too – though not less than you’ll be able to select to position them both underneath every nook of the TV or nearer collectively in the direction of the display screen’s center. This latter becoming choice means you don’t want a very large piece of furnishings upon which to relaxation the TV.

Nonetheless, as with all high-end 2018 Samsung TVs, the QN75Q900R has a neat design trick up its sleeve: Ambient mode. Choose this and the TV switches right into a low energy setting and performs both a nonetheless picture of art work or considered one of your personal photographs, so that you simply’re now not left with a gaping 75-inch black gap in your lounge.

You may even take {a photograph} of your wallpaper/paint and have that seem on the display screen, in order that the TV blends magically into your decor.

To finish this “invisible TV” phantasm, the QN75Q900R ships with an exterior connections field that attaches to the TV by way of a single, skinny, nearly clear cable.

Samsung provides two distant controls with the 75Q900R. One is a fairly drab however really very usable customary distant, with a lot of buttons. The opposite is a minimalist, metallic “sensible” handset that takes a little bit of getting used to. Finally, it proves rewarding for day-to-day use, particularly because it’s the one one which carries a built-in mic to help the QN75Q900R’s glorious voice-control options.

The sensible distant may even routinely detect and supply management of any gadgets you’ve got hooked up to your QN75Q900R. In observe, nonetheless, that is overly difficult by the sensible distant’s restricted variety of buttons.

Associated: What dimension TV ought to I purchase?

Samsung QN75Q900R – Options

As you’d hope of a TV that prices £7000, the QN75Q900R has loads of big-hitting options up its sleeve.

Probably the most uncommon on the time of writing is its native 8K decision. In reality, this mannequin is the one true 8K 75-inch TV launched to this point. Whereas 8K definitely made a significant affect – greater than I’d anticipated – on Samsung’s 85-inch TV, a giant query for the QN75Q900R is whether or not 8K nonetheless “works” at 75 inches.

Serving to to unlock the form of color finesse so many pixels deserve/have to be partnered with is Samsung’s QLED expertise. This makes use of particular metal-clad Quantum Dots that may be pushed brighter than regular QDs to supply an unprecedentedly broad color vary.

The QN75Q900R additionally claims an enormous 4000 nits of peak brightness – one thing that will probably be key in serving to the set obtain larger color “quantity” than typical LCD or OLED TVs. As I’ll talk about within the Efficiency part, my very own measurements counsel this 4000-nit declare is definitely fairly optimistic. It’s nonetheless the brightest 75-inch TV round, although.

The concern each time there’s excessive brightness on an LCD TV is how a lot injury this may do to its black ranges. The QN75Q900R tackles this difficulty nicely, although, because of a direct backlighting system with a really respectable 480 individually controllable native dimming zones.

What’s extra, in response to criticism I and others levelled at some mild “blooming” on the QE85Q900R, Samsung has tweaked the backlight management algorithms by way of a firmware replace with spectacular outcomes, as we’ll see later.

Additionally standing out on the QN75Q900R is Samsung’s newest tackle its “Eden” sensible platform. In addition to supporting an easy-to-use and complete voice-control system, this delivers an enormous vary of apps inside a slick and tidy interface.

Among the many apps obtainable are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube (all obtainable of their 4K and HDR variations); all of the catch-up apps for the UK’s hottest terrestrial broadcasters; Now TV; Spotify; Deezer; Chili.TV; Rakuten (once more, in 4K and HDR), and plenty of extra apart from.

Other than the UK catch-up providers not being obtainable inside a YouView or Freeview Play wrapper, it’s exhausting to see what additional content material Samsung might moderately be anticipated so as to add.

The interface seems to be just a little dated, if I needed to be super-critical. Nonetheless, it’s simple to customize and exhausting to get “misplaced in”; in the long run, that’s all that actually issues.

The connections discovered on the QN75Q900R’s exterior connection field are principally as you’d anticipate of a flagship TV. The 4 HDMIs can all deal with 4K HDR at 60p and past, whereas three USBs and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth community choices deal with a variety of multimedia file codecs. The HDMIs help a few cool gaming options, too: automated recreation mode switching when a recreation supply is detected, and variable refresh price help for example.

The one downside is that not one of the HDMIs are constructed to the lately specified HDMI 2.1 specification. This implies they’ll’t deal with the information bandwidths vital for 8K at 60Hz or extra. Happily, Samsung has promised to construct a brand new connections field carrying an HDMI 2.1 port sooner or later subsequent 12 months – and it’s additional promised to produce this new field freed from cost to any current Q900R proprietor who asks for one.

In fact, you may nicely suppose that each one this speak of 8K supply compatibility is fairly moot when there aren’t really any native 8K sources obtainable. In reality, you could be considering that there isn’t a lot level shopping for an 8K TV in any respect when there aren’t but any 8K sources.

Such sources will certainly come from someplace finally, although – and after they do, the QN75Q900R must do no matter it might to verify it’s suitable with them.

There’s one other necessary 8K angle to contemplate, within the form of Samsung’s 8K AI processing engine. This makes use of large quantities of processing energy and film know-how to transform decrease decision sources into 8K, in real-time. And it really works nicely sufficient to rely as a recreation changer, as we’ll see within the Efficiency part.

Samsung’s Optimised Sound choice, in the meantime, routinely adjusts the sound settings primarily based on an evaluation of the kind of sound being performed at any given second.

It helps the HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ excessive dynamic vary codecs, however not Dolby Imaginative and prescient. And eventually, it takes lower than 20ms to render its footage with its Recreation image mode chosen.

Associated: HDMI 2.1 – What it is advisable to know

Samsung QN75Q900R – Setup

Earlier than you do the rest, flip off the QN75Q900R’s Eco image capabilities. These – particularly the setting that adjusts the image in response to mild ranges in your room – could be significantly damaging to the image.

One bit of fine information right here is that adjusting the TV’s distinction or brightness settings immediately turns the Eco settings off with out you having to search out them within the TV’s “Normal” settings menu.

In terms of image presets, you’re actually a alternative between Customary and Film. Customary delivers essentially the most dynamic, punchy, excessive distinction and, for me, most all-round satisfying image. Though chances are you’ll want to show down the backlight barely if you happen to really feel that its default HDR photographs look too excessive for consolation.

Film mode nonetheless seems to be flat, yellowish and a contact smooth in contrast with a gently tweaked Customary mode, regardless that it’s ostensibly essentially the most correct setting in Samsung’s arsenal. Nonetheless, it delivers essentially the most all-round nuanced and balanced HDR mild vary expertise, particularly on the subject of shadow detailing and light-weight consistency.

If you happen to choose to make use of the Customary preset, take care to not set the native dimming to low, as the quantity of shadow element this crushes out of the image turns into excessive.

Additionally price being attentive to is the Digital Clear View function. To maintain one of the best stability for various sources between element and noise, I’d counsel the next Digital Clear View setting selections: Off for 4K/8K content material; Low for good-quality HD content material; and Auto for SD and poor high quality HD.

The QN75Q900R additionally makes argument for movement processing. Activating it on its Customized setting with its blur and judder elements set to round three helps to retain extra readability in upscaled and native 8K photographs. With out it you constantly really feel such as you’re dropping among the 8K picture’s outstanding readability.

Samsung QN75Q900R – Efficiency

The QN75Q900R retains a lot of the dazzling pleasure of the QE85Q900R’s footage. And, because of the brand new firmware replace, it does so with significantly much less noticeable flaws.

Let’s begin by pushing the QN75Q900R to the extremes of its efficiency with native 8K content material. This comes within the type of non-HDR video clips supplied on USB by Samsung, as there are, as mentioned beforehand, no native 8K sources on the market. Nonetheless, the clips are fairly assorted, giving us a glimpse on the element, color and movement dealing with of the QN75Q900R’s 8K footage. And whereas their affect isn’t as nice because it was on the 85-inch TV, it’s nonetheless in contrast to something I’ve seen within the 4K realm.

The readability of among the most detailed footage – predominantly cityscapes, views throughout rugged terrain and, significantly memorably, a shot of stained-glass home windows in a cathedral – is spectacular. Past 4K, with out query. Notably when there’s some mild movement within the body, at which level the way in which your mind works to understand decision kicks into its highest gear.

Associated: Hybrid Log-Gamma – what’s it?

It’s jaw-dropping stuff at occasions, significantly throughout an Inception-like demo sequence the place a cityscape tumbles across the display screen.

Whilst you really feel most aware of 8K’s additional element and readability the nearer you sit to the display screen, it’s nonetheless seen – significantly within the sense of depth and color decision –from regular viewing distances. Which on this case I put at round 3 metres.

The affect of all the additional pixels isn’t fairly as nice – even throughout essentially the most spectacular sequences – because it was on the 85-inch display screen. And among the much less mind-blowing 8K sequences solely look barely higher than 4K. Whereas this reminds us of the truth that 8K can be a big-screen expertise as far as client TV functions are involved, there’s definitely nonetheless sufficient of a distinction to make sure that the QN75Q900R is able to delivering hands-down essentially the most crystal-clear, detailed footage ever seen on a 75-inch TV.

Transferring to 4K native sources, the QN75Q900R joins the QE85Q900R in revealing the outstanding high quality of Samsung’s 8K AI upscaling system. This does a stellar job of including the tens of hundreds of thousands of pixels wanted to show 4K into 8K, making them look barely extra detailed whereas concurrently taking outstanding care to not suppress fairly than exaggerate supply noise.

Pausing 4K Blu-rays on the QN75Q900R alongside a 65Q9FN clearly reveals additional element in areas resembling constructing brickwork and the weave of clothes. All delivered with none accompanying movement artefacts, blurring, edge ringing or undesirable grittiness.

This upscaling system is even able to spiriting away massive quantities of the blocking and mosquito noise related to closely compressed HD and even SD web streaming sources, or the notoriously closely compressed broadcasts of Sky Information on Freeview.

Samsung actually has give you one thing particular with 8K AI – because it wanted to, on condition that till native 8K content material arrives, the one actual arguments for purchasing an 8K TV are future-proofing and the potential for upscaled 4K footage to look higher than they do on a 4K TV.

Associated: What’s HDR?

The QN75Q900R’s brightness, in the meantime, is spectacular and barely disappointing all on the identical time. Photos definitely look constantly dazzling with HDR content material, because of extra brightness than any 75-inch TV I’ve seen earlier than. Placing some numbers on this, in Customary mode the TV peaks at round 2890 nits on a ten% white HDR window – though this determine is barely held for a really quick time.

The Film mode doesn’t peak as excessive, extra like 1950 nits, however it retains this form of determine for much longer than the Customary mode holds on to its greater brightness peak. In reality, brightness reduces so slowly over time with the Film setting that I wouldn’t think about you’d ever see the change occurring with any actual life content material.

In fact, each of those measured “peak” figures fall a way in need of the 4000 nits Samsung claims for the QN75Q900R. That’s to not say the corporate is essentially mendacity with its 4000 nit claims; I believe the display screen actually can hit 4000 nits in very small areas of the display screen for very quick durations of time. However I definitely couldn’t get the QN75Q900R to hit the 4000 nits and past figures on the ten% window just like the QE85Q900R did.

Going again to the variations between the very totally different approaches to brightness between the Customary and Film modes, you’re confronted with a alternative between a extra dynamic and punchy image in Customary mode, and a “flatter” however extra steady and constant image in Film mode.

That is hardly the primary time we’ve come throughout this alternative on a Samsung TV. Nonetheless, the distinction is noticeably extra pronounced than it’s with Samsung’s non-8K TVs.

The Customary setting is in most methods comfortably essentially the most thrilling, with higher distinction and black ranges, greater ranges of common brightness with HDR content material, and a richer, extra dynamic look to colors.

Nonetheless, darkish scenes can look noticeably extra unstable, with some fairly apparent shifting in brightness when, say, a shot cuts abruptly from a darkish scene to a vivid one, and vice versa.

Associated: What’s Extremely HD Premium? New HDR customary defined

In Film mode such instabilities are enormously decreased, however black ranges are barely greyer, and colors look flatter – though barely extra nuanced.

Each modes reveal the advantages of Samsung’s new firmware for its Q900R TVs, nonetheless. There’s now virtually no “blooming” round vivid objects, even after they seem in opposition to almost black backgrounds. What’s extra, this has someway been achieved whereas really growing, fairly than reducing, the brightness of these stand-out vivid areas. They nonetheless look a contact dimmer than they do on Samsung’s Q9FN TVs, however the distinction is now a lot much less dramatic.

Samsung’s new firmware additionally does a significantly better job of retaining shadow element in very darkish scenes, even if you happen to’re utilizing the Customary mode. “Film” remains to be one of the best setting for shadow element, however given the benefits in different areas of the Customary setting, it’s nice to see that this mode now comes with far much less black crush.

Added collectively, the huge discount in backlight blooming, elevated punch of stand-out vivid areas and improved shadow element rendition take away just about all the problems I had with the QE85Q900R’s image. This makes it even simpler to lap up the ground-breaking affect of the QN75Q900R’s decision, brightness, distinction and color.

Associated: OLED vs LED LCD – What’s one of the best show expertise?

On the draw back, there’s little question that the QN75Q900R is at its best possible with one thing it isn’t more likely to get in any nice amount for years: native 8K content material. It additionally nonetheless suffers with a really restricted viewing angle earlier than distinction and color take a giant hit.

Rival OLED expertise nonetheless has a giant benefit on the subject of viewing angles. It additionally delivers extra constantly deep black colors than you get with whilst excellent an LED TV because the QN75Q900R. There’s extra luminance depth to very vivid objects that stand out in opposition to near-black backgrounds on OLED screens, too.

Nonetheless, the QN75Q900R outguns OLED considerably on brightness and color quantity. Plus, in fact, there are presently no commercially obtainable 8K OLED TVs.

The QN75Q900R’s sound isn’t as spectacular as its footage. Regardless of the intelligent efforts of Samsung’s Good Sound expertise, it tends to really feel barely swallowed and muted. The sound stage doesn’t seem as detailed, direct or massive in scale as these of one of the best TV audio performers this 12 months.

To be honest, with 60W of audio energy unfold throughout 4.2 channels, the QN75Q900R’s audio specification seems just about an identical to that of the Q9FN TVs, which I reviewed fairly positively. Nonetheless, the dimensions and dynamism of the QN75Q900R’s footage simply really feel like they need to be partnered with a extra dynamic and direct sound.

Associated: What’s 4K TV and Extremely HD?

Why purchase a Samsung QN75Q900R?

The QN75Q900R is able to delivering footage the likes of which you’ve by no means seen earlier than. That is very true with native 8K content material.

Crucially, although, on condition that native 8K content material is presently non-existent exterior of specifically created demo reels, its 8K AI upscaling additionally makes good high quality 4K content material look higher than it does on one of the best native 4K TVs.

In different phrases, if you happen to purchase one now you’re not simply future-proofing your self in preparation for a possible courageous new 8K world. You’re additionally marginally enhancing your expertise with as we speak’s content material.

The enhancements Samsung has managed to ship with its new firmware are glorious, fixing nearly the entire gripes I had with the QE85Q900R (which can even have now acquired the newest firmware). It’s additionally nice to listen to Samsung’s pledge to offer an up to date connections field with HDMI 2.1 help (as soon as they’re obtainable) to any Q900R proprietor who needs one.

The QN75Q900R’s 8K abilities don’t ship fairly as a lot affect as they did on the QE85Q900R. Nonetheless, crucially, they’re nonetheless seen – and from regular viewing distances, too.

The one massive query it’s important to ask your self is simply how a lot you’re prepared to pay for the QN75Q900R’s future-proof options and cutting-edge footage. For whereas $6499 is arguably not loopy cash for a very next-generation TV, it’s nonetheless $2000 greater than Samsung’s 75-inch flagship 4K TV, the QN75Q9FN.

On the time of writing, you can too get the 77-inch LG OLED77C8 TV for slightly below $6000. That set affords help for Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR, too – though, clearly, it’s solely a 4K fairly than an 8K TV.

Verdict

The QN75Q900R isn’t fairly as spectacular as its bigger 8K sibling, when it comes to both its brightness or the affect of its 8K decision. Nonetheless, it delivers essentially the most detailed, sharp and vibrant footage of any 75-inch TV – even whenever you’re not watching native 8K content material. If cash’s no object, you definitely can’t accuse Samsung of not making the world’s first 8K TVs critically compelling.

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Trusted Rating

Rating intimately

• Options 9

• Worth 8

• Good TV 9

• Picture High quality 10

• Design 9

• Sound High quality 8

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