Execs
- Stunningly dynamic HDR footage
- Good good TV system
- Good value for what’s on provide
Cons
- Backlight points with darkish HDR scenes
- Lacking a few catch-up TV platforms
- No 3D
Key Specs
- Assessment Value: £1299.00
- 49-inch LCD TV with edge LED lighting
- Native UHD decision
- Tizen-based good TV system
- HDR 10 playback
- Native dimming system
What’s the Samsung UE49KS8000?
When you fancy getting your arms on Samsung’s largely glorious 2016 TV tech however don’t like curved screens, the UE49KS8000 is for you.
Its 49-inch display screen is resolutely flat, and whereas it falls barely quick in specification phrases of Samsung’s premium KS9500 fashions, it’s nonetheless one in every of Samsung’s “SUHD” TVs and so meets the necessities of the Extremely HD Premium commonplace. In truth, it’s primarily a flat model of Samsung’s spectacular KS9000 sequence.
Add within the newest Tizen-driven good TV system and new HDR “upscaling” and the UE49KS8000 makes its £1,300 value appear to be good worth.
Associated: Greatest TVs to Purchase
Samsung UE49KS8000 – Design
Though it’s a ache to assemble, the pay-off is that the UE49KS8000 seems to be fairly attractive. The best way the 1,094 x 636mm display screen sits low above a silver boomerang-shaped stand offers it an ethereal, floaty really feel. That is backed up by a super-thin bezel given added panache by a glinting metallic trim.
Though the slender 42.5mm-deep rear is made from plastic, it’s attractively completed with no ugly rivets or grilling. Though this solely actually issues if you happen to usually take a look at your TV’s rear, which I believe most of you received’t.
The UE49KS8000 ships with two distant controls: a remarkably button-light “good” design, and a extra bog-standard, button-laden affair. The good distant is initially slightly daunting in its sparseness, however keep it up and ultimately utilizing it begins to really feel like second nature. When you actually can’t address that stage of simplicity, although, there’s actually nothing incorrect with the usual distant, which is extra ergonomic than it seems to be.
Samsung UE49KS8000 – Options
The UE49KS8000’s star flip is its potential to ship native UHD and Extremely HD Premium HDR footage. It does this by way of an edge LED lighting system able to getting above 1000 nits of brightness, whereas retaining a robust distinction efficiency courtesy of native dimming. Native dimming, if you happen to’re not aware of it, permits completely different sections of the sting LED lighting to output completely different mild ranges to go well with the image you’re watching.
The 49KS8000 makes use of Samsung’s proprietary tackle Quantum Dot expertise – spectacular for the UE49KS8000’s value level. The result’s that it covers round 96% of the so-called DCI-P3 color vary utilized in digital cinemas, and round 70% of the BT.2020 color vary used for HDR video. This makes the UE49KS8000 prepared, keen and in a position to deal with the huge color spectrums that accompany all the present HDR sources.
Good options on the UE49KS8000 are supplied by means of the second technology of Samsung’s Tizen TV interface. That is simple to customize and doesn’t take up an excessive amount of of the display screen. Its construction has been drastically simplified this 12 months, too, by the addition of a second tier of icons that gives contextual hyperlinks primarily based on the choice you’ve made out of the underside tier.
Samsung appears to have trimmed the variety of apps and companies out there on its good TV platform this 12 months – which is not any unhealthy factor really, because it allows you to get to the great things extra simply. Highlights embrace 4K and HDR variations of Netflix and Amazon, plus BBC iPlayer and ITV Participant.
Unusually, there’s no signal of the My5 or All4 catch-up apps, regardless of Samsung supporting these platforms on earlier TV generations. Hopefully the Korean firm can get them on board quickly or comply with Panasonic, Sony and LG in integrating both the Freeview Play or YouView platforms into its TVs.
The UE49KS8000 includes a lengthy record of picture-processing instruments, as you’d anticipate from such a high-end TV. These embrace noise discount, movement enhancement, color enhancement, and a number of power settings for the Good LED native dimming engine.
The TV additionally consists of Samsung’s newest UHD upscaling system for changing HD footage to UHD, in addition to the brand new HDR+ system for making SDR sources look extra like HDR.
Samsung UE49KS8000 – Setup
The UE49KS8000 is fairly simple to arrange for traditional dynamic vary content material. I’d suggest its Customary preset for typical TV viewing, though some individuals will wish to change to the extra correct Film mode for, effectively, films.
Do bear in mind to show off noise discount for any 4K sources, although. Additionally, as a normal rule I’d suggest both turning off the Auto Movement Plus movement processing system or else selecting its Customized setting and setting each the Blur and Judder discount elements to a few or 4.
Don’t neglect to activate the Sport setting within the Particular image mode menu part when gaming. The Sport mode can now be chosen when gaming in HDR, too.
The Particular image sub-menu additionally accommodates an possibility referred to as HDR+ that injects extra brightness and color into commonplace dynamic vary content material. This received’t go well with everybody, however I’d suggest you a minimum of give it a strive, as it really works surprisingly effectively.
With native HDR sources the setup is extra sophisticated. The TV does nonetheless robotically alter a lot of its settings as quickly because it detects an HDR supply, and defaults to the Film preset. Nevertheless, Extremely HD Blu-ray HDR footage can undergo with color striping if you happen to don’t change the Dynamic Distinction setting to a minimum of its Medium setting when utilizing the Film mode.
How we take a look at televisions
We take a look at each TV we evaluate completely over an prolonged time period. We use business commonplace assessments to match options correctly. We’ll all the time inform you what we discover. We by no means, ever, settle for cash to evaluate a product.
Discover out extra about how we take a look at in our ethics coverage.
Used as the principle TV for the evaluate interval
Examined for greater than every week
Examined utilizing business calibrated instruments, discs and with actual world use
Examined with broadcast content material (HD/SD), video streams and demo discs
