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The NU8000 is Samsungs best selling mid-range tv. It offers very decent picture quality for an affordable price. It performs well in both dark and bright rooms. The Samsung NU8000 is particularly suited for Gaming with the Xbox One S or X (or PCs with AMD graphics cards) due to its VRRVariable Refresh Rate - synchronizes the display's refresh rate with the output refresh rate of the graphics card with FreeSync.
Exemplary mid range built quality
The Samsung NU8000’s design is modern, stylish yet not over the top. Samsung calls it “360°-Design” meaning there is a clean rear side of the television. Even though it’s mostly made of plastic the quality seems very decent.
After the idea “form follows function” one can find grooves on the back of the tv which help to guide cables into the stand in the middle where they are cleverly hidden. The tv does stand securely but it might be difficult to put a soundbar right in front of the tv due to the stands layout.
The 82 inch model is the only one having to separate feet probably to make it stand more sturdy.
All sizes can be easily mounted on the wall. Either with Samsungs special wall mount or with any wall mount having the right VESA Standard. The stand comes off for this matter.
Update August 2018: There might be some clicking sounds at the bottom of the tv after turning it on or off. This is caused by the difference in temperature of certain plastic parts and should stop after a short time. It’s not a big issue though.
High contrast picture quality on the Samsung NU8000
The Samsungs VA-Panel provides deep blacks and a fairly hight contrast ratio of about 5500:1 . The screen does get quite bright, especially if you compare it to similarly priced models and doesn’t reflect a lot of the incoming lights .
The Samsung NU8000s wide color gamutThe complete subset of colors which can be displayed by the screen creates a big color volume and most colors are displayed accurately. Only in rather dark content some slight bandingVisible steps in gradually changing colors in the picture can be visible.
Upscaling of both, SD and HD content, works well and looks much better than the native material.
One of the VA-Panels disadvantages is the picture quality degrading at an angle quite rapidly.
It will be noticeable if you sit more than 20° (in either direction) from the straight viewing axis.
Mostly crisp motion handlingDisplaying fast moving objects
The Motion HandlingDisplaying fast moving objects greatly benefits from the 120Hz PanelThe panel is the actual screen of a television. There is different types of panels like OLED, LCD or Micro LED and different sub-types of LCD like VA or IPS. (except the 49 inch model!) and its fast response timeTime it takes for a pixel to change color just below 5ms. This hardware allows perfect interpolationArtificial calculation of more frames than the source material has to offer and very decent blur reduction. There also is a Black Frame Insertion feature to further improve fast moving content. The resulting flicker is normal but can be a problem to some people though.
FreeSync powered Gaming TV
Like mentioned in the beginning, Samsung does offer VRRVariable Refresh Rate - synchronizes the display's refresh rate with the output refresh rate of the graphics card for the first time in its 2018 premium tv line up. Using FreeSync there will be no tearing when playing games on the Xbox One S / X or a PC with an AMD graphics card. This also enables incredibly low input lags. If FreeSync is activated it will be ~6ms for 1080p and ~15ms for 2160p. Without using FreeSync the input lagTime it takes for the input signal to appear on the screen (delay) is still quite low with figures from ~10ms (1080p @ 120Hz) to roughly 18ms when the tv is in game mode.
Paired with the NU8000’s solid motion handlingDisplaying fast moving objects this makes it to a very good choice for gamers.
Update Juli 2018: Few gamers do experience unexpected stutterStatic Frames being displayed too long on the screen - no fluid motion and lots of blur. The reasons for this are currently still unknown. This doesn’t happen very often though. It only occurred in combination with the PS4 and graphics-intense games or FIFA.
Above average sound from Samsung NU8000
This headline might sound better than it is (No pun intended)! Yes, the Sound of the NU8000 is better than the sound of most flatscreen tvs; This still isn’t really great though.
The 40 Watt 2.1 channel system does get relatively loud and reproduces voices quite clearly. The mid and treble range remains fairly accurate, the bass lacks the required punch though.
The built in speakers should be sufficient for daytime television shows. If you want to enjoy cinemas or exciting tv shows a dedicated soundbar or hifi system is recommended.
It’s a pity Samsung seized supporting DTS in its 2018 line up. Even though most Surround Sound is available (or exclusively available) in the Dolby Digital format, it can be upsetting if you want to enjoy that particular content which just comes in DTS.
If you own a hifi-system or soundbar which does support DTS there is the possibility to split the audio and video signal before. This can be achieved with a Blu Ray Player like this one:
Smart-TV with Bixby
Samsungs Tizen 4.0 is one of the easiest-to-use and quickest user interfaces. Most common apps are preinstalled and there is a vast variety to choose from. Controlling with Samsungs Smart Remote is very intuitve. The Bixby Voice Assistant works well but the Smartphone Remote App is too limited to make good use.
The NU8000 can fit perfectly into Samsungs Smart Things network and can be used as an information providing corner stone.
Most other devices can be controlled by the TVs smart remote.
There is a minor downside as you can’t get rid of the ads in the Smart Hub Menu.
Update October 2018: You can get rid of the ads in the service menu. To access the service menu you’ll need a classic remote with numbers. You also should be careful when changing stuff in the service menu as it may have a big impact on your viewing experience.
Samsung NU8000 Variants
Samsung NU8070
There is a variant, called NU8070, sold in the UK. There is just one difference to the main model NU8000. The picture processing software is called “Supreme UHD Dimming” (NU8070) instead of “UHD Dimming” (NU8000). As the NU8000 is marketed with “Supreme UHD Dimming” in the US and no one we talked to could spot any difference, we expect no difference between the two softwares. Also Samsung wasn’t able to clarify the real difference between the two…
As the models are basically the same you should just get whichever is cheaper!
Samsung NU8500 Curved
The Samsung NU8500 is the curved variant of the NU8000. Its overall performance is basically the same as the NU8000’s (Maybe the contrast ratio is slightly lower). The only difference is the display being curved. This doesn’t bring any real advantages though. It remains a choice of personal preference.
If you aren’t a dedicated curved TV fan, you should stick with the NU8000 as it’s probably a bitThe color depth is measured in Bit. 8 Bit stands for 28 different values for each color channel, for TVs those are red, green and blue. By combining the 3 rgb channels 28*28*28=16.777.216 colors are possible. HDR10 or the dynamic HDR formats work with 10 or even 12 Bit. cheaper.
Great value for money
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