Samsung Q800T QLED – Q800T QLED - The Budget 8K TV from Samsung

The Q800T’s design is first class and is very similar to the Q90T. It makes a good impression due to its excellent build quality and the glossy display is framed by an impressively thin frame. The centrally positioned stand is made of metal and supports the TV quite well; however, it wobbles a bit when pushed. Due to the small sized foot, the Q800T can easily be placed on small TV tables and there is also enough room for a soundbar.

The TV cuts a fine figure when mounted on the wall due to the narrow frame and shallow depth. The interfaces, which are aligned to the left side of the screen, are also easy to reach at any time. To enable clean cable management, there are cut-outs on the back of the TV and the stand, so the setup makes a clean impression.

Unfortunately, Samsung has saved the One Connect Box on the Q800T, which was included in last years 8K TVs.

That the Q800T has a native 8K resolution sounds really impressive at first glance. However, before buying it, you have to be aware that there is hardly any 8K content that the TV can display at the moment. This means that neither streaming services nor TV broadcasters support this resolution. There are some videos on Youtube, but even here the range is quite limited. During 2020, two significant sources of 8K content will be added, namely the next-gen consoles Xbox Series X and Playstation 5, which will deliver games with 8K resolution. But of course the frame rate suffers enormously because of this, so that fast games, such as shooters, will probably not be played in 8K.

Content with a lower resolution can be upscaled without loss of picture quality. DitheringIntentional noise to create more colors: 10bit from 8bit+dithering can only occur with 4K content. So the picture quality of 4K content is better on 4K TVs, which means that the Q90T, which has a very similar performance, can produce a better picture with this content.

Also, the four times greater amount of pixels compared to 4K TVa does not really make the huge difference. In a double-blind study, human perception of 8K content was compared with 4K content – and the result is really disillusioning. According to the study, most people can not see any difference between 4K and 8K images, and a quarter of the subjects even claimed that the image would look better in 4K resolution.

However, the higher resolution also has its reason for existence. Especially with very large TVs of more than 80 inches, the higher resolution and thus the higher pixel density makes sense – but rather when you sit relatively close to the TV. If you want to use an 80 inch TV on your desk as a computer screen, 8K is a must have.

The Q800T uses a 10 bit VAVertical Alignment, type of LCD Panel panel and therefore has a deep and even black. A bit untypical for VA panels is the low contrast ratio of ~1700:1, but due to the well implemented Full Array Local Dimming with 480 zones it can be increased to 9200:1. This is a very good value that even many VA panels do not reach. In combination with the high peak brightness of 1400 Nits and the wide color gamut, HDRHigh Dynamic Range – image/video with more dynamic range (contrast range) content is displayed impressively and highlights are presented in a great way without blooming being clearly visible. The high brightness is even more impressive as the Q800T is equipped with Samsung’s Ultra Viewing Angle layer to significantly improve the viewing angle and reflection handling. Normally this layer greatly reduces brightness. As a result, the TV’s LEDs have to be made brighter, which of course has a negative impact on power consumption – especially since the 8K resolution requires four times as many LEDs. The high brightness and reflection handling also results in great picture quality especially in bright rooms.

Unfortunately, the Q800T’s grey levels are not really even, which means that the colors are not displayed as uniformly in the middle of the display. This is called the Dirty Screen effect. However, this is not as significant as the lack of Dolby VisionDynamic HDR-format with a color depth of up to 12 Bits and Mastering of up to 10,000 Nits to dynamically optimize HDR content; HDR10+License-free, dynamic HDR-format in competition with Dolby Vision is supported, but it is not used as often as Dolby Vision. But even without Dolby Vision IQDynamic HDR-format with a color depth of up to 12 Bits and Mastering of up to 10,000 Nits, which can adapt to the ambient brightness, the TV can adjust the display brightness to the ambient brightness.

The motion handling of the Q800T is one of the best among conventional LED TVs. The 120Hz panel has a response time of incredible ~2ms. This value can hardly be achieved by any other TV – apart of OLEDs, of course, whose response time is <1ms. Due to this short time the LEDs need for the color change, hardly any motion blur is visible. This blur can be further reduced by the well implemented Black Frame InsertionProcess that inserts black “blank images” as intermediate images. This makes movements appear finer and clearer. feature – even at 120Hz. Nevertheless, the low response time can cause slow camera pans to be displayed stuttering. To correct this, the motion interpolationArtificial calculation of more frames than the source material has to offer feature can be used.

The backlight flickers with a frequencyHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. of 960Hz. Therefore it should be perceived by the human eye as continuous illumination.

For a first class gaming experience, the Q800T QLED is the perfect choice. Its input lag is one of the lowest we have seen so far. With a 4K resolution and a refresh rateHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. of 120Hz, it is only 10ms, which makes it feel extremely responsive while gaming – at 1080p and 1440p it is even better at 6ms. So in combination with the great response time there is hardly any delay or blurring, which is excellent for gaming. You should note, however, that the Q800T is only available from 65 inches, but 1080p or 1440p is a bit low to produce a nice sharp picture. But especially in fast shooters you would have a not inconsiderable advantage by using this lower resolution – but only on a high skill level. To keep the input lag automatically as low as possible, an Auto Low latency Mode is also available.

Apart from that the QLED has all the features you need for gaming. A variable refresh rate is supported via AMD FreeSyncVariable Refresh Rate with AMD graphics cards or consoles, Nvidia G-SyncVariable Refresh Rate for Nvidia graphics cards and HDMI Forum VRRVariable Refresh Rate – synchronizes the display’s refresh rate with the output refresh rate of the graphics card. This means that all new graphics cards are supported. Of course an HDMI 2.1 interface is also included.

For the price of the Q800T, the sound system is really disappointing. The integrated 4.2.2 channel 70W speakers are loud enough for normal rooms and the trebles and mid-ranges are well balanced so that dialogues are reproduced in very clear way. Unfortunately, the basses are comparatively weak, so there’s not really any atmosphere. This is especially noticeable in action movies and gaming! If you spend so much money on a TV, you’ll most likely not be satisfied with the integrated sound system and therefore extend the setup with an external sound system. To enable a rich, ambient sound, the Q800T is equipped with HDMI eARC, which supports uncompressed Dolby Atmos via Dolby True HD.

Just like the 4K QLED series, the Q800T uses Tizen 5.5 as its smart operating system. This means that it is equipped with some great features so that the Q800T can be seamlessly integrated into a smart home environment.

The handling is very intuitive and smooth thanks to Samsung’s One Remote.If using the remote is too cumbersome, you can either use the somewhat outdated Samsung Bixby as a voice assistant, or use alternatives like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

For data transfer between the QLED and Apple devices, the TV supports Airplay 2, so that videos, photos or music can be streamed to the TV in no time.

In addition, the selection of apps is huge and all major streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ are pre-installed.

With Samsung Smart Things, other smart home applications can be easily controlled from the Q800T using the One Remote.

In addition, a Twin Tuner has been integrated, which supports functions such as Time Shift or the USB recording function.