Samsung TU7000 – 4K Crystal UHD TV from Samsung

The modern design of the Tu7000 is very stylish and makes a high-quality impression. The frame is very thin and thus inconspicuous, so that it does not distract in the slightest from the image content. Its feet also make a stable impression. They are positioned far apart, which makes them a very good support for the UHD TV. Even when using a wall mount, the TU7000 cuts a very fine figure due to the thin frame and shallow depth – even if it is made entirely of plastic. The interfaces are aligned towards the right edge of the screen – so they are always easy to reach. There are cut-outs in the back for neat cable management and clips allow you to hide the cables behind the feet, so everything looks neat and tidy. It’s a pity that there are only two HDMI interfaces. So, if you for example want to connect a Blue-Ray player in addition to a cable receiver and a console, you have to be creative.

The design of this cost-efficient TV is therefore quite successful and on the whole very similar to the Q60T – the cheapest representative of the QLED range.

When assessing the picture quality, it must of course be taken into account that the TU7000 is an entry-level device. To compare it with the features of the big QLED devices would therefore not really be fair. The 4K UHD TV is super suitable for occasional movie nights or afternoon TV. The 10 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. VA-Panel has a deep and even black and the contrast ratio is quite good with 5100:1. Especially in dark rooms, this results in a pretty decent picture quality. The UHD TV does not have local dimming and the peak brightness is not very high with around 270 nitsSI unit of luminance: 1 nit = 1 cd/m² – The best way of measuring and comparing a TVs brightness  . But that the cost-effective TU7000 has features like full array local dimming, an extended color space or an additional layer for an extended viewing angle would really be too much to ask for the price. Samsung is saving these functions for the QLED series from the Q70T upwards, but they play in a completely different league in terms of price. HDRHigh Dynamic Range – image/video with more dynamic range (contrast range) content is therefore not very impressively displayed by the TU7000 and the viewing angle is also quite narrow due to the VA-Panel. Also, the image is a little darker in the corners and the colors are not very uniform in large scenes of the same color, so a football field, for example, might look a little dirty.

So, if you are looking for an inexpensive entry-level TV for a dark or dimmed room and do not have an oblique viewing angle, you could definitely consider the TU7000.

With a frame rate of 60 HzHertz 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. and a response time of about 6 ms, the motion handling is quite decent. With fast moving objects there is only a slight motion blur, but this can be further minimized by the Black Frame InsertionProcess that inserts black “blank images” as intermediate images. This makes movements appear finer and clearer. feature. The backlight flickers at 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 120 Hz, which is not that high compared to other TVs, but should still be enough for the eye to perceive it as continuous illumination. Stuttering can be avoided for content with low frame rates by using the Motion Interpolation feature, but unfortunately JudderInconsistent time frame due to the input frequency not mismatching the TV’s frequency (e.g. 24p via 60Hz) cannot be removed.

The TU7000 is well equipped for gaming and therefore it is a lot of fun to play on this TV. The low input lag of around 10 ms ensures that the UHD TV feels very responsive as soon as a button is pressed on the gamepad. With the Auto Low Latency Mode, the TV automatically switches to game mode as soon as a console is detected. This automatically keeps the input lag as low as possible, which is often not the case in more affordable devices.

With HDRHigh Dynamic Range – image/video with more dynamic range (contrast range) gaming the input lag increases due to the additional picture optimization. Because the HDR experience is not quite as convincing on the TU7000, you should possibly do without it in gaming, so that the TV remains nice and responsive. If HDR is important for gaming, you should consider a more powerful TV like the Q80T anyway, which has features like Variable Refresh RateVariable Refresh Rate – synchronizes the display’s refresh rate with the output refresh rate of the graphics card, HDMI 2.1 and a wide viewing angle – the TU7000 does not have all that because of its low price.

In this price range, the integrated speakers are of course no revelation. However, the 20W speakers are well tuned for occasional TV viewing and dialogues are reproduced in an intelligible way. However, the right portion of bass is sought in vain. But this can be quickly remedied by a soundbar, which considerably improves the overall atmosphere. This would also solve the problem of the integrated speakers not becoming very loud. It should be noted, when using a soundbar, that Samsung TVs do not support DTSMulti-channel-sound-system (Surround Sound) competing with Dolby Digital but only Dolby formats. With the HDMI eARC connection, Dolby AtmosObject-based surround sound format with 3D-Sound from any direction is supported via Dolby True HD, whereby a breathtaking sound backdrop can be created.

For all 2020 TVs, Samsung relies on Tizen 5.5 as the smart operating system. In addition to Samsung’s own Bixby, Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant are also supported as a voice assistant, which are much more convenient to use. Furthermore, the TU7000 is Airplay 2 compatible, which allows a comfortable and fast data exchange with Apple devices.

The choice of apps is huge and all of the latest streaming services are available. The classics like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ are even pre-installed, so you can start streaming right away. Samsung Smart Things are also available, making the TV a hub for compatible smart home applications.

A Twin Tuner and therefore functions such as Time Shift and PVRPersonal Video Recorder, recording TV programs to a USB-Memory Device are not available.