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Samsung UE55HU8200 Review - 3D, Sound and Conclusions

Publié le 09/12/2014 à 17:29 par trustedreviews Tags : 3d uhd 4k led lcd 55hu8200 ue55hu8200 bbc iplayer smart tv samsung centerblog video image background mode png you extra collection

Pros

  • Outstanding picture quality
  • Content-rich smart TV system
  • Upgradable processing and connections

Cons

  • Curved screen distorts reflections
  • Smart interface is a little cumbersome
  • Seating positions to get maximum advantage from the curve are limited


 
 
Key Features: 55-inch LCD TV with edge LED lighting; Native 4K/UHD resolution; Active 3D playback (2 prs of glasses included); Multimedia playback via USB or wi-fi/LAN network; Upgradable via future One Connect boxes

Manufacturer: Samsung

 

What is the Samsung UE55HU8200?

The UE55HU8200 is a 55-inch curved UHD TV – which automatically makes it one of 2014’s most cutting-edge TVs. It’s not quite a flagship model – that honour belongs to the Samsung HU8500 series. But it’s only one step down from the top of Samsung’s range, so it still comes packing some serious feature and picture specification.

Samsung UE55HU8200: Design and Features

The UE55HU8200 truly is a sight for sore eyes. While the curved picture experience may not be to everyone’s tastes as we’ll discuss later, there’s absolutely no doubt that curved TVs look impressive. And actually the UE55HU8200 is even more attractive than most thanks to the way it almost seems to float above its boomerang-shaped, brushed aluminium stand.

It’s heavy by today’s TV standards, meaning you’ll need a pretty robust wall if you want to hang it up. But then we personally feel curved TVs look better on their stands than on the wall anyway. Plus the TV’s heftiness speaks volumes about its excellent build quality.

The only slightly disappointing thing about the UE55HU8200’s exterior is that it doesn’t contain a built-in camera like the HU8500s do - a miserly omission at this price.

The UE55HU8200 also differs from the flagship HU8500s in that its connections are all built-in, rather than existing on an external ‘One Connect’ box. However, this doesn’t mean you’re denied the opportunity to upgrade your TV like you can with the HU8500s, since there’s a socket near the HDMIs where a future One Connect box – with new processing, chipsets and even potentially connection types – could be attached.

SEE ALSO: New TV Buying Guide



Highlights of the provided connections include four HDMIs (built to the latest UHD-friendly 2.0 standard, and supporting the new HDCP 2.2 copy protection format); hard and wireless network connections; and three USBs for both playing back files stored on USB drives or recording TV shows to connected USB HDDs. 

The range of multimedia file types supported by the UE55HU8200 for playback from USB or DLNA networked devices is extensive, and the network connections also inevitably deliver a portal to Samsung’s online Smart TV service.

We’ve covered this service in-depth in our Samsung Smart TV 2014 review, so we’ll just sum it up here by saying that it’s got an attractive if slightly cumbersome interface and it carries more content apps than any other smart TV service. These include a huge selection of video streaming apps. In fact, it’s the only smart TV platform beside Panasonic’s that supports all the UK’s main terrestrial TV channel catch-up services – as well as the key Netflix (including 4K!) and Amazon Instant subscription platforms.

SEE ALSO: Best 4K TV Round-up

Samsung UE55HU8200

One other point to add is that the UE55HU8200’s Smart features and picture processing engine are built on a Quad Core engine rather than the Quad Core Plus system found in Samsung’s HU8500 flagship curved UHD TV series.

Casting our eye down the UE55HU8200’s picture specification sheet, it doesn’t have the PurColour [sic] wide colour gamut technology found in the flagship HU8500 series, and its motion processing emulates 1000Hz rather than the UE55HU8500’s 1200Hz. The first of these differences we really would expect to be able to see in each set’s picture quality. The motion processing difference may be less obvious – unless it’s also affected by the UE55HU8200’s less powerful processing engine.

Also very likely to make a difference to picture quality, especially where contrast is concerned, is the fact that the UE55HU8200 uses a high-spec version of Samsung’s Micro Dimming technology, which breaks the picture down into thousands of small blocks for more accurate analysis, while the HU8500 sets use local dimming to deliver different lighting levels from different sections of their LED lights.  

The UE55HU8200 inevitably supports 3D playback, and just as inevitably given this is a Samsung TV, this 3D playback uses the active system. So it upscales 3D Blu-rays to deliver 3D at UHD resolution. Two pairs of glasses are included free.

Samsung UE55HU8200: Set Up

The initial set up routines Samsung provides for the UE55HU8200 are pretty decent now, guiding you through all the key options straightforwardly. 

If you want to get more deeply involved in picture calibration thereafter, the set provides a huge collection of calibration controls. Highlights for serious enthusiasts include fulsome white balance and colour management tools, while more basic features everyone is recommended to familiarise themselves with include various noise reduction, edge enhancement, sharpness and contrast-boosting processing tools, and a backlight adjustment.

Most of the provided picture processing tools should be treated with suspicion. Certainly noise reduction should be turned off completely for UHD playback as it unnecessarily softens things up, and actually we’d leave it off for HD too. 

We’d personally also leave off anything designed to boost sharpness, as the set tends to border on being actually over-sharp in its out of the box state. So much so, in fact, that we’d suggest turning sharpness down to around 40 from the default 50 setting used with most of the TV’s presets.

We also recommend that you reduce the set’s backlight to as low as its 8 or even 7 level when watching films in a dark room, as this delivers the optimum combination of black level depth and shadow detail while also getting rid of the backlight clouding that can be – quite aggressively – apparent using higher backlight settings.

SEE ALSO: Best TV Round-up

Stick with the dynamic contrast system set on its Low level to preserve image stability, shift the colour temperature from Standard to Warm 1 or Warm 2 for watching films and finally, if you’re wanting to use a PC or games console on the UE55HU8200, don’t forget to activate the Game mode strangely tucked away in the General sub-menu of the System menu.
 

Samsung UE55HU8200: Picture Quality

In most ways that matter the UE55HU8200 is another stellar Samsung picture performer. 

The star of the show has to be its black level response. We’ve seen a disappointing number of LCD TVs this year that have really struggled to deliver a convincing black colour, but the UE55HU8200’s VA panel and clever light controls ensure that dark scenes look brilliantly cinematic and convincing – so long, at least, as you’ve followed the set up advice mentioned earlier. 

Samsung UE55HU8200
What’s more, because the UE55HU8200’s native contrast performance is strong it delivers its gorgeously rich blacks without having to crush significant amounts of shadow detail out of the picture. 

We’re also pleased to report that the UE55HU8200 handles dark content with outstanding stability so long as you stick with the low setting for the dynamic contrast feature; you see practically no evidence of distracting luminance ‘leaps’ as the TV adjusts its brightness in response to changes in the image content, and nor – following a massively welcome recent firmware update – do you see the backlight turning off and on again as used to happen during fade to blacks or extremely dark scenes like those of ‘The Bride’ in her coffin in Kill Bill Volume 2.

The well-established connection between great black levels and great colours is borne out once more by the UE55HU8200. For once you’ve addressed the slightly cool, bluish feel of the set’s default Standard colour temperature by switching to ‘Warm 1’ its colours are outstanding; a gorgeous combination of rich, vivid but never over-cooked saturations (that hold up brilliantly during dark scenes) and almost endlessly subtle blends and tones.

The only negative to throw in here is that the colour palette doesn’t enjoy as expansive a range as you get with the HU8500 series, since the HU8200s don’t use Samsung’s new PurColour technology. But by any other measure the UE55HU8200’s colours are a class act.

Samsung UE55HU8200

We haven’t so far distinguished between native UHD and HD content in our picture assessment. So let’s get into that now, as we start to look at the set’s sharpness and detail reproduction.

Starting with native UHD, the UE55HU8200 looks jaw-droppingly good. Samsung has long been keen on ‘selling’ resolution with its pictures, and this passion is abundantly apparent here as the leap from HD to native UHD positively slaps you round the face – despite this ‘only’ being a 55-inch TV. While you’re blissfully aware of all the extra detail native 4K produces, though, Samsung seems to have matured a little with its approach, so that the incredible sharpness now doesn’t feel forced or noisy, especially after you’ve nudged the sharpness down a bit.

With such a huge step up in detail on show it almost goes without saying that the UE55HU8200 also delivers on those other UHD picture advantages of more refined colour blends and extra depth to large-scale shots. As we’ve said before, the UHD effect is like looking through a window rather than just looking at a TV screen.

The extra maturity Samsung has shown with its UHD reproduction extends to its upscaling of HD, too. For while no other brand delivered so overt a sense of UHD sharpness with upscaled footage as Samsung last year, there were a few noise issues associated with that sharpness. Samsung has taken this criticism on board, and the 2014 upscaling engine has clearly got better at recognising noise in non-UHD sources and removing it before then applying upscaling. 

The result’s are really outstanding, and never once had us wishing we were watching HD on a quality full HD set rather than a UHD one. Just occasionally areas of rapid motion can occasionally overwhelm the processing into leaving a little blurring or glitching behind, but this doesn’t happen often or cause much offence when it does. 

Samsung’s upscaling engine even manages to handle standard definition tolerably well, with good colour accuracy retention and noise suppression when watching all but the grubbiest of standard definition sources. That said, it goes without saying that if you can possibly avoid watching standard definition on a UHD TV, you should.

All this and we haven’t yet discussed the impact of the UE55HU8200’s curve on picture proceedings. So let’s get into that now.

We’ve covered the pros and cons of curved TVs in a separate feature, so we don’t need to go over all the same ground again. But it’s certainly worth focussing on some of the most salient points. 

SEE ALSO: Curved TVs: Pros and Cons Explained

In the plus column, pictures seem to enjoy a slightly enhanced sense of depth thanks to the way the centre of the image sits further back than the edges. And the way the curve follows the shape of your eye and perception very marginally enhances your feeling of immersion, especially if you’re sat close to and directly opposite the screen.

In the minus column the curved screen has an unfortunate effect on any reflections the screen may pick up, stretching and distorting them over a much wider screen area than would be the case with a flat screen. It’s also the case that the benefits of going curved are less pronounced on a 55-inch screen than they are on larger ones, while you’re more likely to be affected by the downsides – such as troubling image geometry when watching off axis – since the relatively small screen reduces the size of the effective ‘sweet area’ from where the curve benefits are really felt.

Where other more general problems are concerned, the screen can become susceptible to quite noticeable backlight clouding during very dark content if you’re a) watching in a dark room and b) you don’t reduce the backlight to as low as its 8 or even 7 setting. Motion, meanwhile, isn’t handled with quite so much aplomb as it is on the HU8500 series, meaning you feel aware of either slightly more judder, processing effects or blur (depending on your picture settings) during action scenes or camera pans.

It’s worth noting, too, that not having PurColour on the HU8200s means you lose a smidge of colour sharpness during UHD playback versus the HU8500 models.

While we’re duty-bound to point the UE55HU8200’s flaws out, though, it’s important to stress that is pictures remain, overall, a joy to behold.
 

Samsung UE55HU8200: 3D Picture Quality

The UE55HU8200 is a stellar 3D performer. We’re big fans, for a start, of how its active 3D engine upscales 3D Blu-rays to UHD, as this makes the 3D world feel even more ‘reach out and touch it’ tangible than it does on good quality HD TVs. 3D pictures look bright and colourful too, despite the inevitable dimming effect of the active shutter glasses.

The screen’s excellent contrast performance also helps it reproduce a phenomenal sense of depth in large scale images like Pacific Rim’s ‘Shatterdome’, and perhaps best of all crosstalk ghosting noise is superbly suppressed, only cropping up very occasionally and remaining low-level even when it does. 
Samsung UE55HU8200

Judder is a slight problem, but we found we could deal with it well enough by upping the set’s motion processing to its Standard rather than Clear mode, since this reduces the judder without making the picture look too unnatural, processed or glitchy.

Even the most die-hard of 3D haters might be won over by the UE55HU8200’s 3D experience. Especially as the curved screen gently enhances the sense of 3D depth (if you’re sat in roughly the right seating position). 

Samsung UE55HU8200: Sound Quality

While the UE55HU8200 is no match for the remarkable sonic efforts of the Sony X9005B series, or the recently tested Bang & Olufsen Avant, it is still a strong audio performer. It can hit prodigious volumes without a trace of distortion or cabinet rattle, and without the sound becoming compressed or muddy. 

Vocals are rich, rounded and always stand proud from background noise, the soundstage is expansive, appearing to spread beyond the confines of the screen’s edges, the mid-range is open and expressive, and there’s lots of refined, harshness-free treble detail to create a sense of space and ‘texture’ in a good movie mix.

Bass doesn’t get especially low, but at least what there is of it melds nicely into the lower end of the mid-range without overwhelming everything.

The set’s virtual surround setting is more interesting than most such systems too, really expanding the soundstage well beyond the TV’s physical chassis without it starting to sound too thin or disjointed. Though personally we still preferred the stereo mode.

One odd flaw we noticed was that the speakers distort quite unpleasantly at very low volumes. But since we’re talking here about volume levels so low you can barely hear them, we guess this shouldn’t trouble many people under normal viewing conditions.

Other things to consider

As with most of Samsung’s smart TVs, the UE55HU8200 ships with a smart remote alongside a (rather small and plasticky) standard one. This smart remote takes a bit of getting used to thanks to the sheer quantity of control options it offers: point and click, touch pad and standard navigation buttons. But it’s worth persevering with, as it can certainly streamline your route through the slightly cumbersome smart menus once you’ve got the hang of it.
Samsung UE55HU8200
Many of the UHD/4K TVs we’ve tested have proved compromised gaming monitors on account of their slightly high input lag. The UE55HU8200’s lag came in at around 66ms during our tests, which isn’t actually a bad result for a UHD TV. Even so it’s around twice as high as we’d ideally see. 

Should I buy a Samsung UE55HU8200?

The UE55HU8200 is by any measure a stunning TV. If its size, curved screen, UHD resolution and £2,400 price meet your requirements, it won’t let you down.

That said, if it were us we’d very seriously consider trying to find another £300 to get Samsung’s UE55HU8500. After all, this outperforms the HU8200 with its pictures thanks to its PurColour system, better motion processing and local dimming.

Actually, if you really are feeling flush and have the space for it, an even better bet would be the 65-inch UE65HU8500, as the curve becomes more effective at this larger size. That's a rather heftier £1000 upgrade, though.

Verdict

While we’re still not totally convinced curved screens really contribute much at the 55-inch screen size, the UE55HU8200 is nonetheless a gorgeous-looking and brilliant UHD TV that slots perfectly into the feature, performance and, more importantly, price gap left between Samsung’s HU7500 and HU8500 models.

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