Samsung 82" LED UHD 4K TV...1st Impressions

[ATL96Steeler]

Well gang...My 60" Plasma was still working but has been promised to my son when he moves out (hopefully in a few months).

So...I took advantage of a Black Friday deal and bought a new set. I had been researching for a few weeks and btw Rtings.com is one of the better TV review sites I found. We have two Sony 4k TVs and I think Sony one of the better pictures for LED TVs, but sitting 13' away from the TV wall, I was looking for a larger set not really the best picture.

I wanted the Samsung 82" 82NU8000...the out going model...8.1 overall from Rtings. B&H had one instock and would sell for $2200, but I had to pay shipping...not good. The 86" LG was tempting for $1500. The LG picture is nice, more natural like a Sony, but the LG LEDs look more washed out in comparison.

I ended up with the 82" 82RU8000, the newer model, but it doesn't have the same local dimming 7.9 overall from Rtings…$1799.00

1st Impression

Out of box pic quality (PQ)....3 of 5...eco was the default mode. Switching to "normal" mode of the 3 setting options I found to be the best. Dynamic was a bit too intense for me.

Calibrated picture quality...4 of 5...I've yet to try the Rtings.com calibrated settings, but I'm content for now. 4k content looks great. HDR content does not really improve PQ by leaps and bound on this TV.

Setup...5 of 5...I plan on streaming 95% of my TV content so I opted for a Ethernet connection (1 Gig speed). Within 5 mins I had the TV up and running.

Apps...4 of 5...the major players (Netflix, Prime, AppleTV, etc) are built in, pretty easy to add new apps via the app store.

Operating...4 of 5...the processor is much faster than the Sony OS...TV turns on and off, cycles thru apps much quicker than the Sony TV.

1st Impression...4 of 5...not a premium TV, but for >80" set under $2k ($1799), it's hard to beat. Note...both Amazon and Best Buy have gone back up to $1997.

 

[NU_FTW]

Pleb, havent you seen CES??? Samsungs Wall 292" micro LED tv in all its 8k glory....

 

[NU_FTW]

 

[ATL96Steeler]

 

[ATL96Steeler]

 

[YankeeRebel]

My LG LED 50" finally died and I purchased a Samsung 50" UHD TV. IMO the pic on the old LG was better.

 

[WizardHawk]

My LG LED 50" finally died and I purchased a Samsung 50" UHD TV. IMO the pic on the old LG was better.

Picked up the 55" Samsung Q70R a few months back for our small family room and it kicks ass. They each do well in some areas, but product line does matter. Picked that up because I got it for $820. I get TVs at wholesale prices.

 

[NU_FTW]

Picked up the 55" Samsung Q70R a few months back for our small family room and it kicks ass. They each do well in some areas, but product line does matter. Picked that up because I got it for $820. I get TVs at wholesale prices.

the thing that kills me about samsung is them keeping their smart os to being theirs instead of licensing roku/android/fire tv. The app limitation especially in this streaming day and age is beyond frustrating. That has prevented any future samsung purchases for the past 4-5 years now i cant remember exactly when i started streaming tv instead of cable but yea mega killer.

 

[WizardHawk]

the thing that kills me about samsung is them keeping their smart os to being theirs instead of licensing roku/android/fire tv. The app limitation especially in this streaming day and age is beyond frustrating. That has prevented any future samsung purchases for the past 4-5 years now i cant remember exactly when i started streaming tv instead of cable but yea mega killer.

Yeah, we still have cable. I do watch a ton through their Netflix, Amazon, and hulu app and their 4k in those apps it's pretty damned good.

Also does a fairly solid job of up sampling cable to 4k.

And it does gaming well. Really smooth with all of the gaming features.

 

[NU_FTW]

Yeah, we still have cable. I do watch a ton through their Netflix, Amazon, and hulu app and their 4k in those apps it's pretty damned good.

Also does a fairly solid job of up sampling cable to 4k.

And it does gaming well. Really smooth with all of the gaming features.

yea what it does they do well (usually) Just annoying how niche they are with their OS that it becomes a PITA to be a "cord cutter"

 

[YankeeRebel]

Picked up the 55" Samsung Q70R a few months back for our small family room and it kicks ass. They each do well in some areas, but product line does matter. Picked that up because I got it for $820. I get TVs at wholesale prices.

Yeah it's not that I dislike it the difference is marginal. I paid $358 on sale I won't buy new or recent models no value IMO. Plus l listen to music most of the time.