Denster presents: The 4K HDR HDTV Thread

I have seen quite a bit of old stock in auction houses, but aside from that I'm not sure. There is an extremely short window just prior to the new season where TVs are flogged for rock bottom prices, so maybe they're just all sold during clearance sales (I was keeping an eye on John Lewis this year and their LG 2016 OLED went in about 5 minutes).

Went over my original budget and plumped for the Sony KD49 XE9005B. It's gotten a lot of praise including that video posted last page. Came with a free Sony 2.1 soundbar which also reviewed pretty well. I then upgraded to PS4 pro with the currys Fifa + crash bandicoot £299 deal.

All in close to £1500 not quite what I was planning and more than the wife was happy with...


Still havent set any of it up yet

Been using the OLED for a couple of days now.

A few setup issues aside, at the moment I'm enjoying it. Things seem to work on it, there's a little bit of Planet Earth II in HLG as a taster on the iPlayer app which is absolutely stunning, got some 4K HDR discs to check out over the weekend.

One issue is at the moment the set doesn't seem to want to update its firmware, I can do it via a USB stick, but for some reason the set itself is saying its on the latest software version when it definitely isn't.

Other than that its just very pretty.

HSH28 wrote:Been using the OLED for a couple of days now.

A few setup issues aside, at the moment I'm enjoying it. Things seem to work on it, there's a little bit of Planet Earth II in HLG as a taster on the iPlayer app which is absolutely stunning, got some 4K HDR discs to check out over the weekend.

One issue is at the moment the set doesn't seem to want to update its firmware, I can do it via a USB stick, but for some reason the set itself is saying its on the latest software version when it definitely isn't.

Other than that its just very pretty.

How's the 4K HDR gaming?

Harry Bizzle wrote:

HSH28 wrote:Been using the OLED for a couple of days now.

A few setup issues aside, at the moment I'm enjoying it. Things seem to work on it, there's a little bit of Planet Earth II in HLG as a taster on the iPlayer app which is absolutely stunning, got some 4K HDR discs to check out over the weekend.

One issue is at the moment the set doesn't seem to want to update its firmware, I can do it via a USB stick, but for some reason the set itself is saying its on the latest software version when it definitely isn't.

Other than that its just very pretty.

How's the 4K HDR gaming?

Not played all that much yet, done a bit of Horizon ZD and a bit of Forza 7. Both look amazing.

Mostly been watching video stuff, got Spider-Man Homecoming and a bunch of other 4K UHD discs and Planet Earth II. PEII in particular is stunning.

Other than that been messing around with the settings on it.

I think I've decided to hold off until next years OLED models in the hope some of the issues get resolved. I really like the Sony but it feels like paying a premium for the screen sound technology that is utterly useless to me due to having a 5.1 setup that things will go through.

Managed to get JL to match the recent PC World/Argos deals for my TV, which means its only going to cost me £1349.

Worth keeping an eye out on any more deals, if you can get a picture of it in your basket at that price (assuming its a shop JL will match prices on) and send it in, you should be able to get them to match that price.

Does anyone know how much of a difference Supreme UHD Dimming on a Samsung offers over their standard UHD dimming. I’m trying to decide between the 55MU6400 and the 55MU6470, the latter has the supreme version and that appears to be the only difference. However I can get the 6400 for £140 less at the moment due to BF deals etc.

The tv we got has supreme dimming and I couldn't even tell you what it does

Ad7 wrote:The tv we got has supreme dimming and I couldn't even tell you what it does

Yeah this is the problem there’s very little info on what a lot of the bits and bobs do on tvs, a lot of it is just marketing guff.

From the Samsung website

Experience sharper detail and more accurate colour with Supreme UHD Dimming technology, independently adjusting over a thousand tiny zones to improve your image.

The assumption of course is that supreme uhd dimming is better than just uhd dimming but there’s nothing to explain the actual difference. For example how many more zones does the supreme version have to the standard. All I know is that it pushes up the PQI from 1500 to 1600, if that’s all the noticeable difference then I’m not really fussed. About paying £140 extra.

What tv do you have?

QE657F

From your description it sounds like you'd get better blacks/contrast like a Plasma, something LCDs/LEDs suffer from

Rtings.com has the review for the MU6400 (billed as the MU7000 in the USA): http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/mu7000

The TV lacks local dimming so it attempts to make dark scenes darker by dimming the whole screen (called CE dimming, frame dimming).

The next model they've tested is the ME8000 (confusingly labelled as the MU7000 in the UK), which does have Supreme Dimming and sits just above the TV you're thinking of purchasing:

The local dimming feature of the MU8000 is bad. When compared side by side with the Q7F, both perform almost the same way. It is an edge-lit TV and vertical blooming is visible which follows the bright moving highlight. When watching a movie, blooming is visible in the 2 black bars. Even if the local dimming is not the best, enabling it is still recommended especially for HDR content as it is necessary to produce bright highlights.

The contrast ratio, when local dimming is set to 'High', is almost the same (4727:1) as the native contrast ratio. When turned on, the local dimming doesn't really make blacks deeper when measured on our checkerboard pattern. This is because the local dimming feature on the MU8000 doesn't work well.

The TV is able to show all content at a decent brightness, and is able to use local dimming to make small highlights even brighter for a short time.

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/mu8000

KK wrote:Rtings.com has the review for the MU6400 (billed as the MU7000 in the USA): http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/mu7000

The TV lacks local dimming so it attempts to make dark scenes darker by dimming the whole screen (called CE dimming, frame dimming).

The next model they've tested is the ME8000 (confusingly labelled as the MU7000 in the UK), which does have Supreme Dimming and sits just above the TV you're thinking of purchasing:

The local dimming feature of the MU8000 is bad. When compared side by side with the Q7F, both perform almost the same way. It is an edge-lit TV and vertical blooming is visible which follows the bright moving highlight. When watching a movie, blooming is visible in the 2 black bars. Even if the local dimming is not the best, enabling it is still recommended especially for HDR content as it is necessary to produce bright highlights.

The contrast ratio, when local dimming is set to 'High', is almost the same (4727:1) as the native contrast ratio. When turned on, the local dimming doesn't really make blacks deeper when measured on our checkerboard pattern. This is because the local dimming feature on the MU8000 doesn't work well.

The TV is able to show all content at a decent brightness, and is able to use local dimming to make small highlights even brighter for a short time.

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/mu8000

Hmmm thanks. I can’t really afford to go any higher price wise.

Would you recommend any Sony TVs over the Samsung 55mu6400. I have the Samsung KU6000 series tv in a different room and I’m happy with it which was why I was only looking at Samsung’s.

I think the only Sony alternative at around £600-£650 is the Bravia KD55XE7002. Judging by the reviews, Samsung will give you better picture and sound quality, the Sony better motion. For gaming, input lag is much the same between the two. Neither has local dimming features.

If you can, I would try and plump for the Samsung 55MU7000, which I have seen in the past for £749. I think that's the one a number of people here have also chosen (very good for gaming).

Aside from the dimming being nothing to write home about, the Samsung MU7000 has a few other things working in its favour over the 6400, namely Motion is vastly superior. You'll get a faint trail with fast moving objects/panning shots (which I had on a previous Sony TV; it was most noticeable on football) and the picture judders at 24fps playback on the 6400 (if you've used NowTV you'll be familiar with what this looks like already), whereas both are absent on the 7000 model. HDR is also better.

The 55MU6470 doesn't appear to be worth the £140 price premium though.

Might be worth seeing if they've got the 2 or all 3 TVs on display in Curry's/John Lewis.

KK wrote:I think the only Sony alternative at around £600-£650 is the Bravia KD55XE7002. Judging by the reviews, Samsung will give you better picture and sound quality, the Sony better motion. For gaming, input lag is much the same between the two. Neither has local dimming features.

If you can, I would try and plump for the Samsung 55MU7000, which I have seen in the past for £749. I think that's the one a number of people here have also chosen (very good for gaming).

Aside from the dimming being nothing to write home about, the Samsung MU7000 has a few other things working in its favour over the 6400, namely Motion is vastly superior. You'll get a faint trail with fast moving objects/panning shots (which I had on a previous Sony TV; it was most noticeable on football) and the picture judders at 24fps playback on the 6400 (if you've used NowTV you'll be familiar with what this looks like already), whereas both are absent on the 7000 model. HDR is also better.

The 55MU6470 doesn't appear to be worth the £140 price premium though.

Might be worth seeing if they've got the 2 or all 3 TVs on display in Curry's/John Lewis.

Thanks. I've found the 55MU7000 for £799 in a few places today. Surprisingly my wife is ok with spending a bit extra so I'm probably going to go for this.

There's a MU7070 available but the difference does not seem worth it for an extra £100-150 on top.

Is that not just a bezel/stand change?

I hate how manufactures come out with all these different product codes and region numbers, particularly on everything bar their high end models. Makes it very difficult to compare specs/prices/reviews.

Even Samsung's QLEDs don't have full array local dimming.

I haven’t seen a TV which has FALD other than the Bravias and they’re all in spitting distance of the OLEDs in terms of prices.


If you want decent HDR maybe save for a MU7000. Richer Sounds had one for £680 yesterday. Might still be on.

Oh and someone mentioned they got a KS7000 (which is superior) on clearance at John Lewis for £550 yesterday. Worth a shot.

KK wrote:Is that not just a bezel/stand change?

I hate how manufactures come out with all these different product codes and region numbers, particularly on everything bar their high end models. Makes it very difficult to to compare specs/prices/reviews.

I suspect that's exactly why they do it to try and get people to just think "more expensive = better"

Harry Bizzle wrote:Even Samsung's QLEDs don't have full array local dimming.

I haven’t seen a TV which has FALD other than the Bravias and they’re all in spitting distance of the OLEDs in terms of prices.


If you want decent HDR maybe save for a MU7000. Richer Sounds had one for £680 yesterday. Might still be on.

Oh and someone mentioned they got a KS7000 (which is superior) on clearance at John Lewis for £550 yesterday. Worth a shot.

Were either of them 55 inch?