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Samsung KU7500 TV Review

Tested using Methodology v1.0
Review updated Mar 01, 2017 at 06:31 am
Samsung KU7500 Picture
7.4
Mixed Usage
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
6.8
Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.2
TV Shows
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.3
Sports
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.2
Video Games
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.5
HDR Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.0
HDR Gaming
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.0
PC Monitor
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
This TV was replaced by the Samsung MU7600

The Samsung KU7500 is a 4k UHD TV, the curved equivalent of the KU7000. It offers the same good picture quality, with great dark scene performance due to the high native contrast ratio. Motion is also better than average thanks to the quick response time. It isn't all good though, as the picture quality degrades rapidly when viewed at an angle and the HDR performance is limited.

Our Verdict

7.4 Mixed Usage

Better than average TV for a range of usages. Picture quality is good, especially in a dark room but lacks features such as local dimming to improve it further. Handles fast motion well but unfortunately the colors lose saturation and the image loses contrast when viewed at an angle.

Pros
  • Good TV for gamers
  • Not much dirty screen effect
Cons
  • Picture loses contrast when viewed at an angle
  • HDR performance is limited
  • Judder is present in movies
6.8 Movies

Slightly below average for watching movies in a dark room. Dark scene performance is good, but lacks local dimming to improve it even more. Those sensitive to judder will notice it when watching movies. For most people this isn't an issue.

7.2 TV Shows

Slightly better than average for watching TV in a bright room. Picture quality is good, but degrades when viewed at an angle. Can't get very bright to deal with glare, and is average at handling reflections. Smart platform works well for casual watching.

7.3 Sports

Good for sports fans. Picture quality is good, but degrades at an angle. Uniformity is a bit better than average, so not much dirty screen effect should be visible. Motion blur is better than average which is good.

8.2 Video Games

Great for gamers. Picture quality is good, and response time is low which results in less motion blur than average. Input lag is low, which is good.

7.5 HDR Movies

Average for HDR movies. Supports HDR10, but lacks some features such as local dimming to improve dark scene performance. Picture quality is good, and supports a wide color gamut. Can't get bright highlights.

8.0 HDR Gaming

Great for HDR gaming. Picture quality is good, and TV supports the HDR10 format. Doesn't support local dimming to improve dark scene performance, or to increase brightness of highlights. Supports a wide color gamut and HDR input lag is low, which is good.

7.0 PC Monitor

Good choice as a PC monitor. Picture quality is good but degrades when viewed at an angle. Supports chroma subsampling for clear text across all backgrounds. Input lag for PC use is quite good, and there is less motion blur than average.

  • 7.4 Mixed Usage
  • 6.8 Movies
  • 7.2 TV Shows
  • 7.3 Sports
  • 8.2 Video Games
  • 7.5 HDR Movies
  • 8.0 HDR Gaming
  • 7.0 PC Monitor
  1. Updated Mar 01, 2017: Review published.
  2. Updated Nov 09, 2016: Our testers have started testing this product.
  3. Updated Oct 26, 2016: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

We tested the 55" (UN55KU7500). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 43" (UN43KU7500), 49" (UN49KU7500), 65" (UN65KU7500).

Note that the UN78KU7500 has a full-array backlight, so we expect it to offer better dark scene performance but worse gray uniformity.

If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Samsung KU7500 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.

Size Model
43" UN43KU7500
49" UN49KU7500
55" UN55KU7500
65" UN65KU7500
78" UN78KU7500

Compared To Other TVs

Comparison picture

Top left: Samsung KU7000 (UN55KU7000). Bottom left: Sony X850D (XBR55X850D). Middle: Samsung KU7500 (UN55KU7500). Top right: Vizio P Series 2016 (P65-C1). Bottom right: Samsung KS8500 (UN55KS8500).  Unlike our other photographs, this picture wasn't taken under a controlled environment, so do not draw conclusions from it.

The Samsung KU7500 has good picture quality, and works well as an all-round TV. It is almost identical to the Samsung KU7000, but without the curve so the increased price is hard to justify. With this price premium, it is competing with higher end TVs offering more premium features so it can be a bit hard to recommend the KU7500. Unlike the KU7000, it is available in a 78" variation which may offer good performance for the price.

Test Results

Design
9.0
Design
Style
Curved Yes

The design is identical to the KU7000, but with a curved screen. It has brushed metal borders which look quite good, and the same shiny metal V stand. The textured back adds a nice touch. It looks more premium than the KU6300 or curved KU6500

Design
Stand

The stand is made of metal, and in a similar design to most other Samsung TVs. It has the same cut and polish as the non-curved KU7000.

Footprint of the 55" TV stand: 13.1" x 37.3"

Design
Back
Wall Mount VESA 400x400

The back has a textured finish which looks good. It is a bit more interesting than most other TVs. This is the same as the KU7000 and similar to the high end KS9000 series. If wall mounted the connections are still quite easy to access from the side.

Design
Borders
Borders 0.51" (1.3 cm)

The borders have a brushed metal finish which looks quite good. They are also thinner than average which is nice.

Design
Thickness
Max Thickness 3.03" (7.7 cm)

The TV appears thicker when viewed at an angle due to the curved screen. It is thickest at the bottom, and may stick out a little bit if wall mounted.

Picture Quality
8.9
Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
5,555 : 1

The native contrast ratio is good on the KU7500 and it provides good dark scene performance with deep blacks.

0
Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Local Dimming
No
Backlight
Edge

Even if Samsung markets this model as having "UHD Dimming", this is not a local dimming feature. It reduces the whole screen brightness when a small highlight is present on screen. The effect can be noticed on our peak brightness result, where any measure of the brightness under 20% screen ratio starts to get less bright.

7.2
Picture Quality
SDR Peak Brightness
SDR Real Scene Peak Brightness
290 cd/m²
SDR Peak 2% Window
150 cd/m²
SDR Peak 10% Window
281 cd/m²
SDR Peak 25% Window
352 cd/m²
SDR Peak 50% Window
352 cd/m²
SDR Peak 100% Window
352 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 2% Window
150 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 10% Window
281 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 25% Window
352 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 50% Window
352 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 100% Window
352 cd/m²

The SDR peak brightness is, as the HDR peak brightness, bellow average. Small bright highlights get reduce by what Samsung call 'UHD Dimming,' but this is less problematic while watching SDR content versus HDR content. Overall, this TV is not very bright and would be best situated in a dark room.

7.2
Picture Quality
HDR Peak Brightness
HDR Real Scene Peak Brightness
304 cd/m²
HDR Peak 2% Window
155 cd/m²
HDR Peak 10% Window
271 cd/m²
HDR Peak 25% Window
340 cd/m²
HDR Peak 50% Window
340 cd/m²
HDR Peak 100% Window
340 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 2% Window
155 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 10% Window
271 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 25% Window
340 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 50% Window
340 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 100% Window
340 cd/m²

The peak brightness is below average for the KU7500 and is in line with the results that we got for the KU7000. Even if there is no local dimming, both of the smaller size windows get dim automatically by what Samsung call 'UHD Dimming'. This dimming can only be disabled if the TV is set to PC mode. Even when the TV is set to PC mode, the peak brightness is still low and will not be high enough to provide good HDR performance compared to other Samsung TVs in the KS Series that can obtain over a 1000cd/m² of brightness on the 2% size windows.

7.4
Picture Quality
Gray Uniformity
50% Std. Dev.
3.497%
50% DSE
0.175%

Gray uniformity is average and luckily not too much dirty screen effect is visible. All borders are darker with a large vertical band in the center being a bit more bright and warm. Dirty screen effect is not too obvious and even if there are some uniformity issues, the overall screen looks pretty smooth.

4.9
Picture Quality
Viewing Angle
LCD Type
VA
Color Shift
35°
Brightness
41°
Black Level
18°

The viewing angle is average for the KU7500 and is the same as the flat KU7000. When compared to other VA TVs, the KU7500 performs as well as the best, such as the Samsung KS8000. This is still not much when compared to IPS or OLED TVs. When viewed from off center, contrast ratio goes down, the picture quality get reduced a lot and the colors start to get washed out and get a reddish tint.

Update: We have changed the methodology of testing. Since this is an old TV which we don't have anymore, we extrapolated the results.

9.1
Picture Quality
Black Uniformity
Native Std. Dev.
0.885%

Black uniformity is very good for this set and is comparable to the flat sibling, the KU7000. When looking at our test picture, some really faint clouding can be seen near the center, but this is really negligible and is only visible, since our test is really demanding. When watching a movie or just normal TV, no problems can be seem at all.

9.5
Picture Quality
Gradient
Color Depth
10 Bit

When displaying our gradient test picture, the resulting image is pretty smooth and without any banding normally associated with an 8 bit panel. When analyzing our test picture of the gradient, no particularly problems can be seen, even in the darker shades, where problems are usually more present.

7.9
Picture Quality
Pre Calibration
White Balance dE
4.19
Color dE
3.38
Gamma
2.18

Prior to calibration the results are good. The target 2.2 gamma is tracked very well, but the image is a little bit too warm. For most people a calibration is not necessary.

9.8
Picture Quality
Post Calibration
White Balance dE
0.2
Color dE
0.65
Gamma
2.2

The calibration is very easy with the built in 10 point system. All minor issues could be fixed, and the TV feels responsive to changes.

You can see our recommended settings here.

8.0
Picture Quality
480p Input

Low quality content such as DVDs look quite good. There are some halo artifacts along straight lines, but this is not as pronounced as some other TVs.

8.0
Picture Quality
720p Input

720p content such as cable looks good. Details are preserved well and the image isn't too soft.

9.0
Picture Quality
1080p Input

1080p content such as Blu-rays look good. The image is sharp and details are clear.

10
Picture Quality
4k Input

High resolution content such as UHD Blu-rays look great, and no issues can be seen.

7.9
Picture Quality
Color Gamut
Wide Color Gamut
Yes
DCI P3 xy
86.16%
DCI P3 uv
92.73%
Rec 2020 xy
62.82%
Rec 2020 uv
71.98%

Like the non-curved KU7000, the KU7500 supports a wide color gamut and is able to cover most of the P3 color space. It is not as wide as higher end TVs but this is definitely an improvement for HDR content.

6.1
Picture Quality
Color Volume
Normalized DCI P3 Coverage
69.04%
10,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage
35.379%
Normalized Rec 2020 Coverage
51.319%
10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage
26.712%
10
Picture Quality
Image Retention
IR after 0 min recovery
0%
IR after 2 min recovery
0%
IR after 4 min recovery
0%
IR after 6 min recovery
0%
IR after 8 min recovery
0%
IR after 10 min recovery
0%
7.0
Picture Quality
Reflections
Reflection
2.4%
Screen Finish
Semi-gloss

The KU7500 is average at dealing with reflections. Due to the semi-gloss finish, direct reflections are large and diffused across the screen. This helps to reduce their intensity, but will be an issue for a room with a few direct reflections. For a darker room this is not an issue.

0
Picture Quality
3D
3D
No
3D Type
No
2D to 3D
No

The KU7500 doesn't support any 3D features.

Picture Quality
Pixels
Type LED
Motion
7.5
Motion
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Response Time
19.4 ms
Overshoot
0 ms

The response time is better than average, and provides good motion performance. For fast paced content some blur can be seen but it should be a good enough result for most content. The backlight flicker due to PWM dimming can be seen in the duplications following the logo.

2.8
Motion
Image Flicker
PWM Dimming Frequency
120 Hz
BFI
Yes
BFI Frequency
120 Hz
BFI In Game Mode
No

The KU7500 uses PWM to dim at 120Hz. It is possible to enable a 60Hz flicker to clear up motion, but this isn't available in the 'Game' special viewing mode.

0
Motion
24p Playback
Judder-free 24p
No
Judder-free 24p via 60p
No
Judder-free 24p via 60i
No

Judder is present when playing movies from any source. Most people don't notice judder so this isn't an issue.

5.0
Motion
Motion Interpolation
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Yes
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
No

Those who enjoy the soap opera effect are able to enable it for 30fps content. The TV has a native 60Hz panel and so can't interpolate content past this.

Inputs
8.2
Inputs
Input Lag
1080p @ 60Hz
20.9 ms
1080p With Interpolation
118.1 ms
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
118.1 ms
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
37.2 ms
4k @ 60Hz
20.8 ms
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
37.5 ms
4k @ 60Hz + HDR
20.9 ms
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4 + 8 bit HDR
37.1 ms

Input lag is low for all sources when activating the 'Game' special viewing mode, which is great. Chroma subsampling support adds about 17ms to each reading, but this is still low enough to be good for most people. The HDR input lag is also low, which is great.

8.0
Inputs
Supported Resolutions
Resolution 4k
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
1080p @ 120Hz
No
4k @ 30Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
4k @ 60Hz
Yes
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes

To enable HDMI 2.0 full bandwidth for 4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4, enable 'HDMI UHD Color'. This is only possible on HDMI1. Chroma subsampling is supported and allows text to be clear across all backgrounds for those using the TV as a PC monitor. Like other Samsung TVs, the KU7500 doesn't support a 120Hz signal.

Inputs
Side Inputs
Inputs
Rear Inputs

All inputs are located on the side of this TV.

Inputs
Total Inputs
HDMI 3
USB 2
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 1 (incl. adapter, shared)
Composite In 1 (incl. adapter, shared)
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 0
SD/SDHC 0
Inputs
Inputs Specifications
HDR10
Yes
5.1 Passthrough ARC Dolby Digital
Yes
Dolby Vision
No
5.1 Passthrough ARC DTS
Yes
5.1 Passthrough Optical Dolby Digital
Yes
5.1 Passthrough Optical DTS
Yes
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth Yes (HDMI 1)
ARC Yes (HDMI 3)
USB 3 No
HDCP 2.2 Yes
CEC Yes
MHL No
Variable Analog Audio Out No

At the time of testing, the TV does not automatically switch between DTS and Dolby Digital sound. It is necessary to choose the format in the sound settings for 5.1 passthrough.

Sound Quality
6.8
Sound Quality
Frequency Response
Std. Dev. @ 70
4.32 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ 80
4.25 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ Max
6.11 dB SPL
Max
89.6 dB SPL
Low-end Cutoff
107 Hz

Average performance. Frequency response is decent at lower volumes, however, there is a noticeable amount of compression and pumping present under heavier loads. Additionally, low-end cutoff and maximum loudness are also decent.

5.9
Sound Quality
Total Harmonic Distortion
Distortion @ 70
0.018
Distortion @ 80
0.059
Distortion @ Max
0.134

Poor overall harmonic distortion performance. The amount of harmonic distortion is quite low at lower volumes, but at maximum volume, there is a noticeable jump in distortion especially in the mid-range.

Smart Features
Smart Features
Apps

The Samsung app store allows access to a wide variety of apps to suit almost any media use, including Netflix, Amazon Video, Spotify and YouTube.

8.5
Smart Features
Interface
Smart OS Tizen (2016)

The KU7500 has Samsung's Tizen smart platform, which is great. It works well and is very easy to use. In the initial TV setup it will attempt to identify connected devices for CEC control which makes the setup very easy. After initially turning on the TV, it can take 10-15 seconds to be able to use the smart platform, but this isn't long enough to be an issue for most people. The platform looks good and allows access to the Samsung app store which has plenty of content including Netflix, Amazon Video and Vudu. Plugging a USB drive directly into the back of the TV allows easily playing photos or videos.

When a new device is detected (such as when a computer is woken from sleep while plugged into an HDMI port) the TV automatically switches to this device. This may be an annoyance if you are watching other content at the time.

0
Smart Features
Ads
Ad-free
No
Opt-out
No

You can only opt-out of interest-based advertising on this TV, not completely disable them.

Smart Features
TV Controls

A single button to control the TV is located under the right hand side. It allows for basic operations such as power, and changing inputs or volume. It is easy to access if wall mounted but can be difficult to use, as each operation requires a combination of pressing and holding the button.

Smart Features
Remote
Remote Smart

The smart remote is identical to that found with the high end KS* series of Samsung TVs and the non-curved KU7000. It is comfortable and easy to use, with voice support.

Smart Features
In The Box

  • Manual
  • Batteries
  • Remote
  • Wall mount spacers
  • Composite in adapter
  • Component in adapter
  • Cable management piece

Smart Features
Misc
Power Consumption 48 W
Power Consumption (Max) 134 W
Firmware 1142