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Samsung JS9500 TV Review

Tested using Methodology v1.0
Review updated Mar 01, 2017 at 06:31 am
Samsung JS9500 Picture
8.0
Mixed Usage
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.5
Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.7
TV Shows
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.5
Sports
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.0
Video Games
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.3
HDR Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.2
HDR Gaming
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
6.9
PC Monitor
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench

The Samsung JS9500 SUHD TV is a great 4k LED TV. The picture quality and its backlight are impressive, but it isn't without flaws. It has poor gray uniformity and a limited viewing angle.

Our Verdict

8.0 Mixed Usage

The Samsung JS9500 SUHD TV is a great TV overall. It has a wider color gamut and a good full array local dimming backlight. It is very good for video games, due to its low response time and input lag. Unfortunately, the colors lose saturation at an angle and the gray uniformity is sub-par.

Pros
  • Wider color gamut
  • Low motion blur and input lag
  • Bright and doesn't reflect a lot of light
Cons
  • Poor gray uniformity
  • Limited viewing angle
  • 8.0 Mixed Usage
  • 8.5 Movies
  • 7.7 TV Shows
  • 7.5 Sports
  • 8.0 Video Games
  • 8.3 HDR Movies
  • 8.2 HDR Gaming
  • 6.9 PC Monitor
  1. Updated Mar 01, 2017: Review published.
  2. Updated Jun 27, 2015: Our testers have started testing this product.
  3. Updated Apr 10, 2015: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Test Results

Design
9.0
Design
Style
Curved Yes

The Samsung JS9500 looks and feels like a high-end TV. It is quite heavy and thick, due to its full array local dimming backlight. The stand, too, is quite stable, given the weight of the TV.

Design
Stand

Dimensions of 65" TV stand: 41.75" by 15".

Design
Borders
Borders 0.59" (1.5 cm)
Design
Thickness
Max Thickness 3.54" (9 cm)
Picture Quality
7.9
Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
3,106 : 1

Turning on the local dimming didn't change our contrast ratio measurement at all (we measure it on a checkboard pattern). The native contrast on this TV is only average.

8.0
Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Local Dimming
Yes
Backlight
Full-Array

The local dimming is quite responsive, but there is some noticeable blooming around bright objects.

More videos are available here.

7.6
Picture Quality
SDR Peak Brightness
SDR Peak 2% Window
727 cd/m²
SDR Peak 50% Window
381 cd/m²

Given the same HDR footage, the difference between how well two TVs display HDR content is based on how wide of a dynamic contrast range they can display. To test this, we display a 2% white window and put the backlight and local dimming to the max. We then measure how bright that rectangle is.

We measured 726.7 cd/m2 on the Samsung UN65JS9500, which is quite bright. You can see a big blooming area around it though, but at least the edges of the screen are completely turned off.

Of course, this test is far from perfect. When the HDR format gets standardized in a few months, we will update the review with a more meaningful test.

6.9
Picture Quality
Gray Uniformity
50% Std. Dev.
3.817%
50% DSE
0.201%

Unfortunately, the gray uniformity isn't very good. You can see a few darker spots and edges. Curved TVs tend to have worse uniformity than their flat equivalent.

4.2
Picture Quality
Viewing Angle
LCD Type
VA
Color Shift
20°
Brightness
30°
Black Level
17°

Like all VA panels, the colors are not the same when you sit at an angle. You will need to watch in front to appreciate this TV's picture quality.

Update 01/06/2017: We have changed the methodology of testing. Since this is an old TV which we don't have anymore, we extrapolated the results from 2016 TVs.

8.5
Picture Quality
Black Uniformity
Native Std. Dev.
1.216%

The black uniformity is average. Turning on the local dimming feature helps a little bit to hide this issue, but you can still see some clouding in some dark scenes.

9.0
Picture Quality
Gradient
Color Depth
10 Bit
8.9
Picture Quality
Pre Calibration
White Balance dE
2.07
Color dE
1.8922
Gamma
2.13

The white balance isn't far off from the pre-calibration.

9.8
Picture Quality
Post Calibration
White Balance dE
0.31
Color dE
0.4891
Gamma
2.2

The colors don't get much better than this TV once it has been calibrated.

8.0
Picture Quality
480p Input

This TV doesn't have any problem upscaling lower-resolution content, DVDs looks good and not too soft.

8.0
Picture Quality
720p Input

Cable content looks also very good and is not too soft either.

9.0
Picture Quality
1080p Input

The 1080p upscaling is good. It looks the same as on the cheaper 4k Samsung TVs.

10
Picture Quality
4k Input

Note that to get the full benefit of 4k, you'll need to watch genuine 4k material, and also sit close enough to the TV to see the extra detail. We talk about this in more detail here.

8.3
Picture Quality
Color Gamut
Wide Color Gamut
Yes
DCI P3 xy
89.83%
DCI P3 uv
96.23%
Rec 2020 xy
67.6%
Rec 2020 uv
76.34%

Selecting 'Native' as the color space increases the gamut quite noticeably. It is still far from the full Rec. 2020, though.

9.0
Picture Quality
Reflections
Reflection
0.7%
Screen Finish
Glossy

The glossy screen does a great job at reducing reflected ambient light. However, direct lights are more defined, and also have a rainbow glare around them.
It can get very bright. It is great for a bright room - unless you have a window right in front of the TV. The reflection will be quite defined, which is distracting.

9.0
Picture Quality
3D
3D
Yes
3D Type
Active

The 3D is good. A little bit of crosstalk, but nothing noticeable during normal scenes.

Picture Quality
Pixels
Type LED
Motion
8.2
Motion
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate 120 Hz
Response Time
15.6 ms
Overshoot
0 ms

The JS9500 has very little motion blur. We measured an average response time of 15.6ms, which is quite good. You won't have any problem in sports or video games.

4.8
Motion
Image Flicker
PWM Dimming Frequency
120 Hz
BFI
Yes
BFI Frequency
60 Hz
BFI In Game Mode
No
7.1
Motion
24p Playback
Judder-free 24p
Yes
Judder-free 24p via 60p
No
Judder-free 24p via 60i
No

Watching movies over a Blu-ray player in 24p has no judder, but you might see some when watching movies over a 60p or 60i source, because it can't always do the reverse 3:2 pulldown (sometimes it works, but not always). 'Auto Motion Plus' gets rid of this, but it comes with the soap opera effect.

10
Motion
Motion Interpolation
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Yes
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
Yes
Inputs
7.5
Inputs
Input Lag
1080p @ 60Hz
23.2 ms
1080p With Interpolation
145.5 ms
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
154.6 ms
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
56.6 ms

In game mode, the input lag is very low. PC mode has a higher input lag of 56.6 ms, which is a bit unfortunate if you want chroma 4:4:4.

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

It doesn't support 1080p @ 120fps, which is a bit of a shame, considering this is Samsung's best TV. To get 4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4, you must enable both PC mode and UHD Color.

Inputs
Side Inputs

The One Connect box is quite big. It also has a fan inside, which produces a little bit of noise.

Inputs
Rear Inputs

There are only two connections on the TV: the AC power and the One Connect. Everything must go through the One Connect box.

Inputs
Total Inputs
HDMI 4
USB 3
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 1
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 1
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
ARC Yes (HDMI 4)
USB 3 Yes (1)
HDCP 2.2 Yes
CEC Yes
MHL Yes (HDMI 3)
Variable Analog Audio Out No
Sound Quality
7.9
Sound Quality
Frequency Response
Std. Dev. @ 70
3.34 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ 80
3.36 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ Max
5.27 dB SPL
Max
91.5 dB SPL
Low-end Cutoff
53 Hz

The low-end cut off is excellent for a TV, and it gets loud too. However, the frequency response suffers at higher volumes, most likely due to pumping.

4.3
Sound Quality
Total Harmonic Distortion
Distortion @ 70
0.05
Distortion @ 80
0.358
Distortion @ Max
0.439

The distortion is good at very low listening levels, but it becomes significant as the volume increases.

Smart Features
Smart Features
Apps

Major Apps Available

  • Netflix
  • YouTube
  • Vudu
  • HBO Go
  • Hulu Plus
  • CinemaNow
  • Crackle
  • Amazon Video
  • Pandora

    Check out our full review of Samsung's smart features.

  • 8.5
    Smart Features
    Interface
    Smart OS Tizen

    Samsung's smart platform is really good, and the included remote is likewise pretty great. It includes voice and motion controls, so navigation is pretty simple.

    Unique to Samsung's and Sony's smart offerings is the 'Playstation Now' game streaming feature. If you connect a DualShock 4 controller to this TV, you'll be able to subscribe to a game streaming service that offers old PlayStation games, playable directly from your TV.

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

    The included remote, which doubles as a cursor pointer, is useful for navigating the smart features. The only downside is the lack of number pad directly on it.

    Smart Features
    Misc
    Power Consumption 153 W
    Power Consumption (Max) 320.6 W
    Firmware 1217