Samsung TU6980 TV Review

The Samsung 6 Series is an entry-level 4k TV that Samsung is releasing for Black Friday in 2020. It replaces 2018's Samsung NU6900 and is a variant of the Samsung TU7000. Its main competitors are other large, budget-friendly TVs such as the LG UN8500, Hisense H6570G, and the Vizio V Series 2020.

The Samsung 6 Series has an excellent design. It looks a lot like the Samsung TU7000 with thin borders and a textured finish on the back panel. It has different feet and it's thinner than other entry-level Samsung models in 2020, but sadly, there's no cable management.

The Samsung 6 Series has wide-set feet that support the TV well. The feet are placed more at an angle compared to the Samsung TU7000, and there's enough room to place a soundbar without obstructing the screen. You can't place the feet in a reverse position or move them to accommodate smaller tables.

Footprint of the 70" TV: 49.5" x 13.5"

The back of this TV is plastic with a brushed textured finish. There are tracks at the bottom, but without any clips on the legs, they don't help with cable management.

The borders are thin and aren't distracting.

The Samsung 6 Series is even thinner than the Samsung TU8000 and doesn't stick out when wall-mounted.

The Samsung 6 Series has a decent build quality, much like the Samsung TU7000 and Samsung TU8000. It's made entirely out of plastic and there aren't any obvious issues, but at the same time, there's nothing premium about it.

The Samsung 6 Series has a good contrast ratio. It's much lower than most VA panel TVs we've tested, but this may vary between units. You may notice some blacks appear closer to gray when viewed in the dark.

The SDR peak brightness isn't bad and it's much better than the Samsung TU7000. It gets bright enough to combat some glare, but it's best to avoid placing it in well-lit rooms. It maintains its brightness consistent for the most part, but small highlights aren't as bright due to the frame dimming.

We measured peak brightness after calibration in the 'Movie' Picture Mode with Gamma set to '2.2', Contrast at its default setting, and Brightness at its max.

If you don't care about image accuracy and want the brightest image possible, set the Picture Mode to 'Movie', Contrast Enhancer to 'High', Color Tone to 'Cool', and Contrast at its max. We achieved 311 cd/m² in the 10% window using these settings.

This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video above is provided for reference only.

The Samsung TU6900 has disappointing HDR peak brightness. It only gets a bit brighter than in SDR, and it doesn't get bright enough to bring out highlights. Once again, small highlights aren't as bright due to the frame dimming.

We measured HDR peak brightness in the 'Movie HDR' Picture Mode with Contrast and Brightness at their max. If you want an even brighter image and don't mind losing accuracy, use these settings with Contrast Enhancer on 'High' and ST.2084 set to '+3'. We achieved 320 cd/m² in the 10% window.

Our unit of the Samsung 6 Series has decent gray uniformity, but this may vary between units. The edges of the screen are visibly darker and there's dirty screen effect in the center. The uniformity is much better in near-dark scenes, but there's still some slight backlight bleed along the edges.

The black uniformity is only decent, but this may vary between units. There's clouding throughout the screen and a bit of blooming around the center cross.

This TV has narrow viewing angles, which is expected from a VA panel. You quickly lose image accuracy when viewing off-center, so it's not suggested for wide seating arrangements.

The reflection handling is decent, much like the Samsung TU8000. It performs best in moderately-lit rooms, but the reflections may be too distracting if it's placed opposite a window with direct sunlight.

The Samsung 6 Series has very good out-of-the-box accuracy. Most colors and white balance are only slightly inaccurate, and most people shouldn't notice it. Color temperature is almost exactly spot on our 6500K target. Gamma follows the target curve fairly well overall, but dark scenes are too dark and other scenes are too bright.

After calibration, the color accuracy is remarkable. Any remaining inaccuracies with colors and white balance can't be spotted by the naked eye. The color temperature became slightly cooler from before calibration, but it's still extremely close to the target. Gamma follows the target curve almost perfectly, except really dark scenes are still too dark.

See our recommended settings here.

The Samsung 6 Series upscales 480p content, such as from DVDs, without any issues.

720p content, like from cable boxes, is displayed well and there aren't any artifacts.

This TV displays 1080p content almost as good as native 4k content.

The Samsung 6 Series displays native 4k content perfectly and there aren't any obvious issues.

This is a 4k TV that doesn't display an 8k signal.

This TV uses a BGR subpixel layout, which can affect the way text is rendered when using it as a PC monitor. You can read about it here.

The Samsung TU6900 has an okay color gamut, but it's not considered a wide color gamut needed for HDR content. It has good coverage of the commonly-used DCI P3 color space, but limited coverage of the wider Rec. 2020.

The EOTF follows the target PQ curve fairly well, but all scenes are darker than they should be. The image in 'Game' mode is brighter, as you can see in this EOTF.

If you find HDR too dim and want a brighter image, set the Contrast Enhancer to 'High', ST.2084 to '+3', Tone Color to 'Cool', and Brightness and Contrast at their max in the 'Movie HDR' Picture Mode. This results in a brighter image, as you can see in this EOTF. You can also adjust Shadow Detail to '+5', as seen in this EOTF, but this results in blacks that look gray and we don't recommend it.

The Samsung 6 Series has a disappointing color volume. It's mainly limited by its lack of a wide color gamut, and it can't display colors at a wide range of luminance levels.

This TV has okay gradient handling. There's banding in all colors, and it's most noticeable with green and gray. The Noise Reduction setting doesn't improve the gradients at all. If gradient handling is important to you, look into the LG NANO80.

Our unit of the Samsung 6 Series has no signs of image retention, but this may vary between units.

We don't expect VA panels to experience burn-in, as the VA panel in our long-term test appears immune.

The Samsung 6 Series has a good response time. There's overshoot in dark transitions, so you may notice motion artifacts in dark scenes. Also, there's visible image duplication due to the backlight's flicker.

This TV uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to dim its backlight. It flickers at 120Hz at all times unless it's in the 'Game' or 'Movie' Picture Mode with Brightness set to max; only then it becomes flicker-free.

There's an optional Black Frame Insertion feature to help reduce motion blur. It's called LED Clear Motion, and it flickers at 60Hz outside of 'Game' mode and 120Hz in 'Game' mode.

The Samsung 6 Series has a motion interpolation feature to interpolate lower-frame rate content up to 60fps. It works great on our test pattern, but there are a few artifacts with real content. However, it isn't bad and depends on the content.

See here for the settings that control the feature.

Despite having a quick response time, there's not much stutter with lower-frame rate content. Enabling the motion interpolation feature can help reduce stutter if you notice it.

The Samsung 6 Series automatically removes judder from native 24p sources as long as Picture Clarity is disabled.

This TV doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology.

The Samsung 6 Series has an incredibly low input lag as long as you're in 'Game' mode, and it stays about the same whether you're gaming in 1080p or 4k. You can use the motion interpolation feature in 'Game' mode, but it significantly increases the input lag.

There's an 'Auto Low Latency Mode' that automatically switches the TV into 'Game' mode when a game from a compatible device is launched. For it to work, enable Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) and set Game Mode to 'Auto'. If you're using this TV as a PC monitor and want the lowest input lag, set the input you're using to 'PC' and enable Game Mode.

This TV supports most common resolutions at 60Hz, including 1440p, which is great for Xbox One gamers or PC users. It also displays chroma 4:4:4 at any resolution, which is important for reading text. Set the icon for the input you're using to 'PC' for it to display chroma 4:4:4. For signals that require full bandwidth, enable Input Signal Plus.

We had issues with HDR10+ during testing, as it didn't work with Amazon Prime Video, but worked with a Blu-ray.

Like the Samsung TU7000, the Samsung 6 Series has eARC support, allowing it to pass high-quality audio to a compatible receiver through a single HDMI connection. For it work, set HDMI eARC Mode to 'Auto' and Digital Output Audio to 'Passthrough' or 'Auto'.

The frequency response is unremarkable. It has a well-balanced sound profile to produce clear dialogue, but it doesn't produce much bass. Also, it doesn't get loud, so it's best to avoid using it in a noisy environment.

The Samsung 6 Series has disappointing distortion performance. It's noticeable even at moderate listening levels, and the distortion increases as the TV gets louder. However, this depends on the content and not everyone may hear it.

Like all other Samsung TVs, the Samsung 6 Series comes with Tizen OS. It's a version with reduced features, but it's still easy to navigate and runs fairly smoothly.

There are ads and suggested content on the home page and app store, and there's no way to opt out of them.

The Samsung app store has most popular streaming services available and they run smoothly for the most part.

The Samsung 6 Series comes with the same basic remote as the Samsung TU7000. There are a few shortcut buttons to popular streaming devices, but there's no voice control.

There's a single button underneath the Samsung branding at the center of the TV. You can use it to power the TV On/Off, change channels, inputs, or increase the volume.

• Remote (with batteries)
• User guides