Guest blog by Ian.
Samsung’s KS7000 televisions showcase some truly top tech functions and features.
When I say top tech, I offer up the 4K Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, as a starter. Then, to follow, the ever important HDR (High Dynamic Range). Techies will be impressed by 10-bit panel and a peak brightness of 1000 nits, as a minimum (one nit is the brightness of a candle). It also uses the very wide BT.2020 colour space. What all these numbers and facts add up to some big ticks in TV industry boxes – big enough, indeed, to mean that the Samsung KS7000 qualifies for a UHD Premium sticker. The UHD Premium sticker is the industry standard for serious TV specification.
We’ve only just begun, though, as Samsung has seemingly sprinkled its own magic into this rather special TV. The KS7000 uses ‘Quantum Dot’ technology; Samsung says that Quantum Dot promises more than a billion colours – 64 times more than conventional rivals.
The ‘Boundless’ frame (Samsung’s terminology for what is a remarkably thin bezel) means there’s not a whole lot that’s going to distract you when you settle down to view that all-important picture. Thanks to the edge-lit LCD panel and the external One Connect box, which houses the majority of the inputs (three USBs & four HDMI), this is also an impressively thin TV. You barely notice the one cable that goes from the box to the screen itself, which makes this a particularly neat unit.
The devotion to detail when walking round this TV is evident and demonstrates that Samsung has gone to some considerable effort to ensure the TV looks good all the way round. Samsung calls this a “360-degree design”, meaning that there’s no unsightly detail at the back or sides of this TV. I was particularly impressed that there are NO visible screw holes at the back of the TV; clear evidence of Samsung’s impressive attention to detail.
Samsung has redeveloped and vastly improved on the 2015 Tizen-based operating system. The interface is revamped and is even better. Fortunately, everything still revolves around a pop-up bar, which still houses the apps and the menus – but Samsung have somehow made it more intuitive to click around. It’s even faster, too – waiting time being the sure-fire death of any operating system, and it has been minimised to great effect.
The redesigned Smart remote control is nicely simplistic and it is more ergonomic and nicer to handle than Samsung’s previous remotes. You also get a One Connect box for all your HDMI, USB and other connection requirements.
And now it’s time to play. I begin with 4K, streaming from Netflix and Amazon. The picture is sharper than I expected; there’s genuinely enough definition to individually make out raindrops on a windscreen, plus there was the clarity needed to make out the accompanying condensation.
Things get even better from that stunning picture when I moved on to 4K on UHD Blu-ray; this has the advantage of HDR, and I was hugely impressed by the contrast offered.
Seemingly what you get with the UHD Premium certification, alongside high levels of sharpness and clarity, is incredible subtlety. So, instead of simple solar brightness and abyssal blacks, you get remarkably fine increments of shade.
This same subtlety has been applied to colour, too. Skin tones are realistic and varied; the subtle colour delivery doesn’t just make for a more convincing image, it also helps to add a real sense of depth.
On to the ‘mere’ Full HD Blu-ray and the KS7000, perhaps unsurprisingly now, proves to be an excellent upscaler. There is, as I’d expect, a drop off in quality from a 4K feed, but the TV does a good job whilst I watch “Fargo” of clearly defining tyre tracks on snow, whilst managing to retain the subtlety of contrast and colour. Even without the benefit of HDR, some subtleties – such as the drape of clothing – are rendered with convincing depth and strong dynamism.
As I think we’ve all come to expect from thin TVs the sound quality doesn’t quite match the picture but that’s easily (and impressively) remedied by the addition of a soundbar. When you have a TV of this quality – at the relatively bargain price – it makes sense to create something more akin to a fuller movie experience.
Buy your Samsung KS7000 online today or visit your local store to ask about a demonstration.
