With spring in the air it’s that time of year when most new TV prototypes hit our shelves. After a preliminary unveiling at CES in January, Samsung have released their latest models and so we’ve taken a look at one of their biggest highlights – the UE65JU7500.
Sitting at the higher end of their latest range, this new 65″ set is the one you’ll most likely turn to for turbo-charging your living room entertainment. As well as design cues from previous successful models, great strides have been made with the hardware for this new generation, including Samsung’s brand new operating system (OS), Tizen. With so many new features packed in, a quick run down of the specification is probably the best way to start…
Its 65” curved LED panel has a resolution of 3840 x 2160 and is also fully 4K compliant. Under the hood is a Quad-Core processor (similar to previous high-end models) powering a raft of Smart features – with more to be added over the next month or so. There’s also Active 3D and twin tuners for both Freesat and Freeview, plus four HDMI sockets and a host of other connections.
Samsung’s brand new Tizen operating system is stylish and simple to use.
Aesthetically this year’s range of sets are noticeably bigger, with a slightly wider frame and deeper case. Rather than being a fashion faux-pas, this new design looks classy and brings picture related benefits, too – the deeper backlighting helps to reduce light-bleed. With TV bezels gradually becoming thinner and thinner it’s difficult to keep reducing the frame size without harming the performance, but Samsung’s approach with the JU7500 seems spot on.
Samsung have pushed the picture quality bar higher too with unique Peak Illuminator technology, that will enrich an image by moving energy from darker segments of a picture and shifting it to where the image is brighter – clever stuff!
On the whole the JU7500 gave an excellent account of itself on the image front, on BBC One HD colours were vibrant and clear with no smearing or the ‘nuclear’ green balance that has troubled some older sets. The decision to move the backlighting away from the panel proved worthwhile too with no noticeable light bleed to speak of. 4K images were simply breathtaking while standard definition images also fared well, the upscaling was noticeably better than other models that we had positioned close by.
We also tested its mettle with the Cambridge Audio 751BD Blu-ray player and our go-to test film Skyfall, which will likely be replaced soon with a new iteration in the making. The final scenes, featuring Bond, M and the villain Raoul Silva looked as moody and dramatic as ever. Skin tones were managed well, and the screen’s delivery was reassured with steady motion processing.
The brand new operating system Tizen looks like it will be a key part of Samsung’s future innovations thanks to its simplicity and adaptability. Expect to see Smart watches, mobile phones and even washing machines all running this lightweight and fast OS in the future! However if you’re used to using their previous TV platforms you won’t be completely lost by this new set-up in the JU7500. Menu design and fonts have been given a more minimal and ultimately stylish feel that makes them even easier to navigate, which is important given that it’s the area people are likely to see most.
So another year and another new Samsung TV range has impressed us again. Having sat at the top of the pile for some time now, we’ll be looking forward to seeing if Samsung can remain there come awards season. On this showing they’ll certainly be in the running!
To find out more about the UE65JU7500 model click here.
Author: Chris, Liverpool store
