SEOUL: Watching a movie in Samsung HDR is much more convincing than seeing a 4K video for the first time. Combining content presented in high dynamic range with the super high contrast and brightness capabilities of the JS9500, colourful objects appear to leap out from dark backgrounds, while tiny grey and near-black details in those backgrounds themselves are given enough definition to stand out in what would previously have been one big black splodge.
The TV is 4K-capable too, which will be great once more 4K Blu-rays and streaming options hit the market.
Speaking of apps, the JS9500 features Samsung’s own Tizen operating system as opposed to the standard Android. The store is packed with apps though, from the expected streaming services and social networks to more advanced and esoteric offerings. Plenty of settings give you total control over your experience (like shutting off smoothing if you’re 24 frames per second movie purist). Nice touches like being able to pin your favourite apps and inputs to the home menu show how serious Samsung are about making Tizen a thing.
The single most exciting non-imaging feature of Samsung’s SUHD TVs is something called the One Connect box. Designed to sit under or nearby your TV, this is a separate box that contains all the components of the television that are likely to be made redundant by new models, including the octa-core processor, as well as the array of HDMI and USB ports. This allows you to upgrade or replace your TVs innards without a whole new set, makes for less clutter behind and around your TV and gives easy access to all your inputs.
Standard HD content appeared on-par or slightly nicer than it would on a 1080p TV. A Blu-ray movie in particular benefited from the television’s software and post-processing, improving the contrast and sharpness greatly and seeming to impart a small measure of 4K, HDR feel even though the film wasn’t originally designed for it. Meanwhile sub-HD content (I took a look at a DVD and a non-HD terrestrial broadcast) were noticeably blurry and suffered from some digital artefacts.
For those yet to experience a curved television, the main issue is that the majority of the form’s cinematic benefits only reach those sitting in the “sweet spot”, i.e. directly in front of the set.
Viewed from straight on and with the top of the TV just about eye height, you get the kind of effect you’d get at the cinema a bit of extra immersion and a sensation of real depth. Outside that sweet spot however (like if you’re standing, on the floor or to the side) you get a bit of a skewed image; for example, horizontal lines will appear not only angled (like they would on a regular flat TV) but curved as well.
While it’s possible this is something you get used to, the screen quality of JS9500 it goes a small way to negating some of these issues. The screen is matte enough that most reflections are invisible during bright scenes (handy to avoid the fun-house effect curved glass can have if you’re moving around), while great viewing angles mean that even though your friends in the armchairs won’t get an ideal picture, they’ll at least get most of the TV’s colour and contrast benefits. Gaming on the curved screen is comfortable and adds a cinematic feel to big, blockbuster games, but if you’re not sitting at more or less the right height and position you’ll know it immediately.
