AVS Forum banner

** OFFICIAL ** 2014 Samsung 4K UN55HU6840 Ultra HD Smart TV Thread

162K views 792 replies 135 participants last post by  umenon 
#1 · (Edited)
This appears to be a one of a kind model number that was released pre Black Friday.

I got mine yesterday from hhgregg for $899 + tax.

This is the official thread to discuss this set.

Based on a 1-day ownership ... here is my initial take (will update as I get more familiar with it).

Details -
- 60 Hz set with a Quad-Core processor (very fast)
- Not a 3D set.
- Smart TV / Smart Hub has Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon, HBO. M-GO etc etc. Bunch of Apps
- Has Netflix 4K and M-GO 4K apps
- Connects to 5GHz wireless without issues
- Black levels are weak out of the box
- Can configure Picture settings for individual HDMI ports
- Has 1 USB3.0 and 2 USB 2.0
- Plays 4K videos I downloaded from utube fine
- Very sharp looking pictures when calibrated (I did a quick one last night)

Calibration Settings (for now)
Picture Mode - Standard (I know movie is recommended - will play with it later)
Backlight - 4 (anything above this and the blacks start looking gray ... also there is light bleed)
Contrast - 95
Brightness - 48
All other noise and motion stuff has been turned off.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
So I was awake till 3:30AM last night playing with the set.

The upscaling is absolutely spectacular. My 1080i over-the-air NBS / CBS etc. channels are breathtaking. I also watched regular Netflix 1080p shows and they look AMAZING.

A 55-inch 4K for $898 that has HDMI 2.0 and plays all 4K content ... and looks stunning. Thanks Samsung.
 
#4 ·
I have all the Motion stuff turned off. I watched some football yesterday and it looked breathtaking ... but I am not an expert on detecting motion blur.

So I just played this file from within the Youtube App on the TV


With Motion settings OFF ... there were multiple traces left behind (blur? ... not an expert on this subject).
With Motion settings on SMOOTH ... it was incredible smoother ... but not 100% absent .. just one trace left behind.

Very happy with the upscaling ... but I said that already - 95% of the content I watch is 1080p ... so I am very happy. Having said that some of the youtube 4K videos I downloaded are .. insanely clear.
 
#7 ·
I just bought it. Picking it up tonight. Salesman tried to talk me into the 1200 dollar model because of local dimming. He called it a drop in model, meaning samsung makes these only for black Friday. Seems odd, but whatever. I just hope to see some sharpness upscaling on 1080 Cable content. Hopefully it will look better to me than the vizio m series I was about to buy, but we will see tonight. Also, it explains why they don't have a display because they won't be stocking them regularly after BF.
 
#150 ·
nice tv. congrats. i just picked up a Sharp Aquos Ultra 4k at a great price. I used to only buy Samsung but I have yet to witness a more perfect screen than the new Sharps. Sharp are the ces award winners for 2013 and 2014. They are making the best televisions currently.
 
#8 · (Edited)
guys i think this thing is 120hz.

per tiger direct black friday ad. this model 120hz. it also says that on hhgregg website where its being sold. i actually own the tv and can say. i have a un60es8000 (which is 240hz native) and its only slightly different. so i would say its probably 120hz. i think that review website is wrong product-reviews.net). samsung is not being specific here though & thats the problem. if anyone can come up with some hard evidence its 60hz please come forward though. from all specs it seems to be 120hz refresh rate with clear motion rate 240 that was made for BF. i also have connected a 4k 60p source directly to more than one HDMI on back and got 3840x2160 60p every time. I'm not sure about pc though. from my mac i only get 3840x2160 30p. but thats cause mac does not have 4k 60p HDMI port on my macbook pro retina(confirmed by apple specs).

this would explain why this tv plays so well guys. the 6950 also has this same conflict of some websites saying its 60hz but its actually 120hz per several reviews on here (AVSFORUM)..

if we can get some clarification that would be great guys. here is a pic of 4k 60p plugged into the HDMI 2 (DVI) port. notice I'm getting 4k @ 60p. i can also get 1080p @ 60p or 30p.

I also get this rather i turn on the option for HDMI UHD color option or not!


one suggestion i would say is to tweak your modes to your viewing. i notice a coated film like picture out the box. but after tweaking my modes (dynamic, natural, movie etc). its gone. you just have to set it to what works for you i think
 

Attachments

#9 ·
per tiger direct black friday ad. this model 120hz. it also says that on hhgregg website where its being sold. i actually own the tv and can say. i have a un60es8000 (which is 240hz native) and its only slightly different. so i would say its probably 120hz. i think that review website is wrong product-reviews.net). samsung is not being specific here though & thats the problem. if anyone can come up with some hard evidence its 60hz please come forward though. from all specs it seems to be 120hz refresh rate with clear motion rate 240 that was made for BF. i also have connected a 4k 60p source directly to more than one HDMI on back and got 3840x2160 60p every time. I'm not sure about pc though. from my mac i only get 3840x2160 30p. but thats cause mac does not have 4k 60p HDMI port on my macbook pro retina(confirmed by apple specs).

this would explain why this tv plays so well guys. the 6950 also has this same conflict of some websites saying its 60hz but its actually 120hz per several reviews on here (AVSFORUM)..

if we can get some clarification that would be great guys. here is a pic of 4k 60p plugged into the HDMI 2 (DVI) port. notice I'm getting 4k @ 60p. i can also get 1080p @ 60p or 30p.

I also get this rather i turn on the option for HDMI UHD color option or not!


one suggestion i would say is to tweak your modes to your viewing. i notice a coated film like picture out the box. but after tweaking my modes (dynamic, natural, movie etc). its gone. you just have to set it to what works for you i think
Can you share your settings?

Mine is listed in the Original post. What source are you using? I had to drop backlight to 4 (I have a dark room). the black level is inky black when content is playing (e.g. footbal helmets are jet black). But when the video is black ... I can see the backlight giving off a gray aura.
 
#10 ·
Just unboxed it about an hour ago. So far I'm impressed! I turned down motion settings and I'm watching Netflix via the app. Picture is super crisp. I watched a little basketball since football games are over for the night, and didn't notice blurring. I will try the blue test after my daughter goes to bed.
 
#13 ·
im noticing the mode your in sometimes has to do with that. also the content thats being played. 1080i has a grayish feel to it. but I'm assuming its because the tv is 4k and its trying to upscale 1080i. therefore i would suggest tweaking your mode settings and saving it that way for that HDMI input. if you check you won't really see this with 1080p blu-ray or 4k content its more with cable broadcast etc
 
#14 ·
Ok ... One way to test is this ... In a dark room enter these settings and tell me if the blacks are grey in dark scenes.

Mode: Standard
Backlight: 14
Contrast: 95
Brightness:45

The rest in default settings.

The above will not give you a calibrated picture but is intended to test if backlight bleed is causing blacks to look washed out.
 
#21 ·
Yes, I am seeing the poor blacks as well, not a big deal for me: I don't watch movies in the dark because my wife gets motion sickness easily. I did tweak it down but I could see enthusiasts having a problem with it. One thing that is bugging me is that I have a few light spots around the edges, where it seems the bezel may be interfering with the backlight. Only noticeable with bordered movies. I'm not sure if you have that issue. I will say even with that: I'm blown away by the picture clarity with Hd content. It's also a bonus that this remote can control my STB and DVD.
 
#23 ·
6840 vs 8550 vs 7150

Ok so my dilemma just got even worse. I am looking to get a 55in and trying to choose between the 8550, 7150 and the 6840. The 8550 and 6840 are both under $1000 right now and the 8550 just went down to $1499 at BB. I dont have to have 4K so the 7150 would do but if it makes more sense then I will go with it. Also dont watch any 3D movies so that is not a deal. What do you guys think....
 
#25 ·
I dont have to have 4K so the 7150 would do but if it makes more sense then I will go with it.
I bought the 55-inch Samsung 4K for $898.00 and absolutely thrilled at the clarity and quality of upscaling. Anyone who says that 4K is not of much value for 1080p sources is absolutely wrong. I watched Jimmy Fallon last week and let me tell you ... it was like being there. Remember that blue curtain behind which he walks out from? ... that curtain looked silky smooth. Science and Nature shows look spectacular. Animated shows are out of this world - all sources were 1080p.

Also, anyone who says that a 4K set is only useful if you are sitting very close ... thats wrong too ... my wife commented that everything look very smooth ... and she was standing near the kitchen ... about 14 feet from where the 55-inch set was sitting. Its true .. Football never looked better ... the jerseys and helmets had a smooth sheen to them. Overall I am Very happy.
 
#28 ·
This appears to be the same basic television as the xxHU6950 series, but with a simpler remote.

The 6950 series remote has the touchpad and voice control, and the TV appears to add 1 additional composite input.

Anyone got a photo of the back panel?
 
#38 ·
Here is chat response I received. Makes me pretty sure it is 60hz

Samsung no longer lists these specifications(Contrast Ratio / Response Time / Refresh Rate) separately they are now all included in the CMR (Clear Motion Rate) of the TV. Clear Motion Rate was developed to accurately measure how well an LCD or LED TV can depict fast moving images. Previously, motion-clarity was calculated by the frame refresh rate alone. But CMR offers a more complete measure by calculating 3 factors: frame refresh rate, image processor speed and backlight technology
 
#39 ·
I'm not terribly surprised. I read on a post earlier about how CMR is a gimmicky buzzterm made up by samsung to try to make their tv's appear to be better than other tv's. I understand how refresh rate doesn't necessarily equal motion clarity, but it's still bs that they won't tell you what it is. It has to have a native refresh rate doesn't it?
 
#42 · (Edited)
matte


edit: also this tv can get as bright as the sun if you crank up the backlight. I haven't watched it during the day (as I got it last night), but there should be some sun left when I get home and I will report on reflection.

I have 3 windows, 2 sky lights, a full glass back door and reflection from a bay window in another room. I am just short of being completely outside...
 
#49 ·
Sounds like a good deal. I only see 55" size mentioned so I assume it only comes in that size. I never heard of HH Gregg in Arizona, oh well. As an aside, who cares what the official refresh rate is if action sports look great? I realize Samsung's "Clear Motion Rate" is yet another "Microdimming", "CE dimming" buzzword. But if the Packers look good it's all good!
 
#53 ·
I watched football during the weekend and tried hard to notice motion blur. I used the football itself as my target since it moves fast across the screen. I did not notice any motion blur. Interestingly - all this with the motion turned off. I watched some gymnastics ... all those triple toes and double toes or whatever they call them ... all looked normal. Keep in mind this is on cable tv ... its highly compressed MPEG to begin with and pixel watchers will notice lot of compression artifacts. To expect a TV (capable of 120Hz) to take a signal full of compression artifacts and make it silky smooth ... seems like a pipe dream.
 
#55 ·
I'll try and run a calibration on my 50HU6950 tonight. I have HCFR and an Eye-1 Pro spectroradiometer. I did the basic setup with the AVS Forum 709 disk last night. I'll run the white balance tonight. My eyeballs are telling me the white point is on the greenish side.

One thing I did notice that was pretty glaring, was the fine resolution patterns were creating some really weird polka-dot moire effects. Changing the screen size setting from 16x9 to "perfect fit" (or some such name) got rid of the overscan and the weird scaling artifacts.

Again, I think the 6840 and 6950 threads need to be merged. This is the same TV with a different remote.
 
#57 ·
So I noticed a problem with the netflix app: I believe I saw this stated on a slickdeals forum but the audio for voices in netflix app will not play through my external (optical) speakers. It's really odd, but it will play most of the background sounds and other sounds but not any voices.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top