And now for another adventure in expensive yet jaw dropping pictures. Today we get to talk about Samsung’s KS9000 series 75-inch 4K Smart TV (UN75KS9000). One of their 2016 4K lines, it is a visual wonder filled with features, bright detailed colors and rich blacks. This TV may be expensive and limited to a small purchasing crowd, but those who can afford it will love it.
The design of the TV alone is pretty impressive. A thin silver frame and a clean backside. The back is mostly a brushed steel patterned darker gray with the silver of the frame running through the middle side to side and then down to the stand. The stand is a V-shape, features a minimal footprint and holds the weight of the TV just fine. Speaking of the thin frame, it is similar to a nice “frameless” IPS monitor. There is no noticeable glare to the screen unless you have a light directly shining on it.
Image quality is right where it should be for when you turn it on and are looking for that bass drop of a moment. It is fantastic. The colors bright and vivid with little calibration needed. However, although we did find the image to be pretty good right out of the box, we did find ourselves needing to tweak a few things. I’d say we spent about 5 minutes on it before we found “fantastic”. If you are not a big fan of the soap opera feel, then you can turn off Auto Motion Plus or tweak the settings to something more personally acceptable. Blacks are nice and dark. So very dark. This makes for a perfect separation in color and so much depth.
You get HDR 1000 support which only helps to expand on all of this with. If you have ever experienced any of Samsung’s Quantum Dot SUHD TVs with HDR, you should already be getting an idea of what this one looks like. Just think, electronics show-level image. The kind of image that steals everyone’s attention as they walk by.
Given, to get the most out of this TV, you do need a fantastic 4K source (preferably HDR). You have a great selection of Blu-ray content out there building up, as well as stream-able from sources like Netflix. Also, you can’t forget the new Xbox One S, which really takes advantage of HDR.
So how about that gaming experience? If you pair up that Xbox One S with this TV, you are guaranteed one of the best experiences you will have, including online. We found minimal to literally no lag with this TV. I am talking 20ms or less. Now throw in the enhanced graphic experience and you have one of the best pictures we have seen in some of these games. There are a number of games that already support it, including the new Battlefield 1 and Final Fantasy XV.
There is a slight light bleed, but nothing on the scale that will become distracting in any way (or in some cases, noticeable at all). You can get a slight clouding when you crank up the brightness all the way, but you have to push it to get there. Motion is nice and smooth, but again, be careful with taking it all the way if you don’t like the soap opera effect (as mentioned above).
There is no 3D support on this model. This comes with little surprise but still some surprise none the less as it has everything else, so why not throw it in there. However, popularity for 3D has died a lot as the wow factor has wore down and consumers are hoping for something better to come our way some day. The lack of 3D does allow them to spend those efforts in making everything else better. It’s best to save that processing power for the features that deserve it.
Upscaling is exactly where it needs to be as well as it attempts to upscale everything to 4K and does a great job at it. All of those favorite DVDs and Blu-rays will look fantastic on this screen. If you aren’t impressed, just keep in mind that this TV has 4x the amount of pixels in it. So consider what the image would look like if it didn’t upscale it (this means it would simply stretch the image to fill in the space, which would/could look terrible). This TV offers some of the best upscaling we have seen.
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The smart features in this TV are great. Samsung has always provided one of the best app place experiences in the TV market of things. An app for just about everything you can imagine and the menu system is very fluid. Samsung also does a great job at rolling out updates frequently. You will find all of your favorite streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and more. Once again, some of these feature a selection of HDR options to keep your eyes entertained until the market begins to roll out more content to choose from everywhere.
There is also strong support for media files via USB or across the network. We tested a number of formats against the TV and every single one played. From AVI to MPEG to MKV, it played everything just fine. So if you are a big fan like some of us who like to rip everything we buy to our network so you can stream it to yourself anywhere, this TV should support most if not all of it.
The responsiveness in the menus and apps are really helpful because nobody likes a laggy TV while they are trying to browse around their selection looking for something to watch. Times finally have changed. The quad-core processor really helps too.
The remote also helps out a lot as it is simple. No bells and whistles, just the buttons you need to get things done with. You can control things with your voice and it works well. However, you don’t get a keyboard, so if you are looking for that vs an on-screen solution, then you can use just about any wireless keyboard with USB receiver with this TV. At least, we couldn’t find one that didn’t work among our immediately accessible supplies.
You have the option of both wired Ethernet and Wi-Fi and both work great. We didn’t experience any issues at all with Ethernet and Wi-Fi provided us a strong connection within 50-ft from the router that we tested it against. All of the apps streamed well without at lag and didn’t notice any issue on games, although if you consider yourself a serious gamer, you will more than likely stick with wired if you have the option available to you.
For connectivity, you have the One Connect box that separates all of your connections from the TV, which allows them to design the TV so thin as well as minimizes the amount of cables running to the TV in case you have it mounted or simply don’t want to see the mess so easily behind the TV in any given situation.
You get 4 HDMI inputs on the box and they all support HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 for full 4K support. This gives you plenty of flexibility if you aren’t using an AVR for switching between your devices with (ie, you prefer a soundbar solution). Like just about anything on the market now, it does of course offer ARC (audio return channel) via HDMI.
What’s really cool, is if you do prefer to use your TV for inputs vs an AVR solution, it does automatically label most devices you plug into it. For example, if you plug in an Xbox One into the TV via the HDMI, the input in the on-screen menu will automatically show it as Xbox One. You don’t have to necessarily label every single input title. It doesn’t get everything in detail, but it does do a great job with most of the things we plugged into it, which was pretty cool. Of course, if you typically leave your labels as “HDMI 1, HDMI 2, HDMI 3, etc” and don’t bother labeling them, this is just a small added bonus I guess.
Now, if you are one of those who prefer to stay away from any external sound solution like soundbars and stereo/surround systems, it does have internal speakers. They aren’t perfect by any means but they don’t suck either. You have a total of 60 watts worth of sound, including two tweeters an two “subs” that are down-firing. It doesn’t sound bad, but if you like watching movies, you will definitely find yourself looking for an external sound solution.
The biggest catch to this TV that makes it so surprising falls between two interesting variables. These variables you would think would be the kind to drag it down a little in quality, but they do not. For one, this isn’t an OLED screen. Second, it is edge-lit vs full array back-lit. Despite these two facts, the screen looks fantastic. Like a typical model you’d have on a show floor to brag about where the technology “could” be taken but may or may not ever hit the market. Only, it has hit the market, and it looks good! (it’s just expensive)
Our Conclusion
Do we love it? Yes, we do. However, it isn’t 100% perfect and it is real pricey at $6499, making it unappealing to most buyers. However, it does have a great deal of features packed into it, provides one of the best pictures and makes for a great signature level TV to boast about. So yes, it’s not perfect, but it does come close. It just doesn’t get a perfect score (but it comes close).
 | Our Rating | Average Price* $6499.99 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Additional Images:
Specifications/Features:
PICTURE QUALITY
QUANTUM DOT COLOR
Accurate shades and lifelike colors come alive in detail with SUHD Quantum Dot.
4K ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION
Enjoy an incredible picture and dramatic detail with 4x the resolution of Full HD.
HDR 1000
See the sunlight in its full radiant glory and find the small detail in the dark shadows with our best HDR innovation.
ULTRA BLACK
Enhances contrast and preserves deep blacks and color richness in brighter room light settings.
EDGE-ARRAY BACKLIGHTING
Experience the full vibrancy of your favorite media and entertainment with expanded brightness levels across the entire screen.
PEAK ILLUMINATOR PRO
See extended shades of colors pop, enjoy greater dynamic range, improved contrasting detail, and darker scene highlights that come alive.
SUPREME MR 240
Enjoy our absolute best moving picture resolution and reduced image flicker with remarkable refresh rate, processing speed, and backlight technology.
PRECISION BLACK
Feel the drama of every entertainment experience with darker blacks and a greater contrasting picture.
SUPREME UHD DIMMING
Supreme multi-zone color, contrast, and image detail processing of the image prior to it being displayed on the screen.
ULTRA CLEAR PANEL
Get the best picture with minimized glare from any angle with a screen that absorbs ambient light, reduces reflections, and lets the picture come to life.
UHD UPSCALING
Upgrade lower resolution media to a stunning near ultra high-definition experience with enhanced detail and optimized picture quality.
SMART FEATURES
QUAD-CORE PROCESSOR
Enjoy a fluid browsing experience and faster control – switching between apps, streaming content, and other media effortlessly.
SMART HUB
Simple access to live TV, streaming content sources, and apps in one place with Smart Hub – and you only need one remote control for it all.
SMART APPS
Put your favorite media and entertainment at your fingertips with apps built for your Samsung Smart TV – including streaming TV and movies, sports, social media, interactive games, weather, and more.
FULL WEB BROWSER
Easily browse the web right on your TV – enjoy everything from online shopping and social media to entertainment news.
SMART CONNECTIVITY
SCREEN MIRRORING
Mirror your phone or other compatible device’s screen onto the TV’s screen, instead of using your device’s smaller screen to show content, media playback, or other functions.
CONNECTSHARE™ MOVIE
Plug your favorite entertainment and media into your TV – watch videos, play music, or view photos through a USB connection.
SMART VIEW 2.0
Watch your TV entertainment on your mobile device – or your mobile media on your TV.
BRIEFING ON TV
Have your Samsung Smart TV act as an alarm when synchronized with your other Samsung mobile devices. Use the large screen to display important items such as the time, weather, and your daily schedule.
SMART INTERACTION
VOICE CONTROL
Voice recognition makes it easier and more fun when navigating through your favorite content choices
CONNECTIONS
HDMI®
Enjoy higher quality audio and video with an HDMI connection that transmits both signals over a single cable. Compatible with next generation Ultra HD Blu-ray players and HDR content decoding.
WI-FI
Enjoy your favorite on-demand content seamlessly through your existing network with built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 AC).
AUDIO
DOLBY® DIGITAL PLUS
Enjoy the ultimate in digital sound quality on all your favorite movies, TV shows, and streaming content. Dolby Digital Plus optimizes your entertainment experience with enhanced sound richness and clarity.
DTS® PREMIUM SOUND 5.1™
Feel like you’re part of the action by immersing your senses in 5.1 surround sound.
DTS® STUDIO SOUND
TV speakers can be tuned for peak perform
INCLUDED ACCESSORIES
SMART REMOTE CONTROL (TM1680A)
Take control of your Smart TV – simplified button configuration makes it easier to navigate quickly, perform voice commands with the built-in microphone, or use the remote for basic TV control operations.
ONE CONNECT MINI
No more reaching behind the TV to make or change component connections. Connect your cable or satellite box, Blu-ray player, other components, and USB devices into the One Connect Box. The supplied cable provides a clutter-free, single cable connection to the TV.
Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.
