Samsung 78-Inch Curved 4K UHD LED TV (UN78HU9000)

Here is a TV we were very excited to take a look at. We have had the chance to both preview and review many Samsung TVs in the past, almost every time knocking our socks off with a brilliant vivid picture and a barrage of features. The Samsung UN78HU9000 model doesn’t skip a beat in this pattern.

We have pointed out many times that curved TVs are mostly a gimmick to earn your interest in “something new” when really they do nothing for you unless the screen is larger in size. In order for the “curved” effect to work properly, it has to better capture your field of view else you aren’t going to notice much of a difference at all. Like the original Imax screens of the past, the screen needs to be able to consume your peripheral vision and take on the “surround” effect of the video curving around your eyes like the world around you.

With that explained, we look at this nearly 80-inches of screen, and we smile at its design and delivery. The curve of the screen is more than noticeable to the eyes while watching, the image is very sharp and well defined, colors vibrant and the brightness…perfect. This screen delivers everything you want to find in a “curved” TV and add in 4K and 3D, and it simply takes you to that next level of visual ecstasy.

A loaded 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, it has a 120hz native refresh rate and a whopping 1440hz effective Clear Motion rate. Inside, it comes with a quad-core processor for quick app and hub access as well as task switching.

If offers a number of special features such as “Quad Screen” that allows you to break up the screen into 4 separate streams, juggling between cable, web, streams and more. Like most Samsung smart TVs, you can connect wirelessly to the TV via mobile devices (such as your phone, tablet or laptop) to share the screen to the TV. This feature also works both ways of using “Smart View 2.0”, which can stream your TV to your mobile devices.

The UN78HU9000 also offers 4K upscaling. It won’t rock your world completely, although we haven’t been too impressed with any TV when it comes to upscaling. It works best for 1080p content than anything else but isn’t bad. Don’t expect standard definition content to be upscaled to 4K; nothing can do that. Upscaling is simply a minor tweak to make slightly lower quality content look better. It’s a small advantage, not a miracle, yet still very noticeable on this set (more than others). In fact, this is the first time we have seen 4K upscaling of this quality. Most TVs and Bluray players that offer to upscale, deliver very small results in quality in our opinion (sometimes so small, we think they should consider it an “enhancement” mode, but not an “upscaling”).

We have tested the TV with regular Blu-rays, 3D content and Call of Duty Ghosts (Xbox One); giving each method a thorough break-in to assess the features and details. Each test returned facial results of grins, giggles, and wide-eyes. The pixel clarity was 4K’ing (excuse the pun) amazing, with smooth edges, text and corners and a brilliantly detailed range of color. We were able to pick out the finest of details in the distance of scenes, with noticeable pedestrians and traffic miles away in the background as well birds in the distant air or far-off weather. The curved effect made it all that more enjoyable due to its size and the 3D was engaging. We did find that the 3D on Ghosts was a little overwhelming to the eyes of some of us, but this is common in video games.

Buy it on Amazon: Samsung 78-Inch Curved 4K LED TV (UN78HU900)

Regular broadcast TV was tested by playing back a number of low to high-res videos. The TV fell into the average category for this topic. As always, with HD TVs and larger screens, the lower “standard” resolution content is going to look heavily grainy or blurred. The HD channels are going to look crisp and clear. This is going to be the same as any HD set. All of the content was recorded from TV for the purpose of testing on other sets like this, and the HD content displayed wonderfully. So again, like any HD TV, as long as you stick with the HD channels (especially the ones broadcasting in 1080 or soon…higher), you will be more than excited with what you get.

For inputs, this model utilizes Samsung’s new “One Connect Box” approach, where a separate device plugs into the TV and provides you with all of your inputs. They do this so that you can easily upgrade the TV’s input options as new standards are released (like the new HDMI 2.0) by simply upgrading the box vs having to buy a new TV. On the One Connect Box, you will find 4x HDMI 2.0 (important) inputs, 1x component, 2x composite and 3x USB. We wanted to point out that the feature of HDMI 2.0 inputs is extremely important since true 4K will require this in order to achieve more than 30 frames per second. Most devices do not support 2.0 yet, so most “4K” content is at 30fps, but you will find 60fps flooding the market very shortly, and HDMI 2.0 is (as always) backward compatible, so the inputs will work with all of your older HDMI supported devices.

It is a mystery if the USB inputs on the back are USB 2.0 or 3.0. We wanted to point this out since no manufacturer ever advertises this in the specs of their TVs, and it has been a question we have asked in interviews and hands-on demonstrations for the last year or so. We find that it would be a smart push to use and market the inputs as “3.0” since more and more devices are supporting the standard and as a consumer, you want 3.0 due to the transfer speed. We were unable to test the speed as there was nothing to display the data transfer rate with, so outside of how quickly larger files were loaded, it was difficult to decipher this. We have reached out to Samsung for an answer and will return with an update if we are able to confirm anything.

UPDATE: Samsung responded with: “This TV model has 1 USB 3.0 port and 2 USB 2.0 ports on the One Connect box that comes with it”

The TV comes with all of the usual toys and whistles that you will find with the high-end Samsung TVs. A pop-up camera and smart remote for easy control of the TV’s features using touch, voice, and gesture control to navigate menus, screens, and apps. You will find an IR extender in the box, as well as 4x active-3D glasses, power cable, slim gender cable, and manuals.

As always, the TV comes with the best TV app market as nobody has the selection that Samsung delivers outside of buying a Roku unit to connect to your TV. The market, apps, and menus are very responsive to input and as always, we recommend a nice/small wireless USB keyboard (the smart remote is great, but for those who can type fast, nothing compares to a keyboard).

Even though the TV is curved, you can still mount directly to the wall. We haven’t tried it, however, we have seen it done a number of times now with the curved sets. It looks a little different to the eyes at the start but doesn’t look bad at all, especially once your eyes get used to the sides pulling away from the wall. They actually look kind of nice mounted, as it appears slightly artsy stylish (like unique ultra-modern deco).

The model also comes in 65 and 55 inches, although the smaller you go, the more you lose that amazing effect, so we would recommend sticking to the larger screen, else you would be better off with a non-curved set.

We are still waiting on Cable/Sat providers to offer 4K resolution content. As of now, some of the channels still broadcast in 720p which is odd given the massive adoption of 1080p devices over the years (720p is all but mostly forgotten). With Netflix and YouTube making the push that they are, it will make the service providers look bad, so it shouldn’t be long before they scramble to “provide” and survive. We are assuming by this time next year, you should have a number of channels broadcasting in up to 4K.

Our Conclusion

We are very happy with the model and have been blown away by its delivery of clarity. Something a true videophile would benefit from and drool over without a doubt. It is brilliant, responsive, controllable and multi-functional. If we had the budget, we would have one sitting in every room. Our final decision was a rating of 9.0 out of 10. A rare form of rating for us and we believe it deserves every digit. The price, however, needs to come down. The price of the product almost affected our score because of how high it is. We may reconsider dropping a star depending on where they go with it in the near future. If you have the budget though, more power to you as the TV is mind-bogglingly terrific. It has also won our Editors’ Choice.

Update: You can now get your hands on Samsung’s 105-inch 4K model (at a price)! 

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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.