Tested Samsung 75Q950

TESTED SAMSUNG 75Q950TS

8K breaky heart

It’ll empty your wallet and fill up your wall, but prepare to fall hard for Samsung’s ultra-sharp TV

Rtba / samsung/com/za

As reasons to splurge on a new TV go, staying away from all the other humans telling us to stay indoors is a pretty compelling one. But coming up with an excuse to spend huge sums of money on said TV is a little trickier… unless, of course, the set in question turns out to be somewhat futureproofed and sounds incredible.

Samsung has been one of the major pushers of 8K for a couple of years now, yet its 2020 range seems – at first glance – no more compellingthanlastyear’s.They’re still expensive, there’s almost no native content around (Japanese broadcaster NHK had planned to broadcast the Tokyo Olympics in 8K), and it’s not like every home has even taken up 4K yet.

But taken on its own terms, and with all the obvious excuses made, the 75Q950TS is one of the finest TVs we’ve seen. If you have to stay at home watching TV for the next who knows how long, you couldn’t do it in any more style.

1

Ain’t nothing like the real thin With a massive screen and minimal bezel (1), this is close to TV design nirvana. And while Samsung’s QLED tech requires backlighting, at 15mm deep it’s hardly overweight. Connectivity is also removed from the screen and put in a separate box, so only a single lead cascades down. Only the zonally With over 33 million pixels, compared to 2m for Full HD, this thing has an awful lot of upscaling to do. So there are 480 separate lighting/dimming zones, all individually controllable to keep blacks deep and detailed even when sharing the screen with brightly lit areas.

GOOD MEH EVIL

Brilliantly minimal design

Superb upscaling of 4K

Sound is big and open…

Bloody well bright Playing the 4K HDR Blu-ray of Le Mans ’66, this thing is fundamentally making up 75 % of the information on the screen… yet it looks dazzling. The colour palette is wide-ranging (2), it’s capable of enough brightness to attract moths, and it tackles movement with aplomb.

…but also hard and thin There’s no Dolby Vision

2

Price point is dizzying

Rangers in the night Samsung still refuses to play nicely with Dolby

Vision, but this TV covers every other HDR standard.

3

TESTED SAMSUNG 75Q950TS

Tech specs

Screen 75in 7860x4320 QLED OS Tizen Connectivity 4x HDMI, 3x USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, RF & satellite, digital optical Dimensions 1650x940x15mm, 36kg

Tiz me, Tiz me, Tiz me baby

Allow us to guide you through the oh-so-smooth

Q It’s raining menus Samsung’s Tizen-based operating system is the best –it’s straightforward, simple in the right way, and responsive. Setup menus are comprehensive but not intimidating, and there’s loads of adjustability.

Q Disney matter The OS incorporates all the main streaming services as well as plenty of lesser ones. Note that Netflix, YouTube and the rest are operating at reduced resolution while their services are subject to unprecedented demand.

operation of Samsung’s Tizen TV operating system

Something about a scaler The 75Q950TS looks better with 4K content than most native 4K sets. That’s down to Samsung’s AI – this TV has access to a vast database of images against which it can cross-reference the content it’s being asked to scale up. Even with Full HD stuff, the picture remains deeply impressive. Grilles ain’t nothing but treble Samsung has made a big effort with audio performance. ‘Object Tracking Sound+’ involves eight speakers (3) delivering a bigger overall sound while tracking the on-screen action. There’s no doubt it sounds bigger, but its tonal characteristics are thin and actually quite harsh. Q Zapper’s delight Control is via a small remote that manages to feel as good as it looks –even the action of the buttons somehow feels expensive. Or there’s Alexa built-in for voice control, and Google Assistant on the way. Q Tell me Wi-Fi Keeping everything ticking over is dual-band Wi-Fi, plus the One Connect box that’s home to four HDMI inputs, three USB sockets, Ethernet, RF and satellite tuner connections, a digital optical output and your mains power.

Despite everything –the price, the lack of 8K content, the price again –the Samsung 75Q950TS is an absolute stormer in the picture stakes. If you positively must have the best images you can buy, along with as much future-proofing as possible, then this is currently the TV for you.