Review Of Samsung UA55JS9000 SUHD TV

After introducing its new range of 4K TVs at CES, earlier this year, Samsung has finally brought some models to India including its curved 4K TV.

Samsung likes to call these TVs SUHD TVs with the S prefix symbolizing superior picture clarity, wider colour gamut and improved brightness as the company has used its Nano Crystal technology.

Samsung claims the TVs offer elevated brightness up to 2.5 times brighter than conventional TVs, and twice the colour adjustment points for accurate colour reproduction. These are also the first Tizen OS-powered Samsung TVs. We've been using the 55-inch variant of Samsung's JS9000 SUHD range to try to find out if it's the best 4K TV available at this time... 

Build & design
Samsung JS9000 sports a sleek metal frame with slim, narrow bezels surrounding the panel. It's got a brushed silver finish. The back, meanwhile, has a wrap-around metallic plate with a shirring pattern (raised vertical lines) that looks exquisite even though most installations won't leave it exposed to the eyes. The design is very minimalist complete with a Y-shaped beam stand that supports the TV and according to Samsung, creates a 'floating' effect. 

The JS9000 sports a 3840x2160p display (we tested a 55-inch panel). 

The screen is curved with a curvature of 4200R or a radius of 4.2 meters. Samsung claims that the curved screen makes the TV viewing experience more immersive. We found it to be partly true as it does reduce reflection to some extent and improves the contrast ratio. 

Samsung says that the curvature helps in viewing the entire screen at the same distance from your eyes and aids in clearer viewing of images on the corners of the screen. 

We have to say it's the most elegant-looking LED TV we've come across. 

The back is all clean and clutter-free with a single set of navigation keys, a USB port and only a power socket along with a port to connect the One Connect accessory that features all input and USB ports. The One Connect box supplied with the TV has 4 HDMI ports, 3 USB ports (including 1 USB 3.0), an Ethernet port, adapter ports for composite and component connectors, an S/PDIF digital audio port and an IR extender port.

The JS9000 comes with a rather compact remote control that also sports a curved shape just like the TV and features motion sensing pointer to navigate the interface. The remote gets rid of the number keys and only features select navigation controls. It also has grooves at the back to aid ergonomics.

Features
The S-UHD JS9000 TV incorporates Nano Crystal Colour (Samsung's name for Quantum Dot technology), which as per Samsung makes the backlight panel emit enhanced light to create precise and rich colours with a wider colour gamut and deeper blacks. Samsung claims the screen is twice as bright as conventional LED TVs.

As per Samsung, the TV also features a Peak Illuminator that heightens luminosity by boosting the LED backlights in bright areas of the screen for better contrast. It's actually the first mainstream 4K TV to support HDR or High Dynamic Range content that offers better colour depth and detail.

In addition to these, Samsung has also put an Auto Depth enhancer that applies different levels of contrast enhancement to different areas and objects of the screen, leveraging the curved display in a better manner. 

Samsung's SUHD Picture Engine converts lower-resolution (HD and full-HD) content to a level of clarity that's almost close to Ultra High Definition or 4K. It also supports 3D content though Samsung has not supplied 3D glasses with the TV. 

The TV offers Smart functionality with Samsung's new Tizen OS-based interface. It comes with a web browser and an app marketplace. It's powered by an octa-core processor that aids gaming, split-screen viewing (Samsung calls it multi-link viewing) and smart functions. 

The TV also supports voice and motion control with face recognition but for the latter you'll need to buy and install an external camera. The 4K TV also supports easy connectivity with mobile phones and tablets via Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi direct and supports mirroring between mobile devices and TV and vice-versa. It also supports audio and video playback via USB flash and external hard disk drives and supports most popular audio and video formats in addition to still images.

In terms of audio features, the JS9000 comes with 4.2CH front firing speakers and woofer with 60W sound output and Dolby Digital Plus sound. 

With typical usage the power consumption of the TV is 245 Watts and standby consumption less than 0.3 Watt.