Samsung MU7000 vs MU8000 Review (UN49MU7000 vs UN49MU8000, UN55MU7000 vs UN55MU8000, UN65MU7000 vs UN65MU8000)

Samsung MU8000 is the flat model of Samsung’s 2017 Series 8 while the Samsung MU7000 is a flat model of the Samsung’s Series 7. There are 4 screen size options available for the MU7000 including a 40 Inch (UN40MU7000), 49 Inch (UN49MU7000), 55 Inch (UN55MU7000), and 65 Inch (UN65MU7000); the MU8000 is also available with 4 screen size options including a 49 Inch (UN49MU8000), 55 Inch (UN55MU8000), 65 inch (UN65MU8000), 75 Inch (UN75MU8000), and 82 Inch (UN82MU8000). Since the screen sizes available on both are the 49 inch, 55 inch, and 65 inch only, this comparison certainly is respective for each of these sizes (UN49MU8000 vs UN49MU7000, UN55MU8000 vs UN55MU7000, UN65MU8000 vs UN65MU7000). As the higher priced series, the MU8000 is sold for hundreds more than the MU7000. Of course their prices are not fixed and could change at any time and usually will tend to drop as time goes by.

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Samsung MU7000 Vs MU8000 Key Specs

The differences between the Samsung MU8000 and the MU7000

As seen on the comparison table above, there are some differences between the Samsung MU7000 and the Samsung MU8000. For their panel the Samsung MU8000 comes with local dimming technology for improved contrast level and Peak Illuminator Pro for improving the peak brightness, while the MU7000 is not equipped with either the local dimming or peak illuminator technology. The other difference is the level of their technology for the 4K HDR Extreme, 4K Color Drive Extreme, and Triple Black technologies driving the MU8000 at a higher level compared to the 4K HDR Pro, 4K Color Drive Pro, and Essential Black Pro technologies behind the MU7000. They also have a difference when it comes to native refresh rate panel where the MU8000 is powered by Motion Rate 240 Hz based on native 120 Hz refresh rate panel, and the MU7000 is powered by Motion Rate 120 Technology based on a native 60 Hz refresh rate panel. A minor difference is their inputs and outputs and audio channels.

Samsung MU7000 vs MU8000 Performance

Picture Quality

Both the Samsung MU8000 and the Samsung MU7000 have good picture quality. Their native contrast ratio is equally great, as well as black uniformity being equally good.  This makes the picture displayed to look amazing, offering good experience in watching movies, particularly when viewed in a dark environment. Black parts of images look absolutely black that makes for excellent dark scenes and natural shadow details with clarity. Additionally the black level and contrast produced by the Samsung MU7000 and the MU8000 is also good at displaying dark scenes of HDR 10 video fully like what is intended by the HDR 10 Technology. Overall the MU8000 and the MU7000 don’t have a problem when displaying dark scenes, no matter whether it’s SDR or HDR video. Compared between them, the Contrast Ratio and Black Uniformity of the MU7000 as a lower-priced series is actually a bit better than the MU8000, even when local dimming on the MU8000 is enabled.

On the other hand, no matter if they are displaying either HDR or SDR content, the Samsung MU8000 has brighter peak luminance than the MU7000. This certainly makes bright scenes of picture displayed on the screen of the MU8000 to look better than the MU7000. Peak brightness of the MU7000 is quite bright so that bright scenes look excellent when set in a dark room or even a moderately bright room, but when set in brighter environment the bright scenes will not look as excellent due to a peak brightness that can not effectively fight the glare. With it comes to brighter peak brightness, the MU8000 can display bright scenes a bit better than the MU7000. This also makes the highlights of HDR video displayed on the screen of the MU8000 to look brighter than the MU7000. Although the peak brightness reached by both is still below 1000 nits even though this is the minimum recommendation for displaying HDR 10 videos fully, this means that both of them can not fully display the highlights of HDR video to a level of at least 1000 nits as intended for that format.

Talking about color performance, both the Samsung MU7000 and the MU8000 support wide color gamut and the color gamut covered by each is similar. Color gamut delivered by them might not be as wide as what is produced by high end TVs like the Samsung Q7F or the Sony X930E, but its still quite wide and fairly well reproduces colors in HDR video and makes most of the colors shown saturated. Because it can not perfectly cover DCI P3 color space, a small fraction of the colors might be shown less saturated, particularly colors near the white points. The Samsung MU8000 and the MU7000 also offer similar performance in color gradient.  Both of them support 10-bit depth of color and they are able to deliver about 1.07 billion shades of color. The result is a color gradient of picture displayed to look very smooth without the major color banding that we normally see on 8 bit televisions. Nevertheless there are some imperfections in the darker shades which prevents them from getting a perfect score.

For allowing lower resolution video with quality close to 4K, both the Samsung MU8000 and the MU7000 are equipped with great performing UHD Up-scaling. This means that no matter the resolution of the video source, even low resolution content like DVDs movies, the final images in 4K produced will look good. There may be some halo artifacting  along the edges, but overall they look quite sharp. Of course, the higher resolution of the video source like 720p contents or 1080p contents, the more the final image in 4K produced looks sharper with small details preserved better.

Since both of these Samsung models use VA panel technology and typically poor viewing angle is a native characteristic of VA Panels, it makes sense that both of them have a poor side viewing angle. Starting at certain angle, the black will tend to look grey and the color will shift. This will make the viewing experience from a side viewing angle to be not as good as from directly in front of the television.  Nevertheless since all VA TVs also have the same problem, even for the high end TVs, this is certainly not a problem to be taken seriously.

Winner: MU8000 has a bit better picture quality

Motion Handling and 24p Playback

Samsung MU8000 does a better job than the MU7000 when handling motion blur. This is because the pixel response time of the MU8000 is far lower, even about half the blur of the MU7000. The result is that when displaying a fast moving object like Sports programs or fast Movies, the picture displayed on the screen of the MU8000 looks smoother and clearer than the MU7000. On the screen of the MU8000, there is only a short trail following a moving object, while on the screen of the MU7000, the trail is longer and more noticeable. Nevertheless, although not as good as the MU8000, the motion handling of the MU7000 is still not too bad and can be enjoyed on most video. Since they have a different native refresh rate panel, this makes their ability to interpolate lower frame rate content to also be different. The MU8000 with 120 Hz panel supports both 30 fps and 60 fps motion interpolation, while the MU7000 with a 60 Hz panel supports 30 fps motion interpolation only. For playing 24p videos, the Samsung MU8000 offers better performance than the MU7000. Regardless of the source, whether it is 24p videos like Blur Ray Movies, 24p via 60i signals like movies from satellite TV or even via 60p signal like movies from Streaming Devices, the Samsung MU8000 offers smooth picture quality judder-free. The MU7000 can not remove the judder completely from any source, even for native 24p videos like Blu-Ray or DVD movies. Nevertheless since most of people aren’t sensitive to judder, this should not be a serious problem for the Samsung MU7000.

Winner: MU8000

Inputs/Outputs

For connectivity, the Samsung MU7000 is equipped with 3 HDMI ports and 2 USB Ports, while the MU8000 is equipped with 4 HDMI Ports and 3 USB Ports. There are no Composite In or Component in jacks behind the MU8000, while the MU7000 is equipped with 1 Component In (Shared) and 1 Composite In (Shared). In addition to these ports, there is also 1 RF In, 1 Ethernet, Digital Audio Out (Optical), and a RS 323c. The other difference is where all of their inputs and outputs are located. On the MU7000, all of the inputs and outputs are located on the side and rear panel, while for the MU8000, most of its inputs are located on separate box named the “One Connect Box”. Talking about input lag, although the input lag of the MU7000 is lower than the MU8000 at any resolution, particularly under “Game Mode”, essentially their input lag is low under “Game Mode” and in “PC Mode”. This certainly makes them very comfortable for any games with any resolution, even for fast paced games.

Smart TV

For their smart TV platform, both the Samsung MU8000 and the MU7000 feature the same smart TV platform namely the Tizen OS with Smart Hub. Compared to last years version, this new version comes with a white theme and nicer animation which make its appearance more attractive. With the aid of a Quad Core Processor, this also makes its performance to be fast and responsive. The user interface is attractively designed, while still being simple and easy to navigate. At the bottom of the screen, there is a narrow bar that contains quick access to a lot of the most popular apps and TV’s features. This allows you to access the apps without having to leave the home screen. Talking about apps, there are a lot of apps available and they are very complete and diverse.  As for preloaded apps, there are most popular apps like YouTube, Amazon Videos, Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, Web Browser, Cloud Games apps like PlayStation Now and others. And there are apps and games you can download from the Samsung Apps Store.

Samsung Smart Controller

For their controller, the Samsung MU7000 and the MU8000 use the same remote called the “Samsung Smart Controller”. The remote is simple with very minimal buttons. There are no “number buttons” on this remote and the quick access button is very limited. For navigating its minimalistic buttons, the remote is equipped with a built-in microphone for voice navigation where most of remote’s quick access functions are replaced by voice commands.  Additionally this remote is equipped with tons of IR commands embedded on its microchip, so it can be used as a universal remote controller for your other HD devices connected to your Samsung TV via the HDMI ports.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the MU7000 <<

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Summary

Conclusion

As discussed a lot above, although the Samsung MU8000 offers a better picture quality than the MU7000, essentially both series have good picture quality. Featuring at strong native contrast ratio and good black uniformity to make dark scenes look excellent, even when set in a dark environment. On the other hand, the peak brightness each is not able to show highlights of HDR images at 1000 nits or brighter, it is bright enough to make bright scenes look well in a moderately lit room or a darker room. The color gamut produced by each is quite wide and makes the color of the picture displayed on their screen to look accurate and realistic. The Samsung MU8000 offers better performance when handling motion blur and playing 24p movies that makes it more comfortable when used for watching sports or movies. The MU8000 also provides more HDMI ports and USB ports compared to the MU7000, it is not equipped with a Composite in or a Component In, while the Samsung MU7000 is equipped these inputs.  Talking about input lag, the MU7000 has lower input lag than the MU8000, but essentially the difference is not significant and the input lag is low enough to make both of them useful for any kind of game.

Which is a better choice for you? With all advantages offered, the Samsung MU8000 is priced about a hundred more than the MU7000. On the other hand, even though the price is cheaper than the MU8000, it doesn’t mean that performance or picture quality offered by the Samsung MU7000 is far behind the MU8000. Essentially, the picture quality and performance offered by each is in accordance with their price. So the decision is yours according to your budget and preferences.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the Samsung MU7000 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the Samsung MU8000 <<