Samsung UN65KS8000 vs LG 65UH8500 Review

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Samsung UN65KS8000 and LG 65UH8500 are the mid-class of 4K HDR TV that available in the market. Each of them offers advantages and disadvantages to the others. In the market, they are sold about in price range about $1500 -$2000 where 65UH8500 is sold more expensive than UN65KS8000. The highlight of 65UH8500 is about IPS panel where it offers wide viewing angle and also about HDR where it already supports HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. Meanwhile, the highlight of UN65KS8500 is about HDR where it comes with Ultra HD Premium Certification that guarantees it is able to display HDR 10 contents fully. But in this case, UN65KS8000 didn’t support Dolby Vision. In addition to each of them equally offers a good picture quality for a different condition, they also offer great performance on some features like Smart TV, good motion handling and 24p playback, and other.  So, which is a better choice between them?

Short Review about Samsung UN65KS8000

As mentioned, good picture quality and great HDR performance are the highlights of Samsung UN65KS8000. This is due it offers great display spec at almost all aspects of picture quality like deep black level, strong contrast, bright peak brightness, wide color gamut, and smooth color gradient. This makes quality of the picture that displayed on its screen looks absolutely amazingly, no matter it is in a pitch dark room or bright room. Detail images in dark scenes appears clearly and color get very saturated no matter it is displaying SDR or HDR contents. Additionally, with Ultra HD Premium Certification behind it, it is including few serious HDR TVs in 2016 that can display HDR 10 contents fully. As we know, there are a lot of HDR TVs which released in 2016, but only a few of them are actually able to display HDR like what expected from HDR technology itself. But unfortunately, its viewing angle is poor so you must set your seat center and in front of the TV if you don’t want amazing picture quality that displayed on its screen is degraded.

In addition to good picture quality and great HDR Performance, Samsung UN65KS8000 is also a good performer in some featured. It offers good motion handling and low input lag makes it is great for video games or for watching sports program. Additionally, it is also equipped with great UHD Up-scaling engine that allows you to enjoy lower contents with lower resolution like DVDs or HD contents clearly and sharply in 4K quality. And for completing your 4K home entertainment, it features excellent Tizen OS as its smart TV platform that provides plenty of interesting apps. But unfortunately, there is no 3D behind it, so if 3D is one of your main considerations in buying TV, you should look for another option.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the UN65KS8000 <<

Short Review about LG 65UH8500

If viewing angle and 3D technology is a big downside of UN65KS8000, LG 65UH8500 offers good viewing angle and great 3D performance.  This is due it comes with IPS Panel technology that offers wider viewing angle and passive 3D  technology that offers free crosstalk and flicker. Additionally, as long as you don’t watch TV in a dark room, the picture that displayed on its screen looks good with color is rich and saturated.   But even so, due its black level and contrast is not too deep and strong, in darkroom, dark scenes of images will look to tend to grey. In other hand, although it is already supports both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision, but it is not able to display HDR fully due its weak black level and contrast also peak brightness is not too bright. Nevertheless, with wide viewing angle, this TV is great when used in a wide room with some lights where the viewers come from multiple viewing angles.

Like UN65KS8000, LG 65UH8500 also has great UHD Up-scaling engine that allows you to enjoy lower resolution contents like DVDs or Blur Rays movies in 4K quality clearly and sharply. The pixel response time is also very low that allows you to watch fast motion images like sports program clearly without any motion blur noticeable. Additionally, although its input lag is not as low as UN65KS8000, but it is still great for video games even which required fast reflexes. And not inferior to Tizen OS, LG 65UH8500 also features attractive smart TV platform called WebOS 3.0.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the 65UH8500 <<

Samsung UN65KS8000 Vs LG 65UH8500 Key Specs

Specs and Features Samsung UN65KS8000 LG 65UH85000
Size 65 Inch (64.5”) 65 Inch (64.5”)
Resolution 4K (2160 x 3840) 4K (2160 x 3840)
Panel Type VA Panel IPS Panel
Backlighting Edge Lit Edge Lit
Local Dimming Yes (Precision Black) Yes
Picture Engine HDR 1000 Super Mastering Engine
HDR HDR 10 HDR 10 and Dolby Vision
Ultra HD Premium Certification Yes No
Color Technology Quantum Dot Quantum Dot
Support 10 Bit Yes (True 10 Bit panel) Yes (8 Bit Dithering)
Other advanced technology Ultra Clear Panel, UHD Dimming, Peak Illuminator Pro, Contrast Enhancer, etc Tru Black Panel, Ultra Luminance, etc
UHD Up-scaling Yes Yes (Tru 4k Up-Scaler)
Motion Handling Motion Rate 240 TruMotion 240 Hz
Refresh rate Native 120 Hz Native 120 Hz
3D Technology No Yes (Passive)
Smart TV Tizen WebOS 3.0
Audio Channel 2.1 2.2 designed by HarmanKardon
Sound Output 40W (10W x 2, Woofer 10W x 2) 40W (10W x 2, Woofer 10W x 2)
HDMI 4 3
USB 3 3
Price See today’s price See today’s price

SamsungUN65KS8000 vs LG 65UH8500 Side by Side

Picture quality

Overall, as long as the viewers watching TV from center and in front of the screen, the quality of the picture that produced by Samsung UN65KS8000 is better than LG 65UH8500. This is due all display specs that offered by UN65KS8000 is better than 65UH8500, whether it is black level, contrast, peak brightness, and color reproduction.

Started from black level and contrast, Samsung UN65KS8000 reach far deeper black level and stronger contrast than LG 65UH8500. As the note, UN65KS8000 can reach about 0.015 nits of black level with 6900:1 of contrast ratio while 65UH8500 reach about 0.084 nits of black level with about 1200:1 of contrast ratio. What reached by UN65KS8000 is great for LED TVs even far deeper and stronger than what required for displaying HDR 10 contents fully, that is about 0.05 nits. This makes detail of images in dark scenes will be revealed clearly on its screen like what claimed by HDR technology.  Dark scenes even still appear richly detailed in a pitch black room, no matter it is displaying SDR or HDR contents. Indirectly, this also makes the color that produced looks more vibrant and natural. Meanwhile, black level and contrast of 65UH8500 is only quite enough for delivering good SDR picture quality in a room with lights. In a dark room, dark scenes will looks tend to grey, while for revealing detail in dark scenes when displaying HDR contents, it is also not quite dark and strong. And of course, it is also still far from what required for displaying Dolby Vision where it needs far deeper black level and stronger contrast than HDR 10.

In term of peak brightness, Samsung UN65KS8000 also offers far brighter peak brightness than LG 65UH8500. UN65KS8000 can reach very bright peak brightness that is about 1500 nits while peak brightness reached by 65UH8500 is about 550 nits. For displaying SDR contents in a room with light enough, what reached by 65UH8500 is quite bright, but for displaying HDR contents, this certainly is not quite bright, particularly for revealing detail of images in sun highlighted effect. As we know, for displaying fully, HDR 10 need peak brightness at least 1000 nits while Dolby Vision need at least 10000 nits with 4000 nits current target. Meanwhile, peak brightness reached by UN65KS8000 is exceeds what the minimum peak brightness required for displaying HDR 10 contents fully. This means, picture that displayed on the screen of UN65KS8000 is very bright and quite enough to maintain picture quality in a very bright room or even in area or the picture that highlighted by lights directly.

Moving on color reproduction, both of them are equally powered by quantum dot technology that makes them support wide color gamut required for displaying HDR contents.  As we know, for displaying HDR 10 fully, it need at least 90% of DCI P3 color space while color gamut delivered by UN65KS8000 is about 96% of DCI  P3 color space while 65UH8500 is about 90% of DCI P3 color space. Although both of them already support wide color gamut, in this case, UN65KS8000 offers slight wider color gamut that makes color of the picture that displayed is richer than 65UH8500 when displaying HDR contents. But even so, when they are displaying SDR contents that only require Rec.709 color space, color of the picture looks equally saturated on each of their screen.  Meanwhile, about color gradient, Samsung UN65KS8000 with tru 10 bit panel also offers slight better and smoother color gradient than LG 65UH8500 with 8 bit dithering panel when they are displaying HDR 10 contents that requires 10 bit depth of color. Nevertheless, although 65UH8500 only come with 8 bit dithering and color gradient produced is not as smooth as UN65KS8000, but it still offers smooth color gradient without obvious color banding when inputted by 10 bit HDR signals.

From all we have discussed a lot above, we can conclude UN65KS8000 offers better display specs than 65UH8500 that makes picture displayed on its screen looks better in a room with any light conditions or when they are displaying HDR or SDR contents. Meanwhile, the picture displayed on the screen of LG 65UH8500 looks very good is only when they are displaying SDR contents in a room with adequate lighting.

Winner: Samsung UN65KS8000

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the UN65KS8000 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the 65UH8500 <<

Viewing Angle

The use of IPS panel behind LG 65UH8500 might hurt black level and contrast when it is used in a dark room, but in other hand, it offer far wider viewing angle that make it is better to be used in a wide room with a lot viewers who come from multiple viewing angles. Like other TVs with VA panel, the picture displayed on the screen of Samsung UN65KS800 start to deteriorate at 20 degrees off center and front.  The color is faded and contrast is degraded, and the wider angle you come from, the picture quality will be more degraded. Meanwhile, quality of the picture displayed on the screen of 65UH8500 looks more consistently at wider viewing angle that is about 40 degrees off center and front.  The benefits, this will facilitate you when set your seat and TV for getting the best viewing.

Winner: LG 65UH8500

UHD Up-scaling

Performance of Samsung UN65KS8000 and LG 65UH8500 where they are doing a job to up-scale lower resolution contents to near 4K quality is equally great. No matter the resolution of video sources, the final images in 4K quality which displayed on their screen looks sharply and very detail. 480p contents like videos from DVDs looks good with small details preserved well once they are up-scaled in 4K quality. And of course, HD contents with 720p like from TV cable looks better with small details preserved more. Let alone when the source is 1080p like Blur-Ray movies, of course the final images in 4k quality that produced looks very sharp and clear without any loss small details. And because most of the contents that available in the market still have lower resolution than 4K, of course this is still very important because of course it’s useless if you buy a 4K TV but you cannot enjoy all video contents in 4K quality.

Winner: Tie

3D Performance

LG Passive 3D

3D technology is one of the main advantages of LG 65UH8500 than Samsung UN65KS8000. As mentioned above, 65UH8500 comes with passive 3D technology while UN65KS800 is not equipped with 3D technology. But ignoring about their difference in 3D, 3D performance offered by 65UH8500 is very great. With passive 3D technology where it is more comfortable for eyes than active 3D technology, it offers clear and details 3D images with tons of deep and without crosstalk and flickers.  A bit downside, the brightness might slightly dim once 3D is engaged, however this is normal and you can increase “brightness setting” to get brighter 3D images. The other downside, passive 3D technology only allows each of eyes receives a half vertical resolution. In addition to it is more comfortable for eyes, the other benefit of passive 3D technology is about their glasses where they are cheaper, battery-free, lighter, and more comfortable to use.  There are 2 pairs passive 3D glasses included in the box and if they are still less than what you need, you can buy them cheaply and easily.

Winner: LG 65UH85000

Motion handling and 24p Playback

The performance of Samsung UN65KS8000 and LG 65UH8500 when handling motion blur and playing 24p movies is great and above average. This means, both of them are good TV for watching fast moving images like sports or watching 24p movies. Nevertheless, compare between them, in term of motion handling, 65UH8500 offers quicker pixel response time than UN65KS8000. The result, when displaying fast moving images, there is no motion blur noticeable on the screen of UN65KS8000 while on the screen of UN65KS8000, a faint trail following fast moving object is still slight noticeable even though they actually are not distracting your convenience. Meanwhile, when playing 24p movies, UN65KS8000 offer better performance than 65UH8500 especially when displaying 24p movies via 60p signals like movies from streaming media. When inputted by this signals, UN65KS8000 offers judder free while judder still noticeable on the screen of 65UH8500. Nevertheless, when they are displaying 24p movies from Blu-ray or via 60i signals like movies from satellite TV, both of them offer judder-free. But even so, because most of people don’t notice about judder, of course this is not a big problem for 65UH8500.

Winner: LG 65UH8500

Inputs/Outputs

LG 65UH8500 is equipped with 3 HDMI Ports and 3 USB Ports as the major connectivity while Samsung UN65KS800 is equipped with 4 HDMI Ports and also 3 USB Ports.  Their HDMI Ports already support what required for HDMI connection like HDCP 2.0, CEC, Audio Return Channel, and other. Additionally, there are also Ethernet, RF In (Antenna In), Bluetooth, Digital Audio Out (Optical), and more. The difference between them is about AV In and Component In where 65UH8500 is equipped with these inputs while there is no AV In and Component in behind UN65KS8000. The other difference is about where these ports are installed. On 65UH8500, all ports are installed on the rear panel while for UN65KS8000, all HDMI Ports, 2 USB Ports and RF IN are located on separated box called “One Connect Box”. Additionally, talking about input lag, at any sources, their input lag is lower than average and this certainly is great for any fast-paced games. But even so, compare between them, UN65KS8000 offers lower input lag than 65UH8500 that means it is better for games especially for games that require fast reflexes.

Winner: Samsung UN65KS8000

Smart TV

LG WebOS 3.0

Samsung Tizen OS

Both of them equally feature attractive and responsive smart TV platform where Samsung UN65KS800 comes with Tizen OS while LG 65UH8500 comes with Tizen OS. They are the best and second best of smart TV platform in 2016. Their performance is very responsive so make you more comfort selecting between apps. Additionally, they also equally come with simple design user interface that makes navigating between different menus is easy and straightforward. Apps which provided by them are also very complete and varied. Almost all of most popular and useful apps are available. There are YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Videos, Web browser, App and Content Store, Cloud Games Apps, and many more. That makes WebOS superior than Tizen OS is about their controller where their remote named ”LG Magic Remote” come with plenty of useful functions like “Point and Click”, Voice Navigation, Universal emote Functionality, and many more. Additionally, LG Magic Remote is equipped with a lot of buttons including number buttons that makes you easier when navigating between different menus or controlling TV functions. Meanwhile, UN65KS8000 also comes with smart remote called “Samsung Smart Controller”. Unlike LG’s magic remote that comes with a lot of buttons, Samsung Smart Remote comes with minimalist buttons without “number buttons” and point and click functionality. Without these functionality, this will make you awkward when surfing on the internet or inputting the texts.

Winner: LG 65UH8500

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the UN65KS8000 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the 65UH8500 <<

Summary

Performance Samsung UN65KS8000 LG 65UH8500
Design (4.5/5) (4.8/5)
Picture Quality (4.1/5) (3.7/5)
HDR (4.2/5) (3.9/5)
Motion Handling (4.2/5) (4.2/5)
Inputs (4.1/5) (4/5)
Sound Quality (3.3/5) (3.4/5)
Smart TV (4.3/5) (4.5/5)

Conclusion

As we have discussed a lot above, the main advantages of LG 65UH8500 to Samsung UN65KS8000 is about 3D technology and wide viewing angle. Its picture quality is good when used in a room with adequate lights. Additionally, it also offer lower pixel response time that makes it is better when used for watching sports or other contents with fast moving scenes. But unfortunately, come with both of HDR and Dolby Vision Support, it cannot display them fully like what claimed by HDR technology itself.  Meanwhile, with better performance on most of display specs, Samsung UN65KS8000 offers better picture quality when displaying HDR or SDR contents in a room with any lighting conditions, even its great HDR performance is guaranteed by Ultra HD certification by UHD alliance. The other advantages is about its low input lags where it allows you to play any kind of games without laggy, even for games which require  fast reflexes. But unfortunately, poor viewing angle and 3D technology are the major downsides of UN65KS8000.

So which is a better choice between them?  As mentioned, in the market LG 65UH8500 is sold about \$200 more expensive about than Samsung UN65KS8000. With the performance we have discussed a lot above, it is better to be used in a wide room with adequate lighting where there are a lot of viewers who watch from multiple viewing angles. Meanwhile, sold cheaper than 65UH8500, Samsung UN65KS8000 offers better picture quality in HDR and SDR and also lower input lag, but its viewing angle is poor and there is no 3D technology behind it. With the performance we have discussed a lot above, UN65KS8000 offer better picture quality as long as you watch TV from center and in front of the screen.  Additionally, if your main consideration in buying TV is about HDR performance, it is a serious HDR TV that can display HDR 10 contents fully. Now the decision comes back to you according to your preferences.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the Samsung UN65KS8000 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG 65UH8500 <<

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