The Samsung UN65KS8000 Review – Sometimes Older is better

The Samsung UN65KS8000 was released in 2016 and has the Samsung UN65MU8000 as its successor. Because the Samsung UN65KS8000 has Quantum Dot Panel Technology, its often considered superior to the newer Samsung UN65MU8000. The Samsung UN65MU8000 style=”color: var( –e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( –e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-size: 1rem; font-style: inherit; background-color: var(–ast-global-color-5);”> is lacking some important technologies that make its picture performance not on par as what was offered by the Samsung UN65KS8000, especially for picture quality. If you would like to see our review of the Samsung UN65MU8000, click here. 

If you need an owner’s manual for the Samsung UN65KS8000, click here.

The Review of the Samsung UN65KS8000

The Samsung UN65KS8000 is part of the KS8000 series, the lowest priced model of Samsung’s 2016 4K SUHD Lineup.  With HDR technology, it supports the HDR 10 format only — the open source HDR format developed by UHD Alliance. Nevertheless, its HDR performance is great on all display specs and meets the minimum recommended standards for fully displaying HDR 10.

There are a number of Samsung’s most advanced technologies incorporated. One of the major technologies is the quantum dot panel that makes the color of the picture displayed on its screen to look saturated. Black level and contrast of the UN65KS8000 is very deep and strong due to the great performance combination of Edge Lit LED backlighting, Local Dimming (Precision Black), Ultra Black Technology, UHD Dimming and other Samsung expertise.  In contrast, peak brightness is also very bright due to the Peak Illuminator technology. This advanced combination of saturated color, deep black level, strong contrast, and bright peak brightness, make the picture quality displayed on its screen look very accurate, no matter the light condition of the room where it is viewed. Additionally, the great display specs of the UN65KS8000 make its HDR performance fantastic, and there are few HDR TVs released in 2016 with the certification of Ultra HD Premium that are able to display HDR 10 contents fully like this one.

In addition to an amazing picture quality and great HDR performance, the Samsung UN65KS8000 is also a good choice for watching sports programs and 24p movies due to its low pixel response time and its ability to remove shudder. The UHD Up-scaling engine is reliable and allows you to enjoy lower resolution contents bumping them up to near 4K quality. Additionally, the input lag is very low and makes it a good TV for playing any of your favorite games. And with Tizen OS as its smart TV platform, it also offers attractive and responsive smart TV function with a lot of useful and interesting apps. The downside, since it is a VA TV, there is poor side-viewing angle which is the major downside of the UN65KS8000. The other downside is that it is not equipped with 3D technology.

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Specs and Features for the Samsung UN65KS8000

Picture Quality

The UN65KS8000 with quantum dot panel technology can deliver a fuller and wider color gamut than many televisions, including its successor. You get a color picture displayed on the screen of the UN65kS8000 that looks rich and full when displaying HDR contents. For displaying SDR contents that require Rec.709 color space, it shows well and supports 10 bit depth of color (which makes the color gradient displayed on screen look very smooth), and the UN65KS8000 offers a good color gradient on darker colors when displaying HDR content.

The UN65KS8000 can achieve deep black levels and a strong native contrast ratio. Essentially the black level and contrast ratio delivered is deep and strong for an LCD / LED TV placing it around 0.02 nits. This certainly is great for HDR content because it is far deeper than 0.05 nits — the recommendation for displaying HDR 10 contents fully.  Black on images looks absolute black so that detail of images on shadows or dark scenes looks clear even when viewed in a dark room. Additionally this makes the color look consistently accurate in a dark room.

The Samsung UN65KS8000 can achieve brighter peak brightness that makes it offer greater HDR performance compared to many televisions. The impact is especially felt when displaying HDR content in a very bright room where there is a lot of sunlight coming in directly through a window. When displaying SDR or HDR content in a dark room or a room with normal light, the difference in peak brightness doesn’t have as big an impact on the quality of the picture displayed. The UN65KS8000 with bright peak brightness is known for greater HDR performance over its successor.

The Samsung UN65KS8000 comes with a great performaning UHD Up-scaling engine that allows you to enjoy content with any resolution getting a quality close to 4K. This is very useful considering most of the content available is still around 1080p or lower resolution. As a result, the final images in 4K resolution look very sharp and clear with small details preserved well, even when the source is 480p content such as the older DVD movies. The higher the resolution of the source, of course, the final image you see will certainly look sharper and clearer.

Unfortunately, the best picture quality displayed on screen is if you are watching TV from the center in front of the screen. VA technology televisions are known for a poor side viewing angle as a major downside. But as long as you don’t frequently watch TV from a side viewing angle, then this shouldn’t really be an issue.

Motion Handling and 24p Playback

For handling motion blur, 24p movies, and motion interpolation, the Samsung UN65KS8000  is powered by Motion Rate 240 based on a native 120 HZ refresh rate panel. Performance in handling motion blur is great and always above average. But on the screen of the UN65KS8000, there can be a faint trail behind fast moving objects which might be noticeable. The Samsung UN65KS8000 plays 24p movies with smooth picture quality and judder-free. Whether the source is native 24p like movies from Blu-Ray Player, or 24p via 60i signals like movies from satellite TV, or even 24p via 60p signals like movies from streaming media, judder can be removed without adding a “soap opera effect”. The Samsung UN65KS8000 also has a native 120 Hz refresh rate panel, and supports 30fps / 60 fps motion interpolation. This means the Samsung UN65KS8000 style=”color: var( –e-global-color-text ); font-family: var( –e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; font-style: inherit; background-color: var(–ast-global-color-5);”> can interpolate lower frame rate content.

Input / Output

There are 4 HDMI ports that support HDCP 2.2, CEC, an Audio Return Channel and more. The Samsung UN65KS8000 is also equipped with 3 USB Ports. In addition to HDMI and USB ports, there is also an RF In (Terrestrial), Ethernet, Built In Wi-Fi, Digital Audio Out (optical), and RS 232. Most of the ports arenot located on the rear or side panel, but are located on a separate box called a “One Connect Box Mini”.  The Samsung UN65KS8000 has low input lag for any sources under the “Game Mode”, making it a great TV when used for any kind of games with any resolution, even for fast paced games. 

Smart TV

The UN65KS8000 features the smart TV platform with the Tizen OS 2016 and supported by a quad core processor. The performance and ease of navigation is responsive and simple. Additionally, many apps are available including VoD Services like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Videos, a Web Browser, Cloud Games, Screen Mirroring apps and more.

Samsung Smart Controller

For the controller, the Samsung UN65KS8000 is equipped with a remote control called “Samsung Smart Controller”. It’s designed to be comfortable to use with minimal buttons. This remote is equipped with a built-in microphone for voice navigation and Google Voice Search functionality. Additionally, it can function as a universal remote with many IR commands embedded, so you can control your other devices connected to your Samsung TV via HDMI ports with the single “Samsung Smart Controller.

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

Summary

Conclusion

Overall the picture quality of the Samsung UN65KS8000 is good for its class. Dark room performance is respectively good due to deep black level, good black uniformity, and the ability to have a strong contrast. The color also looks very saturated when displaying HDR and SDR content.  Peak brightness is also quite bright for displaying HDR content stunningly. Combining good picture quality, great performance for handling motion blur, 24p movies, and lower resolution content, and a low input lag, this makes the Samsung UN65KS8000 to be a good TV for many uses, including watching TV Shows, Movies, Sports and playing games — no matter the light condition of the room viewed in. The only downside is the poor side viewing angle — if you don’t often watch TV from a side viewing angle, then this is not a big issue.

In the price range is there a better choice than the Samsung UN65KS8000? The Samsung UN65KS8000 is usually less expensive than the successor Samsung UN65MU8000. Considering picture quality offered by each, you may find the UN65KS8000 to be a better choice than the UN65MU8000. In addition to its price being cheaper, it also offers better picture quality even though it is inferior to the UN65MU8000 in terms of motion handling and input lag under PC mode. Because it is 2016 model, if you choose the Samsung UN65KS8000, you should buy it immediately considering it being discontinued by the manufacturer. The decision should be based according to your preference. You can see our head to head comparison of the Samsung UN65KS8000 and the Samsung UN65MU8000 here.

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

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