Samsung UN65JU7100 4K Ultra HD TV Review

Samsung JU7100

Samsung JU7100 120Hz (240Hz effective) 3D  Smart LED TV

Samsung’s JU7100 and JU7500 are the top tier series in their 2015 standard 4K line-up before moving to the premium SUHD series. If you are concerned about picture quality and features of the 7 series versus the SUHD series, don’t fret. You will still obtain excellent picture quality and a very good feature suite with the 7 series, although it still will not match the performance and features of the SUHD series.

The JU7500 is the curved model, while the JU7100 is the flat-panel model. Available screen sizes for the JU7100 are 40, 50, 60 65 and 75 inches. This review can be applied to all screen sizes.

Design/Features

The JU7100 is a very handsome display featuring a very thin brushed silver chamfered bezel. The TV stand is also attractive and features a T-shaped design with a brushed silver finish. The depth of the panel is fairly thin at about two inches at its slimmest point and contains two down-firing speakers housed within the rear and bottom section of the display panel.

JU7100 Side View

JU7100 Side View

Although the JU7100 doesn’t contain all the bells and whistles and picture-enhancing technology as the premium SUHD series, it still serves up plenty in these areas that will surely please and satisfy all but the pickiest consumers.

The JU7100’s glossy screen uses LED edge-lit backlighting for illumination and works in conjunction with Samsung’s UHD Dimming with Precision Black local dimming for excellent contrast and black levels.

Other picture-enhancing features include Peak Illuminator and Contrast Enhancer. Peak Illuminator enhances brightness, while the Contrast Enhancer optimizes contrast across multiple zones of the screen.

The display’s Ultra Clear Pro Panel absorbs ambient light, which reduces reflections for a better viewing experience in brightly lit rooms. It also displays deeper blacks and enhanced contrast for crystal clarity and reduces glare, so you can see a clearer image and enjoy more detail.

For video processing, application management and web browsing, this TV is equipped with a quad-core processor which is also used to execute functions within the smart TV platform featuring Samsung’s Tizen operating system. This new Smart Hub is very user-friendly with a layout that is similar to LG’s WebOS platform. So using your favorite apps such as Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus YouTube, Pandora and Spotify can be accomplished with ease.

Samsung Smart Touch Remote

Smart Touch Remote

The all-new smart touch remote features a very compact design that fits comfortably in my hand. The button layout is minimal which allows for more user-friendly functionality. This remote also has a voice recognition feature that allows you to control the TV with the sound of your voice. The remote can also be used as a computer mouse and simply point and click to operate TV functions.

For those of you who want and appreciate 3-D viewing, this set is 3-D-ready and can be used with active 3-D glasses, which unfortunately are not included with the TV and must be purchased separately.

This set allows for a wireless connection to your home’s network using 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology and has full web browser capability for surfing the internet. Wi-Fi direct is also available.

Connection Ports

To connect video devices that contain HDMI ports and to make a digital optical audio connection to the TV, the JU7100 is supplied with a One Connect Mini box. This tiny box is a scaled-down version of the full-size One Connect that is supplied with the JS9500 and JS900 from the SUHD series. This device connects to the TV using a supplied 6.5 ft proprietary cable.

JU7100 Rear Panel

JU7100 Rear Panel

Connection ports include:

  • 4 HDMI 2.0 inputs (HDCP 2.2 compliant)
  • 1 Component video input (rear of TV)
  • 1 Composite video input (rear of TV)
  • 3 USB inputs/ one on TV
  • 1 Ethernet input (rear of TV)
  • 1 RF input for antenna/cable/satellite (rear of TV)
  • 1 Digital optical audio output
  • 1 Stereo minijack output (rear of TV)
One Connect Mini Box

One Connect Mini Box

Performance

From the very beginning of my picture evaluation of the JU7100, I must say I was very impressed with what I saw. This display produced some extremely gorgeous 4K and images.

The color palette rendered by this set was simply first-rate. Colors were delivered with an excellent blend of richness, vibrancy and tonal accuracy which gave the colors a very natural and life-like appearance.

Picture detail and clarity were also excellent on this display. Fine detail in the images I viewed was very well resolved right down to the smallest points of detail; for example, I was able to make out all the fine texture in animal fur from the wildlife footage I viewed.

Picture image depth was rendered with extreme clarity which enabled me to see very fine subtle detail deep into the on-screen image.

Black level performance on this set was very good, providing deeply saturated blacks with very good shadow detail.

During my picture evaluations, I always like to test for contrast capability by seeing how well a display can render white text against an all-black background… the JU7100 did an excellent job on this test, delivering very good peak white brightness performance with no blooming; while at the same time delivering deep and very dark black levels to the rest of the image. Very good performance.

4K upscaling of 1080p sources on this TV was some of the best I’ve seen to date. I watched several scenes from the Blu-ray edition of Despicable Me 2. Images from this film were absolutely breathtaking, and if I didn’t know any better I could have been convinced this was a native 4K image source. That’s just how great this image appeared to my eyes.

The colors were very vibrant without being over-saturated. The image was also full of detail and clarity, that at times gave it a very three-dimensional appearance. I was very impressed.

Even though 4K content is not widely available at this time, you can still enjoy the benefits of a 4K display by viewing your Blu-ray disc collection which will be upscaled to near 4K quality by this TV’s excellent processing engine.

Motion Blur: I didn’t detect any issues with motion blur while viewing fast-action content on the JU7100.

Side angle viewing: There was some image dimming on this set when I viewed the screen at off-axis angles, however, the dimming was minimal and was not very distracting. There was also a slight loss in color saturation.

Picture uniformity appeared to be very good with no noticeable clouding or LED light bleed.

The sound quality of the JU7100’s speakers was not very good as is the case with most flat panel displays. The sound output had the usual “thin and lean” characteristics I’m accustomed to hearing from this display panel design. So using a soundbar with this TV is definitely recommended.

For all your video gamers out there, you will be pleased to hear this TV has a very low input lag, which makes it ideal for playing your favorite video games.

Conclusion

Samsung is certainly off to a good start this year with its excellent additions to the 4K Ultra HD TV market including the JU7100 under review here. The JU7100 has been added to my “shortlist” of televisions that could serve as my main home theater viewing display… I enjoyed its performance that much.

Overall, this set offers first-rate performance with 4K and 1080p picture images, delivering exceptional color, detail, clarity and black-level performance.

So if you are one of the many consumers considering the move to a 4K display this year, be sure to check out Samsung’s JU7100. Highly recommended.

My Rating & Specs
  • Samsung JU7100
4.5

Wrap Up

Price:$2,799.99

Check current price at Amazon.com

Pros:
• Outstanding picture quality delivering excellent color, detail, clarity and deep black level performance.
• Very good 4K upscaling
• Redesigned smart TV platform featuring Tizen OS
• Great video gaming TV. Very low input lag.
• Cool remote control

Cons:
• Minimal picture dimming and color saturation loss at wide viewing angles.
• 3D glasses not included

Specs:

Screen size reviewed: 65″

Dimensions:
• With stand (W X H X D) 57.6″ x 35.3″ x 11.6″
• Without stand (W X H X D) 57.6″ x 33.2″ x 2.3″

Weight:
• With stand: 61.9 lbs
• Without stand: 52.5 lbs

Warranty: One year parts and labor.

You may also like these reviews of Samsung’s 65″ JS9000 SUHD and 55″ J6300 1080p TVs.

36 Comments

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