Samsung QE65QN800A review: Samsung’s most affordable 8K 100Hz TV

The Samsung QN800A television makes good use of a VA (Vertical Alignment) type LCD panel. This LCD technology effectively blocks backlighting light and achieves good native contrast, to the detriment of viewing angles. Samsung gets around this problem here with an optical filter that widens the viewing angles a bit. We measured an average loss of only 58% on the 45 ° sides while it is rather 70% on televisions equipped with a VA panel. The benchmark in the field remains Oled televisions with a loss of brightness limited to 25% on all models.

In Filmmaker mode, the TV delivers a nice picture. We measured an average delta E of 2.6, slightly below the threshold of 3 below which the human eye no longer perceives a difference between the colors displayed on the screen and those expected. The gray levels represented by the gamma curve are just perfect; its average value of 2.34 is very close to that of reference (2.4) and the curve is stable over the entire spectrum. Same observation with regard to the color temperature, with a stable curve and an average measured at 6820 K, very close to the value of the video standard (6500 K).

Finally, the numerous zones of the Mini-Led backlighting system make it possible to obtain a black measured at 0.01 cd / m². The contrast ratio is therefore greater than 200,000: 1, which is excellent for an LCD television and allows you to enjoy a good level of black in the axis. Compared to an Oled model, it will still have a little more trouble revealing the details of very dark objects. From the front, the blooming (halo effect around light objects on a dark background) is very limited and it appears especially when one is no longer in front of the television. The pumping effect on the subtitles unfortunately remains present and there is still no solution to erase this problem.

Samsung’s scaling engine evolves in small touches that are almost invisible to the eye. The 8K Ultra panel coupled with the Neo Quantum 8K processor works very well on this television and brings a gain of sharpness to Ultra HD content. On this 65-inch diagonal, the contribution of the 8K remains negligible. The sharpness is slightly improved, but this definition is especially meaningful on very large diagonals of 75 inches and more. Image quality and sharpness are no problem with a setback of only 1.5 m, less than the diagonal of the panel (165 cm). More generally, 8K Ultra definition is only of interest on very large televisions with a diagonal equal to or greater than 75 inches (190 cm). Currently, a 55 or 65 inch model in Ultra HD offers an already sufficient resolution with a classic retreat (1.5 to 2 times the diagonal of the screen). Finally, the motion compensation motor lags a bit and fails to produce totally sharp images in motion, possibly due to the slab’s lack of responsiveness. On this point, the Samsung QE65QN95A (4K) does much better.