Samsung gets some of its budget TV mojo back
Given that it sits towards the bottom of Samsung’s TV range, we should start by listing things the CU8000 doesn’t have: Mini LED lighting, Quantum Dot colours or direct LED lighting with local dimming. On the plus side, the 55in CU8000 is built on a VA rather than IPS LCD panel, which should help it produce relatively good contrast at the expense of potentially limited viewing angles. It is edge- rather than back-lit, which experience shows can struggle to deliver as much contrast and light consistency as direct lighting, but Samsung has repeatedly got better results from edge lighting than arguably any other brand over the years.
There is no local dimming, just whole frame dimming, where the edge LEDs are all dimmed or brightened together to optimise brightness to the changing demands of the images you are watching. This makes sense, since combining local dimming with edge lighting can typically create bands of backlight clouding.
Deeper black levels
The CU8000’s Crystal Color system serves up a wider colour gamut (a claimed billion-plus hues) than ‘basic’ LCD TVs; and this plus its other picture processing and OTS Lite sound system (which tries to place effects in the right place on the screen) are all controlled by a Crystal 4K Processor designed for the CU8000 range. The 55in screen carries a native 4K resolution and supports HDR10, HLG and HDR10+. Smart features are provided by Samsung’s latest Tizen system, with a comprehensive range of streaming and catch-up TV apps.
The CU8000 doesn’t look or feel like a budget TV. Its ‘Air Slim’ design finds its rear protruding less than 3cm, making it an ideal wall-hanging option. It’s surprisingly hefty, giving it a much more premium and robust feel than you might expect to find with such an affordable 55in TV.
The set’s handling of its edge-based lighting enables it to deliver deeper black levels while suppressing more effectively the backlight clouding and inconsistencies. There’s also a decent amount of brightness for such an affordable 55in TV with bright objects that appear against dark backgrounds. Scenes that fill the screen with bright, colourful images look punchier and more vibrant than they do on many similarly priced rivals, too.
Black levels are good by budget TV standards, though there is more greyness hovering over dark scenes than you would hope to see with a more premium TV. There’s also slightly distracting brightness ‘jumpi
