Samsung U8000F (VA) vs Sony Bravia 3 50' (VA)

While the U8000F with its VA panel can still be praised for decent blacks, there are no such accolades when it comes to brightness—particularly in HDR scenes. The television only achieves a maximum of just under 250 nits, which is simply too low to talk about any impressive light effects. Bright elements appear washed out, and scenes that should shine look rather flat. An interesting situation occurred during our testing of a scene from the movie Sicario 2— the screen noticeably darkened, as if the television was trying to hide its limitations in displaying blacks. One might get the impression that the device artificially darkens the image to improve contrast, but in practice, the effect doesn't make much difference, apart from the fact that we see less on the screen. Additionally, there’s the issue of colours—the U8000F doesn’t support a wide colour gamut, so one shouldn’t expect vibrant, saturated hues known from better models. The HDR image here resembles a slightly brightened SDR and... maybe that’s not such a bad thing. For this model, it’s not worth expecting a cinematic experience—better to treat HDR as a modest addition.

Interestingly, in the 50-inch version, the Bravia 3 performs slightly better in terms of brightness than its larger variants. In measurements, it achieved around 370 nits, which still aren’t values that can compete with top-tier TVs, but are sufficient to speak of a semblance of HDR effect. For some users, this level will be acceptable; others will consider it typical for SDR content, where striking highlights or strong contrasts are not expected. So it must be clearly stated that the Bravia 3 is not a TV for those who want to squeeze maximum quality from the most challenging film materials.

However, this doesn’t mean that everything is average. Sony has equipped this model with an additional PFS filter, which works similarly to the solutions used in QLED TVs. As a result, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut has increased to over 91 percent. In everyday use, this means livelier, more saturated colours and a more pleasant image quality. Even if it lacks strong lighting effects, movies and series can look significantly more appealing than in its predecessor, the X75WL.

Samsung U8000F has been tested by us in the best picture mode it offers out of the box – that is, Filmmaker Mode. This profile is supposed to theoretically provide a neutral, cinematic image, free of unnecessary enhancements and artificial beautifications. In the case of SDR content – mainly in HD or SD resolution – the television already presented itself surprisingly reasonably right out of the box. The only noticeable imperfection was brightness management. The gamma chart showed some deviations – slight brightening or dimming of certain tones – but in practice, this did not significantly affect the viewing experience. For a television in this segment, it performs quite well.

However, the situation in HDR mode looks significantly weaker. Although white balance was still acceptable, colour errors were very evident. In the Color Checker test, almost every sample was outside the target point, and the image itself appeared unnatural – colours were skewed, sometimes too cool, and at other times simply dull and lifeless. The main issue lies in hardware limitations – the U8000F does not support the wide colour gamut of DCI-P3, so it is physically unable to reproduce the colours that the HDR standard intends. Unfortunately, this is evident in almost every more demanding scene.

Sony Bravia 3 was primarily tested in movie mode, which immediately turned out to be the best choice among the factory settings. It's not a perfect picture, but compared to the eco mode that the TV suggests right out of the box, the difference is clear and positive. In movie mode, one can notice a certain issue: the image appears too warm, which stems from a lack of blue in the white balance. Nevertheless, in SDR content, the final effect can still be considered quite decent and satisfactory for everyday viewing. Much more serious errors emerge in HDR materials. The Color Checker analysis showed significant deviations, and poor brightness management combined with limited colour gamut coverage further exposes the shortcomings of the picture in this mode. All of this makes HDR on the Bravia 3 seem unconvincing and can spoil the impression left by the quite decent SDR content settings. Fortunately, this is not a hopeless situation. Various errors can be somewhat mitigated, and some can even be completely corrected through professional calibration. That's why we decided to check how the TV would perform after such adjustments.

Right out of the box, the U8000F offered a pretty decent picture in SDR for its price range. We managed to tweak it a bit further – we reduced a slight purple tint and improved the gamma characteristics, giving it a more natural curve. Despite these adjustments, the TV still has a tendency to overly brighten the brightest details – the gamma chart shows a clear break that cannot be fully corrected.

On the other hand, in HDR mode, it’s noticeably weaker. It's hard to talk about any significant improvement – despite attempts to fine-tune the settings, the picture still presents considerable colour errors. A Delta E exceeding 7 indicates noticeable deviations that we couldn’t effectively reduce. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the construction itself – the U8000F simply wasn't designed for serious HDR. In daily SDR viewing, it performs quite well, but for HDR content... it’s best not to have overly high expectations.

The calibration allowed us to extract significantly more from the ChooseTV 3 than we could have expected at the beginning. Firstly, we managed to correct the deficiency of blue, which previously caused a noticeable warming of the image. After a slight adjustment in the white balance, most of the errors in the Color Checker measurements for SDR content practically disappeared. The shades of white gained a natural quality, and brightness management in gamma stabilised to an almost ideal level, not exceeding the threshold of human eye perception. Therefore, it can be confidently said that in SDR content, after a few tweaks in the settings, ChooseTV 3 performs really remarkably. Much worse, although still decidedly better than before calibration, are HDR contents. The white balance was managed to be sorted out, however, the limitations of the IPS panel are insurmountable. The lack of local dimming means that even the smallest elements can be overexposed, which is immediately noticeable. Colour-wise, the effect has also improved, although it is far from perfect – many errors still exceed the threshold of four, and even five delta E units, which means they remain visible to the human eye. It was already clear earlier that ChooseTV 3 is not a television designed to impress with HDR quality. Nevertheless, it is pleasing that in SDR content, after calibration, the image can look really great, and in this category, the television has positively surprised us.

When it comes to how the Samsung U8000F handles lower-quality materials, we have to admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same place in the lineup. This year’s model is equipped with a feature that improves the smoothness of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the television still uses quite strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but still – it can be confidently said that it works effectively. However, not everything has gone perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slight image stuttering when watching very old content in very low resolution. If someone plans to play their old VHS tape, they must be prepared for the image to look slightly “choppy”.

Bravia 3 brings more to the Sony TV family than just a shared name. It stands out primarily with its ability to enhance the quality of weaker materials thanks to the processor used. Of course, we won't find the advanced XR chip known from more expensive models here, but even so, it's fair to say that the image in lower resolutions looked surprisingly good. Scaling worked effectively, and most parts of the screen were devoid of the typical excessive edge tearing found in budget constructions. The feature that improves the fluidity of tonal transitions is also noteworthy. At the high setting, it performs quite well, effectively masking gradient imperfections without a significant loss of detail. It does occasionally happen that the algorithm smoothingly blurs elements that should remain sharp – for example, faces – however, in the overall assessment, the effect is beneficial. The best results were achieved precisely at the highest setting, and this option could be recommended to those watching lower quality content.

The Samsung U8000F comes with a 60 Hz panel, so right from the start, it's clear that you can't expect miracles. It's simply the standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing, but without any fireworks. The TV offers one motion smoothing slider – a function called "Motion Blur Reduction", which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in films. Higher settings provide a more "theatrical" and smoothed effect, while lower settings maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. Interestingly, there is the "LED Clear Motion" feature, or BFI mode – which inserts black frames between the frames of the image to improve motion sharpness. However, in practice, the screen flickers significantly when this is activated, and it's best to treat this as more of an experiment rather than something that genuinely improves the gaming experience.

The fluidity of motion has never been a strong point of televisions equipped with 60 Hz panels, and the Bravia 3 is no exception. Nevertheless, Sony has added something that might appeal to those who are more sensitive to the way images are displayed. This refers to the proprietary motion smoother, Motion Flow, which offers users a lot of adjustment options. With it, you can make the picture smoother, almost theatrical, or stick to a more cinematic style with the characteristic judder, which many people simply associate with a filmic vibe. These functions work for content with lower frame rates, such as movies and series recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second, which is the type of material we encounter on a daily basis. It is precisely in this area that the motion smoother proves to be one of the most important features for everyday use of the television, and here the Bravia 3 performs really well.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

Samsung U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which can still prove sufficient for less demanding users. Here we have an automatic gaming mode – when a game is launched on the console, the TV switches to low-latency mode by itself, significantly improving response time. We also find the VRR feature, or variable refresh rate, which operates in the range of 48 to 60 Hz. This means that both Xbox and PS5 will not produce the 'tearing' effect on the screen – as long as we stay within this range.

Unfortunately, that's about it when it comes to advantages. Add-ons like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung from the 2025 line. In theory, the TV also supports the HGiG feature, which should adjust the HDR image to the intentions of game developers. Unfortunately – despite this feature appearing in advertising brochures and store materials – its setup on the Xbox console turned out, in practice, to be... impossible.

Bravia 3 isn't gear for eSports enthusiasts or fans of late-night marathons with a controller in hand. The lack of 120 Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 ports closes the topic before it even has a chance to develop. This is a TV for the casual gamer who, after work, fires up FIFA or racing games, not for someone who measures every frame in a spreadsheet. Nonetheless, Sony has added a few nice extras to ensure it’s not too bare. ALLM works as it should, automatically switching the TV to game mode (low latency). We even find a simple Game Bar here, which is clear and straightforward. However, the biggest curiosity is the PlayStation Portal app. Thanks to it, you can launch games from your PS5 wirelessly and see them on the TV screen straight away. Sounds great, but it only takes a few minutes to feel significant delays. In our opinion, it’s more of a showcase of capabilities than something that can be used on a daily basis. If someone really wants to play, it’s better to plug the console in with an HDMI cable and forget about wireless issues.