Philips PUS8209 vs Samsung U8000F (IPS)

Unfortunately, this is where the problems begin. A maximum brightness of 280 nits is definitely too low to feel the true effect of HDR. In practice, the image resembles standard SDR more, so it’s hard to speak of deeper visual experiences. On the positive side, the colour gamut coverage is commendable – 91.4% DCI-P3 is a score that will be sufficient for most films. It must also be said that the image is stable and there are no issues with sudden changes in brightness or colours. Overall, HDR on this television is more of a formality than an actual added value. If we are looking for genuine HDR thrills, this model may not meet expectations.

Better does not mean good – and that is exactly how to summarise the capabilities of U8092F when it comes to displaying bright movie scenes in HDR mode. The brightness of the panel is just under 250 nits, which is definitely too little to enjoy any light effects. An interesting situation was observed during the measurement of the fourth scene from the film Sicario 2 – the television clearly dimmed the entire screen in an attempt to achieve better black levels (which remain weak anyway). One might even suggest that the device is using some form of 'global dimming', but unfortunately – the results are still very poor. To make matters worse, the television does not support a wide colour gamut – the coverage of the DCI-P3 space is around 80%, so one cannot expect truly vibrant colours. The HDR image here looks more like a slightly brightened SDR, and it is this form that we would suggest sticking to when it comes to this television.

Philips PUS8209 offers many picture modes, but the best of them, without a doubt, is the Filmmaker mode. Despite its proud name, it has its clear problems. In the case of HD content, the white balance is characterised by a strong dominance of red, which causes the picture to be significantly warmer than it should be in reality. The brightness characteristic (gamma), although correct in the mid-tones, has serious issues at the beginning and end of the curve. Drops in the shadows cause a loss of detail in the dark areas, and blowouts in the bright areas make some elements look unnatural.

For high-quality 4K HDR content, the situation reverses. In this case, blue dominates, leading to an artificial enhancement effect, reminiscent of unnatural retail settings. Such an image looks unattractive and inconsistent with the creators' intentions. An additional problem is the EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in HDR materials. It deviates significantly from the reference chart, causing the image to appear too dark, robbing the depth and detail of HDR content.

Against this backdrop, errors in the Color Checker test and deviations in colour palette reproduction are exceptionally large, which further negatively impacts the overall image quality. The Filmmaker mode, although the best among the available options, requires substantial corrections to fully convey the director's vision.

The Samsung U8000F has been tested in the best possible picture mode built into the television, namely Filmmaker Mode. This mode should – at least in theory – offer a cinematic, reference picture without unnecessary enhancements. In the case of SDR content (mainly HD/SD), the television, out of the box, showed itself surprisingly well. Errors in white balance hovered around a value of 3, which is roughly on the edge of perceptibility. The only complaint could be about brightness management – the gamma graph showed a slight tendency to lighten or darken certain sections, but even so, the overall performance is quite good for this price segment.

Unfortunately, it looks much worse in HDR mode. Although the white balance was not terrible, the television had significant colour errors – particularly evident in the Color Checker graph, where almost every sample hit outside the target point. The picture in HDR simply looks unnatural, and the colours can be shifted, dull, or too cool. This largely stems from the fact that the U8000F does not support a wide colour gamut (DCI-P3). The television is physically unable to display correct colours in the HDR standard – and unfortunately, this is felt in every more demanding material.

After calibration, the white balance for HD and 4K content has significantly improved. Although we have not achieved a perfectly flat characteristic, the effect is definitely better than before. The picture on the television no longer appears artificially warm or excessively cold, which significantly enhances the naturalness of the displayed content. The brightness characteristic (gamma) has also been adjusted – the biggest issues at the beginning and end of the graph have been mitigated. The EOTF curve, responsible for brightness in 4K HDR material, has been stabilised, eliminating problems with excessive dimming of the image. In the colour palette test, some imperfections can still be noticed due to average coverage of the wide colour gamut, which is a limitation of the equipment itself. Nevertheless, the final effect is clearly better than before calibration – the image looks more natural and approaches the expectations of the Filmmaker mode.

Although the U8000F already offered a fairly well-balanced image in SDR straight out of the box, we were able to refine it a bit further. We managed to eliminate a slight purple tint and adjust the gamma to a more sensible level. However, the television still has a tendency to overexpose the smallest and brightest parts of the image – the gamma chart shows a characteristic 'dip' that is difficult to completely straighten out.

Unfortunately, the situation is worse in HDR. It's hard to speak of any significant improvement here – the television is simply not designed for HDR content. We tried to correct the image in the advanced settings, but despite our efforts, the colour errors remained substantial – a delta E above 7 indicates very noticeable deviations. It's a bit disappointing, but that's the nature of budget construction. In SDR, the U8000F performs reasonably well, whereas HDR is just not its league.

The television offers a "Distortion Reduction" feature that effectively improves the gradation of tonal transitions, especially when set to the minimum level. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost – the feature simultaneously smooths out details such as the texture of materials. On the positive side, it is worth noting that the operation of this option does not negatively affect film grain, which remains intact.

As for image scaling (upscaling), the television generates a plastic, soft image that generally looks pleasant. However, in the background, one can sometimes notice issues with aliasing on certain elements, such as branches or fine details, which can lower the quality of reception. Despite these minor imperfections, the overall experience of scaling is satisfactory.

When it comes to how the Samsung U8000F handles lower quality materials, we must admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – namely the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same spot in the range.

This year's model has been equipped with a feature that enhances the fluidity of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the television still uses fairly strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but despite that – 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 reckon with the fact that the image may appear slightly "choppy".

The 60 Hz panel in the Philips PUS8209 is mainly suitable for watching films, but there is still a sense of something missing. The television does not offer any motion smoother that would allow users to adjust the fluidity of the picture to their individual preferences, which can be disappointing for some users.

The Samsung U8000F is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, so it's clear from the outset that we shouldn't expect miracles. It's simply the standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing but without any fireworks.

The television offers a single 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. An interesting feature is “LED Clear Motion”, which is a BFI mode – that inserts black frames between frames of the image to improve motion clarity. However, in practice, the screen flickers quite a bit when this feature is activated, and it should be regarded more as an experiment than something that genuinely enhances the comfort of gaming.

The Philips PUS8209 offers basic features useful for gamers, such as variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), and a Game Bar that makes managing settings easier.

Unfortunately, due to the 60 Hz panel, the television will not meet the expectations of more demanding gamers who are counting on higher smoothness and image precision. Additionally, this model does not support any HDR mode dedicated to gaming, such as HGiG or Dolby Vision, which further limits its capabilities in this regard.

The Samsung U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which may still prove sufficient for less demanding users. It includes an automatic game mode – upon launching a game on the console, the television automatically switches to low latency mode, significantly improving response times. We also find a VRR feature, meaning variable refresh rate, which operates within a range of 48 to 60 Hz. This means that both Xbox and PS5 will not produce the effect of screen tearing – provided, of course, we stay within this range.

Unfortunately, that is about it when it comes to advantages. Add-ons like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung's 2025 line. In theory, the television also supports the HGiG function, which should adjust HDR images to the intentions of game developers. Unfortunately – despite this feature appearing in brochures and retail materials – its configuration on the Xbox console has proven to be... impossible in practice.