Samsung U8000F (IPS) vs SHARP JP7765E

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.

So how does the brightness of the Sharp JP7 fare in the most demanding titles? Honestly, at first, we were quite surprised. The television is capable of achieving over 1000 nits of brightness, which is an outstanding and rare result for a device costing just under 2000 PLN (for 55 inches). Watching bright, full-screen scenes, one might feel they are dealing with really good equipment. Unfortunately, though, we have to return to the problem we mentioned earlier regarding local dimming management. When small bright areas appear on a dark background (as in the test scenes from the films Life of Pi or Sicario 2), it is evident how poorly the JP7 handles zones. The television dims them almost to the maximum, crushing the entire HDR effect, which in such moments resembles a flat SDR image (less than 200 nits). This instability means that in demanding, contrast-heavy films, the image on the JP7 unfortunately loses its appeal.

As a consolation, it is worth noting that the panel has the potential for good colour display. It features a PFS (phosphor) filter, which allows for a solid 94% coverage of the DCI-P3 palette. The manufacturer calls its product a “QLED,” even though it is primarily based on the aforementioned PFS filter. Given the recent market battles of manufacturers over what may or may not be called QLED, we leave the question of the correctness of this naming to your assessment. However, it remains a fact that the potential for reproducing saturated colours in this panel is simply good.

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.

When it comes to out-of-the-box colours, the Sharp JP7 was tested in Film mode, which traditionally offers the most consistent image compared to the yellowed “Eco” mode or the glaring blue of the “Dynamic” mode. Although this is the best choice among the available settings, the results are still far from ideal. The white balance clearly lacked red and blue components, causing many scenes to take on an unnatural greenish tint. Another issue was the gamma – during full-screen scenes, the television provides excessive brightness, which completely diminishes its cinematic character. All of this resulted in colour reproduction errors, especially in shades of grey, which exceeded a value of Delta E 10. For reference: errors above 2-3 are already visible to the human eye, so we are dealing with a significant distortion of reality here.

In HDR mode, the situation is reversed, but not any better. Here, the blue colour dominates the white balance, which gives the image an unnatural, almost “retail” sharpness, reminiscent of aggressive demonstration modes. Furthermore, measurements of the EOTF curve emphasise the retail character of the image. The graph clearly shows that the television generates an image significantly brighter than the standards predict, resulting in an artificially boosted and unrealistic final effect. The Sharp JP7 is evidently trying to appear stronger than it actually is, but it does so at the cost of fidelity to the content.

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.

We subjected the JP7 to our standard calibration procedure and really... the television gained a new lease of life thanks to it, particularly with SDR content (YouTube, classic television, series, or older films). As a result of our precise adjustment of the white balance and stabilisation of the gamma, colour errors fell to a value of below 3. This is a level at which the human eye has difficulty detecting distortions. In this scenario, the Sharp JP7 delivers an image with truly excellent colour precision, which is a significant advantage in this price class. However, content with HDR turned out to be much more problematic. Here, despite our efforts and interventions in the settings, the television simply would not cooperate. In the JP7 menu, we don't find any option that would allow for real control over brightness management (EOTF). Although a significant portion of the colour errors was reduced, the image still remained unnaturally oversaturated. It's a bit of a shame, as the potential of the mini-LED backlit panel is great, but the software presents a clear barrier here.

The conclusion is simple: when watching less demanding content (SDR) on the JP7, you can expect an image that is more than satisfactory, but in HDR, you must come to terms with a certain degree of "artificiality" that cannot be circumvented even with professional equipment.

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".

In the case of lower quality materials and how the Sharp JP7 handles them, the situation is ambiguous. Let's start with the upscaling itself – here we have no major objections. The process of scaling the image to a higher resolution is correct; the picture remains readable and sharp, without the overscan effect, meaning no cropped edges. Of course, it is not at the level of top models, and at times one can notice slight jaggedness on the contours, but in this price range, the effect is fully acceptable.

However, the actual digital image processing performs significantly worse, which, apart from the upscaling, effectively does not exist. In the JP7 menu, we will not find any option that would effectively smooth out unwanted tonal transitions or reduce noise in the image. As a result, the signal reaches the panel in a very raw form, which, with heavily compressed materials (e.g. from YouTube), leads to visible posterisation. Either it is a flaw in the software or a very strange design decision, because in earlier Sharp models this function was available and, crucially, worked with noticeable effect. Here, we are left to deal with whatever the source provides us, without any digital support from the image processor.

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 motion fluidity on the Sharp JP7 is quite mediocre, and the reason is simple: the television uses a 60Hz panel. This instantly makes it difficult to recommend for watching sports or serious gaming, where higher refresh rates are already the standard. The only real plus is the presence of a smoothness feature, which we can control in films using a slider called De-judder. Lower settings provide a more raw, "cinematic" (framey) image, while higher settings add artificial smoothness. We suggest setting it somewhere in the middle of the scale, that is in the range of 3-5 – this is the best compromise to avoid the soap opera effect while also eliminating the tiring stuttering of the image. Interestingly, in the menu, we also find a "motion blur removal" slider, which usually indicates the presence of a 120Hz panel. However, with the JP7, it does not enhance the image at all and serves rather as a dummy – it is meant to look good in the settings, but technically it has no right to operate on this panel.

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

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung televisions from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial gaming feature HGiG.

And unfortunately, that’s about it in terms of advantages. Additions like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung from the 2025 line. In theory, the television also supports the HGiG feature, which should adjust HDR image to the creators' intentions. Unfortunately – despite the fact that this feature appears in promotional brochures and retail materials – its configuration on the Xbox console has proven to be... impossible in practice.

As we mentioned earlier, the 60Hz panel is not a feature that will attract gamers to the Sharp JP7. Perhaps for the casual player, whose console still generates most titles at 60 frames per second, there might be something interesting? When it comes to specific additions, we find here:

• ALLM Mode: Automatically switches the television to low latency game mode (input lag).

• Game Menu: Which is hard to call a full-fledged “Game Bar,” as the functionality here is minimal. Aside from enabling ALLM, there’s only a game-specific motion smoother which we recommend avoiding as it introduces very noticeable artifacts and worsens responsiveness.

• Dolby Vision Gaming: For Microsoft consoles.

Unfortunately, the list of shortcomings is significantly longer and more painful than the positives. The biggest disappointment is the lack of support for 120Hz, even when reducing the resolution to Full HD. The presence of 120Hz would allow for performance modes to be activated in many games on PS5 or Xbox Series X. Another shortcoming is VRR, which means that during frame drops, we are exposed to screen tearing. The lack of proper implementation of the HGiG standard is also very problematic. This results in the fact that during HDR calibration in the console menu, it is very easy to "overshoot" the brightness settings. As a result, instead of clear details in the highlights, we end up with an unnaturally over-bright image with cut-off details. Sharp JP7 is a proposition solely for very casual gamers.