Samsung U8000F (VA) vs SHARP JP7765E

While the U8000F with a VA panel can still be praised for decent blacks, there is no longer any reason to be enthusiastic about brightness – especially in HDR scenes. The television achieves a maximum of just under 250 nits, which is simply too low to speak of any impressive light effects. Bright elements appear pale, and scenes that should sparkle look rather flat. We observed an interesting situation during the test of a scene from the film Sicario 2 – the screen became noticeably darker, 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 enhance contrast, but in practice, the effect makes very little difference, other than the fact that we see less on the screen. Furthermore, there is the issue of colours – the U8000F does not support a wide colour gamut, so one cannot count on the vibrant, saturated hues known from better models. The HDR image here resembles slightly brightened SDR and... perhaps that is even a good thing. With this model, it is not worth expecting a cinematic experience – it is better to treat HDR as a modest addition.

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 by us in the best picture mode it offers out of the box – the Filmmaker Mode. This profile is theoretically meant to provide a neutral, cinematic image devoid of unnecessary enhancements and artificial beautifications. In the case of SDR content – primarily in HD or SD resolution – the television performed surprisingly decently right out of the box. The only noticeable flaw 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. Considering the television's segment, it performs quite well.

However, the situation is much weaker in HDR mode. While the white balance was still acceptable, the colour inaccuracies were very apparent. In the Color Checker test, almost every sample was outside the target point, and the image itself appeared unnatural – the colours were shifted, sometimes too cool, other times simply dull and lifeless. The main problem lies in the hardware limitations – the U8000F does not support the wide colour gamut of DCI-P3, so it is physically incapable of reproducing the colours that the HDR standard anticipates. Unfortunately, this is evident in almost every more demanding scene.

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.

Right out of the box, the U8000F offered quite a decent image in SDR for its price class. However, we managed to enhance it slightly – we reduced a subtle purple tint and improved the gamma characteristics, giving it a more natural curve. Despite these adjustments, the television still tends to overly brighten the brightest details – the gamma chart shows a clear inflection that cannot be completely corrected.

In HDR mode, however, it is noticeably weaker. It is hard to speak of any significant improvement here – despite attempts to adjust the settings, the image still presents considerable colour inaccuracies. A Delta E exceeding 7 signifies noticeable deviations that could not be effectively reduced. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the construction itself – the U8000F simply was not designed for serious HDR. In everyday viewing in SDR, it performs quite well, but when it comes to HDR content... it's best not to have overly high expectations.

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 – the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same position in the lineup. This year's model has been equipped with a feature to improve the fluidity of tone transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Indeed, the television still utilizes quite strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but nonetheless – it can confidently be said that it works effectively. However, not everything has gone perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slightly cutting the image 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 "cut off".

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 right from the start that one shouldn't expect miracles. This is simply the standard in this class – adequate for everyday viewing, but without any fireworks. The television offers a single motion smoothing slider – a feature called "Motion Blur Reduction," which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in films. Higher settings produce a more "theatrical" and smoothed effect, while lower settings help retain the film's original character with a slight 24p effect. An interesting feature is "Clear Motion LED," which is the BFI mode – inserting black frames between image frames to improve motion clarity. In practice, however, the screen flickers heavily when this feature is activated and should rather be considered an experiment than something that genuinely enhances gaming comfort.

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.

[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 may still be sufficient for less demanding users. It includes an automatic game mode – when a game is launched on the console, the television automatically switches to low latency mode, significantly improving response times. There is also a 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 – as long as we stay within this range.

Unfortunately, that’s about it for the advantages. Additions like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher-end Samsung models from the 2025 line. In theory, the television also supports the HGiG feature, which should adjust HDR imagery to the creators' intentions. Unfortunately – despite the fact that this feature appears in brochures and promotional materials – its configuration on the Xbox console turned out 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.