Samsung U8000F (VA) vs Philips PUS7000

While the U8000F with a VA panel can still be praised for decent blacks, there are no longer any reasons to be impressed regarding brightness – especially in HDR scenes. The television reaches a maximum of just under 250 nits, which is simply too little to talk about any impressive light effects. Bright elements come off as pale, and scenes that should shine look rather flat. An interesting situation was observed during the test of a scene from the movie Sicario 2 – the screen noticeably darkened, as if the television were 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 of a difference, other than that we see less on the screen. Additionally, there's the issue of colors – the U8000F does not support a wide color gamut, so don't expect vibrant, saturated shades known from better models. The HDR image here resembles slightly brightened SDR and… maybe that’s even a good thing. For this model, it's not worth setting expectations for cinematic experiences – it's better to treat HDR as a modest addition.

Unfortunately, the PUS7000 is not suitable for watching HDR content. This screen is simply too dark. A brightness level of 200 nits is not enough to correctly display such a format. Even if a HDR signal message appears on the screen, the image will resemble a regular SDR recording. Therefore, it's better to stick with the latter format to avoid issues in displaying bright scenes, which you can read about below. The situation is not improved by the fact that this is a classic LCD model without additional layers to enhance colors, such as QLED or PFS. As a result, colors in HDR may appear washed out. Ultimately, this gives a worse effect than in the standard SDR format, which is simply better suited to the capabilities of this panel.

The Samsung U8000F has been tested by us in the best picture mode available out of the box – namely, Filmmaker Mode. This profile is supposed to 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 performed surprisingly well 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, it did not significantly affect the viewing experience. For a television in this segment, it performs quite well.

However, the situation is considerably weaker in HDR mode. Although white balance was still acceptable, color errors were very pronounced. In the Color Checker test, almost every sample was outside the target point, and the image itself looked unnatural – colors were shifted, sometimes too cool, at other times simply dull and lifeless. The main problem lies in the hardware limitations – the U8000F does not support the wide color gamut of DCI-P3, so it is physically unable to reproduce the colors anticipated by the HDR standard. And unfortunately, this is evident in almost every more demanding scene.

We tested the television in movie mode, which theoretically should provide the best and most natural colors. And indeed, this mode is quite correct; however, after connecting the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw became apparent. The PUS7000 has significant deficiencies in displaying red. Poorly tuned white balance and too low saturation of this color cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one might get the impression that the displayed content is simply lacking in vibrant colors. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that both SDR and HDR content are excessively brightened. This is confirmed by the gamma curve and EOTF graphs, which show that the television displays the image brighter than it should. This causes scenes to lose their depth and may appear somewhat washed out. Fortunately, the Philips menu offers many functions to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what could be squeezed out of this screen.

Right out of the box, the U8000F offered quite a decent picture in SDR for its price range. However, we managed to slightly enhance it – we reduced a subtle purple tint and improved the gamma characteristics, giving it a more natural curve. Despite these adjustments, the TV still tends to brighten the brightest details a bit too aggressively – the gamma graph shows a clear dip that cannot be fully corrected.

On the other hand, in HDR mode, it is noticeably weaker. It's hard to talk about any significant improvement here – despite attempts to tweak the settings, the picture still presents considerable color errors. A Delta E exceeding 7 means noticeable deviations that couldn't be effectively reduced. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the design itself – the U8000F was simply not designed for serious HDR. In everyday SDR viewing, it performs quite well, but when it comes to HDR content... it's best not to have too high expectations.

After professional calibration, it is clear that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, this is not a given. The effects should be assessed in two scenarios, depending on what content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our corrections, the image looks really good. Most color errors fell below level 3, which is the threshold at which distortions typically become visible to the naked eye in measurements. Movies, series, sports, and regular television present themselves naturally, without unpleasant deviations. If someone primarily watches classic channels or streaming in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable immediately. However, it must be made clear that the PUS7000 is still not a television suitable for sensible HDR, and calibration does not change much here. The reason lies in the hardware: colors remain too undersaturated. The television lacks solutions that expand the color gamut, such as PFS filters or a quantum dot layer, so the panel simply cannot show the intense colors required by HDR. This is most evident in reds, which still look pale. This limitation cannot be bypassed with menu settings, as it results from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

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 is equipped with a feature for improving the fluidity of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the TV still uses quite 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 went 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 should be prepared for the image to appear slightly "choppy."

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths out unwanted tonal transitions even at a low setting. However, it has a flaw: if the action is too aggressive, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. It’s a good idea to experiment with this setting to find the sweet spot between a smooth image and detail clarity.

The upscaling, which is the enhancement of lower quality materials to 4K, is adequate. The image after processing is very "soft," which is typical for almost all Philips televisions. The edges are plastic and smooth, making the image look cohesive. If someone finds it too soft, it can always be adjusted with the sharpness slider in the menu to achieve a more pronounced effect.

The Samsung U8000F is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, so right from the start, it's clear that we shouldn't expect miracles. This is simply standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing but without any frills. The TV offers one motion enhancement slider – a feature called "Motion Blur Reduction," which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in movies. Higher settings give a more "theatrical" and smoothed effect, while lower settings help maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. An interesting feature is "Clear Motion LED," which is a BFI mode – inserting black frames between image frames to improve motion sharpness. However, in practice, the screen flickers heavily when it's activated, and it should be treated more as an experiment than something that genuinely improves gaming comfort.

In this regard, we don't really have any good news. It might seem that the biggest downside is the lack of a 120 Hz panel, but in this price range, that's actually standard, and it's hard to expect more. However, the worst part is that the TV does not have any motion smoothing features. There are no supporting systems for either movies or sports. We have to accept that the image on the PUS7000 is processed "raw." This means that during dynamic scenes or fast camera movements, the motion may appear choppy or unclear. We have no way to enable any smoother that would soften this effect.

[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 nonetheless may be sufficient for less demanding users. It has an automatic game mode – when a game is launched on the console, the TV automatically switches to low latency mode, significantly improving response time. It also includes 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 a "tearing" effect on the screen – as long as we stay within this range.

And unfortunately, that's about it when it comes to advantages. Additions 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 function, which should adjust the HDR image to the intentions of game developers. Unfortunately – even though this feature appears in brochures and marketing materials – its configuration on the Xbox console turned out to be... impossible in practice.

Although the PUS7000 is not marketed as a gaming TV, it does not perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. While there is no support for 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, the manufacturer has included several important features that genuinely improve the comfort of playing on a console. The most significant of these are VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronizing the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This prevents the image from "tearing" and keeps it consistent even during sudden frame drops in the game. In turn, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the TV to the lowest latency mode right after detecting a signal from the console. All of these parameters are easily accessible thanks to the Game Bar feature. This is a special control panel for gamers that can be brought up on the screen at any time. It allows for a quick overview of current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.