Not many people can afford such an extravagant television like Samsung’s new SUHD TV lineup, but oh boy, it’s definitely a looker. We had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the flagship JS9500 model, and we can say one thing: for anyone that can afford such luxury, this is one model to keep your eye on (sometimes literally).
The particular model that we had the privilege to view is the 78-inch JS9500 and 65-inch JS9000 Samsung SUHD TVs, which are two of the most “affordable” curved variants. The 88-inch JS9500, on the other hand, costs a whopping RM99,999. Here are the full range of SUHD TVs currently available in Malaysia:
- JS9500: RM99,999 (88-inch), RM39,999 (78-inch)
- JS9000: RM24,999 (65-inch)
- JS8000: RM17,999 (65-inch), RM9,999 (55-inch)
All of the models above (except for the JS8000) have a curved display. While some are of the opinion that curved displays are not worth it and are merely a gimmick, at 65-inch, it does give you a sense of “immersion”. The general rule of thumb for curved displays is usually “the bigger it is, the better the immersion,” but you’ll have to pay a boat load of cash for it. You will also have to be at the “sweet spot” in order to experience the full effect of the immersion, which can be problematic for bigger families.
Osman Ali sharing his experience with the Samsung SUHD TV.
Disadvantages aside, let’s talk about the highlight of any television: the image quality. For one thing, native 4K contents look amazing on the SUHD TV. Full HD contents look pretty decent as well, thanks to the “four-step UHD Upscaling technology”. Of course, it’s not as sharp or vibrant as 4K contents, but you’d need to look very carefully to spot any difference. While the display is very nice to look at, the fact that it is a glossy panel can be quite an issue. Unless your living room is dark most of the time, the glare will be very noticeable.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try out the Tizen software platform on the SUHD TV extensively enough, but we did manage to experience how it would be like to game on it with a Sony PlayStation 4 (thanks to a fellow member of the media). When asked, Samsung confirmed with us that its SUHD TVs do come with Game Mode.
What this basically does is it disables any image enhancement in order to get the fastest response time possible from the television; a very important factor in first-person shooter games, among other things. Samsung claims that Game Mode will dramatically improve the SUHD TV’s response time, which is good news for gamers.
Samsung’s SUHD TV lineup is one to consider if you’re ever in the market for a new television set. That being said, even the most “affordable” 55-inch JS8000 model (which is a non-curved unit) will set you back RM9,999. Although the SUHD TVs are nice to look at, they won’t come cheap.
