Samsung UN75F7100 Review (UN75F7100AF)
75 inch 1080p 240Hz 3D Smart LED TV
by Robert Wiley, Senior Editor
Strengths
Weaknesses
The UN75F7100 is the largest size of the series. It is the 3rd tier LED TV from Samsung for the 2013/2014 year. The ES7100 series it replaces did not offer such a size. That Samsung has acknowledged the want for bigger and better TVs that aren't astronomically priced. The F7100 is going to be one of the most popular series of the year because of the rich feature set on this reasonably priced model. The picture quality is top notch with 3D playback and it comes loaded with the redesigned Smart Hub.
Picture Quality Rating: 9.2/10
The picture quality on the UN75F7100 is almost as excellent as the F8000 series. It might sound strange, but we've seen them side by side and that's the case. The key is the same panel with a clear coat screen and comparable contrast. The latter (F8000) has a higher micro-dimming rate. Side viewing angles look good with not much contrast degrading. Images are clear and color information is accurate. Sometimes I wish LED TV colors popped a bit more, but this is the nature of LED backlit LCD TVs. The offset is that you get great brightness and peak whites and Samsung's LED backlighting is some of the best in the market.
Micro Dimming
Micro dimming is found on the UN75F7100. It may not the be best of the best micro dimming you see on the F8000, but its got the same effect. What's difference between the top micro dimming and the one found here? Micro dimming on the F7100 is not divided into as many zones. The ability to control contrast in very specific areas of the screen is not as strong as the top tier TVs. Don't think this is a weakness of the F7100, because it's not. I've seen a great performance out of this TV. All in all, it is an excellent feature on this TV that gives picture quality the push it needs to be really great on an LCD/LED TV.
240Hz Refresh Rate
The 240Hz panel on the UN75F7100 is a top tier feature which I think makes a great addition to the value here. Higher refresh rates like this reduce a lot of motion blur and judder from fast motion and side to side panning. LCD/LED TVs have always had a hard time with this, but it's getting better. A faster refresh rate also makes the TV better suited for gaming. It comes nowhere near the realistic presentation of a plasma TV, but the 240Hz panel really helps out on the F7100.
The Samsung F7100 has excellent color rendition and picture clarity. Great contrast levels are also highlighted in this shot
3D Viewing Quality
3D Viewing Quality is by the active variety on the 75F7100 and follows the excellent performance in this are of the ES7100 predecessor. Samsung's active 3D glasses are the lightest and most comfortable in the active-3D marketplace and now have a new rounded design. Aside from that there is little difference as there was not much to improve upon. There is little to no crosstalk or distraction when viewing 3D content, but keep away direct light from the front of the room in which you are viewing or you will likely get a slight flicker from the edges of the glasses. LG's passive 3D in their top models is superior, but the F7100 blows it away in 2D.
Auto Motion Plus (Pay Attention to this Setting!)
The Auto Motion Plus feature in the UN75F7100 comes as a blessing and a curse. This defaults to On in all of the preset picture setting modes. Keep that in mind if the picture looks a little strange to you. When watching content from the Internet, TV, DVD or BluRay, this feature should be disabled or at least the De-Judder should be dialed down to 0. De-Blur can be left alone. The feature creates the dreaded 'Soap Opera' effect, making images look terribly unrealistic by eliminating natural background blur. Turn it off in the Picture Options menu and everything will be fine again. You'll immediately see judder when you disable it, but your eyes will adjust momentarily. When viewing 480i based content we saw slight improvements when the setting was low.
(Note: to get to the setting click on Menu, swipe across to Picture, Scroll all the way down to Picture Options, Scroll down to AutoMotion Plus.)
Standard Definition Up-Conversion - Beautiful
All content is not 1080p. There is still a ton of content you are viewing on lower quality resolutions (Netflix streaming for example). The 75F7100 does a great job of up-converting the signal to HD and displaying in a near HD quality. The F7100 yielded a top notch picture from my trusted Risky Business DVD in 480. The top samsung LEDs are excellent at this up-conversion.
Features Rating: 9.1/10
Smart TV Features
The F7100 features the Smart Hub like many of the other LED and plasmas of the 2013/2014 Samsung lineup. The entire suite has been redesigned to provide a more intuitive user experience. This is a big plus and a step in the right direction for smart TVs in general. The change in the interface reminds me of using smartphones and tablets. There are 5 main screens with each dedicated to a certain task. I'll outline them below:
This is the Apps page of the redesigned Smart Hub. Here you see all of your downloaded apps as well as some reccomendations for other apps that you might enjoy
Social- The page that provides you with all of your facebook and twitter feeds as well as popular and trending content from the internet.
Apps – Here you will find all of your downloaded apps in one place. This means your web browser and all your games can be accessed from the same screen.
On TV – This is the area dedicated to the channel surfers out there. It is one screen that gathers information from all over live TV in one place. You see thumbnails and live feeds so you know what is happening all over TV land.
Movies & TV – This is the on-demand part of the Smart Hub. Here you will find content available from places all over the internet. You can make specific searches as well to find pricing and availability of certain shows and movies.
Photo & Video – Here you can view personal photos and watch videos from your home network. This will be the favorite area for those who do a lot of sharing online with friends and family.
The included remote with the F7100 features a touch pad. A simple swiping motion will change the page the Smart Hub is displaying. The mic button also makes it easy to use the voice control features
Recommendation Features
All throughout the Smart Hub you will find recommendations being made to you. Samsung has designed the Smart Hub to take notice of the content watched and give you suggestions about similar programming that might be enjoyable. It seems intrusive at first, but in a world where you can get content from various sources this is a helpful feature. The feature itself works well to show you what is is available from live TV and across the internet.
Dual Core Processor
One of the sacrifices made to reduce the price of the TV was the quad-core processor. The UN75F7100 features a dual core processor for running all of the Smarth Hub features. The dual core processor is still an improvement over the 2012 year that was riddled with slowness. We are happy to see this change for the better. From what we have seen, smart TV performance on this model is smooth and responsive.
Sound Quality
There is plenty of volume from the speakers on the F7100 and quality is consistently good though not as rich as some we've tested. Thankfully, there are no hollow or tinny effects in the sound as we've noticed from years past.
Appearance and Design
The F7100 misses out on the cresent moon stand of the flow design and utilizes the signature Samsung quad leg stand
The 75F7100 has the new flow design for 2013, but the screen framing bezel is a very sophisticated matte silver and it's just a striking good looks. The frame is about .2 inches in width (.5” for the 60”). So you get that minimalistic almost frameless design. It does not have the half moon shaped stand and instead has the 4-legged prong stand we like to call quadrapod. The front facing camera is not built-in on the F7100 but is optional.
Value - Bang for the Buck Rating: 7.9/10
When Samsung announced a 75” model in the F7100 I didnt think it would actually ship, and I was wrong. At $5499 it's not a great deal since the 65” version is $2599 but it's novel and a great TV and still $2000 less than the top model F8000. You give up a few high end features such as the quad-core processor, but in all I think this models covers most of the very important bases. Competition is from the Sharp LC-80LE857U and the Sony 65” 4K TV XBR-65X900A.
Overall Rating: 8.7/10
Having reviewed and written about Television Technology for over 10 years, Wiley never tires of researching the newest qualitative trends related to the technology. Most people do not get excited about possibilities behind the latest video engine...Wiley does. Read more about Robert |
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