Samsung KU6290 Review

UN65KU6290, UN55KU6290

4K UHD LED BACKLIT LCD TV, SMART TV, HDR

The only difference between the KU6290 and the KU6300 above it in the Samsung lineup is that the KU6300 has the Smart Remote, and the KU6290 has a standard remote control.

by , Senior Editor

Samsung UN55KU6290 4K LED TV

Strengths

  • Screen Reflection is not severe
  • Upscaling and conversion of lower HD and standard def to 4K is solid for the price point
  • Contrast and Color from front and centerGreat light flow through from LED edge lights
  • Web browser included
  • On-screen menu system is easy
  • Low input lag in game mode
  • Price/Value
  • Gaming Mode input lag (good TV for Gaming)
  • HDR Premium with Active Crystal Color for future proofing

Weaknesses

  • 60Hz TV, judder can be apparent with Automotion turned off especially with lower end resolutions
  • Automotion Plus “Telenovela” effect
  • Side Angle Viewing contrast and color saturation degrades
  • Aesthetic Appeal not a super high end look
  • Slow starting time on some Apps 6-12 seconds for some Apps like Netflix and Amazon Instant
  • Small selection of preset picture modes

Neutral

  • Screen Uniformity out of the box is good (it often does not last as the TV wears)
  • We noted no motion blur from high end signals 1080p, 720p, but some with standard def resolution

The KU6290 4K LED TV from Samsung is best priced 4K offerings from Samsung but still has ample some good features like Smart TV offerings, UHD Picture Dimming, a quad core processor, HEVC 4K streaming decoding, and a contrast enhancer. Though the 6300 has 4K UHD resolution, it rivals 1080p TVs of the same size from a year or two ago in price, one of its best features.

Picture Quality Rating: 86/100


"Samsung's Semi clear coat screen on the KU6300 allows rich, accurate color"

As we've mentioned many times before, edge lit LED backlit LCDs are not the ideal picture technology (even in 4K), however Samsung's semi clear coat screen is a big plus. Images are clear and color information is accurate. Over time, some light bleed is likely to occur – noticeable during very dark or black background scenes. Colors pop very well for an LED TV and Samsung has the brightest LEDs (peak Whites) in the industry if you need a very bright screen. The clear panel technology in this screen which helps to absorb ambient light is an excellent feature.

Detail of Samsung UN55KU6500
This shot shows good contrast and black levels on the KU6290

HD to UHD Upscaling and Conversion

"This 4K TV will not look better than a very good 1080p TV with standard and HD signals, but wait!, there are no more very good 1080p TVs."

Generally, with scaling you get what you pay for. This is an area of great differentiation among 4K TVs. Some of the more expensive ones will have much better scalers. But, the KU6290 does a reasonably good job for the price point. Scaling is exceptionally important since most of the TV we watch these days is streaming from Amazon, Netflix, HBO...or 720p cable. A TV's upscaling will never be able to make as much difference as the original signal source, but it can create cleaner, sharper image edges in the best case. The KU6290 does a good job presenting streaming and 720p signals. The scaler is not of the cheaper variety. This 4K TV will not look better than a very good 1080p TV with standard and HD signals, but wait!, there are no more very good 1080p TVs. The manufacturers stopped making them. While not the most robust scaler, the KU6290 gets a good score for the price of the TV.

LED Edge Backlight – A Standout Feature

The light flow through created by the Samsung LED backlights has been a major positive for the last couple of years and continues with this UHD offering. It's one of the TVs best characteristics. Some complain that it can cause screen uniformity issues. To tone down the LED backlight from causing some uneven screen uniformity issues turn the backlight setting (found in the picture settings menu) down to a more reasonable level – around 80% is what we recommend. This will keep screen uniformity issues from arising and you still have plenty of brightness from this super bright LED TV. Having powerful LED backlighting in case you need it for super bright room conditions is a plus.

Side Angle Viewing – Much Room for Improvement

Color saturation and contrast do fade when viewing from off center though much more subtly than I expected. In fact, the untrained eye will likely not see much difference in contrast saturation until around 15 degrees off center. Early models of the 4K TVs from Samsung did not look this good from the side and were more in line with standard HD LED TVs. Don't get me wrong, it's still a drawback, but not as pronounced as it once was. This was probably the single biggest drawback compared to OLED aside from the deeper blacks and richer colors on OLEDs.

PurColor Color System/Calibration

The KU6290 employs Samsung's new Purcolor which is the lowest color gamut spec they offer for 2016/2017 and the differentiating spec between the KU290 and the KU7000 above it (with active crystal color). One thing we like about this TV though is color accuracy and ease of calibration to get a very passable picture. Click here for the calibrated picture settings.

Refresh Rate Concerns/Motion Blur

"The panel is only 60Hz, so judder may be apparent is some programming"

The native panel refresh rate is only 60Hz for the KU6290 so you will see some judder on those movie scenes with side to side panning. The backlight manipulated Motion Rate is 120. This is another compromise for a lower priced TV. This is not to be confused with fast action sports performance. Motion blur from sports is actually negligible if non-existent. It's 24p material, movies where you will likely notice the judder the most. You can always add the Telenovela effect by using the Auto Motion Plus feature and get rid of some or all of the judder.

Quick Picture Calibration Settings

Quick Calibration:The following settings are for a medium to dark room light. Since calibrations can vary among different TVs even from the same model number, we no longer post the advanced 10 point White balance calibration settings. However, TV manufacturers have improved at providing a preset picture setting that is pretty close to D65 out of the box. The settings below will get you close. Try the Warm 2 setting and for a couple days to get used to it. If after a couple days picture images still seems to warm (reddish tones), change it to the Warm 1 mode. Also, if you are viewing in a brighter room environment, you may prefer the Warm 1 mode.

Picture Mode: Movie
Backlight 18 Sharpness 10
Contrast 98 Color 50
Brightness 45 Tint G50/R50
Expert Settings
Digital Clean View Off Gamma 0
AutoMotion Plus Off RGB Only Off
Film Mode Off Color Space Auto
HDMI Color MPEG Noise Filter Off
HDMI Black Level Auto Film Mode Off
Dynamic Contrast Off LED Motion Plus Off
Color Tone Warm 2


Notes:The Backlight setting is the easiest and quickest way to adjust for room light conditions. For brighter rooms move the setting up and darker rooms down. Game Mode may be enabled under Special Viewing Mode. The Digital Clean View mode may be utilized for lower quality and lower resolution content like 480p DVDs, non-HD cable, and streaming TV that is not HD quality.


Auto Motion Plus - Know When to Use this Feature

The Auto Motion Plus feature is something that comes as a blessing and a curse. By default it is set to On in all of the preset picture setting modes. You will likely want to turn it off for streaming content, DVDs, Blu-rays, and TV shows. The feature gives you a dreadful “Telenovela Effect”, making images look unrealistic by eliminating too much natural background blur. Turn it off in the Expert Settings menu and everything will be fine again. You'll immediately see judder when you disable it, but your eyes will adjust momentarily. The features does not hurt good quality live sports programming so you may want to use it there. Another experiment you may want to try is using it with poor quality DVDs. It can help the viewing experience there, bringing these old movies to life. Just be familiar with how to s and it won't be a problem.

Another possibly acceptable setting is enabling the feature using the Custom setting and using a low value on the De-Blur portion of the setting.

(Note: to get to the setting click on Menu, swipe across to Picture, Scroll down to Expert Settings and scroll down to AutoMotion Plus.)

Features Rating: 85/100

Samsung Smart Hub

The KU6290 does not get the top Samsung Tizen OS Smart Hub of the top models, but instead gets a similar Smart Hub suite to last year with the same basic design. Samsung hit the mark with their user interface and intuitive navigation. This time around you will see the Game tab as one of the major smart TV pages. The On TV page allows for individual logins. This means different members of the family can have different recommendation settings. This is a big plus for a home with multiple TV users. The Smart Hub for the KU6300 includes a full web browser.

Quad-core Processor

The quad-core processor greatly increases the speed of the Smart TV function and browsing. It is a welcome addition since processing speed and multitasking were slow before the upgrade to the quad-core.

Appearance and Design

The KU6290 has a nice design with a half inch border charcoal black matte frame surrounding the screen. The screen is 2.5” in depth so plenty thin for wall mounting. It's no knockout design, but I like thee lines of the new stand. It's also very sturdy while looking updated and modern.

Standard Remote

The KU6290 has a standard remote control with a 5-way controller for Smart TV controls.

Sound Quality

There is plenty of volume from the inbuilt 10w speakers. It's not what I would call high quality defined audio, but it gets the job done.

Other Features

The KU6290 is DirecTV ready for 4K content. The TV has built in Wifi, and plenty of HDMI inputs (4) and 3 USB inputs. It also has mobile to TV mirroring and a Game Picture Mode for gamers. Though we were not able to test the HDR Premium picture, it's nice to have some future proofing HDR compatibility included. This just means that it will be able to display some types of HDR content on the screen, even though the TV does not have a wide enough color gamut to capture all the nuances of HDR. There is a Game Mode for gamers. This is a good gaming TV with around 28ms input lag when Game Mode is enabled.

Features It Lacks

The UHD Dimming feature really does not quality as local dimming and does little to enhance contrast in various areas of the screen. The feature tends to darken the screen and is not a preferred feature to use. 3D is not included. 120Hz panel is not included. Even though the KU6290 has HDR compatibility, it does not have a very wide color gamut for enjoying the best benefits of HDR. Even though the KU6290 does a good job of up-conversion, it does not have a high end scaler. The KU6290 includes a scaled down version of Samsung's Smart Hub rather than the top of the line Tizen OS.

Value Rating 94/100

As the lowest price Samsung 4K TV this year, value is an important aspect of this TVs appeal. The only feature dropped from the KU6300 above it is the Smart remote control. With the 65KU6290 you save $150 for taking the standard remote, which is a great deal. Pricing is very appealing.

UN65KU6290 - $1249Drop the Smart remote for a standard remote with the KU6290 and you save $150. What a deal on a 65 inch TV.

UN55KU6290 – At $789Less of a discount to the KU6300 for taking the standard remote. A great deal though for a 55 inch TV with these features.

Overall Rating 89/100

Quick Specs

  • Diagonal Screen Size – 65”
  • 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
  • TV without stand: 65” Model 57.6" x 33.2" x 2.5"
  • TV with stand: 65” Model 57.6" x 35.7" x 14.5"
  • Contrast Enhancer
  • Motion Rate 120 (60Hz native panel with backlight scanning)
  • Speaker output power: 10W x 2
  • Quad Core Processor
  • Samsung Smart View (Mirroring)
  • MHL-compatible HDMI input for viewing photos/videos from a compatible smartphone on the TV's screen
  • 3 HDMI, 2 USB Connections
  • Wi-Fi Built-in (802.11ac)
  • HEVC decoder included (for watching streamed 4K content)
  • Mobile to TV Mirroring; DLNA
  • Free downloadable apps for iOS and Android™ enable you use a compatible smartphone or tablet as a remote control
  • Other Dimensions: UN60KU6300 - 53.7" x 33.6" x 14.5" with stand, 53.7" x 31.1" x 2.5" without
    • UN55KU6290 - 48.9" x 31.0" x 12.2" with stand, 48.9" x 28.3" x 2.5" without stand
    • UN65KU6300 - 57.6" x 33.2" x 2.5" without stand, 57.6" x 35.7" x 14.5" with stand




Robert Wiley 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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