The good The Samsung UNHU8550 4K LED LCD has an excellent picture with deep black levels, accurate color and solid uniformity with little blooming. It costs less than Samsung's curved 4K LED LCD and doesn't have the curve's picture-quality issues. Its styling is attractive and minimalist, with a nearly all-picture look. Its unique OneConnect upgrade path promises a semblance of future-proofing. The feature set is well-implemented and comprehensive, with best-in-class connectivity, a superb remote and just about every conceivable extra.
The bad The HU8550 is relatively expensive, and the high resolution is very difficult to discern, especially with non-4K content.
The bottom line The Samsung HU8550 offers our favorite combination of picture quality and features in a 4K TV this year, making it a good value despite the high price.
Picture quality
The HU8550's picture image was excellent in our tests, making it one of the best 4K TVs we've tested. Its local dimming backlight allows it to achieve the deep black levels that help the image really pop. I also appreciate its accurate color and versatile video processing options. One misstep was below-par 3D performance, but few viewers watch enough 3D to care. As usual with 4K TVs, it was also very difficult to discern any improvement in picture quality due to the extra pixels, unless I sat with my nose to the screen.
