The UE43BU8000’s ‘AirSlim’ design with its 26mm-deep rear actually helps it stand out from the virtually finances TV crowd. oledparticularly at house, it seems prefer it’s held on the wall. The UE43BU8000 from Samsung stands out from other budget TVs with its unique "AirSlim" design, which features a 26mm-deep rear that gives it an almost OLED-like appearance and is perfect for wall-mounting. The build quality is also impressive, with a sturdy and heavy-duty construction that belies the TV's affordable price point.

Mega Contrast, HDR HLG, Dynamic Crystal Color, UHD Dimming, Contrast Enhancer, Filmmaker Mode, Motion Xcelerator, LED Clear Motion, Noise Reduction, Auto Game Mode, HGiG In less cultured hands, the added color vibrancy of QD-OLED’s Quantum Dots could lead to exaggerated vibrancy, but Sony’s careful, authenticity-led approach means the A95K is balanced and natural, and the fine detail, sharpness and three-dimensionality that its flagship OLEDs are known for remains. While it might be tempting to think that bigger is better, the size of set that’s right for you is closely dependent on how close to the screen you’ll be sitting, and the resolution of the source material you’re watching. The QN900B’s closest rival is the LG Z2 8K OLED, but that costs more than twice the price and is really no better a performer with 4K content than the company’s much more affordable G2 model. So, if it’s an 8K TV you want, either to make the most of the content you already watch or so that you’re ready for the 8K content that might one day appear, the QN900B is the TV to buy – at least until its replacement, the QN900C, turns up.

Sleeker and Slimmer than Ever

The pleasingly upfront quality to the UE43BU8000’s pictures isn’t replicated at all by its audio. On the contrary, it sounds almost painfully thin and low on impact, with practically no forward projection. Everything seems to be happening behind the screen, in some movie world far removed from your own.

These days, it's all about HDMI, which is used to connect everything from set-top boxes to video streamers, Blu-ray players to games consoles. Thanks to ARC/eARC (Audio Return Channel / Enhanced Audio Return Channel), a single HDMI connection can even be used to output sound to an AV receiver or soundbar at the same time as it receives a video signal.

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Do bear in mind, though, that second-generation QD-OLED TVs are now available. The Samsung S95C, which we've now reviewed, is brighter and punchier than the A95K, but it's not as subtle in its delivery as we would like. The A95K's replacement, the A95L, is one to watch out for. It's not available yet but it looked very impressive in a recent hands-on session.

There’s no sign of the oddly compressed-looking, basic, detail-light look the 43AU7100 could take on with mid-dark tones either. In fact, the UE43BU8000’s more consistent colour refinement means that pictures, especially during relatively dark scenes, often look more three-dimensional and refined. The UE43BU8000 does not reap the benefits of any Quantum Dot shade expertise, however its show takes what Samsung calls Crystal Shade; It is a mixture of a comparatively broad gamut LCD panel and highly effective shade rendering, which is claimed to serve one billion totally different shade hues. Audio modes are a choice of Standard, Adaptive Sound and Amplify. Adaptive Sound is decent, but I found Amplify improved the loudness of the TV, although its impression of dynamism is on the weaker side. The build quality is impressive, too. The skinny chassis isn’t accompanied by scary amounts of bending or flexing and there’s enough heft to it to point to the use of much more heavy-duty materials than the lightweight plastics that typically dominate at this price level.To test the Samsung BU8500 we used Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software. Samsung BU8500 review: Sound quality There are rival TVs, too, that can deliver both native 4K and upscaled HD images with more raw sharpness and apparent detail than the UE43AU7100. Again, though, the level of sharpness the UE43AU7100 adopts feels carefully chosen to deliver an organic, immersive image rather than an actual weakness of either the LCD panel or the Crystal Processor. Having said that, there’s every reason you might be tempted to buy a Samsung 8K TV. That’s because Samsung has done a better job than its rivals of making its 8K TVs excellent performers with the content you already watch, and pricing them so aggressively that they don’t cost vastly more than their 4K equivalents.