Samsung 2019 65in Q900R

A big picture with a big price and the tiniest pixels

$4999 From Samsung, samsung.com Features 7,680 x 4,320 QLED screen, Quantum Processor 8K picture engine, AI upscaling, Ambient mode, HDR/HDR10/HLG, Airplay 2 connectivity

This is an absolute extravagance of a TV: there’s essentially no 8K content out there to watch and some of us even live in homes too small for its 65–inch panel. But does that mean there’s no reason to have an 8K TV? Definitely not. Samsung’s flagship TV is very special, a status symbol that’s an adept partner to all kinds of media from standard definition up.

Wall appeal is, like many TVs of this era, absolutely stunning, with Samsung’s QLED panel packed into a thin, slim-bezelled frame that can mount absolutely flush. Putting it flat against the wall isn’t even the issue it might be with other screens — viewing angles are the best we’ve seen, with no

hint of distortion no matter how side–on you look at the screen.

Every bit of connectivity and processing electronics is in an external box, with only Samsung’s thin OneConnect cable attaching the two together, so you can tuck your sources away.

The Quantum Processor uses AI upscaling to scale up lesser content to the panel’s 8K max. This is tremendous: 1080p sharpens up nicely if you’re running reasonably uncompressed content through it, and 4K looks spectacular, backed up by the Quantum Dot screen’s supreme contrast and brightness levels. We weren’t that impressed with its impact on very compressed content but that’s not something

that can be fixed other than by finding a better quality source.

It’s bursting with features, including AirPlay 2, and has great speakers. But right now the Q900R is strictly a luxury item, particularly as 4K prices are normalizing at the same level 1080p was at the start of 2019.

THE BOTTOM LINE. An amazing TV that’s a glimpse of the future.