Samsung UE43AU7100 £429
This 43-inch LCD TV doesn’t flaunt a particularly flamboyant design, doesn’t sell for a particularly outrageous price – either high or low – and its features list is hardly epic. However, solid processing and a thoughtful, balanced picture can be more than enough, especially at the relatively entry-level end of the TV market, where the drive for ever more aggressive pricing has been leading in recent years to increasingly homogenous standards.
Samsung’s Purcolor and Crystal Processor 4K combine with the intention of producing a wider colour range free of banding issues, while the processor is also claimed to contribute to improved upscaling of sub-4k content. This Samsung also has an adaptive sound system that can automatically adjust the TV’S audio profile to suit the type of content you’re watching. The UE43AU7100 is built on a Vertical Alignment type of LCD panel, with edge LED lighting and a native 4K resolution. It supports the HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ flavours of HDR. Connections run to one USB and three HDMI ports, one of which supports EARC, allowing the TV to pass Dolby Atmos sound to compatible soundbars and AV receivers.
The UE43AU7100’S smarts come courtesy of Samsung’s latest Eden system, which scores highly for the comprehensiveness of its app coverage, compact but legible presentation, and the slickness with which it operates even on this relatively low-end set.
For its money, the UE43AU7100 delivers an impressively balanced, consistent and immersive picture. Particularly great to see is how deep its black levels go. Mixed light and dark images enjoy rich and deep black tones, while full-on dark scenes appear with startlingly little of that grey or blue wash over them that so often blights such scenes on relatively affordable LCD TVS. Even the very toughest dark sequences in our 4K Blu-ray repertoire look convincing and cinematic. The sharpness holds up better than it does on most affordable TVS when there’s motion in the frame, too.
The 43AU7100 isn’t as accomplished with its audio as it is with its pictures. It still gets the job done, though, without breaking that sense of consistency that makes it so engaging. This Samsung’s picture though is comfortably beyond anything else in its class right now, and bags it a deserved Best Buy Award.