Samsung UE55RU7405 TV: Look for promotions!

Presentation

The Samsung UE55RU7405 is quite important in the range of the Korean manufacturer since it operates the same panel as the other RU televisions whose variations are very numerous (RU7105, RU7175, RU7305, RU7370, RU7372, RU4305, RU4375, and many more other references specific to each distributor: RU7005, RU7009, etc.). All these models use the same 10-bit 50 Hz VA panel (8 bits + FRC) displaying a definition of 3,840 x 2,160 px and differ only in functionality (satellite tuner, Bluetooth, Google / Alexa / Bixby compatibility, remote control with or without microphone) and on the design (finish of the frame and shape of the stand). The image varies very slightly depending on the filters and dynamic contrast algorithms used. On this Samsung UE55RU7405, the diagonal is 55 inches, or about 140 cm. This model is one of the most high-end of the RU7 range since it has a DVB-S / S2 satellite tuner, Sound Mirroring which allows you to use your smartphone to listen to the sound of the TV (via headphones), support for recording on a USB support, compatibility with Alexa, Google Assistant and Bixby, a more refined design and a remote control with integrated microphone. The graphical interface is always entrusted to the Tizen house system.

The Samsung UE55RU7405 TV was launched at a price of 899 €, but it is already regularly below the 800 € mark. This model may well experience significant discounts on Black Friday and various promotional operations from Samsung. Its predecessor, the Samsung UE55NU7405 - launched at the same price in May 2018 - sold for € 499 on Black Friday in November 2018.

The Samsung RU7405 is also available in 43-inch (UE43RU7405), 50-inch (UE50RU7405) and 65-inch (UE65RU7405) versions at prices of 650, 750 and 1,000 € respectively.

All the brightness and colorimetric measurements mentioned in this article were carried out with a SpectraCal C6-HDR probe and the CalMAN Ultimate software.

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Image quality

The Samsung UE55RU7405 simply embeds the same VA panel as the Samsung UE55NU7105 that we tested last year. It benefits from a very good native contrast at the expense of more limited viewing angles than those of the IPS or Oled models. However, Samsung seems to have slightly improved the viewing angles since we measured a loss of brightness of only 60% at 45 ° on the sides against 70% for the model last year.

As is often the case, Cinema mode displays the best rendering. In this mode, we measured an average delta E at 3.5. It's more than last year's model, but it's still very good for a TV in this range - remember that the human eye can detect the differences between the colors displayed and the colors expected when the Delta E is greater than 3. This difference is explained by the drift observed on saturated red and blue, which alone bring the average up. Indeed, this model embeds a backlighting system using wider spectrum LEDs. This feature called Dynamic Crystal Color is supposed to improve saturated colors. And this is indeed the case, as shown by the colorimetric coverage (see paragraph HDR), but these colors lack accuracy (blue and red saturated). We can extrapolate by saying that the RU7105 will be content with more standard colors, but better calibrated (like the NU7105 from last year).

We measured the average gamma at 2.34, a value very close to the reference value (2.4). If the dark grays at the start of the spectrum are slightly blocked, the rest of the gray levels from 40% conform to the reference curve. The rendering is therefore generally good.

The average color temperature is measured at 7,050 K across the entire spectrum, a value fairly close to the 6,500 K reference. Above all, the curve is stable over the entire spectrum.

As usual with Samsung, it is impossible to deactivate the dynamic backlight system. The darker the overall image, the lower the brightness. This results in a blank at 153 cd / m² on the target containing 35% white and at 79 cd / m² on the target containing 1%. In the end, the television displays an average white of 116 cd / m² and a black of 0.03 cd / m². The average contrast ratio is therefore 4,180: 1, a very good value for an LCD television which allows you to enjoy sufficiently deep blacks.

The scaling engine has not been updated since last year. It always allows you to resize SD, HD and Full HD content so that they display correctly on this Ultra HD panel. The engine is very soft and smooths out the textures a lot. This system does not distort the original source and we have not observed any artifacts, but in return, it does not offer improved clarity. Like last year, the AutoMotion Plus motion compensation system is not frankly convincing and there is blur behind the moving objects. The scanning of the Clear Motion Led backlight with this 50 Hz panel always causes the image to flicker, which makes it almost unusable.

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HDR

The Samsung UE55RU7405 is compatible with the HDR10 used by the PS4 and Xbox One consoles as well as films (Blu-ray Ultra HD and online streaming Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.), HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), adopted HDR standard by television channels, and HDR10 +, probably the most attractive standard on this type of mid-range television.

The Display Tone Mapping used by Samsung is struggling to properly exploit a maximum HDR signal at 10,000 cd / m². The displayed brightness is systematically below that requested. For example, when the signal requests a brightness of 150 cd / m², the television is content with 50 cd / m². In the end, if the television avoids clipping, the image is systematically too dark.

On this model, we measured a brightness peak of 283 cd / m², a very limited value to benefit from an HDR image worthy of the name. It does not display this famous dynamic which brings realism to the image. In comparison, the best LCD TVs like the Samsung QE65Q85R or the Sony KD-75XG9505 exceed 1,000 cd / m² and some TVs even reach 2,000 cd / m², like the Sony KD-65ZF9 or the Samsung QE75Q900R. Fortunately, HDR10 + compatibility can correct this defect, but you still have to find content compatible with this dynamic metadata standard (Amazon Prime, some Twentieth Century Fox movies and Warner Bros.).

HDR Cinema mode provides the best color rendering. We have measured an average delta E of 7.7, well above the threshold of 3. The colors cannot therefore be considered as faithful to those sent by the source in HDR.

If the coverage of Rec.2020 is better than last year's Samsung UE55NU7105, it is not enough to take full advantage of this color space. The Samsung 55RU7404 does not deserve all the same since even the high-end televisions are currently satisfied with 70 to 75% of coverage of Rec. 2020.

The coverage of the DCI-P3 is much more satisfactory with the display of 83% of the colors in this space. In practice, the DCI-P3 is more important than Rec. 2020 since it is the color space used by the cinema industry.

Overall, this Samsung UE55RU7405 TV does not provide a nice HDR image, but it is a problem common to all entry and mid-range TVs.

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Video games

We measured the remanence time at 18 ms, a very average value quite far from the results of the best LCDs on the market like the Samsung QE65Q85R and Sony KD-75XG9505 which go down to 11 ms. In the image, we can therefore observe a slight blur behind the moving objects. Fortunately, this Samsung catches up with a display delay of only 15 ms, which is quite simply one of the best on the market. At 60 Hz, this television thus passes under the bar of an image of delay compared to the source. There is no lag between an action on the joystick and its impact on the screen. However, competitors will turn to slightly more responsive models, including the Q85R or even some Oled TVs like the LG 55C9 or the Panasonic 55GZ1000. Unlike other higher-end Samsung TVs, this model is not compatible with FreeSync, which allows you to adapt the refresh rate of the TV to the number of frames per second sent by the graphics card or console in order to avoid tearing of the image ( tearing) and micro-slowing down (stuttering).

The default rendering in SDR is quite good since the average delta E is 3.8, close to that which we measured in Cinema mode. Please note, to benefit from this image quality, you must go to the settings to change the color nuance on "Chaud2" and choose the automatic color space to find a temperature closer to 6,500 K and slightly more colors. fairer than those displayed by the default game mode.

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Clouding

The Samsung UE55RU7405 television uses an Edge-Led backlighting system which is content with a single backlight bar located at the base of the panel. If we did not find a clouding problem on the model we tested, the risk is present, because the diffusion filter is fragile and can be damaged during transport. This results in the appearance of grayish spots on a uniform background. Finally, we did not notice any light leakage on our test model; on the other hand, vertical blooming is sometimes annoying, especially on the subtitles, and more generally on all light objects on a black background.

The average difference in white homogeneity over the entire slab is measured at 11% - the eye detects nothing below 20%; this is a good figure for a 55 inch LCD TV using an Edge-Led system.

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Ergonomics

The design of the Samsung UE55RU7405 is quite classic, but elegant. The finish "Titanium Gray" of this model is rather successful, with a gray color a little more careful than the classic black plastic. The finishes are of good quality on this range.

The treatment of the slab does not filter reflections at all and behaves like a standard window. We will therefore take care to place this television judiciously in relation to the window to avoid reflections.

The Y-foot of the Samsung UE55RU7405 is impressive with its 85 cm wide. It is therefore necessary to provide such a large TV stand. This imposing stand also prohibits the use of a sound bar.

If the thickness of the television itself is limited to only 6 cm, the stand displays a depth of 35 cm and occupies almost all the space on our reference TV stand measuring 160 x 40 cm.

At the back, we find the connectors on the left and the power supply on the right. Samsung uses a matt gray plastic striped which gives a premium touch to this TV.

The grooves allow the cables to pass discreetly to the foot, which hides and perfectly holds the cables. An elegant solution to manage the different cables connected to the TV.

The connection consists of three HDMI 2.0a inputs HDCP 2.2 and HDR compatible, two USB ports, an optical digital audio output, an Ethernet port, a component / composite hybrid input, a PCMCIA (Common Interface CI +) port and the TNT antenna sockets / cable and satellite. This TV only has one DVB-T / T2 / C / S / S2 tuner. It also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect a speaker or a wireless headset. Please note, there is no headphone output, but the TV benefits from the Sound Mirroring feature which allows you to use a smartphone to listen to TV sound.

The Tizen system developed by Samsung is a model of responsiveness and fluidity, even on this mid-range television. Samsung had the good idea to remove the transition animations present on the high-end models to gain speed. The applications launch without slowing down and we find the main players in the world of TV (Netflix, YouTube, myCanal, Prime Video, Rakuten, Google Play Video, SFR Sport, Molotov, etc.). On this point, Samsung TVs clearly do not have to be ashamed of Android TV models and they probably offer the best for a TV in this range, with a good balance between performance and functionality. In contrast, some entry-level and mid-range Android TVs seek to do a little too much at the expense of performance.

It takes less than 10 seconds to turn on the TV and less than a second to switch it to standby. Recovery is also almost instantaneous and, above all, the TV consumes less than 1 W when it is in standby.

If it can be confusing at first, the simplified remote control from Samsung is very pleasant to use in everyday life. Above all, Samsung masters both the Tizen software and the hardware, which allows it to produce a very satisfactory experience. This remote control has a microphone which is essential for carrying out voice searches and also for changing settings quickly by voice (activating the game mode, for example). The keys are not backlit, but given their low number, this is not really a defect.

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Audio

The Samsung UE55RU7405 is equipped with a basic audio system composed of two 10 W speakers which deliver a very correct sound. The frequency response is fairly well managed between 75 and 20,000 Hz. In the end, the audio rendering is around the right average, but it will still be necessary to go through an external audio system to make the most of the films (Home Cinema system , soundbar or even PC speakers).

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Consumption

We measured consumption at 65 W on our target with a white set at 150 cd / m², which translates into a relative consumption of only 78 W / m². This value is much lower than the average of the TVs tested (around 100 W / m²), but this TV does not do any better than the Sony KD-65XG8505, record-holder of the category with its 56 W / m², or the Samsung QE55Q6F 2018 and its 61 W / m². Standby consumption is always less than 1 W.

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Conclusion

The Samsung UE55RU7405 is a good LCD TV that displays a fairly well calibrated SDR image, but like most mid-range TVs, it struggles to display a good HDR image. It benefits from flawless ergonomics and reduced consumption which make it a rather homogeneous television. At its introductory price, it does not have much interest, but the many promotions offered by Samsung during the year could make it excellent value for money.

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