Samsung UN40KU6300 40-Inch 4K

Yeah, it looked small in the store, compared to the flagship larger TVs, but it's absolutely huge as a computer monitor. I can't imagine going bigger for a monitor.

I've also been really impressed with the color quality. Didn't know much about VA panels (and still don't really) but I like the look. The colors really pop.

If you have the GPU power, check out GTA V Redux. It looks amazing and really shows what this screen can do with colors.

AngryLobster said:

I feel like this is directed toward me but you're basically talking out your ass.

If GtG transitions do not matter to you then you are completely blind. Scrolling text on webpages alone make it ridiculously obvious. I mean just moving a window to the left or right leaves a huge trail where its border once was. I haven't seen a panel so slow since like 2009.

That latency figure is in game mode dropped to 4:2:2 which nobody in their right mind would use + the TV disables use of Game Mode until you change the input to "Console" from "PC." So go through 7 menu interactions every time you want 19.8ms, not happening. Whatever Rtings measures anyway is at 1080P and completely irrelevant at 4K. This thing is some where north of 40ms at 4K in PC mode.

Also the Sonys bezels, stand and general feel are a considerable step up from this Samsung which is justified given the price difference.

I feel the opposite, this is a great entry level TV but a really mediocre monitor. Seems like people are really impressed by the size and neglecting everything else.

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So that's not really true, you just change the input to game console and it automatically changes the color mode to 4:2:2 and the mode to "game mode" all in one shot. So button presses are Home, input, edit, game mode, exit. Takes less than 10 seconds.

So after researching and debating with myself this week I finally found a good deal on this TV and jumped the gun today. $373.18 via Wikibuy, who I've never heard of before - it's a Chrome plugin - but seems legit based on user feedback. Also no tax to CA which was nice for me!

Thanks for all the info in this thread. This and rtings really helped inform my decision. I was thinking of waiting for Black Friday and either picking up this or a 34" ultrawide depending on specials, but 40" of 4K for so cheap right now proved irresistible!

Also a PSA: UN40KU6290 is exactly the same TV according to Samsung and rtings, except it has a standard remote instead of the "smart" remote and no bluetooth. Same performance, same firmware etc according to Samsung support. And it's $347.99 via Amazon at the moment. It's taxed in CA only so would have been more expensive for me but could be a steal for someone else.

idk if anyone is still interested but i ordered the 40" model from ebay for $382 over the weekend, $412.56 after tax in Cali. This thread got me interested and I've was watching prices for a month. Missed the $349 deal from Fry's unfortunately but a great deal none the less. I'm tired of have two monitors on my desk and this is going to replace my 27" IPS and my ancient 22" TN panel. I justified it by thinking of this beast as 4x 20" 1080P montitors stuck together. Should be great for coding and games.

Huacanacha said:

So after researching and debating with myself this week I finally found a good deal on this TV and jumped the gun today. $373.18 via Wikibuy, who I've never heard of before - it's a Chrome plugin - but seems legit based on user feedback. Also no tax to CA which was nice for me!

Thanks for all the info in this thread. This and rtings really helped inform my decision. I was thinking of waiting for Black Friday and either picking up this or a 34" ultrawide depending on specials, but 40" of 4K for so cheap right now proved irresistible!

Also a PSA: UN40KU6290 is exactly the same TV according to Samsung and rtings, except it has a standard remote instead of the "smart" remote and no bluetooth. Same performance, same firmware etc according to Samsung support. And it's $347.99 via Amazon at the moment. It's taxed in CA only so would have been more expensive for me but could be a steal for someone else.

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I hope everything works out with your order. I might have gotten the 6290 if I knew about that deal. For reference Samsung 40” 4K UHD LED Smart HDTV with WiFi and HDR Premium | UN40KU6300 is the ebay seller for $382 with tax in California. An authroized dealer which might be a little more legit than a chrome plugin lol but I admire your guts

I think you'll be happy. This is one of the best buys I've made in recent years.

Huacanacha said:

Also a PSA: UN40KU6290 is exactly the same TV according to Samsung and rtings, except it has a standard remote instead of the "smart" remote and no bluetooth. Same performance, same firmware etc according to Samsung support. And it's $347.99 via Amazon at the moment. It's taxed in CA only so would have been more expensive for me but could be a steal for someone else.

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This is very interesting, Samsung's website lists the UN40KU6290 with equal specs as the KU6300. Here's a comparison from their own website - it seems like the 6290 is a mid-year refresh of sorts (only available since September, unlike April for 6300).

Despite the panel being the same - if it really is - note that there's more things that make the 6300 what it is (backlight, motion, etc). I'll keep both models in my Amazon wishlist (along with LG's 29m68 ultrawide) and wait until Black Friday to see what ends up being the better deal.

some great deals! you guys will love this thing!

IMO, if Samsung would come out with a bare bones model (remove all the TV stuff, extra HDMI ports, audio out, Smart features, ect) and just sell the panel with a single HDMI port for ~$300 they would make a killing in the PC world...

euskalzabe said:

Despite the panel being the same - if it really is - note that there's more things that make the 6300 what it is (backlight, motion, etc). I'll keep both models in my Amazon wishlist (along with LG's 29m68 ultrawide) and wait until Black Friday to see what ends up being the better deal.

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According to Samsung support it's not just the same panel but the same TV minus some extraneous features. I used their chat support when deciding whether to purchase, before I found the 6300 deal. Here's the transcript with the key response bolded:

Finally got mine attached to my LCD desk mount. It's an old Monoprice arm I used with my Dell 3008wfp, so it's good for up to 30 lbs. Problem is, I needed a VESA adapter to fit the Samsung's 200mm x 200mm pattern (online specs that say 400mm x 400mm are incorrect - this TV has 200mm VESA mounts only). Bought the cheapest one on Amazon and go figure - the VESA standard is just a standardization of the distance between the mounting holes - so the actual screws used can be different sizes! The adapter screws were slightly larger than the holes on my monoprice mount...so I had to use some spare m6 screws and force them into the holes to open them up a bit. No biggie - got the adapter attached to the mount. Annnnnd....of course it didn't come with screws to mount it to the TV. The Samsung TV uses M8 x 20mm screws for the VESA mount. I only had M8 x 40mm screws handy and I hate driving to the store just to pick up $2 of parts...so I 3D printed some big knobs that would also act as 20mm spacers.

Finally...time to test fit the mount on the TV. $!@#$ - the VESA adapter holes are too small for the M8 screws! Out comes my drill to widen those holes up a bit (5/16 drill bit works fine for M8 sized holes). And finally, after having to modify what seems like every single piece of the mount & adapter...I have the TV mounted. Works a lot better than my old Dell, since the TV is 10 lbs. lighter despite being so much larger. Love having the flexibility to just reach out and pull the screen a bit closer when I'm reading - for whatever reason, Windows scaling just didn't look right to me.

Huacanacha said:

According to Samsung support it's not just the same panel but the same TV minus some extraneous features.

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Thanks for that buddy. I was thinking of waiting until next year for HDR, but for $350... who even cares at that price. I'll still wait until black friday because why not (4 weeks away and who knows what discounts will happen) but the 6290 seems like a clear winner in a few weeks time. Too good a price to not buy and I just need a good 4K panel, period.

euskalzabe said:

Thanks for that buddy. I was thinking of waiting until next year for HDR, but for $350... who even cares at that price. I'll still wait until black friday because why not (4 weeks away and who knows what discounts will happen) but the 6290 seems like a clear winner in a few weeks time. Too good a price to not buy and I just need a good 4K panel, period.

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6290 is no longer in stock online so hopefully by BF they will be around. I was ready to pull the trigger when there were 3 left but I waited a bit long.

It wasn't this morning - now it's showing amazon has 10 in stock. This is expected for a new model that just came out though. It'll stabilize in a few weeks.

The KU6300 was $400 on Amazon last night, KU6290 went up to 377... must resist temptation and wait for Black Friday... will the 6290 go down to $300? BF or not, if it touches the $300 mark, I'm buying it hands down.

euskalzabe said:

The KU6300 was $400 on Amazon last night, KU6290 went up to 377... must resist temptation and wait for Black Friday... will the 6290 go down to $300? BF or not, if it touches the $300 mark, I'm buying it hands down.

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I don't know if it makes any difference but on the 55" 6290 on Amazon there is a post about it using an older processor than the 6300. I am going to hold off til BF as well but will pick up 1 or the other. I have still not seen any real review of the 6290 being used as a monitor.

So I got my KU6300 40" and the screen itself is great. It's not quite working for my setup though given the physical size and stand. It's a very tight fit where I need the screen located and I was hoping to have it somewhat discretely placed close to the wall, but the stand puts the screen 9 inches away so intrudes on a nearby doorway. But I also found that the screen is a little too big for my 1m viewing distance. Games are fine, even if I would need to lower the TV a little for viewing comfort, but for productivity I'm not finding it very efficient to crane my head around to different windows in the four corners of this capacious and beautiful canvas. A viewing distance of 1.5m might be suitable for me for coding/productivity. Pixel density is pretty optimal at 1m+ though... I find that things are nice and crisp for the most part when I'm sitting back in my usual position, and pixels/aliasing become just a little noticeable if I'm leaning in.

I did some of the UFO ghosting/blur tests and performance seemed decent to me. I can definitely game on this, and though I'm not much of a twitch/FPS gamer but I did play a little Doom and it seemed fine. LCD's will always annoy me a little with their motion handling I think, and although I know some of the expensive fast panels can be pretty good I'm holding out hope for OLED monitors in the next 2-3 years (looking at rtings the latest LG TV's have basically zero response time... that combined with higher luminance supporting BFI for example could give close to prefect motion).

I also unfortunately have a fine 10mm crack in the TV screen itself... honestly I don't notice it at all most of the time but I know it will annoy me in the long run. Also not the fault of the seller as the packaging was undamaged. So I'm going to return the TV. I'm now looking at the HP Omen 32, which is around the same price ~400, which looks seems like a nice 1440p VA panel at a size that will probably suit my productivity better and may (hoping for some offical reviews outside of the Youtube one from a fellow forumer) have a little better motion handling. Pixel density is a little lower but I'll probably be able to put the screen 3-4 inches further away (or mount it) which will mitigate that somewhat.

So now I'm hoping for some Black Friday deals on the Omen 32!

And until I process the return I'll enjoy some more mega Civ VI sessions in glorious 40" 4K

the 40" KU6290 is on sale for $330

http://www.pcrichard.com/Samsung/Samsung-40inch-Class-4K-HDR-Ultra-HD-LED-Smart-TV/UN40KU6290.pcrp

interesting that the 40" KU6300 is also on sale but for $400. makes me think there is more of a difference between the two than just bluetooth and the remote (different process as previously noted?)

http://www.pcrichard.com/Samsung/Sa...-4K-HDR-Ultra-HD-LED-Smart-TV/UN40KU6300.pcrp

Bluetooth is a big deal. I didn't think I'd use it because I wasn't planning on using the smart-tv features, but I was wrong.

I recently got a UHD Blu-Ray player and realized it only outputs audio via HDMI. Meaning I have to route the audio through the TV (or a receiver, which I don't have).

Also, I have a PS4 Pro coming. Would be very difficult to get sound out of all those sources (PC, BD Player, and PS4) without constantly swapping cables (or using a wired headset, which is an option but I'd rather not).

Only thing that is slightly annoying is the Bluetooth needs to reconnect every time you turn the TV on, and requires a couple to remote button presses. Would have liked if it stayed connected, but it's not the end of the world.

andy4theherd said:

the 40" KU6290 is on sale for $330

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Must... resist...

At this point it's either a 29um68 LG Ultrawide if it goes down to cheap $200 again like it did in August, or 4K HDR TV next year. I'm really trying to wait for 2017, but if the ultrawide goes dirt cheap... I could get that (scratches my gaming itch and will tangibly benefit my productivity needs) and wait for HDR 4K in 2018 or so when standards are ironed out.

Yes, the HDR performance is the one thing that I would want out of this TV. I even did some more research, there really is nothing else in this size with better specs (regardless of price).

You are right that it will probably be until late 2017 or into 2018 when things settle and HDR is mature and available across the board. I'm fine with getting a good 2+ years of use out of this kit.

Just get it and wait until OLED comes down in price.

rtings updated their review of the KU6300 and are claiming it *is* actually a 10-bit panel. Is this true? Is there someway to test or confirm?

I've been trying out the Philips UHD BD player, and some of the discs I got look pretty nice. But I'm not sure it's really 10-bit and not some sort of trick. I don't feel the color looks as good as the higher end TVs I saw in the store.

Does 10-bit color depth not imply a wider color gamut? This is all really confusing.

So, the 40KU6290 is $330 at Best Buy. Is it 10-bit just like the KU6300? Also, how is the input lag when playing the latest first person shooters on PC with 4:4:4 chroma? Anyone? I currently own a Dell U2713HM with has an input lag of about 16ms. Would I notice a big difference or should I stick with my monitor? I'm not a pro gamer or anything but I do game a few hours a day.

cybereality said:

Does 10-bit color depth not imply a wider color gamut? This is all really confusing.

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As far as I understand, 10 bit color panel just implies a smoother gradation of colors, whereas 8 bit panels show a bit of banding. It does not imply a wider color gamut necessarily.

For example: there are 10bit panels that cover sRGB color space. That said, many "10 bit" panels are just 8 bit panels + dithering, but they should get to 1 billion colors.

EDIT: coincidentally, rtings just published an article (http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/hdr10-vs-dolby-vision?uxtv=e0df) where they cover this:

"12 bit is simply better than 10. With that said, though, don't think bit depth makes content displayed more colorful. Its importance is when displaying different tones of the same color in a gradient. The higher the bit depth, the smoother it will be."

Same logic applies to 8 vs 10 bit.

I recently got 40ku6000 that it's really the same as KU6300 and it's great. Unfortunately i bought it for around $510. I couldn't buy int anywhere cheaper in my country.
Aoart from that 4k60 frames works great with UHD mode and Game. I don't know however why i cant access pixel settings on my 280X that i use and club3d mDP to hdmi 2.0 adapter. Aparat from that text looks fine. I don't see any problems with that. Gaming and movies are great. Even Starcraft 2 works fine i 4k with 45FPS

cybereality said:

rtings updated their review of the KU6300 and are claiming it *is* actually a 10-bit panel. Is this true? Is there someway to test or confirm?

I've been trying out the Philips UHD BD player, and some of the discs I got look pretty nice. But I'm not sure it's really 10-bit and not some sort of trick. I don't feel the color looks as good as the higher end TVs I saw in the store.

Does 10-bit color depth not imply a wider color gamut? This is all really confusing.

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they actually note in their review information and definition about the "gradient" test that 8-bit with dithering is rated "10-bit" if it scores 9.0 or higher on their gradient test. they go on to say that some 8-bit panels (like the KU6300) with dithering perform better than true 10-bit panels in this test.

the new Xbox One S has a 4k HDR system test that it performs. the KU6300 passes all tests including the 10-bit tests

OK, I think that makes sense. I really do love this TV, the only thing lacking is better HDR support. But, as many of you in the thread already have realized, there is nothing else in this class (size or price) that is better. It's funny because I originally just wanted an extra monitor for my spare computer so I can hook up a PS4 Pro to. After checking the prices on 4K monitors, it seemed a 4K TV wasn't much of a price difference, and was much larger. A few weeks later, the 970 in my spare rig wasn't enough so I got a Titan XP. Still wasn't enough for DXMD so I upped CPU and RAM. Wanted to test some Blu-Ray content, so I got the Philips 4K player and a bunch of discs. All in probably spent over $2k on the TV and all the extra gear (not counting PS4 Pro coming next week). I think it was worth it.

cybereality said:

All in probably spent over $2k on the TV and all the extra gear (not counting PS4 Pro coming next week). I think it was worth it.

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Man... I wish I had that kind of money to spend on upgrades... meanwhile here I am, trying to find every discount I can and asking for parts for xmas while I pay my mortgage!

sorry for the Kaiju size pic. i'm not sure why it's so damn big...lol

It looks like the 40" is going to be $290 at Costco starting Nov. 18. It looks like this years model, but they are not showing model numbers in the leaked ads.

if any of you are using a console on this screen, make sure you set sharpness to "0". i hooked up my PS4 the other day to test out the new HDR update for the Last of Us. the game looked like absolute crap. jaggies on everything. i never use "game mode" which is automatically detected by the TV when the PS4 is connected. i copied over the Rtings.com review settings and it was like night and day. the biggest thing was sharpness going from 50 to 0. that got rid of all the jaggies...

Right, the sharpness setting is handled differently in different modes which is confusing and makes no sense. In Game Mode, 0 is no processing. But in non-Game Mode, 50 means no processing. Really silly.

Any comment on your experience with Last of Us in HDR? I'm getting my PS4 Pro next week, but the TV only has one HDMI port 1 that can do HDR. So I'll have to decide if I want to use the PS4 on that or my UHD BD player (or switch wires all the time, which I'd probably not like).

cybereality said:

Right, the sharpness setting is handled differently in different modes which is confusing and makes no sense. In Game Mode, 0 is no processing. But in non-Game Mode, 50 means no processing. Really silly.

Any comment on your experience with Last of Us in HDR? I'm getting my PS4 Pro next week, but the TV only has one HDMI port 1 that can do HDR. So I'll have to decide if I want to use the PS4 on that or my UHD BD player (or switch wires all the time, which I'd probably not like).

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i only played around with it for a few minutes. after fixing the sharpness it looked good to me. i wasn't blown away because i've been playing PC games (Forza, GTA, Witcher, Skryim) at 4k for 3 months now. and they look SIGNIFICANTLY better. i haven't played console games regularly for years so i'm not the best to comment on the improvement. the reviews i read seemed to think it look a lot better... for what that's worth.

post on Slickdeals said this TV is $299 at BestBuy.

at this rate, i'll pick another one of these up for an extra set around black Friday for ~$250...

andy4theherd said:

i only played around with it for a few minutes. after fixing the sharpness it looked good to me. i wasn't blown away because i've been playing PC games (Forza, GTA, Witcher, Skryim) at 4k for 3 months now. and they look SIGNIFICANTLY better. i haven't played console games regularly for years so i'm not the best to comment on the improvement. the reviews i read seemed to think it look a lot better... for what that's worth.

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The PS4 Pro version is supposed to be 4K native render (I assume you were playing on vanilla PS4, which only added HDR and still rendering at 1080P or whatever). I am more just interested to see if HDR really does much on this TV or not, I'm still not sure.

Last night I watched Jupiter Ascending on the Philips UHD player. It actually looked REALLY good (even though it's one of the 2K master discs). The resolution was crisp, especially in the space scenes with all the stars, and the color was great. The part near the beginning where they were at the corn field was the best. The day sky was really bright, the green leaves popped, it was pretty great. Though, I'm still not sure how much of a difference HDR was making, I might test it again today.

DId verify that the 40" 6290 will be $290 at Costco Starting Black Friday - they have the model in store if you want to look at it.

cybereality said:

The PS4 Pro version is supposed to be 4K native render (I assume you were playing on vanilla PS4, which only added HDR and still rendering at 1080P or whatever). I am more just interested to see if HDR really does much on this TV or not, I'm still not sure.

Last night I watched Jupiter Ascending on the Philips UHD player. It actually looked REALLY good (even though it's one of the 2K master discs). The resolution was crisp, especially in the space scenes with all the stars, and the color was great. The part near the beginning where they were at the corn field was the best. The day sky was really bright, the green leaves popped, it was pretty great. Though, I'm still not sure how much of a difference HDR was making, I might test it again today.

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yea, it was regular PS4. the Pro doesn't come out until the 10th. i've been watching Man in the High Castle from Amazon in 4k HDR on this set and it looks great.

So I went back to Jupiter Ascending and compared the normal Blu-Ray to the UltraHD Blu-Ray with HDR. There actually is a big difference (unlike The Martian, where I couldn't tell).

Aside from the resolution, the colors on the UHD HDR version are more true to life. Not necessarily more colorful. In fact, the normal Blu-Ray had more saturated colors while in UHD they were more muted, but more realistic.

I took some photos, which are kind of hard to come out anyhow, but should show some noticeable difference. These were taken with my phone of the Samsung KU6300 in a dark room, playing the discs in the Philips UHD player. No settings changed on the TV.

Going to Best Buy to pick one of these up tomorrow -- Can't wait to ditch this 23" LG IPS monitor.