Samsung UN75MU6300 looks like an expensive TV and will make your room more beautiful. We will give 4.5/5 points for the Samsung UN75MU6300 review part of the design. Samsung UN75MU6300 Review Price. The price for Samsung UN75MU6300 as of October 2017 was $1968 at Amazon which is a very good price considering the picture quality and the useful.
Positives
- Excellent contrast ratio and black levels
- Good color handling
- Superb 4K and HD gaming TV
- Superb for use as PC monitor
- Low motion blur
- Fine overall performer
- Great Connectivity
Negatives
- Screen lacks high levels of brightness
- Some aspects of motion interpolation are weak
- This TV lacks full HDR color delivery
- Weak viewing angles
The Bottom Line
As a budget starter 4K TV with limited HDR functionality but a generally good, reliable level of picture performance, we strongly recommend the MU6300 for first-time buyers. However, this particular 4K HDR TV is similar enough to the 2016 KU6300 that you could also go for the slightly older model with very little noticeable difference in the quality of your home entertainment experience.
Overview
Samsung’s MU6300 is the direct successor to the 2016 KU6300 from the same brand and while this is not a premium 4K TV by any measure of the word, it does offer a robust picture performance for most normal content viewing and even includes a limited level of HDR display capability. Furthermore, like virtually all Samsung TVs we’ve reviewed so far in the last couple of years, the MU6300 is a superb performer for console gaming fans or those who want to use their 4K TV as a PC gaming display. This means good PC connectivity, broad resolution format support and most importantly, some excellent input lag times.
On the other hand, the MU6300 is so similar in virtually every way to its also very decent 2016 cousin the KU6300 that we have a hard time recommending an upgrade from that model to this one if you already own the older TV or are deciding between the two and the KU model is cheaper. If you’re a first time buyer of a 4K TV and want one with robust performance at a decent price, then this model is a good choice. If you already own a 2016 edition that you’re happy with, either sticking with it or upgrading to something with more of a performance difference would be a better idea.
The Good
The KU6300 delivers solid overall mid-range 4K TV performance. Few things in particular really stand out about this Samsung model and it lacks many of the really “wow” features of its pricier cousins like the MU8000 but none of that means that the MU6300 is a bad choice by any means. Quite the contrary, it’s a great starter 4K TV that most consumers would probably be very happy with if they’re not looking for anything especially fancy. That said, let’s start out with the key aspects of this model which we particularly like.
Overall Performance
The MU6300 simply performs well overall Its design is sleek, light and fairly robust and while we consider the TV’s stand to be a bit on the wobbly side even when properly installed and properly placed on a flat surface, it’s certainly not going to collapse from any sort of casual handling of the TV as you plug in devices and so forth. Furthermore, all of this model’s connectivity ports are located along one side of the rear surface and facing outward, making them much more easily accessible than bottom facing connectivity ports we’ve seen in some other 4K TVs. In other words, as a starter 4K TV with basic HDR functionality and typically excellent Samsung motion processing and upscaling technologies, the MU6300 delivers a pleasing level of performance that consumers on a budget will like very much in most cases, unless they’re already used to far more robust premium HDR ultra HD TV performance.
Black levels and Contrast
While the MU6300 isn’t exactly what we’d call a bright 4K HDR TV due to its rather modest levels of both SDR and HDR brightness, it does deliver decent performance in this area and more than compensates for whatever’s lacking with an exceptional black level that more than matches the standards set forth by HDR10 parameters. The result is a level of contrast that’s also very good and slightly above average by VA panel 4K TV standards. Also, while the MU6300 lacks local dimming technology, it manages to create block light as needed for some fairly crisp demarcations between bright and dark areas of the screen. In other words, overall picture performance when displaying even high contrast content is remarkably good in the MU6300 with very little in the way of blooming and nicely uniform black levels across the entire screen or wherever needed.
Smart TV Functionality
Samsung’s Tizen smart TV platform is something we’ve always loved in their 4K TVs since we first started reviewing them and it has only gotten better since then. The platform is easy to navigate, very user-friendly and comes with plenty of integrated apps with more available for download. All of the essential home theater apps and 4K content sources like Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are of course available. Furthermore, unlike the KU6300 from last year, the MU6300 remote control does indeed offer voice control and allows for many tasks to be easily handled without button navigation. There’s also content casting integrated into the 2017 Tizen platform letting you transmit videos, photos, music and so on from a smartphone or tablet.
Color Delivery
Like its 2016 counterpart, the MU6300 does deliver 10-bit color for a much smoother, more finely grade range of RGB colors. It lacks wide color gamut like that found in its more robust HDR 4K TV cousins from Samsung but the 10.bit color and this model’s overall color performance work to create a vibrant, accurate and nicely realistic palette of colors. Some darker colors don’t reproduce with their full range of gamut but this is a minor issue for anything except for HDR content. Overall, the HDR and SDR color performance of the MU6300 is nice and free of distracting distortions from what looks good.
Gaming Connectivity Specs
Gaming connectivity is where Samsung really shines with its 4K TVs of all stripes and the MU6300 is no exception to this rule. This is one of this model’s strongest aspects and owners of console devices such as the Xbox One S or PlayStation 4 Pro will love this particular TV, especially if they’re fans of HDR gaming or 4K UHD gameplay. When in Game Mode, the MU6300 does a superb job of delivering low input lag for games under all sorts of resolution, color sampling and SDR or HDR modes. Average input lag sits at 21ms or less and this applies to gaming in settings like 1080p at 60Hz, 1080p @ 60Hz with 4:4:4 color subsampling, 4K UHD resolution with HDR and 4K resolution with HDR at 60Hz, 4:4:4 and 8 bit HDR. The same excellent settings apply to this model in PC mode and are a definite improvement over what was the case with last year’s KU6300 model.
4.7 – 4 Reviews
The Bad
The Major Problems
The MU6300 isn’t without its flaws as a 4K TV and this is to be expected from a lower-priced mid-range model in which many premium and some more essential features have been ignored or overlooked. Thus, while this is a generally good starter TV that works fine for most users and will be especially pleasing to people who are replacing an old non-4K television with something so modern, a few genuine defects are worth noting because they shouldn’t be the case even in a TV like this model.
For starters, we cover the MU6300’s largest area of weaknesses, which is in the main aspects of display performance which are color delivery and brightness. The MU6300 doesn’t do badly on either front but its capacity to handle wide color gamut is null and as a result, especially for certain particularly vibrant, rich color patterns in HDR content sources, this 4K TV drops the ball a bit. 10-bit color is supported but without the key feature of wide color gamut and 90%+ DCI-P3 color space support, you’re not going to get nearly the same level of vibrant, rich color variation when watching a 4K HDR Blu-ray as you would if you were watching the same movie on a higher-end model like the MU8000 or even on a more powerful color performer like one of Sony’s 2017 X850E models.
Moving along to brightness, the MU6300 also doesn’t quite deliver what we’d like and is in fact dimmer than its 2016 cousin the KU6300. This is surprising but at least based on our testing the difference is considerable enough to be more than a specific unit margin error. At its very brightest, the MU6300 delivers just under 400 nits of peak brightness and under 370 nits of sustained brightness. Many of today’s mid-range 4K HDR TVs such as Vizio’s excellent P-Series models or the possibly even more impressive TCL P-Series can manage considerably better than this, by a full third at least. Even Sony’s lower-end 4K HDR TVs for 2017, such as the X800E, handle peak brightness that’s slightly better than what the MU6300 can do. The MU6300’s excellent black levels and black uniformity do however offset a lot of what’s lost with this model’s low peak brightness.
Moving along, we come to the second major weakness that the MU6300 comes with. This is its overall motion handling. This model simply doesn’t deliver a robust and smooth viewing experience if you’ve got a more discerning eye for these kinds of things, especially during the playback of fast-paced action content in movies or live sportscasts. Motion blur is handled quite well by LCD TV standards but motion interpolation (the artificial upframing of content that plays at lower frame rates than this TV’s native 60Hz panel) is quite weak and you’ll notice some serious judder at times. The same goes for 24p content support. The MU6300 lacks it completely.
Finally as far as major weaknesses go, we don’t like the MU6300’s lack of local dimming. This is a feature that’s becoming increasingly common in many mid-range 4K TVs and quite frankly it’s about time that Samsung starts implementing it. They’ve at least done so for their excellent non-premium MU8000 models but even the MU6300 and its cousins could use at least some level of local dimming if companies like TCL and Vizio cana manage the technology even in their very cheapest 4K TVs. In any case, this Samsung TV does deliver excellent black depth but razor-fine details of contrast in smaller dark areas of the screen do lack some of this same richness that the TV is capable of in a broader sense.
Little Problems
On a final note regarding some minor defects, the MU6300 lacks any type of 3D technology, as do all Samsung 4K TVs for 2017, so forego this model if you’re just itching to enjoy your huge collection of 3D Blu-rays on a 4K display. Furthermore, the native speakers of this particular Samsung TV are pretty weak. Forget about any sort of rich bass and high volume tends to distort a lot of fine details in the audio that the TV plays back. If you want a high quality audio experience with this model, get a sound bar. It will be a must.
Final Opinion
We like the Samsung MU6300 4K UHD HDR TV. It has its weaknesses but by the standards of mid-range and budget HDR 4K TVs, this model is a robust performer and would make a great start TV set for most users. Unless you’re used to enjoying home entertainment in a truly premium 4K TV, the MU6300 is unlikely to disappoint in any major way.
Key TV Specs
- Screen sizes: 40 inch UN40MU6300, 43 inch UN43MU6300, 50 inch UN50MU6300, 55 inch UN55MU6300, 65 inch UN65MU6300, 75 inch UN75MU6300. Specific model being reviewed is 55 inches.
- Smart TV: Tizen Smart TV platform with
- HEVC (H.265) Included: Yes
- VP9 Included. Yes
- HD to UHD upscaling: Yes
- HDCP 2.2 Compliance: Yes
- HDR Support: Yes, HDR10, Hybrid Log Gamma
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz native refresh rate
- Screen Lighting: edge-lit LED backlighting (top and bottom) without local dimming
- Resolution: 3,840 x 2,160 pixels UHD
- Wireless Connectivity: Yes, includes both built-in WiFi and Ethernet port
- Remotes: Samsung Smart Remote
- Connectivity 4 HDMI (all of them 2.0a and HDCP 2.2) ports, 3 USB ports, 1 Ethernet port, 1 Digital Audio Out
- Sound: 20W (10W x 2) with Dolby™ Digital Plus
- Contrast Ratio: 5,750 : 1 (native, real contrast)
- Black Level maximum: 0.020 cd/m2
- 3D Technology: N/A
- TV dimensions (55 inch model): 48.9″ x 28.3″ x 2.5″ inches w/o stand, 48.9″ x 31″ x 12.2″ w stand
- TV weight (55 inch model): 33.7 lbs. w/ Stand, 36.4 lbs. without stand
- Processor: Quad-Core Processor
4.7 – 4 Reviews
Key Display Specs
Overall, Samsung’s MU6300 delivers a good but not awe-inspiring level of display performance. This 4K TV is nearly the very definition of a solid but not exceptionally impressive 4K TV by today’s standards. A few strong points like exceptionally good contrast and black levels are offset by weaker aspects of display in terms of brightness, motion handling and some color limitations. That said, and we can’t stress this enough, the MU6300 is weak even on these deficient specs only by the standards of other, newer model 4K HDR TVs. Anyone who’s upgrading from an old HDTV to the MU6300 will still be very much impressed with what they receive. Let’s go into the details.
Black Level, Local Dimming and Contrast:
The black uniformity delivered by the MU6300 model is absolutely excellent. We measured maximum black level at 0.019 nits and there is virtually no clouding to be found when the display is set to total black and the same applies to mostly dark scenes in onscreen content. This particular model, like all Samsung VA display model TVs we’ve reviewed at least for 2016 and 2017 is a superb performer on how well it delivers deep rich black. The same goes for contrast ratio and high contrast borders between very bright and very dark scenes. While the MU6300 lacks local dimming technology of the kind that would really kick things up a notch with sharp contrast and rich variations of dynamic range, it still manages to create very little blooming in darker areas that are next to brighter areas of content on the screen. All the more impressive here is the fact that it does this with a very high contrast ratio of 5,750:1.
Brightness:
In contrast to its extremely high levels of black performance as a 4K TV with VA panel display, the MU6300 is weak on peak and sustained brightness, even when set to display HDR content. At no point do peak or sustained brightness exceed or even quite reach 400 nits and due to certain characteristics of its backlights, really small bright spots of 2% or so on the display actually go quite a bit dimmer than larger bright areas. Furthermore, the MU6300’s overall display performance in this crucial metric of how well a 4K TV delivers vibrant, realistic content is all the more disappointing when you consider the many other rival 4K HDR TVs in the same price range which do in fact outclass the MU6300 by a considerable margin of peak performance. What’s more, the increase in display brightness performance when the MU6300 is being used to display HDR content is extremely small, almost to the point of being unnoticeable, thus negating most of this particular 4K TV’s supposed HDR value.
Also, to clarify, peak brightness is the maximum possible spot HDR or SDR luminosity of the display or a section of it measured in nits (or cd/m2, which is the same thing) under different conditions. Sustained brightness is the highest possible sustained HDR or SDR brightness that the TV screen can manage over different conditions or areas of illuminated display. Here’s a rundown of key measurements for both below:
SDR Brightness
- Overall SDR peak brightness for normal content: 322 nits
- Peak 2% display area display SDR brightness: 201 nits
- Peak 10% display area SDR brightness: 361 nits
- Peak 100% display area SDR brightness: 354 nits
- Sustained 10% SDR Brightness: 355 nits
- Sustained 100% SDR brightness: 354 nits
HDR Brightness
- Overall HDR peak brightness for normal content: 333 nits
- Peak 2% display area display HDR brightness: 203 nits
- Peak 10% display area HDR brightness: 369 nits
- Peak 100% display area HDR brightness: 361 nits
- Sustained 10% HDR Brightness: 363 nits
- Sustained 100% HDR brightness: 347 nits
Color Delivery:
The MU6300 just barely offers something that could be called HDR color. This is because it does indeed come with 10-bit color delivery, allowing it to deliver a vibrant range of 1.07 billion RGB values. However, since it lacks the far more crucial spec of wide color gamut coverage, true HDR color rendering for movies and programming that have been mastered in high dynamic range is simply lacking. That said, within its limitations for rendering of HDR content, the MU6300 does a very good job of handling normal color vibrancy during display of all normal SDR video sources. It delivers excellent overall color accuracy with very good delta E and Gamma ratings of 1.60 and 2.14 after a bit of calibration in its picture settings. Where the MU6300 suffers a bit is in terms of color volume delivery. Due to its lack of WCG, this mode can’t cover a full rich range of colors, especially darker color tones.
Motion Handling & Upscaling:
Motion handling in the MU6300 is not too bad but also lacks some crucial features. There is no judder-free 24p content playback support in this model and Samsung has also cursed the MU6300 with a seriously deficient motion interpolation capability, meaning that non-60fps content sources and particularly low-frame rate content sources will play back with at least some judder on this television’s native 60Hz (fps) panel. That said, we don’t want to overstate these effects either. The average TV user watching almost any ordinary content on this TV will probably notice very little in the way of serious movement problems. The relative lack of smoothness only becomes notable if the MU6300 is put up against a far superior performer like one of Samsung’s premium 4K HDR TVs or say for example an OLED 4K TV from LG or Sony. Overall motion blur control, which is important for display of fast-paced content such as sportscasts and so forth is however very good in the MU6300. The pixel response time of this model sits at a decent 17.2ms and that means that pixel responsiveness to changing scenery on the screen is relatively free of errors and heavily notable blur.
Where the MU6300 also excels is in its delivery of content upscaling. The Samsung upscaling process used by the company’s TVs is essentially the same across all models as far as we can tell and as a result, the mid-range, low-priced MU6300 delivers just as excellent a level of non-4K video upscaling as any of its much more expensive premium models. 720p and 1080p video sources upscale beautifully while even SD content manages to look remarkably clean on this television’s display.
Connectivity
The following are the connectivity options of all models of the Samsung MU6300. All major advanced content connectivity specs are included and this TV is fully capable of console gaming and PC monitor use in all major resolution formats, frame rates and color subsampling modes. Average input lag for 4K content and 4K HDR content in Game Mode sits at between 19 and 21 ms, with support for 4:4:4 subsampling and 60Hz at the same input lag. 4K at 60Hz with 4:4:4 color sampling and 8-bit HDR is also supported at 21.4ms. 1080p game content from consoles on the other hand comes with a great input lag of 20.5ms.
- HDMI : 4 (All come with HDCP 2.2 and full HDMI 2.0a capacity)
- USB : 3 (USB 3.0)
- Digital Optical Audio Out : 1
- Analog Audio Out RCA : 1
- Tuner (Cable/Ant) : 1
- Ethernet : 1
The MU6300 TV models also offer audio connectivity in the following types
- 1 Passthrough ARC Dolby Digital
- 1 Passthrough ARC DTS
- 1 Passthrough Optical Dolby Digital
- 1 Passthrough Optical DTS
Pricing
Samsung is selling the MU6300 for the following prices at the time of this writing. Bear in mind that these are subject to sometimes frequent downward change and it’s a good idea to click the following Amazon link(s) for real-time pricing and all available discounts on this already remarkably affordable 4K HDR TV model in all its numerous display sizes. Furthermore, since the MU6300 comes in 6 different screen sizes, there are models available for a really broad range of needs and budgets.
4.7 – 4 Reviews
Samsung UN55MU6300: $797. 99
Samsung UN65MU6300: $1,197. 99
Samsung UN75MU6300: $2,929. 99
Positives
- Excellent contrast ratio and black levels
- Good color handling
- Superb 4K and HD gaming TV
- Superb for use as PC monitor
- Low motion blur
- Fine overall performer
- Great Connectivity
Negatives
- Screen lacks high levels of brightness
- Some aspects of motion interpolation are weak
- This TV lacks full HDR color delivery
- Weak viewing angles
The Bottom Line
As a budget starter 4K TV with limited HDR functionality but a generally good, reliable level of picture performance, we strongly recommend the MU6300 for first-time buyers. However, this particular 4K HDR TV is similar enough to the 2016 KU6300 that you could also go for the slightly older model with very little noticeable difference in the quality of your home entertainment experience.
Overview
Samsung’s MU6300 is the direct successor to the 2016 KU6300 from the same brand and while this is not a premium 4K TV by any measure of the word, it does offer a robust picture performance for most normal content viewing and even includes a limited level of HDR display capability. Furthermore, like virtually all Samsung TVs we’ve reviewed so far in the last couple of years, the MU6300 is a superb performer for console gaming fans or those who want to use their 4K TV as a PC gaming display. This means good PC connectivity, broad resolution format support and most importantly, some excellent input lag times.
On the other hand, the MU6300 is so similar in virtually every way to its also very decent 2016 cousin the KU6300 that we have a hard time recommending an upgrade from that model to this one if you already own the older TV or are deciding between the two and the KU model is cheaper. If you’re a first time buyer of a 4K TV and want one with robust performance at a decent price, then this model is a good choice. If you already own a 2016 edition that you’re happy with, either sticking with it or upgrading to something with more of a performance difference would be a better idea.
The Good
The KU6300 delivers solid overall mid-range 4K TV performance. Few things in particular really stand out about this Samsung model and it lacks many of the really “wow” features of its pricier cousins like the MU8000 but none of that means that the MU6300 is a bad choice by any means. Quite the contrary, it’s a great starter 4K TV that most consumers would probably be very happy with if they’re not looking for anything especially fancy. That said, let’s start out with the key aspects of this model which we particularly like.
Overall Performance
The MU6300 simply performs well overall Its design is sleek, light and fairly robust and while we consider the TV’s stand to be a bit on the wobbly side even when properly installed and properly placed on a flat surface, it’s certainly not going to collapse from any sort of casual handling of the TV as you plug in devices and so forth. Furthermore, all of this model’s connectivity ports are located along one side of the rear surface and facing outward, making them much more easily accessible than bottom facing connectivity ports we’ve seen in some other 4K TVs. In other words, as a starter 4K TV with basic HDR functionality and typically excellent Samsung motion processing and upscaling technologies, the MU6300 delivers a pleasing level of performance that consumers on a budget will like very much in most cases, unless they’re already used to far more robust premium HDR ultra HD TV performance.
Black levels and Contrast
While the MU6300 isn’t exactly what we’d call a bright 4K HDR TV due to its rather modest levels of both SDR and HDR brightness, it does deliver decent performance in this area and more than compensates for whatever’s lacking with an exceptional black level that more than matches the standards set forth by HDR10 parameters. The result is a level of contrast that’s also very good and slightly above average by VA panel 4K TV standards. Also, while the MU6300 lacks local dimming technology, it manages to create block light as needed for some fairly crisp demarcations between bright and dark areas of the screen. In other words, overall picture performance when displaying even high contrast content is remarkably good in the MU6300 with very little in the way of blooming and nicely uniform black levels across the entire screen or wherever needed.
Smart TV Functionality
Samsung’s Tizen smart TV platform is something we’ve always loved in their 4K TVs since we first started reviewing them and it has only gotten better since then. The platform is easy to navigate, very user-friendly and comes with plenty of integrated apps with more available for download. All of the essential home theater apps and 4K content sources like Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are of course available. Furthermore, unlike the KU6300 from last year, the MU6300 remote control does indeed offer voice control and allows for many tasks to be easily handled without button navigation. There’s also content casting integrated into the 2017 Tizen platform letting you transmit videos, photos, music and so on from a smartphone or tablet.
Color Delivery
Like its 2016 counterpart, the MU6300 does deliver 10-bit color for a much smoother, more finely grade range of RGB colors. It lacks wide color gamut like that found in its more robust HDR 4K TV cousins from Samsung but the 10.bit color and this model’s overall color performance work to create a vibrant, accurate and nicely realistic palette of colors. Some darker colors don’t reproduce with their full range of gamut but this is a minor issue for anything except for HDR content. Overall, the HDR and SDR color performance of the MU6300 is nice and free of distracting distortions from what looks good.
Gaming Connectivity Specs
Gaming connectivity is where Samsung really shines with its 4K TVs of all stripes and the MU6300 is no exception to this rule. This is one of this model’s strongest aspects and owners of console devices such as the Xbox One S or PlayStation 4 Pro will love this particular TV, especially if they’re fans of HDR gaming or 4K UHD gameplay. When in Game Mode, the MU6300 does a superb job of delivering low input lag for games under all sorts of resolution, color sampling and SDR or HDR modes. Average input lag sits at 21ms or less and this applies to gaming in settings like 1080p at 60Hz, 1080p @ 60Hz with 4:4:4 color subsampling, 4K UHD resolution with HDR and 4K resolution with HDR at 60Hz, 4:4:4 and 8 bit HDR. The same excellent settings apply to this model in PC mode and are a definite improvement over what was the case with last year’s KU6300 model.
4.7 – 4 Reviews
The Bad
The Major Problems
The MU6300 isn’t without its flaws as a 4K TV and this is to be expected from a lower-priced mid-range model in which many premium and some more essential features have been ignored or overlooked. Thus, while this is a generally good starter TV that works fine for most users and will be especially pleasing to people who are replacing an old non-4K television with something so modern, a few genuine defects are worth noting because they shouldn’t be the case even in a TV like this model.
For starters, we cover the MU6300’s largest area of weaknesses, which is in the main aspects of display performance which are color delivery and brightness. The MU6300 doesn’t do badly on either front but its capacity to handle wide color gamut is null and as a result, especially for certain particularly vibrant, rich color patterns in HDR content sources, this 4K TV drops the ball a bit. 10-bit color is supported but without the key feature of wide color gamut and 90%+ DCI-P3 color space support, you’re not going to get nearly the same level of vibrant, rich color variation when watching a 4K HDR Blu-ray as you would if you were watching the same movie on a higher-end model like the MU8000 or even on a more powerful color performer like one of Sony’s 2017 X850E models.
Moving along to brightness, the MU6300 also doesn’t quite deliver what we’d like and is in fact dimmer than its 2016 cousin the KU6300. This is surprising but at least based on our testing the difference is considerable enough to be more than a specific unit margin error. At its very brightest, the MU6300 delivers just under 400 nits of peak brightness and under 370 nits of sustained brightness. Many of today’s mid-range 4K HDR TVs such as Vizio’s excellent P-Series models or the possibly even more impressive TCL P-Series can manage considerably better than this, by a full third at least. Even Sony’s lower-end 4K HDR TVs for 2017, such as the X800E, handle peak brightness that’s slightly better than what the MU6300 can do. The MU6300’s excellent black levels and black uniformity do however offset a lot of what’s lost with this model’s low peak brightness.
Moving along, we come to the second major weakness that the MU6300 comes with. This is its overall motion handling. This model simply doesn’t deliver a robust and smooth viewing experience if you’ve got a more discerning eye for these kinds of things, especially during the playback of fast-paced action content in movies or live sportscasts. Motion blur is handled quite well by LCD TV standards but motion interpolation (the artificial upframing of content that plays at lower frame rates than this TV’s native 60Hz panel) is quite weak and you’ll notice some serious judder at times. The same goes for 24p content support. The MU6300 lacks it completely.
Finally as far as major weaknesses go, we don’t like the MU6300’s lack of local dimming. This is a feature that’s becoming increasingly common in many mid-range 4K TVs and quite frankly it’s about time that Samsung starts implementing it. They’ve at least done so for their excellent non-premium MU8000 models but even the MU6300 and its cousins could use at least some level of local dimming if companies like TCL and Vizio cana manage the technology even in their very cheapest 4K TVs. In any case, this Samsung TV does deliver excellent black depth but razor-fine details of contrast in smaller dark areas of the screen do lack some of this same richness that the TV is capable of in a broader sense.
Little Problems
On a final note regarding some minor defects, the MU6300 lacks any type of 3D technology, as do all Samsung 4K TVs for 2017, so forego this model if you’re just itching to enjoy your huge collection of 3D Blu-rays on a 4K display. Furthermore, the native speakers of this particular Samsung TV are pretty weak. Forget about any sort of rich bass and high volume tends to distort a lot of fine details in the audio that the TV plays back. If you want a high quality audio experience with this model, get a sound bar. It will be a must.
Final Opinion
We like the Samsung MU6300 4K UHD HDR TV. It has its weaknesses but by the standards of mid-range and budget HDR 4K TVs, this model is a robust performer and would make a great start TV set for most users. Unless you’re used to enjoying home entertainment in a truly premium 4K TV, the MU6300 is unlikely to disappoint in any major way.
Key TV Specs
- Screen sizes: 40 inch UN40MU6300, 43 inch UN43MU6300, 50 inch UN50MU6300, 55 inch UN55MU6300, 65 inch UN65MU6300, 75 inch UN75MU6300. Specific model being reviewed is 55 inches.
- Smart TV: Tizen Smart TV platform with
- HEVC (H.265) Included: Yes
- VP9 Included. Yes
- HD to UHD upscaling: Yes
- HDCP 2.2 Compliance: Yes
- HDR Support: Yes, HDR10, Hybrid Log Gamma
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz native refresh rate
- Screen Lighting: edge-lit LED backlighting (top and bottom) without local dimming
- Resolution: 3,840 x 2,160 pixels UHD
- Wireless Connectivity: Yes, includes both built-in WiFi and Ethernet port
- Remotes: Samsung Smart Remote
- Connectivity 4 HDMI (all of them 2.0a and HDCP 2.2) ports, 3 USB ports, 1 Ethernet port, 1 Digital Audio Out
- Sound: 20W (10W x 2) with Dolby™ Digital Plus
- Contrast Ratio: 5,750 : 1 (native, real contrast)
- Black Level maximum: 0.020 cd/m2
- 3D Technology: N/A
- TV dimensions (55 inch model): 48.9″ x 28.3″ x 2.5″ inches w/o stand, 48.9″ x 31″ x 12.2″ w stand
- TV weight (55 inch model): 33.7 lbs. w/ Stand, 36.4 lbs. without stand
- Processor: Quad-Core Processor
4.7 – 4 Reviews
Key Display Specs
Overall, Samsung’s MU6300 delivers a good but not awe-inspiring level of display performance. This 4K TV is nearly the very definition of a solid but not exceptionally impressive 4K TV by today’s standards. A few strong points like exceptionally good contrast and black levels are offset by weaker aspects of display in terms of brightness, motion handling and some color limitations. That said, and we can’t stress this enough, the MU6300 is weak even on these deficient specs only by the standards of other, newer model 4K HDR TVs. Anyone who’s upgrading from an old HDTV to the MU6300 will still be very much impressed with what they receive. Let’s go into the details.
Black Level, Local Dimming and Contrast:
The black uniformity delivered by the MU6300 model is absolutely excellent. We measured maximum black level at 0.019 nits and there is virtually no clouding to be found when the display is set to total black and the same applies to mostly dark scenes in onscreen content. This particular model, like all Samsung VA display model TVs we’ve reviewed at least for 2016 and 2017 is a superb performer on how well it delivers deep rich black. The same goes for contrast ratio and high contrast borders between very bright and very dark scenes. While the MU6300 lacks local dimming technology of the kind that would really kick things up a notch with sharp contrast and rich variations of dynamic range, it still manages to create very little blooming in darker areas that are next to brighter areas of content on the screen. All the more impressive here is the fact that it does this with a very high contrast ratio of 5,750:1.
Brightness:
In contrast to its extremely high levels of black performance as a 4K TV with VA panel display, the MU6300 is weak on peak and sustained brightness, even when set to display HDR content. At no point do peak or sustained brightness exceed or even quite reach 400 nits and due to certain characteristics of its backlights, really small bright spots of 2% or so on the display actually go quite a bit dimmer than larger bright areas. Furthermore, the MU6300’s overall display performance in this crucial metric of how well a 4K TV delivers vibrant, realistic content is all the more disappointing when you consider the many other rival 4K HDR TVs in the same price range which do in fact outclass the MU6300 by a considerable margin of peak performance. What’s more, the increase in display brightness performance when the MU6300 is being used to display HDR content is extremely small, almost to the point of being unnoticeable, thus negating most of this particular 4K TV’s supposed HDR value.
Also, to clarify, peak brightness is the maximum possible spot HDR or SDR luminosity of the display or a section of it measured in nits (or cd/m2, which is the same thing) under different conditions. Sustained brightness is the highest possible sustained HDR or SDR brightness that the TV screen can manage over different conditions or areas of illuminated display. Here’s a rundown of key measurements for both below:
SDR Brightness
- Overall SDR peak brightness for normal content: 322 nits
- Peak 2% display area display SDR brightness: 201 nits
- Peak 10% display area SDR brightness: 361 nits
- Peak 100% display area SDR brightness: 354 nits
- Sustained 10% SDR Brightness: 355 nits
- Sustained 100% SDR brightness: 354 nits
HDR Brightness
- Overall HDR peak brightness for normal content: 333 nits
- Peak 2% display area display HDR brightness: 203 nits
- Peak 10% display area HDR brightness: 369 nits
- Peak 100% display area HDR brightness: 361 nits
- Sustained 10% HDR Brightness: 363 nits
- Sustained 100% HDR brightness: 347 nits
Color Delivery:
The MU6300 just barely offers something that could be called HDR color. This is because it does indeed come with 10-bit color delivery, allowing it to deliver a vibrant range of 1.07 billion RGB values. However, since it lacks the far more crucial spec of wide color gamut coverage, true HDR color rendering for movies and programming that have been mastered in high dynamic range is simply lacking. That said, within its limitations for rendering of HDR content, the MU6300 does a very good job of handling normal color vibrancy during display of all normal SDR video sources. It delivers excellent overall color accuracy with very good delta E and Gamma ratings of 1.60 and 2.14 after a bit of calibration in its picture settings. Where the MU6300 suffers a bit is in terms of color volume delivery. Due to its lack of WCG, this mode can’t cover a full rich range of colors, especially darker color tones.
Motion Handling & Upscaling:
Motion handling in the MU6300 is not too bad but also lacks some crucial features. There is no judder-free 24p content playback support in this model and Samsung has also cursed the MU6300 with a seriously deficient motion interpolation capability, meaning that non-60fps content sources and particularly low-frame rate content sources will play back with at least some judder on this television’s native 60Hz (fps) panel. That said, we don’t want to overstate these effects either. The average TV user watching almost any ordinary content on this TV will probably notice very little in the way of serious movement problems. The relative lack of smoothness only becomes notable if the MU6300 is put up against a far superior performer like one of Samsung’s premium 4K HDR TVs or say for example an OLED 4K TV from LG or Sony. Overall motion blur control, which is important for display of fast-paced content such as sportscasts and so forth is however very good in the MU6300. The pixel response time of this model sits at a decent 17.2ms and that means that pixel responsiveness to changing scenery on the screen is relatively free of errors and heavily notable blur.
Where the MU6300 also excels is in its delivery of content upscaling. The Samsung upscaling process used by the company’s TVs is essentially the same across all models as far as we can tell and as a result, the mid-range, low-priced MU6300 delivers just as excellent a level of non-4K video upscaling as any of its much more expensive premium models. 720p and 1080p video sources upscale beautifully while even SD content manages to look remarkably clean on this television’s display.
Connectivity
The following are the connectivity options of all models of the Samsung MU6300. All major advanced content connectivity specs are included and this TV is fully capable of console gaming and PC monitor use in all major resolution formats, frame rates and color subsampling modes. Average input lag for 4K content and 4K HDR content in Game Mode sits at between 19 and 21 ms, with support for 4:4:4 subsampling and 60Hz at the same input lag. 4K at 60Hz with 4:4:4 color sampling and 8-bit HDR is also supported at 21.4ms. 1080p game content from consoles on the other hand comes with a great input lag of 20.5ms.
- HDMI : 4 (All come with HDCP 2.2 and full HDMI 2.0a capacity)
- USB : 3 (USB 3.0)
- Digital Optical Audio Out : 1
- Analog Audio Out RCA : 1
- Tuner (Cable/Ant) : 1
- Ethernet : 1
The MU6300 TV models also offer audio connectivity in the following types
- 1 Passthrough ARC Dolby Digital
- 1 Passthrough ARC DTS
- 1 Passthrough Optical Dolby Digital
- 1 Passthrough Optical DTS
Pricing
Samsung is selling the MU6300 for the following prices at the time of this writing. Bear in mind that these are subject to sometimes frequent downward change and it’s a good idea to click the following Amazon link(s) for real-time pricing and all available discounts on this already remarkably affordable 4K HDR TV model in all its numerous display sizes. Furthermore, since the MU6300 comes in 6 different screen sizes, there are models available for a really broad range of needs and budgets.
4.7 – 4 Reviews
Samsung UN55MU6300: $797. 99
Samsung UN65MU6300: $1,197. 99
Samsung UN75MU6300: $2,929. 99