Samsung 43" TU7100 HDR Smart 4K TV with Tizen OS

Product Information

Colour temperatures are also solid. Unlike a lot of cheap TVs, the TU7100 doesn’t overcook colours in a bid to artificially make the screen look more vibrant. The out of the box Standard setting has a nice neutral tone, and those that want to can change this to the “Dynamic” or “Movie” preset if they prefer the latter, though I can’t see why anyone would. There are inescapable shortcomings where picture performance is concerned. But they’re predictable, relatively minor and trifling compared to what the UE43AU7100 gets right.

Detail levels are respectably high throughout, which only adds to the impression of realism where skin-tones are concerned, and picture noise stays low even in the most complex scenes. Movement, too, is dealt with intelligently, with the Samsung gripping even rapid or unpredictable motion well. Edges can shimmer a little during the most testing scenes, it’s true, but on the whole the TU7100 is an organised and confident performer. While inevitably for its money it’s not without its limitations, the UE43AU7100 delivers an impressively balanced, consistent and immersive picture. It works with connected SmartThings devices, and has AirPlay 2 support which allows iOS owners to stream and share from iPhones and iPads.As Schofield cautiously climbs the building’s dimly lit stairs, the Samsung provides lots of insight, digging up details that most sets at this price simply can’t find. Crucially, this crispness and detail is delivered without any sense of artificiality or over-enhancement, and the same is true of the way the TU7100 handles motion. Switch the processing from the default Auto to Custom and the set strikes a good balance between smoothing and authenticity.

Regardless of how you choose to control the Samsung, though, you’ll have access to one of the more agreeable and comprehensive user interfaces around. The Tizen-based Smart Hub operating system is clean and logical – it’s a little sluggish here when compared to equivalents from higher up the Samsung model range (which is probably due to its less powerful processor), but it makes up for that by being an authentic pleasure to use.There are rival TVs, too, that can deliver both native 4K and upscaled HD images with more raw sharpness and apparent detail than the UE43AU7100. Again, though, the level of sharpness the UE43AU7100 adopts feels carefully chosen to deliver an organic, immersive image rather than an actual weakness of either the LCD panel or the Crystal Processor. The screen struggles with some of the low light sequences in Barbarians (Netflix), but its HDR is adept enough to add intensity to flaming torches and the like. It’s not a set that features all the bells and whistles gamers will need for the next generation PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but at this price, what do you expect? The Samsung UE43TU7100 has a discrete design and easy setup process

Then select Support on the Samsung TV screen and the model number of the TV should display on the screen.Screen Sizes: 43-inch | Tuner: Freeview HD| 4K: Yes | HDR: Yes | Panel technology: LED | Smart TV: Yes, Tizen| Curved: No | Dimensions: 963(w) x 558(h) x 59(d)mm | Weight: 8.1kg | 3D: No | Inputs: 2xHDMI 2.0, 1xUSB, Ethernet, optical, terrestrial, CI slot Design

Picture quality is equally encouraging elsewhere. Motion is confidently handled (the Samsung’s logical setup menus help here), edge definition is smooth and convincing, while picture noise is minimised even in the darkest, most unchanging scenes. This frankly unlikely level of fidelity is carried over to most other aspects of picture-making too – give the Samsung a fighting chance with some high-quality 4K content and it’s an eminently watchable TV. The colour palette it draws from is wide and convincing, and it has little trouble differentiating between even very subtle variations in tone, and serves up entirely believable skin-tones. Three HDMI inputs should be enough for all but port-hungry power users, plus all three include the Auto Low Latency Mode aspect of HDMI 2.1 specification – though we’d expect committed next-gen gamers to need a bit more than that. The only bit of advice I’d give is to make sure you turn off, or at least reduce, the TV’s Picture Clarity setting. The feature is designed to reduce noise and generally make TV and movies look smoother, but during testing I found it just gave most content the ‘soap opera’ effect.The Samsung TU7100 is powered by the Tizen operating system. This is one of the better TV interfaces offering wide app support and smart home functionality. And as befits a television that’s intended to sell at a very competitive price, not much by way of ‘design’ has happened here. Samsung will tell you the AU7100 is ‘bezel-less’, but that’s not true. The bezels are pretty minimal, though, which is nice. Plus the feet leave enough space below the bottom of the screen to accommodate a soundbar, which is prudent. Stepping down in quality to some 1080p Full HD content actually confirms the Samsung as a fully capable device. Naturally enough there’s a drop-off in detail levels, accompanied by a little less certainty where motion is concerned and a little more picture noise (especially in scenes of uniform colour, such as sports broadcasts), but the TU7100 proves an adept upscaler. Some softness in an upscaled picture is only to be expected, but the Samsung stays pretty regimented in most circumstances. This version of Tizen isn’t quite the full enchilada, as found higher up the range, but it’s not far off. If you can live without niceties like Ambient mode and TV/Smartphone Multi-View, you won’t feel short-changed. Above and beyond’ isn’t something you automatically associated with an aggressively affordable television, yet Samsung ships the AU7100 with not one but two remote controls. Why? To give you the choice between a fairly cheap-feeling, full-function job with a million tiny buttons – or a nicer ‘just the essentials’ alternative with a manageable number of options.