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What is the Samsung UE48H6400?

Samsung 48-inch TVs are like buses: you wait years for one to come along, and then two arrive at once. Unlike the recently tested UE48HU7500, though, the £700 UE48H6400 doesn’t squeeze a UHD pixel count into its relatively diminutive frame. instead it's a conventional Full HD model from the mid level of Samsung’s 2014 range, meaning it benefits from Samsung’s latest Smart TV system and a few promising picture specifications. 

Samsung UE48H6400 - Design and Features

The UE48H6400 is an attractive TV in a typically Samsung kind of way. Which is to say that its slim, space-saving bezel enjoys a glossy finish and a transparent outer trim, while the desktop stand is a shiny silver cross design. There’s nothing very original going on, but we guess if it ain’t broke there’s no need to fix it.

Connectivity is strong, as four HDMIs and a trio of USB 2.0 ports join LAN and integrated Wi-Fi network options – as well as, of course, all the usual Scart, RF (feeding a Freeview HD tuner), component and composite stuff. Please note, though, that unlike some higher-specced Samsung TVs, there’s no satellite tuner support.

The USBs and (via DLNA) network options support playback of an impressively wide range of multimedia file formats, while the network options also inevitably give you access to the online components of Samsung’s Smart TV platform. And plenty of these components there are too. In fact, it’s the most comprehensive collection of online content we’ve seen to date, comprising a huge variety of game, infotainment and video apps. 

Particularly welcome are apps for almost all the key big video hitters: BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD, Demand 5, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Blinkbox, YouTube, BBC Sport, and BBC News. The main absentee is Now TV, which remains an LG exclusive (at least for a few more weeks!). But Samsung offers more catch-up TV options than LG.

The quantity of apps on offer is arguably rather intimidating, and can make it hard to sort the wheat from the (considerable amounts of) chaff. But at least Samsung hasn’t pre-installed much of this chaff, so once you’ve trawled the online ‘shop window’ for things you want once, you can quickly establish a simple favourite apps page that saves you from having to delve back into the whole app mountain very often.

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We’ve covered Samsung’s latest smart engine in depth in our Samsung Smart TV 2014 review, so we won’t go into any more detail here, other than to say that it (and Samsung's picture processing) is powered by a Quad Core processor, and that Samsung has added a new element since we wrote our earlier in-depth article. This consists of a ‘recently used’ bar that pops up when you first hit the remote’s Smart Hub key, giving you quick access to any of the last 10 sources you’ve watched or listened to. 

The UE48H6400 is, of course, a full HD screen, and it’s driven by edge LED lighting. There’s no local dimming involved though, and nor does the set benefit from Samsung’s Micro Dimming technology, which divides the image up into thousands of small blocks for more accurate analysis when calculating optimum picture settings. Both these facts raise questions about the UE48H6400’s likely contrast performance. However, the set does, at least, use one of Samsung’s VA-type panels, which we’ve found to deliver significant native contrast advantages over the rival IPS LCD format.

The 48H6400 applies a 400Hz-emulating motion processing system, made from a combination of a native 100Hz engine, a backlight blinking system and frame interpolation. And finally it’s 3D capable, using the active system, with two pairs of 3D glasses provided.

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Samsung UE48H6400: Set Up

Despite not troubling itself to seek the endorsement of the independent Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) professional calibration group, the UE48H6400 has a comprehensive suite of picture set up tools. These include colour management and white balance fine tuners, and a decent degree of control over key processing tools such as the dynamic contrast, noise reduction and motion processing systems.

To get the best out of the UE48H6400 we’d say you can get away with only a slightly modified version of the Standard preset for viewing in a bright room; just turn off the noise reduction when you’re watching HD, and set the motion processing to either Clear or Custom, with judder and blur reduction both set to around their ‘three’ level if you go for the latter option.

For viewing films in a dark room, we strongly recommend you make sure the dynamic contrast system is only set to Low, and that you reduce the backlight setting to either its eight or its nine level, depending on whether you want a really deep black or a touch more shadow detail. 

Also, if you’re going to game on the UE48H6400, don’t forget to seek out the Game picture preset oddly hidden away in the General submenu of the TV’s System menu.

Samsung UE48H6400: Picture Quality

As hinted earlier, you can tell right away that the UE48H6400 doesn’t benefit from Samsung’s most potent contrast-boosting features. Really dark images look slightly greyer than they do on Samsung’s high-level TVs. 

Crucially, though, black level response is still capable of being excellent for the UE48H6400’s price point so long as you follow the simple set up advice we gave you earlier. Certainly the black levels the set can achieve are much more profound than those witnessed on rival IPS panels this year, and for the vast majority of the time they easily go deep enough to not distract you from what you’re watching. 



What’s more, with the backlight set as we suggested earlier there’s no trouble at all with areas of backlight clouding during dark sequences. It’s great to see, too, that so long as you don’t set the dynamic contrast higher than Low you don’t have to worry about being distracted by excessive leaps in brightness as the TV adjusts its light output to suit changes in the image content.

Also impressive when watching dark scenes is how bright the lighter elements appear against the darkness around them – a clear indicator of the quality of the panel’s native contrast performance that’s further emphasised by the impressive amounts of shadow detail the set reproduces in all but the very blackest of picture corners.

As we nearly always find, moreover, the UE48H6400’s good black level response knocks on into its colour performance. We were especially struck by how rich, dynamic and natural colour tones look during dark scenes, unburdened as they are by the grey ‘wash’ over them you get with lower-contrast screens, and free as they are of the necessity to lose too much luminance in the TV’s bid to produce a convincing black.

There’s also a more than respectable amount of finesse in the way colours are blended, even with tricky skin tones.



Samsung screens tend to be among the sharpest around, and the UE48H6400 is no different. In fact, we had to tweak the sharpness setting down a bit with some of the picture presets to stop images from looking too gritty and ‘forensic’. With this done, though, you still get to see every last pixel of an HD feed with total precision and clarity.

The clarity does drop off slightly over moving objects, particularly if you’ve left the Motion Plus processing system turned off. But it’s not a severe problem for the UE48H6400’s level of the market in truth, and can be improved without causing excessive processing artefacts via the Motion Plus system’s Clear settings we mentioned in the set up section.

Viewing angles are fairly limited before contrast and colour reduce considerably, and the balance between the best black levels and retained shadow details isn’t quite as perfect as it is on higher-level Samsung TVs. But make no mistake: by any stretch of the imagination the UE48H6400’s pictures are excellent for a mid-range model.
 

Samsung UE48H6400: 3D Picture Quality

The UE48H6400 is a good 3D performer, but falls short of the really outstanding efforts witnessed on Samsung’s high-end TVs this year.


In the plus column, 3D Blu-ray images look detailed and ‘dense’, enhancing the sense that you’re looking into a real world rather than at a mere cluster of pixels.

Colours are intense by active 3D TV standards too, and the TV’s ability to retain contrast without having to compromise brightness too much means 3D images also look punchy and almost as bright as 2D ones.

Motion is a little juddery, though, meaning you may feel the need to use a more powerful (and thus artefact-inducing) setting for the Motion Plus system than you’d like. Plus there’s quite markedly more crosstalk ghosting noise in background areas than you see with models higher up Samsung’s range.

Samsung UE48H6400: Sound Quality

The UE48H6400 is pretty routine in the audio department. Its strengths are that it does manage to achieve decent volume levels without succumbing to speaker phut, cabinet rattle, or excessive harshness; that it doesn’t do a bad job of keeping vocals clear; and that it does OK at picking out the subtle details that breathe life into a soundtrack.

There’s precious little bass to speak of, though, which leaves action scenes feeling rather thin, muddy and unconvincing. This TV is a prime candidate for a soundbar upgrade.

Other things to consider

The UE48H6400 doesn’t carry a built-in camera, so it doesn’t support gesture controls like higher-end Samsung TVs. But this isn’t a great loss really, as we’ve found we only use gesture controls very occasionally.

The set does ship with one of Samsung’s Smart Remotes, though, providing a mostly welcome combination of point and click and touchpad control. The only problem is that this remote puts a lot of controls in a very small physical area, leading to some accidental mis-selections - at least until you get used to it.

Samsung screens tend to make very effective gaming monitors, and the UE48H6400 is no different. Our input lag tests produced a result of just 33ms, which is low enough to have a negligible impact on your abilities with reaction based games.

Should I buy a Samsung UE48H6400?

If its 48-inch screen and £700 price both fit your requirements, then you should very seriously consider buying a UE48H6400. It looks good, it produces excellent picture quality, and its equipped with a seriously content-rich smart system.

Really its only serious competition at the moment is the Sony 50W829, which delivers two inches more picture and also-excellent pictures for around the same money. Its smart interface isn’t as rich in content or features, though.

Verdict

The UE48H6400 is another outstanding mid-range Samsung TV. Nuff said.

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