While the viewing angle is good on the Samsung UN48J5000, it has a poor overall picture quality in front, even considering its low price. The colors are off and not adjustable, it has weak blacks and there are a lot of darker spots all across the screen. At least, it has very little motion blur and input lag, making it a good budget gaming TV.
Our Verdict
Below average TV for mixed usage. Low native contrast ratio results in blacks that appear gray in a dark room, but the image remains accurate when viewed at an angle. Uniformity is a bit bad for sports so some dirty screen effect is visible, but motion handling is great.
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Good color accuracy at an angle
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Good gaming TV due to low motion blur and input lag
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Poor screen uniformity
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Poor blacks
Poor choice for watching movies in a dark room. Very low native contrast ratio so blacks appear gray and dark scenes are washed out. Some judder is present when watching movies from any source.
Below average for watching TV in a bright room. Image remains accurate when viewed at a wide angle but can't get very bright to combat glare.
Decent choice for watching sports. Image remains accurate when viewed from a angle which is good for those with wide seating. Can't get bright enough to overcome glare but motion handling is great and only a short trail is visible behind fast moving objects.
Below average for gaming. Picture quality is disappointing but motion blur is very good for fast paced games. Input lag is fine for casual gaming.
Doesn't support HDR. Can't produce a wider range of colors and only a 1080p TV.
Doesn't support HDR gaming. Lacks support for the HDR10 format and can't produce bright or vivid highlights.
Poor choice for a PC monitor. Supports up to 1080p with full chroma for clear text on all backgrounds. Motion handling is great, but input lag is a bit high.
- 6.1 Mixed Usage
- 4.5 Movies
- 6.8 TV Shows
- 7.2 Sports
- 6.7 Video Games
- 4.2 HDR Movies
- 3.6 HDR Gaming
- 5.9 PC Monitor
- Updated Mar 01, 2017: Review published.
- Updated Oct 25, 2015: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated Oct 24, 2015: Our testers have started testing this product.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought the 48" (Samsung UN48J5000). The panel version written at the back is ED02, and it is an IPS panel (PLS). We expect our review to be valid for the 32", 43" and 48". The 50" though, has a VA panel inside, so the viewing angle won't be as good, but it should have a better contrast ratio. The rest of the picture quality elements should be similar.
If someone comes across a different type of panel used, let us know and we will update our review.
Test Results
The design of the Samsung J5000 LED TV is standard for a budget Samsung TV. The thickness of the borders is average. The stand is quite stable, but it does have a slightly bigger footprint than average.
The J5000 has an IPS panel, so the contrast ratio is really low. Only the 50" doesn't have IPS and therefore, it will be able to produce better blacks.
The corners are darker than the rest of the screen. There is a lot of darker vertical lines all across the screen.
The viewing angle is good (except on the 50"). The colors remain saturated even off-axis. The picture only becomes darker.
Update 01/06/2017: We have changed the methodology of testing. Since this is an old TV which we don't have anymore, we extrapolated the results from 2016 TVs.
There is no big clouding spots or flashlighting, but due to the poor blacks, the uniformity still doesn't look great.
DVDs and SD channels are well upscaled without any issues on the J5000.
Its semi-gloss finish reflects slightly more than average, but there is no rainbow around direct reflections.
The maximum luminosity is average good.
The response time is great on it. There is a slightly overshoot in some transitions, but nothing really noticeable. It uses a PWM to control the luminosity of the backlight, and it doesn't flicker at 100%.
Even movies sent directly over 24p will have the small 3:2 pulldown judder in them. A lot of people don't notice that small judder though. It is more noticeable on panoramic shots.
You don't need to activate any settings to get this input lag. All modes have the same input lag.
It supports chroma 4:4:4 if you label the input as PC.
Decent frequency response at lower volumes, however pumping may be present at higher volumes. Poor low-end and maximum loudness.
Very good distortion results at all volumes, but the TV doesn't get loud.
