Samsung UNHU8550: Worth the extra money if you must have 4K

Hi, everybody! This is Samsung's HU8550 series. It's the company's best non-curved 4K LED LTV for 2014. It has scads of features, excellent picture quality, great design, and a price to match. The series is available in sizes from 50" all the way up to 85", for a cool ten grand. The 60" size here is the one that I reviewed. The 8550 has Samsung's trademark sleek minimalist look with a very thin black frame that makes the TV seem almost all picture. The chrome stand and edging around the side provides a nice accent, and all told, this is one of our favorite TV designs of the year. While it lacks a built-in camera, it has most of Samsung's other high end extras. One of the coolest is compatibility with the One Connect system, allowing upgrades via optional boxes in the future. I love this year's motion-enabled remote which commands the most capable Smart TV system around, complete with voice recognition and more apps than ever. Unlike some 4K sets, you also get 3D with four pairs of glasses included. The 8550's picture quality was excellent in our test, making it one of the best 4K TVs of the year. Its local dimming backlight allows it to achieve deep black levels we look for in a good TV, making the image really pop. I also appreciated the accurate color and versatile video processing options. One misstep was below par 3D performance but few viewers watch enough 3D to are. As usual with 4K TV it's also very difficult to discern any improval in picture quality due to the extra pixels unless I sat my nose to the screen. Although the price is high the great picture quality could be worth it to people who want to get a 4K TV today. That was a look at Samsung's HU8550, I'm David Katzman for CNET.