The AU8000 is a new budget-friendly television model released by Samsung in 2021. So, is this TV set any good when it comes to displaying videogames on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X as well as other home consoles?
You can find out in this guide from Seeking Tech.
Quick Summary
We don’t recommend the Samsung Crystal AU8000 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series S as it does not come with any HDMI 2.1 ports. It is also missing support for 120 frames per second, 1440p, Dolby Vision and Variable Refresh Rate.
Furthermore, this 4K television set has poor HDR capabilities due to the lack of a wide color gamut in addition to not being able to output acceptable HDR brightness levels.
The only bright spot is that the AU8000 does offer low input lag when you use it game mode settings.
If you are planning to mount the AU8000 to a wall, then you might want to take a look at this guide.
AU8000 Screen Sizes
The AU8000 is available in the following screen size options:
- 43″ (UN43AU8000FXZA)
- 50″ (UN50AU8000FXZA)
- 55″ (UN55AU8000FXZA)
- 60″ (UN60AU8000FXZA)
- 65″ (UN65AU8000FXZA)
- 70″ (UN70AU8000FXZA)
- 75″ (UN75AU8000FXZA)
- 85″ (UN85AU8000FXZA)
Does the AU8000 have any HDMI 2.1 ports?
The Samsung AU8000 does not come with any HDMI 2.1 ports. As a result, you won’t be able to play games at 120 frames per second in 4K on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.
This TV does have three HDMI 2.0 ports as you should be able to play games at 60 frames per second in 1080p and 4K resolutions.
Legacy Consoles Support
For retro consoles that do not use the HDMI input, the AU8000 comes with an antenna input that you can use to connect gaming systems like the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16.
This entry-level television set does not have any inputs for composite or component. So, you need to purchase a HDMI adapter if you want to connect consoles that uses either of those cables. The list includes the PS1, PS2, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast and Xbox.
HDR Features
When it comes to HDR features, the AU8000 supports HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG.
The HDR10 format is used by the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.
On the other hand, the AU8000 does not have a wide color gamut. It also does not support Dolby Vision, a format that is being used by the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.
AU8000’s Game Mode HDR Brightness
For HDR to begin to stand out, we recommend getting a television set that can display at least 500 nits of brightness.
According to tests done by RTINGS, the Samsung AU8000 can only output 304 nits when you are playing a game using the TV’s game mode setting, which is well below our recommended brightness level. It also does not come anywhere close to 500 nits in other scenarios that were tested.
You can find the HDR brightness levels for the AU8000 below (via RTINGS):
- Real Scene Highlight: 304 nits
- HDR Peak 2% Window: 149 nits
- HDR Peak 10% Window: 326 nits
- HDR Peak 25% Window: 325 nits
- HDR Peak 50% Window: 324 nits
- HDR Peak 100% Window: 324 nits
- HDR Sustained 2% Window: 147 nits
- HDR Sustained 10% Window: 325 nits
- HDR Sustained 25% Window: 324 nits
- HDR Sustained 50% Window: 324 nits
- HDR Sustained 100% Window: 324 nits
- HDR ABL: 0.054
Adaptive Sync Support
The AU8000 does not support FreeSync, GYSNC or Variable Refresh Rate. The latter, which is also referred to as VRR, is used by the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X to eliminate screen tearing and stutters when playing a videogame that does not have a stable frame rate. The PS5 should also get VRR support is a future firmware update for Sony’s home console.
AU8000’s Input Lag
When you used AU8000’s game mode settings, you will get very low input lag at 1080p and 4K.
If you want a responsive experience when playing a game, then you should get a television that feature input lag of less than 30 ms.
This Samsung entry level TV was able to achieve this quiet easily, according to RTINGS.com, as it is below 12 ms when you use its game mode.
You can find the input lag test results below (via RTINGS):
- 1080p resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate (Game Mode Enabled): 10.9 ms
- 4K resolution and 60 Hz at 4:4:4: 11.0 ms
- 4K resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate (Game Mode Enabled): 11.1 ms
- 4K resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate + 10-bit HDR (Game Mode Enabled): 10.9 ms
- 1080p resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate (Game Mode Disabled): 18.0 ms
- 4K resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate (Game Mode Disabled): 18.1 ms
- 4K resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate with Interpolation: 34.8 ms
Is the AU8000 good for PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S?
The Samsung AU8000 is not a good television set for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S. This TV lacks HDMI 2.1 ports in addition to not supporting 120 frames per second, 1440p, Dolby Vision or Variable Refresh Rate.
Furthermore, the HDR output is quite poor with the lack of a wide color gamut in addition to low HDR brightness levels.
Is the AU8000 good for Switch, PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X?
The one real positive of the AU8000 is the low input lag when you used its game mode. So, this should be a fine television set for older HDMI consoles such as the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
As we stated above, the AU8000 has poor HDR capabilities. So, we don’t recommend this TV when playing HDR-supported games on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One S and Xbox One X.