SAMSUNG Electronics SEK-3500U/ZA Evolution Kit

Connected to a 2013 UN65F9000.Upgrades:•Tizen Operating System•Overall noticeable picture quality improvement on all sources•Near 4K quality w/ Blu-Ray•Near 4K quality w/ DirecTV•YouTube 4KNearly all positives regarding the 2015 Evolution Kit upgrade. All video sources display a noticeably cleaner, higher quality picture. Kit was easy to install. Only negative: TV settings weren't saved despite utilizing UHD Evolution Kit Backup feature as instructed.•YouTube -App now displays in 4K. Spectacular quality from true 4K sources!•DirecTV -Its upconverted 1080i/1080p picture has never looked purer - nearly free of any minor pixelation or artifacts. NFL Football has never looked more detailed. Outstanding! Limited 4K UHD content looks spectacular, especially demos!•Samsung UHD Video Pack -4K content is top notch! Downloaded M-GO UHD HDR movies looked pristine, especially Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.•Blu-Ray discs -Playback quality is even more enhanced, near 4K quality.•4K camcorder videos-I own a 4K camcorder. Videos played via USB look richer, deeper, more detailed than ever.Must have apps w/ 4K content:•YouTube 4K -Free 4K content galore! Nature, concerts, demos, long running videos, etc.•UltraFlix -Largest selection of 4K rentals; movies, documentaries, sports, concerts, etc.•M-GO -4K UHD movies for rent and purchase w/ VIDITY download (via Samsung UHD Video Pack).•Netflix -4K original series, movies and nature features.•Amazon Video -4K original series and 4K movies and nature features.•DirecTV 4K UHD -A limited number of content for rent, plus a few free demos.A 4K UHDTV is a sizable investment. In order to maintain the best possible picture quality and latest technology, $399 for a SEK-3500U Evolution Kit with visually noticeable improvements is a worthwhile upgrade. No disappointments at all, just better overall quality and peak performance!

The unit was great with the improvement in the picture. The main problem appears to be the Smart TV portion of the module. With 2 different units and Samsung techs working online over 2 different days they couldn't get the Smart TV portion to work correctly. That is why I returned both units and also notified Samsung tech support. Some of the functions that worked great with the original one connect box, ie, STB control via the TV remote also wouldn't work correctly. I returned to my old one connect box and everything worked great once again.

Yeesh, frustrating.Wish Samsung thought this out through their product line.Installation was awful, followed instructions, even watched a few Youtube vids on how to do it. Was hoping I could get the latest codecs and support, that's why I took the plunge.Followed instructions per the letter, when it came to load my saved settings, went through the proscribed process, then, the screen started to dim and dim and dim to the point where I couldn't see the progress of the update process. Was thinking I just needed to wait, after a good 30min, decided to call support. Chat support had me unplug the TV, wait and plug it back in.Picture came back, but NONE of my settings transferred over. Had to re-enter my wifi, even that took multiple tries, re-enter my netflix, vudu, amazon...etc... user info. Lost my bookmarks, will have to recreate those as well.So after going through all that, was it worth it? Well, I'm a stickler for blacks, when you have a rounded value range the picture looks great. And I have to admit, I do notice an improvement in color depth and in the blacks.Watched a 3-d movie to see improvement, and the broader value range did seem to make things pop out.Would I recommend this product? Well, be cautioned, your setup compared to mine may be quite different depending on the TV you have. Would I buy it again? Sort of undecided, I do notice improvement, but Samsung needs to get their **it together if they're going this route.

I had purchased the SEK-2500 last year and was slightly disappointed given what I got for the cost however I just received the SEK-3500 and was very impressed with the updates/improvements. Maybe I had just messed with the picture settings too much with last year's model but I thought the picture quality was drastically improved with the SEK-3500. That said, my previous picture settings did not carry over during the backup process but maybe that's a good thing since this is not my area of expertise - I just love a great picture and seem to have a significantly improved picture than previously. I had that "wow factor" again that I had when I originally purchased the TV. The only reason for not giving it 5 stars is because some of the features that I have previously adjusted are grayed out and I can't figure out why. Also, I don't use many of the smart features so I can't comment on those but I don't love the new user interface.BTW - I have a UN65F9000 if it is at all helpful.