Dreame Q100 vs LG OLED C6 (WOLED)

The Dreame Q100 is unfortunately too simple, and above all too dim, to really deliver a true HDR effect. Our measured peak brightness reaches at most around 300 nits, which is definitely too low for bright parts of the image to really "hit" you with light. In fact, this is a level we more often associate with SDR material than with HDR. It therefore lacks the brightness headroom offered by more expensive TVs, which makes highlights, reflections and the sun look noticeably more impressive.

HDR colours

Fortunately the Q100 makes up for some of that elsewhere. The manufacturer markets it as a QLED TV, although in practice a PFS filter is responsible for widening the colour palette. Our measurements show coverage of about 92% of DCI-P3 and around 67% of BT.2020. These are not top-tier numbers, but still clearly better than basic LCD TVs without an extra layer to expand the gamut. That means HDR material can at least offer more saturated and varied colours, even if the brightness alone does not yet allow you to speak of a fully convincing HDR effect.

The HDR performance of the LG C6 is really very good. LG Display’s new WOLED panel has mainly brought a significant increase in brightness. In our unit we measured around 1500 nits and, importantly, the TV can show similar values in many normal movie scenes as well. That gives HDR real punch. Bright highlights, lamps and sunlight can be genuinely intense, and most HDR movies simply look very impressive. Of course it’s still an OLED, so brightness falls in scenes with a lot of white. The fifth scene from the movie The Meg illustrates this well, where the C6 reached around 600 to 700 nits. That’s still a very good result, but it also shows the new panel hasn’t shed all the limitations typical of OLEDs.

Colours

When it comes to colours, it’s also hard to raise major objections. The C6 covers about 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut and roughly 75% of BT.2020. In practice colours are very saturated and, importantly, stable regardless of the scene. That’s worth emphasising, because not every TV behaves the same in this respect. In some RGB Mini LED models colour saturation can depend more strongly on image brightness. A wider colour gamut today is mainly offered by QD-OLED TVs and new SQD models with a new generation of quantum dots. However, the C6 still performs very strongly here and is able to produce suitably saturated colours in most movie scenes.

For testing we chose the "Film" mode and we think it’s by far the best of the available presets. There are none of the heavily boosted, unnatural colours you see in Vivid/Dynamic mode. The picture looks quite reasonable straight away, although it falls short of perfect. In SDR material the most noticeable issue was a slight warming of the image. The white balance had too much red, which made whites lean towards a warmer tint, and a similar cast was visible in the greys. In HDR the situation was a little different. Here blue had a slight advantage, making the image a touch cooler. These are not major faults. For such an inexpensive TV the factory settings on our unit were pretty decent, and the "Film" mode already delivers a relatively natural picture without much fiddling with the settings.

Right out of the box the LG C6 is quite well set up, especially if you choose the Filmmaker mode. In SDR material the white balance is decent, although as brightness increases there is a slight lack of red. The image becomes a bit cooler, but not enough for it to be very noticeable during normal viewing. More is happening in the brightness characteristic. Gamma is a little low and instead of holding at 2.4, for a large part of the range it sits closer to 2.1–2.2. In practice the C6 slightly brightens midtones. Shadows are therefore more readable, but the image loses some depth compared with how it should look in a darkened room.

In HDR the situation is a bit more interesting. The start of the greyscale looks very good, but from about 20–30% brightness the white balance starts to drift increasingly. As brightness rises there is more red and a noticeable lack of blue. In the brightest sections the difference is already significant and also affects the reproduction of some colours. The EOTF curve itself is followed quite well through most of the range. The C6 only tends to slightly brighten the image, which we also saw in our film comparisons. The largest deviation appears around the brightest parts, where the TV starts adapting the signal to the panel's capabilities.

The factory Filmmaker setting in HDR is therefore not perfect, but overall performs well. The biggest area for improvement is the white balance, especially at high brightness.

Contrary to appearances, the Dreame Q100 is actually quite well prepared for picture calibration. The menu contains plenty of advanced picture settings that allow fairly precise adjustment of its characteristics. In our case the white balance required the most work, both in SDR and HDR. After correction SDR material looked very good. We managed to achieve an almost neutral white balance and natural colours, with the main limitation remaining the black level itself, stemming from the panel design and the lack of local dimming.

In HDR we were also able to improve white balance and colour reproduction, but here the TV’s electronics reveal their limitations more quickly. Even after very precise EOTF curve adjustment, the Q100 doesn't always stick to it properly during real-world scenes. In some content it can also brighten the image, making some parts look brighter than they should, and some detail in bright areas can be lost as a result.

LG TVs have long responded very well to calibration, and the C6 is no exception. After adjustments we managed to set the white balance practically perfectly, and most colour errors fell below 3, often down to around 2. In practice this means very accurate colour reproduction in both SDR and HDR. An interesting detail only appeared with the HDR brightness response. On a classic EOTF chart everything looks almost perfect and at first glance it would be hard to find fault. Only when we measured the TV’s behaviour using filters based on real film scenes did it become clear that the C6 has a slight tendency to artificially boost image brightness.

It’s not a huge difference and many viewers may even see it as a positive, because HDR looks a bit more striking as a result. From the point of view of fidelity to the source material, however, it’s not ideal — some scenes are simply a touch brighter than the filmmaker intended. Interestingly, this is rather unusual for LG. In previous generations the brand’s TVs typically held very closely to the reference picture curve after calibration. The C6 is still very close to the standard, but that subtle brightness 'boost' can indeed be noticed in films and TV series.

The weakest point of the Dreame Q100 is its digital image processing. The processor used does a fairly average job of improving weaker material, and the menu offers no function that effectively smooths ugly tonal transitions or reduces visible posterisation. The upscaling itself is also unimpressive. With low-resolution material the image is rather soft and lacks better reproduction of fine detail. Additionally, the Q100 tends to overscan, meaning it slightly crops the edges of the image with very poor sources, for example 480p material. In everyday viewing of HD or 4K content this won’t be a major issue, but with older recordings the processor’s limitations are clearly visible.

Here the LG C6 has taken a really big step forward. The TV uses the same processor found in the flagship G6, and in terms of image processing the two models are very close. That's a big plus, because in this area LG's processor this year performs excellently. The "Smooth Gradation" function works particularly well. With heavily compressed material it can effectively hide ugly tonal banding and artefacts that often appear, for example, in lower-quality streaming. It's best to leave it on the "Low" setting. Then the improvement is clear, and the TV doesn't yet start blurring fine detail. Higher levels smooth the image more aggressively, but can already remove some of the natural texture of objects on screen. Upscaling itself also performs very well. Lower-resolution content is properly sharpened, edges look clean, and the processor quite effectively reconstructs fine details. In that respect the C6 is really close to LG's best TVs and the differences compared with the G6 are small.

The VA panel in the Dreame Q100 has a native refresh rate of 60 Hz, so right from the start it's not a television built for the most demanding sports fans or gamers. The manufacturer does note the option to run at 120 Hz and that mode is indeed available, but it's primarily intended for a gaming mode. In everyday use the Q100 should therefore be treated as a standard 60 Hz TV. That means less smooth motion during fast sports broadcasts or quick gameplay than in models with 120 Hz or higher panels. One positive is the panel's response time. The VA panel doesn't smear excessively, so motion stays fairly clear and doesn't leave strong, blurred trails behind objects. For films we can also use a simple motion smoothing system. The manufacturer has prepared several presets that help reduce the characteristic judder in material shot at 24 frames per second.

The LG C6 features a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, which is great news especially for gamers using a powerful PC. For movies, sport and consoles we’ll of course be limited to 120 Hz at most, but even then it’s hard to fault the motion clarity. As you’d expect from an OLED, the panel’s response time is near-instant. Moving objects therefore don’t leave the characteristic smearing you still see on LCD TVs. This is especially noticeable in sport and fast-paced games, where the picture remains very clean even during dynamic movement.

For movies and TV, LG has also included a motion smoothing system called TruMotion. In the user settings you’ll find two separate sliders. De-Judder is primarily for low-frame-rate material, namely movies and TV series at 24 fps. You can use it to slightly reduce the characteristic judder or increase it if you prefer a much smoother picture. De-Blur, on the other hand, is useful for higher-frame-rate content, mainly sports broadcasts and 50/60 fps TV.

Dreame Q100 is not strictly a gaming device, but for console use it offers a pretty sensible package. You get VRR to eliminate screen tearing and ALLM, which automatically switches the TV to a low-latency mode when it detects a console signal. An interesting compromise is support for 120 Hz. The panel won't reach that refresh rate in 4K, but drop to 1080p and you can play at 120 frames per second. If a title prioritises smoothness over resolution (and the game offers such a mode), it's worth using. It also includes a handy Game Bar that lets you quickly change screen settings, switch the refresh mode or add a virtual crosshair. The HGiG implementation is a bit weak, but credit is due for Dolby Vision Gaming support on Xbox Series X and S. This isn't a panel for tech purists, but for casual console gaming, especially when trading 4K for smoother Full HD, it performs very well.

LG has long focused heavily on gamers, and the C6 essentially lacks nothing important. The TV supports 4K at 120 Hz from consoles, and when connected to a PC it can even run at 165 Hz. On top of that there’s VRR from 40 to 165 Hz, ALLM and a properly functioning HGiG. Another big plus is support for Dolby Vision in games, so the Xbox Series X can use that format without giving up game mode. The package is rounded out by the Game Bar, which lets you quickly check key signal parameters and change settings without leaving your game. In terms of features alone, the C6 is one of those TVs it’s really hard to fault. Whether you play on PlayStation, Xbox or PC, practically everything you could expect from a modern gaming TV is available here.