LG NANO82T6B vs Dreame S100

The brightness of NANO82T, to be honest, is quite average, especially when compared to alternatives in a similar price range. With a maximum brightness of around 280 nits, it is not among the highest and may affect the overall viewing experience of HDR content. While many TVs in this price class offer brightness above 400-500 nits, LG NANO82T may seem less impressive. As a result, details in bright areas of the image may be less distinct, and the HDR effect is not as spectacular as one might expect.

The Dreame S100 is a relatively bright television. In movie mode, the brightness we measured reached around 600 nits. This is a really good result, although not the highest considering the competition in this price range. In full-screen scenes, it's clear that the television can generate an image that hits the mark in terms of brightness. Unfortunately, when more complex scenes appeared on the screen, the local dimming algorithm in this model tried above all to maintain the deepest blacks. However, this came at the expense of the HDR effect – and in a drastic way. In such scenes, the brightness of the bright elements fell below 100 nits, which is a downright tragic result, far from any HDR effect. This aspect can be improved, but there are caveats. You just need to change the local dimming setting in the television's menu; however, then the blacks in such scenes simply turn grey. It's a pity that Dreame wasn't able to refine the local dimming algorithms better, and the S100 is another example that the number of local dimming zones doesn't always translate into a better picture. As a consolation, it's worth noting that the Dreame S100 is marketed as a 'QLED' type television, although it actually uses a PFS LED filter. As a result, the colours are appropriately saturated, and our measured DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage exceeded 94%.

The colour reproduction in LG NANO82T in Filmmaker mode, which is the best mode available from the factory settings, is not without its flaws. The primary issue is the white balance, where the graph shows dips in the blue colour level. This phenomenon results in a shift of colours towards yellow shades, causing the image to appear warmer than it should. Such deviation means that the colours on the screen are not naturally reproduced, which can be particularly noticeable in scenes with white or neutral backgrounds. For example, the image below from the movie "Star Wars," where there are a lot of elements that should be white. The Color Checker test confirms that some colours are "shifting" into other shades, indicating that the TV does not display colours accurately.

In terms of contrast, the gamma graph analysis showed drops to a level of 2.1, while the optimal value should be 2.4. This means that the TV might display darker areas of the image brighter in certain scenes, reducing their depth and dynamism. Additionally, on the EOTF curve, which is responsible for brightness reproduction, a slight spike was noticed at the beginning. This phenomenon may result in excessive boosting of brightness in the brightest parts of the image, leading to a loss of detail in very bright scenes.

We tested the Dreame S100 in "movie" mode and definitely recommend using this setting for watching all kinds of content. Interestingly, in the deeper settings of the TV, we also find a dedicated "Filmmaker" mode, which is now available from almost every manufacturer. However, in the case of the Dreame S100, we do not recommend using it – it blocks all settings related to the picture and does not allow for any configuration in the menu - not even a motion smoother. So how do the factory colours fare in the S100? Not too bad, but not great either. The TV itself had a noticeable blue tint, which is clearly evident in our white balance measurements. As a result, the picture was artificially brightened, and the colours had a slight bluish tint. This is also confirmed by the Color Checker palette, which showed how the colour samples leaned towards blue, generating quite significant colour errors. On the other hand, the picture looked definitely better in HDR mode, where the colour errors were not as prominent, although they were still far from ideal. Here, the white balance was also too heavily skewed towards blue, causing quite significant errors in color reproduction.

After calibration, the colour reproduction in SDR content on LG NANO82T is very good. The white balance has been effectively improved, resulting in natural and balanced hues across various scenes. The gamma has also been adjusted, providing more precise detail representation in both shadow and highlight areas of the image. Thanks to these corrections, the television performs excellently in everyday use, offering solid colour quality and clear, well-balanced images in SDR mode.

However, in the case of HDR content, the situation is not as good. The television does not support a wide colour gamut, limiting the depth and richness of colours that HDR can offer. The EOTF curve diverges from the ideal, leading to excessive highlighting of details in the bright areas of the image. Unfortunately, this approach results in significant colour reproduction errors, as confirmed by tests on Colour Checker. The low brightness level of the panel further negatively impacts HDR image quality, causing the dynamic range effects to not be fully realised, and colours appear washed out.

The television significantly improved after calibration, especially in SDR content. The improvement in white balance and gamma has greatly enhanced image quality, providing a more natural and consistent colour reproduction. Compared to the state before calibration, the difference is clear, and the television now offers better performance in daily use, particularly in standard dynamic range.

The Dreame S100 has proven to be a device very amenable to professional calibration. In its menu, we found a plethora of advanced options that allowed us to effectively correct factory errors. Thanks to the advanced white balance correction – both in SDR and HDR content – we completely eliminated excess blue components. The image instantly became much more natural and pleasant to view. After fully tuning the colours, the errors in the Color Checker test dropped below a Delta E value of 2-3. For the average viewer, this means that any colour distortions became almost impossible to see with the naked eye. It's really a nice surprise, as often new brands in the TV market have significant problems with the correct implementation and functioning of sliders in the calibration menu. Here, everything worked as it should. The only thing we need to criticise is the way the TV manages its brightness in HDR. Due to the specific nature of the local dimming algorithms, our measured EOTF curve shows anomalies. In places where high highlights should appear, there is a slight bump in the curve above the reference line. In practice, this results in unnatural brightening of certain, the brightest elements in movies or games. Despite this minor flaw, professional calibration brings a huge, very positive change to this model.

If it comes to gradation in very low-quality materials, LG NANO82T gives us the option of a feature called "Smooth Gradation". In the "Low" setting, this feature slightly improves the most problematic tonal transitions, which is noticeable and useful for such content. In the "High" setting, it works even more effectively, enhancing tonal transitions, but at the cost of smoothing out details that shouldn't be smoothed. This is a compromise that not all users will appreciate.

When it comes to image scaling, NANO82T is not without certain limitations, particularly when playing content at lower resolutions. The television applies a gentle, artificial sharpness boost, making the image appear sharper. This effect mainly results from the overlay of artificial contours. For some users, this may be beneficial, as they prefer more pronounced and highlighted details. However, for those who value the naturalness of the image, this effect may be less attractive and too artificial. It’s a subjective issue that can impact viewers differently, depending on their visual preferences.

For scaling and digital processing in the Dreame S100, the technology used is proudly called Dreamind™ Pro AI by the manufacturer. However, it must be clearly stated that this is not a proprietary processor but rather a marketing term for a chip from MediaTek – specifically, the model MT5889. Unfortunately, we are talking about a rather outdated unit from a time when MediaTek lagged significantly behind the competition in terms of performance. This, unfortunately, has a direct impact on the image, as this chip also handles that. The upscaling in the S100 is fairly average, and the processor has a tendency to artificially over-sharpen edges (fortunately, this can be somewhat tempered with the sharpness slider in the menu). In the options, we also find a feature called "Contour Smoothing," which theoretically is supposed to improve tonal transitions. In practice, it contributes almost no improvement – setting it to any level rarely eliminates visible colour banding, but it can unnecessarily blur elements of the image that should remain sharp.

Another issue is the phenomenon of overscan (cropping the edges of the frame), which is practically visible all the time. Although there is the possibility to set the screen to display the full frame in low-resolution materials, it requires activating the aforementioned Filmmaker mode. And as you may know, this mode completely blocks any changes to other sliders in the picture menu. In our test tables, we noted that the television offers an option to disable overscan, as such a function technically exists in the system – however, in everyday use, while maintaining reasonable picture settings, you will not be able to take advantage of it.

LG televisions, including the NANO82T, offer an interesting motion smoothing feature called TruMotion, which will satisfy most users who value control over the quality of the films they watch. The TruMotion function allows users to adjust the smoothness of the displayed films according to their preferences on a 10-point scale, enabling a personalised visual experience.

However, in the case of more dynamic scenes, such as games or action films, the television performs worse. The 60Hz panel and relatively slow pixel response times mean that motion clarity isn't ideal. The result is noticeable blurring and less smooth playback of fast scenes.

Overall, the LG NANO82T should satisfy those who primarily watch films and prefer more subdued content. However, for those who value dynamic, fast motion, we recommend looking for an alternative.

When it comes to motion fluidity, the Dreame S100 performs really well. It features a 144 Hz refresh rate panel, although in reality, the vast majority of people using it in a conventional way will still be limited to 120 Hz (as this is what today's hardware allows aside from PCs). Thanks to the high refresh rate, the image in motion remains really sharp, largely due to the well-functioning MEMC motion smoother. In the menu, we find predefined modes that enable the TV to efficiently generate artificial frames, which effectively enhances the fluidity of dynamic sports shots, but also helps eliminate motion judder in film and TV series material recorded at 24 frames.

While gaming on the console, LG NANO82T offers a range of features that can significantly impact the gaming experience, though it also has some limitations. Among the advantages, it is worth mentioning the ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) feature, which automatically adjusts picture settings by switching the TV to low latency mode. This is particularly beneficial for gamers who need a quick response to their actions. Another plus is the support for HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), as HDR games are displayed according to the creators' intentions, providing realistic and vivid visual effects. These features make the LG NANO82T offer a good gaming experience, although some aspects could be better, especially in dynamic scenes. Unfortunately, LG NANO82T has its limitations when it comes to gaming features. It lacks support for variable refresh rate (VRR), which can affect the smoothness of gameplay, especially in more dynamic games. The TV has a 60Hz panel, preventing the use of higher refresh rates. This is a significant drawback for gamers who expect smoother gameplay at higher resolutions. Additionally, the lack of G-Sync support limits image synchronization capabilities, which can lead to tearing and stuttering in games.

These shortcomings may mean that the LG NANO82T does not meet the expectations of the most demanding gamers who are looking for advanced features and the highest image smoothness.

The Dreame S100 seems almost like the ideal screen for gamers. The television is equipped with 2 HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 40 Gbps, allowing features such as automatic game mode (ALLM) or VRR frame synchronization in the range of 48-144 Hz to work seamlessly on consoles. On board, we also find a well-designed gaming panel (Game Bar). It allows you to continuously preview the most important parameters - from the activated picture modes, to the number of frames rendered by the console, right through to the option of adding a crosshair in the centre of the screen. All of this looks great on paper; however, the biggest issue with the S100 is its implementation of HDR in games. The television does not have a correctly implemented HGiG format. This means a clueless user may misconfigure the console during the initial setup of the screen. Poor configuration can result in an image that is too dark or overexposed (as a guideline: we suggest setting the brightness in the Xbox console menu to around 600 nits, and in the PS5 to 12 clicks). The Dolby Vision format also proves problematic, as it often did not activate at all on the XBOX – Dreame S100 line. And when it was eventually activated, playing was impossible due to the very high input lag often exceeding 100ms. If the manufacturer manages to improve the HDR gaming experience with an update, the S100 will be truly outstanding hardware for gamers. For now, however, compromises must be accepted.