LG UT8100 (IPS) vs Haier K85F

The LG UT8100 television unfortunately does not meet expectations in the HDR effect category. A peak brightness of only 300 nits on the luminance chart is well below the required value to fully enjoy HDR effects. In practice, the image resembles SDR quality more than true HDR, which is particularly evident in demanding high-contrast scenes. The coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette is only 82%, which further limits the ability to present vibrant and rich colours. Instead of impressive visual experiences, we receive a muted and washed-out image. For those looking for a television to fully utilise HDR content, the LG UT8100 model turns out to be quite disappointing.

Let’s now move on to one of the hottest topics in the world of televisions, which is the quality of HDR performance. In the case of the Haier K85F model, we unfortunately have to make it clear: if you’re looking for equipment to watch content in a wide dynamic range, you should steer clear of this model. The main issue is its very low peak brightness, which during our tests barely reached 250 nits. To give you a better idea of what that means – this level is fine for watching standard SDR content, but it’s absolutely insufficient to show any real benefits of HDR. The image simply doesn’t have the "power" to generate bright, striking highlights. All of our measurements and tests on specialised test patterns confirmed this. As if that wasn’t enough, the television also struggles with colour reproduction. In this budget build, there are no technologies that broaden the colour gamut, such as quantum dot layers (marketed as "QLED"). As a result, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space, which is crucial for HDR content, is only around 80%. In practice, this means that the image will not only be dark but also devoid of the vibrant, saturated colours that the director wanted to show us.

The Filmmaker Mode on LG UT8100, while theoretically the best for watching movies, has significant issues. The biggest problem is the white balance – drops in blue cause a noticeable yellowing of the image, visible in both HD and 4K content. These issues are confirmed by measurement results in the Colour Checker test, which indicate significant deviations in colour reproduction.

In terms of brightness characteristics, both HD and 4K content exhibit a large tonal boost. The gamma curve in both cases remains well below the reference value of 2.4, which leads to excessive brightening of darker elements of the image. A similar problem is evident in the EOTF curve – in the case of 4K content, the TV struggles to manage brightness correctly, resulting in issues with screen brightness. This means the factory settings of this model require significant adjustment to achieve better picture quality.

Alright, how does the television handle colours straight out of the box, without any intervention from our side? The Haier K85F offers a whole range of picture modes, such as Dynamic or Eco, but for anyone wanting to watch films according to the creators' intentions, there's essentially only one that matters: Film mode. This is where we focused our tests, and unfortunately, its name has little to do with reality. The picture on factory settings is very far from what we could call cinematic fidelity and requires many adjustments. Let's start with the white balance, which has a clear deficiency of red colour. In practice, this means the entire image has a cool, bluish tint. Even worse is the issue of brightness management, that is, the gamma curves (for SDR) and EOTF (for HDR). Their graph resembles a true rollercoaster, which terribly impacts the viewing experience. This results in unnatural dimming of SDR content, causing details in the shadows to be lost, and in the case of HDR – an excessive brightening that further exacerbates the problem of clipping. Such a combination, which consists of too cool white combined with chaotic brightness and too much blue colour saturation, leads to enormous errors in colour reproduction. Our measurements on a specialist ColourChecker chart showed errors (Delta E) regularly reaching and exceeding values of 8-9. To put it simply: errors above the threshold of 3 are easily noticeable to the naked eye, so such a result means that the colours on the screen are simply heavily distorted.

After calibrating the Filmmaker Mode, the gamma has been aligned to practically perfect, reference values, which has significantly improved the overall tonal characteristics in HD content. 4K HDR content also looks better, although some issues are still visible at the extreme ends of the graph, where the curve deviates from the ideal. The EOTF curve performs worse since the TV struggles to maintain the correct brightness values. As a result, the image in some scenes may be too bright or slightly dim, which stems from the device’s design. Nevertheless, the calibration brought significant improvement, particularly for HD content, where the tonal balance and colour reproduction are now at a much higher level.

No good, but can anything be done about this picture? Is professional calibration able to save the situation? The answer is both yes and no. It needs to be said clearly that there are certain things we cannot overcome. The limitations of the construction itself, namely a poor panel and its narrow colour coverage, mean that you can forget about a sensible HDR effect – we won't be pulling the wool over your eyes on that. The biggest beneficiary of our adjustments is undoubtedly the SDR mode, and it is for watching such content, after calibration, that this television starts to make sense. We managed to tame the white balance in our own way. Although the television only offers basic, 2-point adjustment (rather than precise, 20-point), it's not perfect, but we successfully eliminated that unpleasant, cold "chill" in the picture. Above all, though, we noted a huge improvement in brightness management. The gamma curve, which previously resembled a rollercoaster, looks like an almost perfectly straight line after calibration. This is a sign that the television can finally display an image without artificially dimming or brightening it. The conclusion is simple: even with such a cheap television, professional setting correction can achieve a great deal and extract the maximum potential from it.

The fluidity of tonal transitions is also correct, although the effect depends on the settings. The update improved the operation of the smooth gradation function, smoothing transitions better than before, but introduced minor issues with detail loss, e.g. on textures.

Image scaling on LG UT8100 performs very well. The image presents itself decently, with no major issues regarding edge aliasing. Details are preserved at a satisfactory level, making materials of lower resolution look really solid on this television. As a result, users can enjoy watching older content without any noticeable defects in quality.

Let’s move on to digital processing and image scaling, specifically how the Haier K85F handles lower resolution signals, such as from regular television. Right off the bat, we encounter an incredibly annoying and completely incomprehensible issue – the overscan is enabled by default. This means the television artificially enlarges the image, cutting off its edges on every source, even 1080p. To see the full frame, you have to dig into the screen settings each time and manually switch the format to "stretch to 16:9." It's a minor detail, but devilishly frustrating. The scaling of content to 4K resolution can be described in one word: acceptable. And that's about it. The image processor doesn't strip detail from the image, nor does it generate jagged edges or other artifacts. It simply does its job, without any bells and whistles. It’s alright, but nothing more. The most significant and noticeable shortcoming in the digital processing section is, however, the absence of a tone transition smoothing feature. This is an algorithm that could significantly reduce the annoying banding effect we mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not foresee such a solution, condemning us to watch the imperfections of the panel and low-quality material in all their glory.

LG UT8100, equipped with a 60 Hz panel, is particularly suited for those watching movies. The television offers the TruMotion system with a de-judder effect adjustment, which allows users to tailor the smoothness of the picture – from more choppy to exceptionally smooth, resembling a soap opera effect, depending on user preferences.

The panel in the K85F model operates at a native refresh rate of 60 Hz, which sets certain expectations for image smoothness right from the start. However, we must admit that we were very positively surprised when we found two separate motion control sliders in the settings menu: one labelled "Motion Blur Reduction" and the other "De-Judder." Such generosity in this price segment is an absolute rarity, as manufacturers usually offer at most one shared option. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm faded as quickly as it appeared. It soon became clear why Haier was so "generous" – the slider responsible for reducing motion blur is simply a decoy. Sliding it makes absolutely no visible difference on the screen, so only one of the two options works.

LG UT8100 offers basic features for gamers, such as ALLM and Game Bar, which makes it easier to access settings. The TV also supports HGiG, improving picture quality in HDR games. Unfortunately, the lack of support for Dolby Vision and VRR limits the device's capabilities, as does the 60 Hz panel, which excludes support for 120 Hz resolution. This model is more suited for less demanding gaming applications.

Let’s move on to the features for gamers, although we must point out straight away that this is more of a proposal for the "occasional" ones. The manufacturer does boast in the specifications about having HDMI 2.1 ports, which looks impressive on paper, but in reality, it’s largely a marketing ploy. What good is a modern port when the heart of the television is a panel with a refresh rate of 60 Hz? It physically cannot display a signal at 120 frames per second, even at lower resolutions, which takes away HDMI 2.1’s key advantage. What a shame. (That’s why in our tests we note this as HDMI 2.0 ports). Another odd issue is the TV's response to an attempt to calibrate HDR from the console. Changes to brightness settings result in very unnatural image behaviour, which could suggest incorrect implementation of the HGiG standard. To be honest, one shouldn’t worry too much about this, as we have repeatedly mentioned, we simply do not recommend using any HDR content on this screen. However, to counterbalance the negatives, the Haier K85F does have two big and unexpected advantages. The first is the presence of ALLM, or automatic game mode, which switches the TV to low latency mode as soon as it detects a connected console. The second, even bigger surprise, is support for VRR, or variable refresh rate. While it operates within a very modest range of 48-60 Hz, its mere presence is commendable. Thanks to this, the image in games can “tear” less, which realistically improves the gaming experience.