Samsung DU8002 (IPS) vs LG NANO81A / NANO80A

The HDR effect on the DU8002 television leaves much to be desired. A brightness level of 300 nits is unable to provide a true high dynamic range experience, making the content viewed resemble more standard SDR than impressive HDR. Scenes that should dazzle with brilliance and detail appear muted and lack depth. Nevertheless, the television deserves praise for its high coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette at 92%. This allows for vibrant and saturated colours, which may please viewers who prefer rich tones, even if the HDR effect does not fully meet expectations.

If you're hoping that HDR on the NANO81A will bring tears to your eyes, I have to disappoint you. This TV is just too dark to show what this format is really about. With a brightness of only 250 nits, HDR really only exists on paper here. In practice, during viewing, it's very hard to tell whether we're watching material in high dynamic range or regular SDR – it simply lacks that “punch” of light in the bright parts of the image. But, to balance out the criticism, we do have one light at the end of the tunnel – and quite a distinct one at that. It's about colour gamut coverage. Here, the NanoCell filter shows that it's not just marketing nonsense. Our measurements indicated that the coverage of the DCI-P3 space is around 88%. That's a really solid result, placing this model significantly above typical budget models based on regular white LEDs without any filters. Of course, it still lags a bit behind QLED TVs or advanced panels with PFS filters, but for this price range, the colours are surprisingly saturated and vibrant. It’s just a shame that this low brightness doesn't allow them to fully “spread their wings” with the Nano filter.

DU8002 offers a Filmmaker mode, which is supposed to provide authentic image reproduction in line with the creators' intentions. Unfortunately, despite its promising name, the effects are far from ideal. The white balance in this mode shows significant drops in blue colour, leading to a noticeable yellowing of the image, as seen in our comparison photo. Colour Checker tests confirm these errors. Regarding brightness, the gamma characteristic is too low compared to the reference line of 2.4, resulting in excessive screen brightness. A similar problem occurs with 4K content – the EOTF responsible for brightness in 4K materials shows significant increases above the reference line, leading to overly bright small light elements. As a result, the Filmmaker mode in DU8002 does not meet expectations and instead of providing high quality, presents an image full of tonal and colour inaccuracies.

For every film fan, the natural choice in LG televisions is the Filmmaker Mode. It is designed to show the image as the director intended – without unnecessary "enhancements". Unfortunately, in the case of our test unit NANO81A, the factory settings left a bit to be desired. The main issue turned out to be the white balance. Measurements revealed a distinct deficiency of blue, which in practice meant that many scenes had a slightly yellowish, even "yellowed" tint. The white wasn’t perfectly clean, which took away the freshness of the image. Additionally, the brightness management wasn't perfect either – the factory-set gamma was too low. The image often appeared oversaturated, as if it had been pulled too much from the shadows, which detracted from its naturalness and depth. Fortunately, LG, even in this relatively low price range, does not block access to advanced settings. The calibration options for this model are extensive, which is a significant plus for those who enjoy "fiddling" in the menu. We decided to approach the matter our way and see how much we could squeeze out of this panel with professional calibration.

Samsung is one of those companies that offers advanced tools to enhance picture quality in its televisions, including a 20-point white balance adjustment. Even in the budget model DU8002, after proper adjustments, surprisingly good results can be achieved. The white balance, especially for HD content, performs really well – tests on the Colour Checker palette confirm accuracy levels of 2–1.5, which indicates the significant capabilities of this television in colour reproduction. In 4K content, although not as perfect as in lower quality material, the overall picture looks much better.

The gamma brightness has also been significantly adjusted, meaning the image is not overly brightened and appears more natural. What about the EOTF curve? At first glance, it seems fine, but upon closer inspection, especially in film tests, it's clear that the television struggles due to its low-contrast panel. And the EOTF drops below the reference line. Nevertheless, the DU8002 is an example of a budget model where investing in calibration is worthwhile. Although construction flaws, such as the type of backlighting, cannot be completely eliminated, colour accuracy is surprisingly good, especially considering its price.

After calibration, the NANO81A is a completely different television. What LG offers in terms of image enhancement tools, even in such an affordable model, deserves major credit. We were able to completely eliminate that annoying yellowing of whites and make the colours natural, vibrant, and simply "real". In SDR content (i.e., regular television, YouTube, or older films), the picture now looks miles better – it’s clean, well-balanced, and no longer strains the eyes with strange hues. It’s clear that this panel has significant potential, which is simply wasted out of the box due to poor presets. However, we have one serious reservation that calibration cannot fully overcome – it's about brightness management in HDR mode. The LG algorithm in this model is very conservative. The TV deliberately dims the HDR image to avoid clipping the already weak blacks of the IPS panel. The developers faced a choice: either provide more light and accept that black would become light grey, or dial down the brightness to maintain any contrast. They chose the latter. Despite this, after our adjustments, watching anything on the NANO81 is considerably better.

Smoothing tonal transitions on the DU8002 television leaves mixed feelings. Although the menu has an option for smoothing tonal transitions, in practice it yields no results and can even generate unwanted side effects.

Nonetheless, the television handles upscaling, or digital image processing, exceptionally well. The test pattern with the model looked really good – the image isn't overly jagged, and the overall presentation is decent and pleasing to the eye. This is definitely good news for those planning to watch traditional television on this model.

It often happens that cheap 4K panels ruthlessly expose all the "dirty laundry" and imperfections in lower resolution materials. However, with the LG NANO81A, the situation is completely different. It's a really solid performer when it comes to handling content that's far from ideal. The built-in processor does a great job with upscaling. Even older recordings look quite decent on this screen – the image is coherent, cleaned of digital noise, and simply pleasant to the eye. A big plus is the gradation reduction feature, which you can find in the settings. It is exceptionally effective in combating colour banding, which is a godsend when watching low bitrate materials, such as from some streaming services or older files from the web. However, it is worth maintaining a certain vigilance. Since we are dealing with a less powerful chip than in LG's top models, too aggressive a setting for this option can sometimes result in minor artifacts or slight blurring of details. Despite this risk, I definitely encourage experimentation with this feature – in many cases, it can save the viewing experience and make low-quality material fully watchable.

The DU8002 with a 60 Hz panel is a television that performs better for watching movies than for intense gaming. The motion smoothing feature acts as a fluid enhancer, smoothing out movement and giving scenes a more fluid appearance, which is useful for movie sessions. In the context of gaming, this model is likely only suitable for occasional entertainment.

In terms of motion fluidity, the NANO81A unfortunately has a bit of a hurdle. The television is based on a panel with a refresh rate of 60Hz. If you're looking for perfect sharpness in dynamic football matches or fast-paced action games, you might feel somewhat dissatisfied. With such a low native refresh rate, fast objects on the screen will always be a bit blurry.

DU8002 is a television that is mainly suited for casual gamers. The 60 Hz panel won't provide the highest motion fluidity, so in dynamic games, you might miss that extra smoothness of the image. On the plus side, it has ALLM and HGiG functions, which automatically adjust the picture settings for HDR games, enhancing the gaming experience. Unfortunately, the TV only comes with HDMI 2.0 ports, so we have to forget about more advanced features like VRR or support for 4K at 120 Hz. Choosing this equipment means we will have to make do without a full set of gaming features.

NANO81A is unfortunately not a device designed with esports in mind. The lack of 120 Hz signal support is a fact that users planning to purchase this model simply have to accept. Nevertheless, LG’s engineers have worked hard to squeeze the maximum potential from this 60 Hz panel, offering a set of features that genuinely improve gaming comfort. First and foremost, the television supports VRR technology (in the range of 48–60 Hz) and ALLM. This ensures that the image remains stable and does not "tear," and the device automatically switches to low latency mode as soon as it detects a signal from a console. Managing these settings is extremely simple thanks to a dedicated system overlay that allows for a quick preview of parameters without leaving the game. A very significant advantage is support for the HGiG format. This solution is crucial for owners of modern consoles, as it allows the television to correctly "understand" the intentions of game developers regarding HDR tone mapping. In practice, this helps avoid the effect of "blown-out" bright spots, such as clouds or light sources, which is unfortunately a common issue in budget LCD televisions.