Samsung U8000F (VA) vs LG QNED80A6A (IPS)

While the U8000F with its VA panel can still be praised for decent blacks, there are no such accolades when it comes to brightness—particularly in HDR scenes. The television only achieves a maximum of just under 250 nits, which is simply too low to talk about any impressive light effects. Bright elements appear washed out, and scenes that should shine look rather flat. An interesting situation occurred during our testing of a scene from the movie Sicario 2— the screen noticeably darkened, as if the television was trying to hide its limitations in displaying blacks. One might get the impression that the device artificially darkens the image to improve contrast, but in practice, the effect doesn't make much difference, apart from the fact that we see less on the screen. Additionally, there’s the issue of colours—the U8000F doesn’t support a wide colour gamut, so one shouldn’t expect vibrant, saturated hues known from better models. The HDR image here resembles a slightly brightened SDR and... maybe that’s not such a bad thing. For this model, it’s not worth expecting a cinematic experience—better to treat HDR as a modest addition.

When it comes to image dynamics and brightness, the QNED80A keeps its feet firmly on the ground. It’s not a "light beast" – during our measurements, peak luminance hovered around 350-400 nits. To put it bluntly: these are values that won't fully unleash the potential of HDR formats. So don’t expect the glare of the sun or car headlights in films to blind you. However, this television has a powerful ace up its sleeve that saves the overall image quality – it's the colours. LG engineers have employed an advanced filtration system (technically based on phosphor PFS, marketed as QNED/NanoCell), which does a fantastic job. Thanks to this, despite average brightness, the screen can generate exceptionally saturated and pure colours. Our instruments showed coverage of the wide cinematic DCI-P3 colour gamut at around 93-94%. This is a result that outclasses most standard LCD televisions. In practice, this means that when watching 4K HDR content, the image – although not very bright – is very vivid, lively, and delights the eye with its depth of colours.

Samsung U8000F has been tested by us in the best picture mode it offers out of the box – that is, Filmmaker Mode. This profile is supposed to theoretically provide a neutral, cinematic image, free of unnecessary enhancements and artificial beautifications. In the case of SDR content – mainly in HD or SD resolution – the television already presented itself surprisingly reasonably right out of the box. The only noticeable imperfection was brightness management. The gamma chart showed some deviations – slight brightening or dimming of certain tones – but in practice, this did not significantly affect the viewing experience. For a television in this segment, it performs quite well.

However, the situation in HDR mode looks significantly weaker. Although white balance was still acceptable, colour errors were very evident. In the Color Checker test, almost every sample was outside the target point, and the image itself appeared unnatural – colours were skewed, sometimes too cool, and at other times simply dull and lifeless. The main issue lies in hardware limitations – the U8000F does not support the wide colour gamut of DCI-P3, so it is physically unable to reproduce the colours that the HDR standard intends. Unfortunately, this is evident in almost every more demanding scene.

Here, regardless of whether you come across the VA or IPS version, the situation looks identical. LG engineers have once again served us their vision of a "gaming look," which unfortunately has little to do with accuracy. When switching to a console, the white balance automatically shifts to very cold regions. The image is dominated by blue, making it seem artificially sharpened, and the white is so aggressive that it almost burns out. This creates an effect we associate with garish retail modes – everything is meant to shine and scream "I’m digital." While some may like this, we must say it bluntly: it is not an accurate image. If you care about naturalness, we suggest you immediately check the settings and change the colour temperature to a warmer one.

Right out of the box, the U8000F offered a pretty decent picture in SDR for its price range. We managed to tweak it a bit further – we reduced a slight purple tint and improved the gamma characteristics, giving it a more natural curve. Despite these adjustments, the TV still has a tendency to overly brighten the brightest details – the gamma chart shows a clear break that cannot be fully corrected.

On the other hand, in HDR mode, it’s noticeably weaker. It's hard to talk about any significant improvement – despite attempts to fine-tune the settings, the picture still presents considerable colour errors. A Delta E exceeding 7 indicates noticeable deviations that we couldn’t effectively reduce. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the construction itself – the U8000F simply wasn't designed for serious HDR. In daily SDR viewing, it performs quite well, but for HDR content... it’s best not to have overly high expectations.

After professional calibration, the QNED80A in the IPS version has changed beyond recognition, especially with "ordinary" content (SDR). We managed to eliminate the greenish tint and calm down the overly bright gamma. In classic television or older games, colour errors (DeltaE) have fallen below the threshold of perception (value < 2). The image is now coherent, natural, and truly pleasing to the eye. The situation is somewhat more complicated in HDR mode. Although the colours are now in place, the TV struggles with perfect brightness control (EOTF curve). Due to the limitations of edge lighting and the rather poor adjustment options provided by LG in this area, the TV's software at times "does what it wants" just to mask the imperfections of black and contrast. However, this is not a cause for concern – despite these technical limitations, the image after calibration is a class above what you saw out of the box.

When it comes to how the Samsung U8000F handles lower-quality materials, we have to admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same place in the lineup. This year’s model is equipped with a feature that improves the smoothness of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the television still uses quite strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but still – it can be confidently said that it works effectively. However, not everything has gone perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slight image stuttering when watching very old content in very low resolution. If someone plans to play their old VHS tape, they must be prepared for the image to look slightly “choppy”.

It often happens that cheap 4K TVs mercilessly expose the flaws of low-resolution materials. Here, it's different. The QNED80A is great equipment for watching content that isn’t perfect. The processor does a great job of scaling the image, making even older recordings look quite decent on the 4K screen – they are consistent and free of digital noise. Interestingly, there’s a gradation reduction feature available in the settings. It’s particularly effective in combating what is known as banding in low-bitrate materials. Of course, you need to approach it with some caution. Due to the lower processing power of the chip (in comparison to the premium series), turning on this option can sometimes result in unwanted artifacts or blurring. Despite this risk, we encourage experimentation, as in many cases this feature can save a viewing of low quality.

The Samsung U8000F comes with a 60 Hz panel, so right from the start, it's clear that you can't expect miracles. It's simply the standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing, but without any fireworks. The TV offers one motion smoothing slider – a function called "Motion Blur Reduction", which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in films. Higher settings provide a more "theatrical" and smoothed effect, while lower settings maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. Interestingly, there is the "LED Clear Motion" feature, or BFI mode – which inserts black frames between the frames of the image to improve motion sharpness. However, in practice, the screen flickers significantly when this is activated, and it's best to treat this as more of an experiment rather than something that genuinely improves the gaming experience.

When it comes to motion reproduction, the QNED80 unfortunately has a bit of a disadvantage. The TV is built on a 60Hz refresh rate panel, which is quite disappointing for the QNED series in 2025. If you're looking for perfect sharpness in dynamic football matches, you might feel a bit let down. The solution in this situation is the TruMotion system. It allows for artificially adding frames, which smooths out the picture in movies and TV shows. In the menu, you'll find a De-Judder slider – we recommend setting it to a value of 2, 3, or 4. This is the "golden mean" that improves fluidity without turning the film into a soap opera.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

Samsung U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which can still prove sufficient for less demanding users. Here we have an automatic gaming mode – when a game is launched on the console, the TV switches to low-latency mode by itself, significantly improving response time. We also find the VRR feature, or variable refresh rate, which operates in the range of 48 to 60 Hz. This means that both Xbox and PS5 will not produce the 'tearing' effect on the screen – as long as we stay within this range.

Unfortunately, that's about it when it comes to advantages. Add-ons like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung from the 2025 line. In theory, the TV also supports the HGiG feature, which should adjust the HDR image to the intentions of game developers. Unfortunately – despite this feature appearing in advertising brochures and store materials – its setup on the Xbox console turned out, in practice, to be... impossible.

In the gaming section, we won't be pulling the wool over your eyes – the QNED80A is not e-sports equipment. The lack of 120Hz signal support is a fact to accept. However, LG's engineers have done everything to squeeze the maximum potential out of this 60Hz panel, providing gamers with a desirable set of features. Above all, the TV supports VRR (in the range of 48-60Hz) and ALLM. This means the image is smooth and doesn't stutter, and the TV automatically switches to low latency mode as soon as you grab the controller. Accessing these options is ridiculously easy thanks to the dedicated system overlay – Game Dashboard. It's also worth appreciating the support for the HGiG format. This is a nod to owners of modern consoles. Even though the screen doesn't support gaming Dolby Vision, HGiG ensures that the TV "understands" how to display games in HDR. This helps avoid the effect of blown-out clouds, which is unfortunately a plague on cheaper LCD TVs.