LG 55 B4 vs Haier M90E

The brightness results in HDR materials for LG B4 are very good. It is true that none of them exceed 1000 nits, although the stability of luminance is excellent and looks practically the same in every scenario. The only moment where the tested television performs worse is the last of the scenes, although this should not be surprising. Large frames filled with a lot of white have always been, and probably will continue to be, somewhat of a weakness for OLED televisions. However, the combination of perfect contrast, black levels, and brightness of LG B4 allows for a full experience of the HDR effect. Additionally, the incredibly high coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut deserves recognition, reaching 99%. This makes the colours look incredibly vivid and striking.

Haier M90E is a television that does not lack brightness. In most film scenes, the peak luminance exceeds 1000 nits, which gives the image a distinct 'kick' and high dynamics. It performs really well in typical bright HDR materials. However, one must take into account the aforementioned dimming algorithm. In scenes that are not uniformly bathed in light – for example, when displaying single stars on a black sky – the high brightness highlights imperfections in zone control. Instead of a precise point of light, we often see a pronounced halo effect around bright objects. Despite these shortcomings, the overall image presentation can be pleasing, largely due to the colour reproduction. The manufacturer used a phosphor PFS coating, which allows for a wide coverage of the colour palette. In our measurements, the coverage of the DCI-P3 space reached a solid 95%.

The best factory mode prepared by the manufacturer is "Filmmaker," which is exactly what we used throughout the entire testing procedure. We must admit that the unit we received out of the box had quite good colour reproduction. The biggest problem in both SDR and HDR content turned out to be white balance. In the former, a strong red hue was evident, causing the displayed image to have a pronounced yellow tint, particularly noticeable on skin tones and whites. In higher quality materials, this colour was also accentuated, but due to a lack of blue, there were also signs of green visible. Apart from these issues, we also encountered problems with grayscale and the colours themselves.

For the measurements, we selected the Film mode, which is supposed to offer an image closest to the creators' intentions. Unfortunately, in the case of the M90E, its characteristics – apart from the reduced brightness – differ little from the Dynamic mode. Both in SDR and HDR materials, the image is distinctly tinged with a cool blue hue. The white balance is heavily skewed towards blue, which resembles typical, aggressive 'store' settings. This results in an unnatural representation of skin tones and makes the image fatiguing to the eyes over extended viewing periods. The management of brightness also negatively impacts colour fidelity. The television struggles to maintain proper levels – small details are often too dim, while larger, bright areas of the image suffer from clipping. These deviations in the brightness curve, combined with the cool white balance, lead to very significant colour reproduction errors (DeltaE) in the factory settings.

LG B4 has been providing very advanced calibration tools in its televisions for years. We can even say that as the only manufacturer on the market, it allows for such deep intervention in image adjustment. It is thanks to these tools that we were able to calibrate the device so well. Evidence of this is the extremely low deltaE errors, which can be said to be at a reference level. Both SDR and HDR materials now look exactly as intended by the film director. It is no coincidence that televisions of this brand are most often used as preview screens for various graphic or post-production studios.

Haier M90E clearly benefits from professional calibration, particularly with SDR content. The television's menu offers a sufficient number of tools to effectively correct factory errors. We managed to 'tame' the white balance and eliminate the dominant blue tint. We also corrected, though to a lesser extent, the brightness curve (gamma), which allowed us to recover some detail in the shadows that were too heavily dimmed out of the box. The final effect in SDR is a picture that is significantly more natural and pleasant to watch. In HDR mode, the success is only partial. Although we were able to improve the white balance here as well, colour reproduction errors (Color Checker) remained at a high level. Analysis of the EOTF curve (responsible for brightness in HDR) indicates the cause of the problem: the television imposes its own interpretation of the signal and does not provide tools for modifying this curve. The source of the high errors is not the calibration itself, but the specific characteristics of the device – aggressive and imprecise zone dimming interferes with measurements and is 'firmly' embedded in the characteristics of this model.

In this paragraph, we will take another look at the function for smoothing tonal transitions, but we will also check how the television handles lower quality material. As we have managed to verify, the setting responsible for smooth gradation works quite efficiently, although it has its weaker moments. Just as the function works correctly in SDR content, it becomes rather useless in HDR content. Even at the lowest of the options, it blurs essential details, which is why we advise against using it.

The image scaling on LG B4 is rated rather moderately positively. Although there is no edge doubling, the image itself is naturally "soft." We can change this by adjusting the sharpness slider.

The evaluation of the image processor must be divided into two separate aspects, as the Haier M90E behaves inconsistently here. The first issue is the upscaling itself, that is, scaling lower resolution content to 4K. In this task, the television performs quite decently. The algorithms effectively enhance detail, resulting in a relatively sharp, clear, and legible final image. In this regard, it is hard to have major objections to the device.

The situation is completely different with materials that have a high degree of compression, as encountered in older recordings or on platforms like YouTube with lower bitrate. Here, the processor "struggles" with smoothing tonal transitions and masking imperfections in the source. The television fails to hide compression blocks, resulting in a very harsh, "digital" character of the image. The lack of effective artifact reduction can severely discourage viewing lower quality content on this screen.

The maximum refresh rate that we can set on the LG B4 is 120 Hz. This is the absolute minimum for those requiring high image fluidity. The manufacturer has implemented a multi-step motion smoother called "TruMotion". It has been divided into two separate sliders adjusting the sharpness of moving images (De-Blur) and jitter (De-Judder). Both sliders can be set in the range from 0 to 10, with each degree affecting the level of fluidity, so everyone can find their golden mean.

The LG OLED B4 panel features an average response time of 0.1 ms (which directly results from our measurements), allowing for an incredibly clear image, unattainable for LCD televisions, whose response times can be as high as several milliseconds. This is clearly evident in the pictures from the "UFO Test", showing no trail following the object.

The Haier M90E is equipped with a simple yet functional motion smoothing system (MEMC). In the settings menu, the user will find a three-level adjustment scale: low, medium, and high. This allows for the adjustment of the degree of intervention in the image to one’s own preferences – from gentle smoothing of 24p films to maximum fluidity (the soap opera effect). The system operates stably and fulfills its purpose in typical applications.

The LG B4 television is equipped with four fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports with a full bandwidth of 48Gbps. All features that are identical to this standard were activated without any issues, and throughout the entire testing process, they did not cause any problems. The combination of such extensive functionality and low input lag suggests that the tested television is truly made for gaming. This is not surprising, considering that the manufacturer has always placed great emphasis on this. Therefore, we can enjoy both the properly implemented HGIG mode and gaming in Dolby Vision with low latency. This pairing will certainly attract the attention of all passionate gamers for whom quality is paramount.

An additional standard in televisions from this Korean manufacturer is the implementation of GameBar, allowing for quick adjustment of settings "on the fly," without the need to exit the game. It also enables image adjustments for individuals with visual impairments, which is a very nice touch. Another important piece of information is that when VRR technology is enabled, we will not experience a drop in contrast. This is thanks to the construction of the panel and the lack of conventional backlighting. However, it is normal for shades of grey to flicker slightly; nevertheless, this is a characteristic feature of this function regardless of the manufacturer or television.

In summary: the LG B4, like all of the manufacturer’s OLEDs equipped with 120Hz panels and HDMI 2.1 ports, creates a harmonious whole with the console. In practice, this is a comprehensive television, and if we expect the highest possible efficiency in gaming, B4 will be the ideal choice.

From a hardware perspective, the Haier M90E is a solid proposition. The television is equipped with two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, which supports key technologies: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). It is also worth noting the proper implementation of the Dolby Vision mode for gaming, which maintains a relatively low input lag. Problems arise with the software configuration. The biggest drawback is the forced, continuous dynamic tone mapping by the television’s processor. This prevents correct HDR calibration from the console using system test patterns (HGiG) – the television ignores source settings and processes the image on its own terms. We also noted shortcomings in the interface: the M90E does not have a typical "Game Bar" (overlay with parameters), which is standard among competitors. Collaboration with Xbox consoles proved problematic with unusual parameters – the device struggles to correctly display a resolution of 1440p at a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Despite the aforementioned software shortcomings, the Haier M90E remains a very appealing screen for gamers. The overall reception is saved by the solid hardware base. The native refresh rate of 144 Hz and the presence of full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports are advantages that are crucial for everyday use. If we are looking for a television that ensures high fluidity and supports 4K signal, this model will fulfil its task.