LG NANO81A / NANO80A vs Philips OLED950

If you are counting on HDR in the NANO81A to bring tears to your eyes, I must disappoint you. This television is simply too dark to truly show what this format is all about. With a brightness of only 250 nits, HDR exists here mainly on paper. In practice, during viewing, it is very difficult to distinguish whether we are watching high dynamic range content or regular SDR – it simply lacks that ‘punch’ of light in the bright parts of the image. However, to give credit where it’s due, we do have a glimmer of hope here – and quite a clear one at that. It concerns the colour gamut coverage. Here, the NanoCell filter shows that it is not just marketing nonsense. Our measurements indicated that the coverage of the DCI-P3 space is around 88%. This is a really solid result that places this model significantly higher than typical budget options based on standard white LEDs without any filters. Of course, it still falls short of the level of quantum dot (QLED) TVs or advanced panels with PFS filters, but for this price point, the colours are surprisingly saturated and vibrant. It's just a shame that this low brightness prevents them from fully ‘spreading their wings’ with the Nano filter.

The OLED950 is a phenomenal television for consuming content in HDR format, primarily thanks to the innovative Tandem OLED panel. With this technology, the screen can generate astronomical brightness levels, reaching over 2000 nits in film scenes (on test patterns). This is an exceptional result that places the OLED950 among the world’s top displays available on the market. However, it is important to note a specific characteristic of this solution – at moments when full-screen bursts of light appear on the screen, brightness can drop by as much as half. It is worth emphasising, though, that values above 1000 nits on a full screen are still an outstanding result. This allows for the HDR image to be displayed exactly as filmmakers would wish, maintaining the dynamics and impact of bright scenes.

The use of the Tandem OLED panel has also brought tangible benefits in terms of colour reproduction, improving elements that traditional WOLED panels struggled with compared to their QD-OLED competition. For the OLED950, the colour gamut coverage is broader than in classic WOLED panels, reaching nearly 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space and a solid 82% of the demanding BT.2020 palette. Although these results still do not match the high standards of QD-OLED panels, the difference diminishes during real-world use. We cannot deny that in the vast majority of films, colours look simply fantastic on this model – they are saturated, vibrant, and full of depth.

For every film fan, the natural choice in LG televisions is the Filmmaker Mode. Its aim is to display images as the director intended – without unnecessary "enhancements". Unfortunately, in the case of our test unit NANO81A, the factory settings left something to be desired. The main issue turned out to be the white balance. Measurements showed a distinct deficiency of blue colour, which in practice meant that many scenes had a slightly yellowish, even "yellowed" tint. The white was not perfectly pure, which detracted from the freshness of the image. Additionally, brightness management was also not ideal – the factory-set gamma was too low. The picture often appeared oversaturated, as if overly lifted from the shadows, which caused it to lose naturalness and depth. Fortunately, LG, even in this relatively low price category, does not block access to advanced settings. The calibration possibilities of this model are enormous, which is a big plus for those who enjoy "digging" in the menu. We decided to approach the topic in our own way and see how much we could squeeze out of this panel with professional calibration.

We tested the OLED950 model in Film mode. Although it is theoretically the best and most faithful preset on this television, in practice it proved not to be free from flaws. Interestingly, in the unit we tested, the biggest challenge was not the white balance itself – although it did show a slight tendency to give the image a pinkish hue. The main issue lay in the way the television managed brightness, both in everyday SDR content and in demanding HDR scenes. The analysis of the gamma graph and the EOTF curve leads to one key conclusion: the television excessively exposes brightness in the lower registers. This results in the image appearing less contrasty than the panel technology allows. Details in dark areas that should remain perfectly black (characteristic of "OLED black") are simply unnecessarily highlighted and brightened. Fortunately, these errors can be corrected using the appropriate tools, which is why – as always – we proceeded with professional calibration.

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 a big plus. We managed to completely eliminate that annoying yellowing of whites and make the colours natural, vibrant, and simply "true". In SDR content (that is, regular television, YouTube, or older films), the picture now looks worlds better – it is clear, well-balanced, and no longer strains the eyes with strange hues. It is clear that this panel has significant potential, which is simply wasted by poor presets out of the box. However, we do have one serious reservation that calibration cannot fully overcome – it concerns brightness management in HDR mode. LG's algorithm in this model is constructed very conservatively. The television intentionally dims the HDR picture to avoid overexposing the already weak blacks of the IPS panel. The programmers faced a choice: either to provide more light and accept that the blacks would become light grey or to reduce the brightness to maintain any contrast. They chose the latter. Nevertheless, after our adjustments, watching anything on the NANO81 is significantly better.

As can be seen, the OLED950, after a professional calibration process, transforms into an absolutely phenomenal display that, without a shadow of a doubt, can be placed alongside the best televisions currently available in the world. This equipment only needed a professional touch to show its full potential and eliminate factory shortcomings. The minimal errors in reproduction in the Color Checker tests and the fidelity of the colour palette speak for themselves. We are dealing with an almost perfect device here. A true window to the world, offering image quality of the highest order.

It often happens that cheap 4K panels mercilessly bring to light all the "dirt" and imperfections of lower-resolution content. However, with the LG NANO81A, the situation is quite different. This is truly a solid performer when it comes to handling content that is 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 significant advantage is the gradation reduction feature that you will find in the settings. It is extraordinarily effective in combating colour banding, which is a lifesaver when watching materials with a low bitrate, for instance, from some streaming services or older files from the web. However, it is worth maintaining a certain level of caution. Since we are dealing with a less powerful chip than in LG's top models, setting this option too aggressively may sometimes result in minor artefacts or slight blurring of details. Despite this risk, I definitely encourage experimenting with this feature - in many cases, it can save the viewing experience and make low-quality material fully watchable.

Upscaling

In terms of the image upscaling, the proprietary P5 processor performs just as well as in most models from this manufacturer. Low-resolution content takes on a very soft and plastic character. This kind of presentation will certainly appeal to many people. However, if you prefer sharper contours, you can lightly enhance them with the appropriate slider in the television's menu. It's really hard to find fault in this aspect. The image simply looks very good and additionally there is no issue with the phenomenon of overscan.

Smoothing and Distortion Reduction

The function for smoothing tonal transitions performs somewhat worse. In the settings, we find an option called "Distortion Reduction." This allows for three levels of adjustment of the processor's interference. Unfortunately, the Minimum setting works poorly and the smoothing effects are negligible. The Medium level gives a decent result, but it also starts to smooth out actors' skin details. On the other hand, the Maximum setting works too aggressively. It definitely removes too much detail from the faces and background elements, and can even take away the film grain. To achieve the optimal effect, it's worth experimenting with these settings at home and adjusting them to your preference. It may seem that the Medium option is the best compromise here.

When it comes to motion fluidity, the NANO81A unfortunately has a hard time. The television is based on a panel with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. If you are looking for perfect sharpness in dynamic football matches or fast action games, you may feel a bit disappointed. With such a low native refresh rate, fast objects on the screen will always be a little blurred.

The motion reproduction in the OLED950 model is virtually perfect. This is typical for screens of this type (OLED 120Hz+), as the panel shows no blurring at all. This allows us to enjoy perfect sharpness in practically any conditions. Much of this is thanks not only to the specifics of organic technology. Equally important work is done by the smoothing systems implemented by the manufacturer.

NANO81A is unfortunately not hardware designed for e-sports. The lack of support for a 120 Hz signal is a fact that users planning to purchase this model simply have to come to terms with. Nevertheless, LG's engineers have made an effort to maximise the potential of this 60 Hz panel, offering a set of features that genuinely enhance the gaming experience. Firstly, the television supports VRR technology (within the range of 48-60 Hz) and ALLM. As a result, 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, which allows for quick viewing of parameters without leaving the game. A very significant advantage is the support for the HGiG format. This solution is crucial for owners of modern consoles because it enables 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.

The OLED950 is nearly the perfect television for gamers. This is not only due to the unique atmosphere created by the Ambilight system during gameplay. The most important aspect here is the robust hardware support. You will find literally everything you should expect from a modern gaming display. The manufacturer has implemented two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. This gives us access to gaming in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. Of course, support for VRR technology and the automatic ALLM game mode is also included. The device handles any HDR signal without difficulty, whether we are using Dolby Vision or the HGiG standard.

Access to all settings is available from one place thanks to the special Game Bar overlay. Although this interface may not be the most visually appealing on the market, it fully accomplishes its purpose. It displays all the important signal parameters and offers useful extras. Gamers can take advantage of the minimap zoom feature or add a permanent crosshair on the screen, which can be seen as a small aid in online competition. The contrast range adjustment also proves to be useful, as it allows you to brighten shadows and gain better visibility of enemies hidden in dark corners of the map.