LG NANO82T6B vs Hisense UR8S

The brightness of NANO82T, to be honest, is quite average, especially compared to alternatives at a similar price. The maximum brightness of around 280 nits is not among the highest and may affect the overall viewing experience of HDR content. While many televisions in this price range offer brightness above 400-500 nits, LG NANO82T may seem less impressive. As a result, details in bright areas of the image may be less defined, and the HDR effect is not as spectacular as one might expect.

UR8S is a slightly higher-end Mini-LED, so you could expect a lot in terms of brightness. And indeed, on a synthetic test pattern peak brightness reached around 2200 nits. That’s a very good result, but as always what’s much more important is what the TV does in normal film scenes. Here the results are a bit more uneven. In bright scenes, where there’s a lot of light on screen, the UR8S can deliver really strong HDR. Brightness then reaches about 1500 nits, so the image is very intense and has plenty of punch. It’s worse with small bright elements on a dark background. The TV clearly dims them to keep good blacks and to prevent excessive bloom. As a result things like single stars or tiny reflections can be only around 200 nits. And here HDR is no longer as impressive. So you can see that the local dimming algorithm works effectively, but it also has its cost: sometimes it simply sacrifices the brightness of small details in favour of contrast.

Colours

With RGB Mini-LED TVs colours should be judged a little differently than usual. If we look solely at the panel’s native capabilities, the UR8S performs excellently. We measured around 94% coverage of BT.2020 and practically full DCI-P3. These are among the highest values currently found in LCD TVs and this is where the potential of the RGB backlight is most obvious. The problem is that this potential is not always realised in real scenes. When we ran the same measurements on test patterns with a film background applied, saturation of some colours began to fall noticeably. Individual zones are not always able to control the three RGB components so precisely when the scene becomes more complex. This is most visible with blue and magenta. On simple test patterns they can look very strong, but in more demanding scenes samples of those colours visibly shrink. So the UR8S’s capabilities are enormous, it’s just that the TV cannot fully make use of them in every scene.

The colour reproduction in LG NANO82T in Filmmaker mode, which although is the best mode available from factory settings, is not without flaws. First and foremost, the issue lies with the white balance, where a drop in blue colour levels was noted on the graph. This phenomenon results in a shift in colours towards yellow shades, causing the image to appear warmer than it should. Such a deviation means that the colours on the screen are not naturally reproduced, and this can be particularly noticeable in scenes with a white or neutral background. For example, the image below from the film "Star Wars," where there is a large amount of elements that should be white. The Color Checker test confirms that some colours are "shifting" to other shades, which means that the television is not displaying colours accurately.

Regarding contrast, the gamma graph analysis showed drops to a level of 2.1, while the optimal value should be 2.4. This means that the television may display darker areas of the image brighter in some scenes, reducing their depth and dynamics. Additionally, on the EOTF curve, which is responsible for brightness reproduction, a slight spike was noted at the beginning. This phenomenon may result in excessive brightness boosting in the brightest parts of the image, leading to a loss of detail in very bright scenes.

For assessing the out-of-the-box colours we used Filmmaker mode, which is intended to show an image that is as close as possible to how the material was prepared. Looking at the white balance alone, the UR8S performs quite well. There is no strong tint that immediately jumps out, although as brightness increases a little too much blue and red start to appear, with a simultaneous shortfall of green. Colour errors therefore show up in measurements, but the image itself does not look bad. We have far greater reservations about how the UR8S manages picture brightness. In SDR the gamma sits around 1.9–2.0 for most of the range instead of the target 2.4. In practice this simply means the picture is too bright, especially in the midtones. Shadows are lifted too much, causing the image to lose some depth. A similar tendency is visible in HDR. The EOTF curve is above the reference value for a large part of its range, so the UR8S again brightens the image more than it should. This is not due to a lack of brightness — the TV has plenty — but to the way it manages that brightness. As a result, HDR content can look very striking, but not always precisely as it should.

After calibration, the colour reproduction in SDR content on the LG NANO82T is very good. The white balance has been effectively improved, resulting in natural and balanced shades across various scenes. The gamma has also been adjusted, providing a more precise rendering of details both in shadows and bright parts of the image. Thanks to these adjustments, the television performs excellently in everyday use, offering solid colour quality and clear, well-balanced images in SDR mode.

However, in the case of HDR content, the situation is worse. The television does not support a wide colour gamut, limiting the depth and richness of colours that HDR can offer. The EOTF curve deviates from the ideal, leading to excessive accentuation of details in bright parts of the image. Unfortunately, this results in significant colour reproduction errors, as confirmed by tests on the Colour Checker. The low brightness level of the panel further negatively impacts the quality of HDR images, causing dynamic range effects to not be fully realised, and colours to appear washed out.

The television has significantly improved after calibration, especially in SDR content. The improvement in white balance and gamma has greatly enhanced image quality, providing a more natural and coherent colour reproduction. Compared to the pre-calibration state, the difference is noticeable, and the television now offers better performance in everyday use, particularly in the standard dynamic range.

Hisense provides plenty of calibration options and, in SDR, these can yield a very good result. After calibration, the white balance is practically even across the entire range, and colour errors fall to very low values. The UR8S can be adjusted very precisely here. HDR is somewhat different. The white balance itself can also be noticeably improved, although at the highest brightness levels larger deviations begin to appear. The most interesting aspect, however, is the behaviour of the EOTF curve. Even after it has been correctly set on test patterns, the UR8S still tends to interpret brightness in its own way when watching films. Depending on the scene, parts of the image are slightly brightened while others are dimmed relative to how they should appear. This shows that the algorithms controlling the local dimming have a significant influence on the final image. Calibration therefore allows colours to be improved very effectively, but we are not able to completely 'turn off' the way the UR8S manages brightness in HDR.

When it comes to gradation in very low-quality materials, LG NANO82T offers us the option of a feature called "Smooth Gradation". In the "Low" setting, this function slightly improves the most problematic tonal transitions, which is noticeable and useful for such content. In the "High" setting, it works even more effectively, improving tonal transitions, but at the expense of smoothing out those details that should not be smoothed. It is a compromise that may not please all users.

As for image scaling, NANO82T is not without certain limitations, especially when playing content with a lower resolution. The television applies a subtle, artificial sharpness boost, which makes the image appear sharper. This effect mainly results from the overlay of artificial contours. For some users, this may be beneficial, as they prefer more pronounced and highlighted details. However, for those who value the naturalness of the image, this effect may turn out to be less appealing and too artificial. It's a subjective matter that may affect viewers differently, depending on their visual preferences.

A big plus of the UR8S is the use of the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor, and digital image processing is one of this model's stronger points. The TV handles smoothing tonal transitions very well, especially with lower-quality content. The feature responsible for this effect works effectively without overprocessing the picture. Even on the medium setting it can noticeably reduce visible banding and unevenness without heavily blurring details. Upscaling itself also performs very well. Lower-resolution content is displayed cleanly, edges look natural, and the image is not overly sharpened. The UR8S simply copes very well with a weaker signal, and in this respect it is one of its most notable strengths.

LG televisions, including the NANO82T, offer an interesting motion smoother called TruMotion, which will satisfy most users who value control over the quality of the films they watch. The TruMotion feature allows users to adjust the fluidity of the displayed films on a 10-point scale, enabling the personalisation of visual experiences.

However, in the case of more dynamic scenes, such as games or action films, the television performs worse. The 60Hz panel and relatively slow pixel response result in less than ideal motion smoothness. The effect is visible blurring and less smooth display of fast scenes.

Overall, the LG NANO82T should please those who mainly watch films and prefer more subdued content. However, for those who value dynamic, fast motion, we recommend looking for an alternative.

The UR8S is equipped with a panel with a native 180 Hz refresh rate, so right from the start it offers excellent motion handling. The panel itself performs really well here, although some limitations typical of VA panels are still visible. Motion blur is relatively minor for this type of screen, but with faster motion (especially on darker backgrounds) it can still be noticed, particularly when compared with the same image on OLED TVs.

While gaming on the console, LG NANO82T offers a range of features that can significantly impact the gaming experience, although it also has some limitations. Among the advantages, it's worth mentioning the ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) feature, which automatically adjusts the picture settings by switching the television to low latency mode. This is particularly beneficial for gamers who need quick responses to their actions. Another plus is the support for HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group), as HDR games are displayed as intended by the developers, providing realistic and vivid visual effects. These features make the LG NANO82T offer a good gaming experience, although some aspects could be better, especially in dynamic scenes. Unfortunately, the LG NANO82T has its limitations when it comes to gaming features. It lacks support for variable refresh rate (VRR), which can affect the smoothness of gameplay, particularly in more dynamic games. The television has a 60Hz panel, preventing the use of higher refresh rates. This is a significant drawback for gamers who expect smoother gameplay at higher resolutions. Additionally, the lack of G-Sync technology support limits image synchronisation capabilities, which may lead to tearing and stuttering in games.

These shortcomings may mean that the LG NANO82T does not meet the expectations of the most demanding gamers who are looking for advanced features and the highest image fluidity.

In terms of gamer features the UR8S performs really well. The TV supports practically everything you can expect from a modern console or PC display. It offers ALLM, VRR and 4K at 120 Hz. There is also Dolby Vision in Game Mode, so when using, for example, the Xbox Series X you do not have to give up that HDR format. PC gamers get even more options. The panel can run at 4K at 180 Hz, and dropping to Full HD can raise the refresh rate to as much as 330 Hz. There is also a Game Bar that lets you quickly check key information and change gaming-related settings. The only clear omission is a correct implementation of HGiG. With it enabled the TV still alters HDR brightness mapping, so we do not get the effect intended by that standard. Aside from that, the UR8S is very well prepared for both consoles and a powerful PC.