LG UA75006LA (IPS) vs Dreame Q100

The version with an IPS panel looks even more modest, where the peak brightness barely reaches 250 nits. In practice, this means that a real sense of HDR effect is out of the question, and the materials viewed resemble rather ordinary SDR. Similar to VA panels, the image behaves stably on most test patterns, but in demanding scenes with fine details, the television has a tendency to slightly dim the image. This allows for slightly better blacks; however, this comes at the expense of losing detail in bright elements. The absence of additional colour filters is also noticeable here. The UA7500 with an IPS panel does not belong to QLEDs or PFS LED panels, and the DCI-P3 colour gamut is limited to 80%, meaning that HDR films lack significant colour depth and appear quite flattened.

Unfortunately the Dreame Q100 is too simple, and above all too dim, a television to talk about a true HDR effect. The peak brightness we measured reaches at most about 300 nits, which is clearly too little for bright elements of the image to actually 'pop' with light. In fact, this is a level we more often associate with SDR material than with HDR. It therefore lacks the brightness headroom offered by more expensive televisions that makes highlights, reflections and the sun look noticeably more striking.

HDR colours

Fortunately the Q100 makes up for this a little elsewhere. The manufacturer markets it as a QLED television, although in practice a PFS filter is responsible for widening the colour palette. The DCI-P3 colour space we measured is covered at roughly 92%, and BT.2020 at about 67%. These are not top-tier figures, but still clearly better than simple LCD televisions without an additional gamut-expanding layer. As a result, HDR material can at least offer more saturated and varied colours, even if the brightness itself does not yet allow us to speak of a fully fledged HDR effect.

The Filmmaker mode on the LG UA7500 performs better than one might expect from such a budget television, but let's not get carried away with praise. The picture is quite well put together and does not irritate at first glance, but its weaknesses soon start to show. This is most evident in scenes with bright points – lamps in the background or reflections of light on the skin are distinctly overemphasised. Characters' faces often appear unnatural, as if they have been 'overexposed'. Additionally, the default gamma setting brightens even the smallest details, causing the image to lose subtlety in darker areas. However, it remains true that for its price bracket, the UA7500 in factory mode offers a fairly decent starting point. It is clear that without additional adjustment, it will not be possible to avoid these issues, which is why – as with other televisions – we decided to see what could be achieved after calibration.

We chose the "Film" mode for testing and, in our opinion, it is by far the best of the available presets. There are none of the heavily boosted, unnatural colours you can see, for example, in the Vivid/Dynamic mode. The picture looks quite reasonable straight away, although it falls a little short of perfect. In SDR material the most noticeable issue was a slight warming of the image. The white balance had too much red, which made whites lean towards a warmer hue, and a similar tint was visible in shades of grey. In HDR the situation was a little different. Here blue had a slight advantage, making the picture a touch cooler. These are not major faults, though. For such an inexpensive TV, the factory settings on our unit were fairly decent, and the "Film" mode already delivers a relatively natural image without much fiddling with the settings.

The greatest improvement we noticed was during the calibration of the mode intended for everyday SDR content. We managed to smooth out the white balance in an acceptable way and control the issue of excessive brightening of fine details due to the gamma characteristics. As a result, the image gained the consistency and naturalness that was lacking in the factory settings. After this correction, we can confidently state that for everyday television content, programmes, or materials from YouTube, the LG UA7500 performs really well – especially after professional calibration. The situation is somewhat different for HDR content. Here, calibration allowed us to tame the white balance and slightly improve brightness management, but the limitations of the design are immediately evident. The lack of additional filters expanding the colour palette means that the most vibrant colours appear flat, and the image does not have the intensity one would expect from good HDR. Therefore, in SDR, the UA7500 performs quite well, but in HDR – despite the corrections – it remains far behind, and this is a feature one must accept when choosing this television.

Contrary to appearances, the Dreame Q100 is quite well prepared for image calibration. The menu contains quite a few advanced picture settings that allow its characteristics to be adjusted fairly precisely. In our case the most work was required on the white balance, both in SDR and HDR. After correction SDR content looked very good. We managed to achieve a practically neutral white balance and natural colours, with the main remaining limitation being the black level itself, stemming from the panel construction and the lack of local dimming.

In HDR we also managed to improve white balance and colour reproduction, but here the limitations of the TV's electronics become apparent more quickly. Even after very precise adjustment of the EOTF curve, the Q100 does not always follow it correctly during actual scenes. In some content it can also brighten the image further, causing some parts to look brighter than they should, and in bright areas some details can be lost as a result.

The version with the IPS panel performed noticeably worse here. Image scaling was uneven – this was particularly evident in lower quality materials, where edges became jagged and the image appeared less detailed. At times, there was also a slight blur that diminished sharpness and made the overall impression seem less refined than in the VA version. The solution proved to be the tonal transition smoothing function. On the medium setting, it worked very well – it did not spoil the image with excessive softening, while simultaneously smoothing colours in such a way that everyday content gained coherence. The difference was particularly noticeable with television programmes or streaming materials with poorer compression quality, where the television with the function on presented itself much better. This is one of those additions that are worth keeping active, as they significantly enhance the experience of daily content.

The weakest point of the Dreame Q100 is its digital image processing capabilities. The processor used copes only moderately well with enhancing weaker sources, and the menu lacks any function that effectively smooths unsightly tonal transitions or reduces visible posterisation. Upscaling itself is also unimpressive. With low-resolution material the image is fairly soft and lacks faithful detail reproduction. Additionally, the Q100 tends to overscan, slightly cropping the edges of the image with very poor sources, such as 480p material. In everyday viewing of HD or 4K content this won't be a major problem, but with older recordings the processor's limitations become clearly visible.

LG UA7500 is a television with a 60 Hz panel, so it is difficult to expect much excitement in this category. It is rather a screen designed for everyday content or an evening film screening rather than for following dynamic sports events or playing action games. It is clear that the manufacturer aimed this model at this group of consumers – and in this regard, it performs adequately. We have the TruMotion function available, which is a motion smoother. It is simple, has only one slider, but can make a noticeable difference. At the lower range, the picture looks more raw and cinematic, while at higher values, the motion becomes smoother and more pleasant to the eye.

The VA panel used in the Dreame Q100 has a native 60 Hz refresh rate, so from the outset this is not a TV designed for the most demanding sports fans or gamers. The manufacturer does mention the ability to run at 120 Hz, and that option is indeed available, but it mainly applies to a mode intended for gamers. In everyday use the Q100 should therefore be treated as a conventional 60 Hz TV. For fast-paced sports broadcasts or rapid gameplay this means less smooth motion than in models with 120 Hz panels or higher. On the plus side, the panel’s response time is worth noting. The VA panel does not exhibit excessive smearing, so motion remains quite clear and does not leave strong, blurred trails behind moving objects. For films you can also use a simple motion-smoothing system. The manufacturer has prepared several ready-made presets that help reduce the characteristic judder in material shot at 24 frames per second.

LG UA7500 is a television that can be confidently recommended to "casual" gamers. While it lacks a 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 ports, so fully utilising the potential of modern consoles is out of the question. However, the manufacturer has included a few features that can enhance the gaming experience. Noteworthy is the Game Bar – a very well-designed panel where you can quickly preview and change the most important settings. From this panel, we have access to various features, including the ALLM mode (automatic switching to game mode) and frame synchronisation, namely VRR. The range of VRR is limited – it operates from 48 to 60 Hz – but the mere presence of this feature in such an affordable television leaves a positive impression.

Additionally, there is support for HGiG, which is the HDR calibration mode for gaming. This sounds good, but from our testing experience, we know that in the case of the UA7500, this option is not particularly useful. The television does not perform very well with HDR, so paradoxically better results were achieved with this mode turned off. This is another signal that the UA7500 is more of a screen for occasional gamers who value simplicity and convenience rather than for those seeking a full immersion experience with the latest consoles.

The Dreame Q100 is not a strictly gaming device, but for console use it offers a reasonable package. It provides VRR to eliminate screen tearing and ALLM, which automatically switches the TV to a low-latency mode when it detects a console signal. An interesting compromise is support for a 120 Hz mode. The panel won’t achieve that refresh rate in 4K, but dropping to 1080p lets you play at 120 frames per second. If a given title prioritises smoothness over high resolution (and the game offers such a mode), it’s worth using this option. There’s also a handy Game Bar on board, allowing you to quickly change display settings, switch the refresh mode or add a virtual crosshair. Admittedly the HGiG implementation is weak here, but it earns points for supporting Dolby Vision Gaming on Xbox Series X and S. This is not a panel for technological purists, but for casual console gaming it performs flawlessly, especially when you opt to trade 4K for a smoother Full HD.