Samsung DU7192 (VA) vs LG QNED80A6A (VA)

In the luminance charts, the peak brightness of the television is around 280 nits. Unfortunately, this value is too low to fully enjoy HDR effects, which require significantly higher luminance. In the tested materials, such as The Meg and Gemini Man, the lack of adequate brightness severely limits the magic of HDR, and the details in the brighter parts of the image are not sufficiently highlighted. For users primarily consuming SDR content, this level of quality may be acceptable, but it is definitely not enough when it comes to HDR. Additionally, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette at 82% does not favour presenting HDR content in its full glory. The limited colour gamut makes it difficult for the television to reproduce vibrant and diverse colours, which is crucial for achieving a cinema-like experience.

Let's now talk about how this television shines. If you are expecting dazzling light effects, we need to temper your enthusiasm. The LG QNED80A is a moderately bright television. Our measurements in most movie scenes indicated values around 350-400 nits. This is not enough to speak of a full, cinematic HDR experience and the sense of that famous "high dynamism" offered by flagship products. However, brightness is not everything. Although the QNED80A is not a "light monster," it makes up for it in another crucial category: colours. This is where PFS technology comes into play, which LG marketers disguise under the name QNED/NanoCell. Thanks to this approach, the television offers a much wider colour palette than classic LCD designs. In our tests, coverage of the cinematic DCI-P3 palette reached a solid 93-94%. What does this mean for you? That even with lower brightness, when watching movies in HDR, colours will be vivid, deep, and appropriately saturated. The image is not washed out but rather juicy, which is a significant advantage in this price range.

The best factory mode we relied on during testing turned out to be "Filmmaker". Although this mode is the closest to the creators' intent for films, it is not without certain imperfections. The white balance chart in both SDR and HDR clearly shows a dominance of red, resulting in significant yellowing, particularly noticeable in whites and on actors' faces. In HDR mode, there is also a slight dominance of green, which, however, does not have as much impact on the perception of the image. The gamma, which is responsible for brightness in SDR materials, performed quite well, but with one serious caveat. In the darkest parts of the image, it was too low, causing excessive brightness in those scenes, depriving the film of drama and contrast. For HDR, the white balance remains at a similar level; however, the EOTF curve chart draws attention. At the beginning, the curve clearly bulges, leading to a strong brightness in the darkest scenes. Then the result suddenly drops below the reference line, resulting in an overly dark image and a loss of dynamics in the brighter parts.

In summary, the "Filmmaker" mode, despite its advantages, requires refinement – especially regarding white balance and proper management of brightness in the darkest and brightest parts of the image. In its current form, it may be acceptable for less demanding users, but for viewers expecting precise image reproduction, it may leave much to be desired.

It might seem that since the QNED80A is one model, regardless of the version, it should offer the same picture. However, practice shows something completely different. Analyzing the variant with a VA panel in the best factory setting – that is, in Filmmaker Mode – we noticed a specific characteristic. This television, “out of the box,” serves us a picture with a clear dominance of red and a deficiency of blue. Overall, it is very warm, even hot. Many users may describe this as a picture that is “too cinematic,” leaning towards sepia. Additionally, there is the issue of the gamma curve – the television has a tendency to slightly artificially brighten scenes (gamma is too low), causing the picture to lose some depth. The good news is that these are not panel errors, but merely software issues. As always in our tests, we conducted professional calibration, which completely eliminated these shortcomings, restoring the natural white balance and correct saturation.

Even for its lower models, Samsung offers advanced image calibration tools, which allow for significant improvement of the factory settings. We undertook this task, and the results turned out to be more than satisfying. The white balance, which previously exhibited a strong yellowish tint in both SDR and HDR, was significantly improved. Although slight deviations from the norm can be noticed, the overall effect is much cleaner and more natural than before calibration. As a result, whites and skin tones look much better. We also managed to properly shape the gamma in SDR materials, which allows for achieving the maximum contrast that this television can offer. The EOTF curve, responsible for HDR materials, was also improved – the image is no longer brightened or darkened as drastically as it was before calibration. Despite these successes, HDR materials still struggle with high deltaE error values. The main reason lies in the limited brightness of the television, which does not allow for a complete representation of the dynamics of HDR content. Nevertheless, after calibration, the image is clearly better and more aligned with the creators' intentions. For users seeking the best possible quality in this class of equipment, calibration is definitely recommended.

Was it worth spending time on calibration? Definitely yes. We managed to tame the initial, too warm white balance and, most importantly, correct the gamma curve. The television stopped artificially brightening scenes, which gave the image depth. The greatest improvement is noticeable in SDR content, that is, while watching regular television, YouTube, or playing games without HDR. Here the QNED80A shows its class – colour reproduction errors (DeltaE) have dropped below a value of 2. In technical terms, this means that the errors are virtually unnoticeable to the human eye. The image in everyday use has simply become very attractive, natural, and correct. The difficulties begin with HDR content. Although we managed to improve the white balance, the EOTF curve graph (responsible for brightness at various levels) shows that the television still "interprets" the image in its own way. This stems from the nature of the edge-lit backlight with local dimming and the fact that LG gives the calibrator very little control over this parameter. In short: the television struggles to hide its hardware shortcomings, sometimes ignoring our commands. Nevertheless, the final image is significantly more accurate and pleasant to behold than with factory settings, even if it falls a bit short of studio perfection.

The tonal smoothing function operates in two modes – "off" and "auto". Turning it off causes gradation issues, while the "auto" mode ensures smooth transitions, but at the cost of grain and detail, which are often blurred. Due to these limitations, we do not recommend using this feature, as confirmed by our tests conducted with it turned off.

Scaling of lower resolution materials in this model is not impressive. Details are blurred, and the edges of objects may contain artifacts. This limitation makes the television perform better with higher resolution content.

In this category, the QNED80A proves to be a true "dark horse." It is an excellent, affordable television for those who frequently watch lower-quality content – for example, traditional cable TV. The processor used here handles upscaling, that is, enhancing low resolution to native 4K, exceptionally well. The image after processing is natural, smooth, and, most importantly, not overly jagged or artificially sharpened. In the menu, we also find a dedicated option for smoothing tonal transitions in low-quality content. This feature works really effectively, eliminating annoying "banding" of colours under heavy video compression. However, we must remain vigilant. Remember that we are not dealing with a top-tier processor known from flagship OLED models. In more challenging scenes, the system may struggle and introduce minor artefacts or distortions. Nonetheless, it is definitely worth giving this feature a chance, as in most cases the quality improvement is visibly apparent.

Although the Samsung DU7192 is the lowest model in the manufacturer's range, it is equipped with motion smoothing technology. While the functionality of this solution is significantly limited compared to more expensive models, its presence alone distinguishes the television amidst competitors in this price bracket. The TV supports a maximum refresh rate of 60 Hz, which is sufficient for comfortable viewing of films and series, but may be inadequate for dynamic content such as sports. In the motion smoothing menu, we can find, among other things, the "Judder Reduction" feature. Unfortunately, its performance leaves much to be desired – regardless of the setting, the picture exhibits the characteristic stutter known from materials recorded at 24 frames per second, making this feature practically ineffective.

We move on to a matter that may be decisive for many. Unfortunately, here we must point out the biggest "Achilles' heel" of the QNED80A model. This television is equipped with a panel featuring a native refresh rate of 60Hz. There is no denying it – at this price, we expected more as we know that Chinese manufacturers can offer 120Hz screens for a similar price. Due to this parameter, dynamic scenes in sports or fast-paced games are not the strongest aspect of this display. Fortunately, LG has equipped the television with a proven motion smoothing system called TruMotion. It works quite effectively with film material (24 frames). We suggest playing around with the De-Judder slider – from our experience, setting it in the range of 2-4 provides the best compromise: the motion becomes smoother, yet still looks natural, without the artificial "television theatre" effect.

Samsung DU7192 is equipped with HDMI 2.0 ports, which is expected in this price range. This limitation means there is no support for the full capabilities of the latest generation consoles, such as VRR technologies. The television only offers a basic feature for gamers – automatic switching to low latency mode (ALLM), and support for basic HDR for games in the HGiG standard. HGiG allows for the display of HDR content in games according to manufacturers' guidelines; however, the limited brightness of the television does not allow for full enjoyment of the effects that this standard offers. Unfortunately, there is a lack of conveniences such as GameBar, which is increasingly found even in cheaper models and greatly facilitates quick adjustment of settings for games. The presence of this feature could significantly enhance user comfort, especially for those who frequently change display modes.

Now that we have established that the QNED80A is a television with a 60Hz panel, we must say it plainly: we will not be playing here at 120 frames per second at any resolution. Does this disqualify the equipment in the eyes of gamers? Not necessarily, especially those "casual" ones. LG has decided to sweeten this technical limitation by packing quite a few useful functions inside. We have support for VRR (variable refresh rate) in the range of 48-60Hz and automatic game mode ALLM, which instantly reduces input lag upon detection of a console. All of this is managed from a very convenient, purple Game Optimizer menu, which has already become LG's hallmark. A big plus goes to the manufacturer for consistency regarding HDR. Although the television does not support Dolby Vision in games on Xbox consoles, LG adds a well-implemented HGiG standard. Thanks to this, even on a moderately bright screen, playing in HDR is clear, and the details in shadows and highlights are accurately reproduced, rather than "cut off".