Samsung U8000F (IPS) vs LG QNED80A6A (VA)

Better does not mean good – and that is exactly how to summarise the capabilities of U8092F when it comes to displaying bright movie scenes in HDR mode. The brightness of the panel is just under 250 nits, which is definitely too little to enjoy any light effects. An interesting situation was observed during the measurement of the fourth scene from the film Sicario 2 – the television clearly dimmed the entire screen in an attempt to achieve better black levels (which remain weak anyway). One might even suggest that the device is using some form of 'global dimming', but unfortunately – the results are still very poor. To make matters worse, the television does not support a wide colour gamut – the coverage of the DCI-P3 space is around 80%, so one cannot expect truly vibrant colours. The HDR image here looks more like a slightly brightened SDR, and it is this form that we would suggest sticking to when it comes to this television.

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 Samsung U8000F has been tested in the best possible picture mode built into the television, namely Filmmaker Mode. This mode should – at least in theory – offer a cinematic, reference picture without unnecessary enhancements. In the case of SDR content (mainly HD/SD), the television, out of the box, showed itself surprisingly well. Errors in white balance hovered around a value of 3, which is roughly on the edge of perceptibility. The only complaint could be about brightness management – the gamma graph showed a slight tendency to lighten or darken certain sections, but even so, the overall performance is quite good for this price segment.

Unfortunately, it looks much worse in HDR mode. Although the white balance was not terrible, the television had significant colour errors – particularly evident in the Color Checker graph, where almost every sample hit outside the target point. The picture in HDR simply looks unnatural, and the colours can be shifted, dull, or too cool. This largely stems from the fact that the U8000F does not support a wide colour gamut (DCI-P3). The television is physically unable to display correct colours in the HDR standard – and unfortunately, this is felt in every more demanding material.

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.

Although the U8000F already offered a fairly well-balanced image in SDR straight out of the box, we were able to refine it a bit further. We managed to eliminate a slight purple tint and adjust the gamma to a more sensible level. However, the television still has a tendency to overexpose the smallest and brightest parts of the image – the gamma chart shows a characteristic 'dip' that is difficult to completely straighten out.

Unfortunately, the situation is worse in HDR. It's hard to speak of any significant improvement here – the television is simply not designed for HDR content. We tried to correct the image in the advanced settings, but despite our efforts, the colour errors remained substantial – a delta E above 7 indicates very noticeable deviations. It's a bit disappointing, but that's the nature of budget construction. In SDR, the U8000F performs reasonably well, whereas HDR is just not its league.

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.

When it comes to how the Samsung U8000F handles lower quality materials, we must admit that Samsung has made progress compared to its predecessor from last year – namely the DU7192 model, which theoretically occupies the same spot in the range.

This year's model has been equipped with a feature that enhances the fluidity of tonal transitions, which has been implemented much better than last year. Yes, the television still uses fairly strong algorithms that can distort details or remove film grain, but despite that – it can be confidently said that it works effectively.

However, not everything has gone perfectly. The U8000F has noticeable issues with slight image stuttering when watching very old content in very low resolution. If someone plans to play their old VHS tape, they must reckon with the fact that the image may appear slightly "choppy".

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.

The Samsung U8000F is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, so it's clear from the outset that we shouldn't expect miracles. It's simply the standard in this class – sufficient for everyday viewing but without any fireworks.

The television offers a single motion smoothing slider – a function called “Motion Blur Reduction”, which allows us to adjust the smoothness of the image in films. Higher settings provide a more “theatrical” and smoothed effect, while lower settings maintain the original character of the film with a slight 24p effect. An interesting feature is “LED Clear Motion”, which is a BFI mode – that inserts black frames between frames of the image to improve motion clarity. However, in practice, the screen flickers quite a bit when this feature is activated, and it should be regarded more as an experiment than something that genuinely enhances the comfort of gaming.

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 U8000F offers a basic set of features for gamers, which can still prove sufficient for less demanding users. We have an automatic game mode here – upon launching a game on the console, the television automatically switches to low latency mode, significantly improving response time. We also find a VRR feature, or variable refresh rate, which operates in the range from 48 to 60 Hz. This means that both Xbox and PS5 will not produce a tearing effect on the image – provided, of course, that we stay within this range.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung televisions from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the crucial gaming feature HGiG.

And unfortunately, that’s about it in terms of advantages. Additions like Game Bar or higher refresh rates are reserved for higher models of Samsung from the 2025 line. In theory, the television also supports the HGiG feature, which should adjust HDR image to the creators' intentions. Unfortunately – despite the fact that this feature appears in promotional brochures and retail materials – its configuration on the Xbox console has proven to be... impossible in practice.

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".