LG OLED C4 vs Samsung M80H

The HDR performance of the LG OLED C4 is impressive, firmly placing it in the higher tier. Most films exceed 700 nits, delivering a highly realistic image. While none surpass the 1,000-nit mark, the combination of these results with the TV’s infinite contrast and perfect blacks significantly enhances the visual experience. The final scene, with a full-screen flash of sunlight, is slightly less bright than the others but still maintains a solid level of brightness. Another highlight is the excellent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, which ensures incredibly vibrant colours. The HDR technology in the LG OLED C4 delivers exceptional colour and detail reproduction. The dynamic tone mapping feature optimises brightness levels, ensuring ideal light reproduction in every scene, even in the most demanding high-dynamic films.

The M80H is not one of the brightest TVs. Its peak brightness is around 350 nits and we saw similar results in most of our test scenes. That's not enough to produce genuinely impressive HDR — bright highlights lack punch and the overall image is a bit too dark. In practice, HDR on the M80H resembles a well-presented SDR image more than clearly more dynamic wide-range content. The picture can still look fine, but it's hard to point to strong specular highlights, clearly bright light sources, or an effect that immediately separates HDR from ordinary content.

Colors

One of the M80H's strengths is its color. The TV uses a PFS-based backlight filter, which allows it to display a significantly wider color gamut than a standard LCD screen without filters. Our measurements confirm this — the M80H covers about 96% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 72% of BT.2020. Those are very good results, which let the colors appear strongly saturated. Samsung's policy here is interesting. The M80H is not part of the QLED family, even though in terms of color it is practically on par with models carrying that label. From an image-quality standpoint, that doesn't matter much; the colors are simply good.

The best factory mode on the tested television was "Filmmaker," which served as the basis for all evaluations. In terms of colour reproduction, this mode performed reasonably well; however, certain flaws significantly detracted from the overall viewing experience. The most fundamental issue was the white balance, which exhibited a noticeable dominance of red, skewing the image characteristics. This resulted in a pronounced yellow tint to whites and a general shift of all colours towards warmer tones.

The gamma, an equally crucial—if not more important—aspect, was notably lowered, leading to a marked reduction in contrast. Additionally, the television frequently lost detail at the start of the gamma curve. These issues were most apparent in SDR content.

When examining HDR materials, the same yellowing effect in the white balance was observed, as seen with SDR content. However, the EOTF curve, which replaces the gamma curve for HDR, was near perfect and left little room for criticism.

Filmmaker mode is reasonably well set up out of the box, though it falls short of perfect. In SDR material the most noticeable issue is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes the image look a bit warmer than it should. HDR content shows a similar character. As for the brightness response, in SDR the gamma stays close to the target for most of the range. Small deviations are mainly visible in darker areas, which in places are a little too dim. In HDR the very darkest details are slightly lifted, while from around 65% brightness the image begins to be gently darkened. This is largely due to the way the TV controls its brightness. Overall, Filmmaker mode looks good straight out of the box, but the image can still be improved.

As mentioned, LG televisions come with advanced tools to facilitate an accurate calibration process. By utilising these tools, we meticulously adjusted the image to align with the director’s original vision. Without overstating, the results were outstanding. Both SDR and HDR content now achieve a level of visual fidelity that reflects how films are intended to be seen.

Examining the colour accuracy on the "ColourChecker" palette reveals impressive results, with almost all colour errors falling below a delta of "1," aside from two minor exceptions. Post-calibration, the LG OLED C4 demonstrated a marked improvement in colour reproduction, particularly in SDR and HDR modes. Testing the TV after calibration highlighted its capacity for delivering exceptionally accurate colours, underlining the high calibre of this model. The LG C41LA offers a stunningly precise colour palette, sure to satisfy even the most discerning viewers.

After calibration, the M80H performs really well, especially with basic SDR content. Regular broadcast TV, YouTube, or movies viewed without HDR can look very accurate on it. After correcting the white balance, errors are minor, though you can still sometimes see that the TV tends to oversaturate the most saturated reds. In HDR you can also improve the picture and correct its main faults, but it doesn't reach the level of pricier models. Samsung quite heavily restricts color adjustment options in HDR, so in many areas we have to accept what the TV offers out of the box. Calibration lets us improve some parameters, but we are no longer able to change the overall image character of the M80H.

Let us revisit the function responsible for smooth gradation and consider its role in improving lower-quality materials. The default smoothing of tonal transitions, while decent, can be further enhanced. The feature includes a slider for adjusting its strength, and we recommend selecting the first option. This setting strikes a balance, offering excellent results without compromising important details through unnecessary blurring.

The image scaling on the LG C4 is commendable, though not entirely without flaws. By default, the image appears slightly sharper, though not to an intrusive degree. While jagged edges on elements like trees are occasionally visible, this issue is relatively minor compared to similar offerings from other manufacturers.

Although the M80H is positioned fairly low in Samsung's lineup, the manufacturer equipped it with one of its stronger processors, NQ4 AI Gen2. The same chip can be found in Neo QLED TVs and the lower-tier OLED S85H. That's good news, because the processor does a very good job improving weaker source material. Upscaling performs best. Low-resolution content is displayed properly, and edges don't look overly jagged. Of course the TV won't create details that aren't in the source, but regular broadcast TV and older recordings look decent on it. One drawback is overscan, that is, edge cropping, which cannot be fully disabled. The tonal transition smoothing feature, the so-called noise reduction, also works well. The processor can effectively reduce visible signs of heavy compression, but it does so not without side effects. At higher settings it can overly smooth the image, remove some fine detail, and even eliminate film grain. Therefore we recommend using this feature primarily for content that actually has problems with heavy compression and posterization.

The LG G4 supports a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz, achievable only when connected to a high-performance PC. Otherwise, the television operates at a maximum of 120 Hz, the recommended setting for viewing sports or content with fast-paced motion. For those prioritising smooth image quality, LG has included a versatile motion smoothing feature called "TrueMotion." This function is split into two adjustable sliders: De-Blur, which sharpens moving images, and De-Judder, which reduces jitter. Both sliders offer a range of settings from 0 to 10, enabling users to fine-tune the motion smoothness to their preference.

The LG OLED C4 boasts an impressive average response time of less than 1 millisecond, as confirmed by our measurements. This results in exceptional image clarity, far surpassing LCD televisions, which often have response times of several milliseconds. This clarity is evident in tests like the "UFO Test," where no trailing blur is visible behind moving objects.

The M80H performs very well for watching sports and gaming. The TV is equipped with a panel with a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz at 4K, and when the resolution is lowered to Full HD it can handle up to 240 Hz. PC gamers will benefit most from the latter option.

The panel also handles 120 Hz content well, which matters especially for console gaming. The high refresh rate is useful for watching sports too, and motion blur is relatively low. That’s important because VA panels are not known for the best results in this respect. With the M80H, fast-moving objects do not produce a very noticeable trail.

The LG C4, like nearly all OLED televisions from the manufacturer, excels in its compatibility with consoles and PCs. With the inclusion of four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 48 Gbps, the TV incorporates a range of features to enhance the gaming experience. Notably, it offers simultaneous support for FreeSync and G-Sync, making it an ideal choice for gamers using AMD or Nvidia graphics cards. For those seeking the best possible gaming quality, the integration of HDR Dolby Vision and HGIG mode is particularly impressive. HDR Dolby Vision operates with remarkably low input lag across all settings, ensuring smooth and responsive gameplay.

A standout feature in LG's televisions is the GameBar, which allows users to adjust settings in real-time without leaving the game. This includes options for customising the image for viewers with visual impairments, a thoughtful addition. Additionally, enabling VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) does not result in a loss of contrast—a benefit of the OLED panel's self-emissive technology, eliminating the need for conventional backlighting. While some slight flickering of grey tones may occur, this is a characteristic of VRR technology across all manufacturers.

In summary: The LG C4, like the brand's other OLED models equipped with high-refresh-rate panels and HDMI 2.1, provides a seamless and immersive gaming experience. For gamers demanding top-tier performance, this TV is an outstanding choice.

The M80H can be a very good choice for gamers on a slightly smaller budget. Feature-wise it offers essentially the same as Samsung's much more expensive TVs. All three HDMI inputs support HDMI 2.1, so even if one is taken by a soundbar connected via eARC there’s still room for a PC and consoles. There’s also VRR up to 144 Hz at 4K and up to 240 Hz in Full HD. Samsung has properly implemented HGiG as well, so after performing HDR calibration on the console, games are appropriately matched to the screen’s capabilities. That won’t make the M80H any brighter, but at least it won’t unnecessarily wash out the brightest parts of the image. There’s also a Game Bar for quick access to the most important settings and a Gaming Hub that lets you play in the cloud without a console. The M80H also includes Game Motion Plus, which creates extra frames and improves the smoothness of games running at 30 or 60 fps. Input lag then rises to about 59 ms, but it’s still roughly three times lower than with the typical motion smoothing on other manufacturers’ TVs. We don’t really recommend it for online multiplayer, but in more relaxed titles it can work very well.