LG QNED87T6B vs Panasonic W95B

The QNED87T6B provides a solid HDR performance, delivering an impressive visual experience in many aspects. With a brightness approaching 500 nits, it offers good visibility of fine details in high-dynamic scenes. Support for HDR10 and HLG ensures the content appears well on the screen, though the absence of more advanced formats like Dolby Vision or HDR10+ limits the potential for optimal brightness and detail in certain scenes. Without dynamic metadata, the TV may struggle to reproduce fine details in very bright areas, where these advanced standards would typically make a difference. However, its excellent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut (96.4%) provides vibrant, natural colours, enhancing the overall visual quality of 4K content.

The Panasonic W95B is truly a bright screen, capable of achieving peak luminance levels of around 1400 nits. In brighter, well-lit movie scenes, this value translates into spectacular HDR effects that can leave a big impression. However, knowing our test setup, you probably see that in very demanding shots – such as the distant moon or helicopter lights in a scene from Sicario 2 – the TV does not impress. In such situations, brightness drops to around 200 nits, making the HDR effect much less visible. This happens because Panasonic prioritizes maintaining deep black levels without lighting up the background – for many users, this shouldn't be a cause for concern. However, it's important to remember that in these moments, the image starts to resemble SDR content. The coverage of the color palette also deserves praise, as it reaches about 93% of the DCI-P3 color space thanks to the use of the PFS filter (also known from QLED technology). As a result, most movies look very good in terms of saturation and colors, maintaining a cinematic quality of the image.

The LG QNED87T6B, even in its best factory setting, Filmmaker Mode, exhibits issues with colour reproduction. A significant problem is the white balance, where the blue colour tends to drop on the graph, causing a shift towards yellow. This results in a warmer hue than intended, which affects the naturalness of color reproduction, especially in scenes with white or neutral backgrounds. The Colour Checker test confirmed that certain colours are distorted and do not accurately reflect reality, which can make movie scenes seem less lifelike and distort details.

In terms of contrast, there are notable issues with the gamma graph, showing significant drops where the optimal value should be around 2.4. This results in the TV displaying darker areas brighter in some scenes, which reduces depth and dynamic range. Additionally, the EOTF (Electro-Optical Transfer Function) curve, which corresponds to brightness reproduction, shows an unnatural drop at the start, leading to lower accuracy in dark scenes. This diminishes the TV's ability to convey full black depth, causing details in darker areas to be lost. As a result, more demanding scenes may appear less realistic, with a noticeable loss of detail in shadows and dark areas.

In Filmmaker mode, the Panasonic W95B offers an image with quite accurate color reproduction, although it is not without minor imperfections. The white balance slightly leans towards red, which can cause a subtle warming of the image, and the gamma curve is slightly elevated, making the screen appear somewhat brightened. It’s good that the manufacturer has included this mode – even in its factory configuration, it provides a fairly natural look for movies. However, knowing how susceptible Panasonic televisions are to calibration, we decided to check how much the image could improve after professional tuning.

After calibration, the LG QNED87T6B delivers impressive results with SDR content. The white balance has been improved, resulting in natural, harmonious tones across various scenes. The precise gamma tuning allows for accurate reproduction of details in both dark and bright areas, making the TV perform excellently in everyday use. The overall image is vivid and well-balanced, with solid colour quality in HD. The contrast has also improved, with the gamma chart showing fewer significant errors, providing a more refined viewing experience.

In 4K HDR, the white balance continues to perform well, though some errors remain at the end of the chart. These might be linked to the TV's aggressive local dimming, which can affect colour accuracy in certain scenes. While the TV does not fully improve brightness as indicated by the EOTF curve, its inherent construction limitations prevent it from achieving perfection in this area. The Colour Checker test highlights an issue with colour saturation, as the TV, despite offering a wide colour gamut, cannot fully capture what the director intended.

Nevertheless, the overall picture quality after calibration is considerably better than before. The improvements in white balance and gamma tuning result in more vivid and realistic colours, enhancing the viewing experience despite the remaining shortcomings.

After professional calibration, the Panasonic W95B shows what it is really capable of. Color errors have mostly dropped below 2–3, making them practically invisible to the human eye. The excess red in the white balance has also been corrected, which has eliminated the slight pink tint, and details in dark areas no longer get lost due to overly strong dimming in the gamma. Improvements are also noticeable in HDR content – color saturation is now more stable and does not veer towards blue as clearly as before. It is truly a great television for watching movies and series in the highest possible quality. Although we know that Mini LED screens are not always perfectly suited for this, the W95B is an excellent example that with proper refinement, an OLED-like effect can be achieved.

When it comes to lower-quality content, the LG QNED87T6B performs admirably, with smooth gradation effectively addressing problematic areas in the image without negatively impacting the film grain. For optimal results, setting the "Smooth Gradation" feature to a low level delivers the best effect, significantly enhancing the viewing experience of lower-resolution materials by making them smoother and more visually appealing.

The TV handles digital processing well, ensuring the image is displayed without overscan or clipping. While slight jaggedness may be noticeable on certain fine details, such as branches against a background, the overall presentation remains impressive. Users will be satisfied with the quality of the image when watching lower-quality content, such as standard television, as the TV does an excellent job of enhancing the visual experience.

In terms of image processing, the Panasonic W95B performs excellently. The proprietary processor responsible for digital image processing effectively upscales lower-resolution content to 4K, preserving a great amount of detail and a natural appearance of contours. The final effect is impressive – the upscaling is at a truly high level, and Full HD content can look surprisingly good. The way the television smooths tonal transitions in low-quality materials is also worth noting. The algorithm does not operate as aggressively as in some competing models, but as a result, it does not cause loss of detail or blurring of film grain.

The LG QNED87T6B delivers decent motion smoothness, particularly with the "TruMotion" feature, which allows users to adjust motion smoothing on a scale from 0 to 10. The "De-Judder" setting helps regulate the smoothness of motion, while the "De-Blur" option enhances motion sharpness. This provides flexibility for users to choose between a more traditional cinematic effect with slight judder (lower settings) and a smoother, more theatrical image, which, while slightly deviating from the cinematic standard, can be appealing to many viewers.

For gamers and sports fans, the 120Hz panel ensures an immersive experience, while the IPS technology offers better response times compared to comparable VA panels at a similar price. This results in smoother gameplay and more dynamic viewing of fast-paced sports events, making the QNED87T6B an excellent choice for those seeking high-quality motion performance.

The 144 Hz panel used in the Panasonic W95B offers excellent smoothness, although in practice, considering how television content looks or the values to which next-generation consoles are limited, it's worth looking at its behavior when refreshing at 120 Hz. In this mode, the TV performs wonderfully – despite it being a VA panel, which is not known for the fastest pixel response times, motion blur here is minimal and difficult to detect with the naked eye.

The LG QNED87T6B is a top-tier choice for gamers seeking high-performance features. It is equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing seamless connection to the latest consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This ensures full functionality, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which provide a smoother and more responsive gaming experience. The Game Bar feature enables easy management of gaming settings, allowing users to adjust VRR, ALLM, Multi View, and monitor the frame rate without navigating complex menus.

Additionally, the TV supports G-Sync and FreeSync, which are crucial for gamers using Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. These technologies synchronize the TV's refresh rate with the graphics card, reducing screen tearing and stuttering. With a 120Hz panel, the LG QNED87 delivers exceptional motion smoothness and image clarity, while the Black Frame Insertion (BFI) feature, available at 60Hz and 120Hz, further enhances visual fluidity. Overall, the LG QNED87T6B meets the demands of even the most discerning gamers, offering a comprehensive range of features that elevate the gaming experience.

Aside from the previously mentioned drawback related to the VRR mode, in which local dimming does not work, the Panasonic W95B is a true gaming monster. The television offers practically everything gamers can expect – except for four HDMI 2.1 ports, as there are only two available. On board, we find an auto low latency mode (ALLM), properly implemented HDR modes for gamers, including HGiG, as well as support for Dolby Vision in games. This is complemented by an interestingly designed Game Bar, presented in the form of circles. While it may not be the most visually appealing, it serves its purpose – allowing a quick glance at key game parameters and adjusting settings without entering the system menu.