LG UA75006LA (IPS) vs Samsung S90H (WOLED)

The situation is even more modest in the IPS version, where the peak brightness reaches only 250 nits. In practice, this means that there can be no real sense of HDR effect, and the materials being viewed resemble ordinary SDR. Similar to the VA case, the image behaves stably on most test screens, but in demanding scenes with fine details, the television tends to slightly dim the image. As a result, blacks appear somewhat better, but at the cost of losing detail in bright elements. The lack of additional color filters is also noticeable here. The UA7500 in the IPS version does not belong to QLEDs or PFS LED panels, and the DCI-P3 color gamut stops at 80%, which means that HDR films present themselves without much color depth and give the impression of being heavily flattened.

The Samsung S90H in the WOLED variant is still an exceptionally bright TV for its price class, although it is slightly dimmer compared to the QD-OLED version. The difference is not as pronounced as in last year’s F series, where gaps could reach as much as 500 nits. Here the specs of both panels are very close, and differences in peak brightness are only about 100–150 nits. In small-area measurements, the S90H on the WOLED panel easily reaches levels close to 1500 nits. That headroom lets it portray HDR dynamics phenomenally—specular highlights, reflections or explosions have the right punch, just as the creators intended in the post-production studio. As with most OLED displays, when a very bright scene fills the entire screen, the protection systems that safeguard the panel kick in and brightness naturally falls to around 700 nits. It’s worth stressing that this is still an excellent result on the market, often noticeably better than many Mini LED screens in the same segment.

Color gamut coverage

The biggest difference between the two S90H variants lies in color reproduction and saturation. This stems directly from the different construction of the WOLED panel, which uses an additional white subpixel. As a result, colors at very high brightness don’t achieve quite the same intensity, and the volume of the wide color gamut is somewhat more limited than with QD-OLED. That said, in everyday use these differences will be hard for most viewers to notice. Our measured DCI-P3 coverage on the WOLED panel reaches nearly 99%, which means that in the vast majority of real film scenes both variants will deliver almost identical images. The true gap only appears in rarer, particularly demanding productions that use the ultra-wide BT.2020 gamut. Due to the WOLED panel’s design, coverage of that standard is about 15% lower compared to the S90HAT with a QD-OLED panel, so the brightest, heavily illuminated HDR colors may appear a bit less vivid.

The Filmmaker mode on the LG UA7500 performs better than one might expect from such a budget TV, but let’s not get carried away with enthusiasm. The picture is fairly well put together and at first glance does not offend, but its weaknesses quickly start to show. This is most evident in scenes with bright points — background lamps or light reflections on the skin are clearly overemphasized. The faces of the characters often look unnatural, as if they have been "blown out." Additionally, the default gamma characteristic brightens the smallest details and causes the image to lose subtlety in darker areas. That said, given its price range, the UA7500 in factory mode provides a pretty decent starting point. However, it is clear that without additional adjustments, these problems cannot be avoided, which is why — as with other TVs — we decided to check what could be achieved after calibration.

In Filmmaker mode, which we strongly recommend enabling right out of the box, the S90H offers very good factory color tuning. Colors are natural and faithful to the filmmakers' intent, without the intrusive oversaturation found in more aggressive profiles. However, as is usually the case without full calibration, there can be unit-to-unit variation. In our test the white balance lacked a bit of the blue component, causing the image to lean slightly toward warmer, yellowish tones. This was most noticeable in bright scenes, such as the snowy sequences from Star Wars. Additionally, the gamma curve ran slightly low, around 2.2, which resulted in a slight boost to shadow detail. In HDR mode the tuning was a bit better, showing only a slight undersaturation in the red region.

The biggest improvement we noticed was when calibrating the mode designed for everyday SDR content. We managed to smooth out the white balance in an acceptable way and tackle the problem of excessive brightening of small elements due to the gamma characteristic. As a result, the image gained consistency and naturalness that was lacking in the factory settings. After such correction, we can confidently state that for everyday television content, programs, 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 apparent. The lack of additional filters to broaden the color palette makes the most vibrant colors appear flat, and the image lacks the intensity we would expect from good HDR. So, in SDR, the UA7500 performs quite well, but in HDR – despite corrections – it remains far behind, and this is a feature one has to come to terms with when choosing this television.

After full calibration it can safely be said that the S90H in the WOLED version looks almost perfect. In SDR mode color reproduction errors drop to ultra-low levels, and Delta E values very rarely exceed 2. That's a phenomenal result, so if you care about perfectly faithful color reproduction it's definitely worth considering calibration. The calibrated HDR mode also performs very well, in which the white balance was stabilized and earlier deviations eliminated. After professional tuning it's really hard to find anything to criticize, because the TV delivers an image with almost exemplary naturalness and dimensionality. The slightly lower rating in this category compared with the QD-OLED variant is solely due to the previously described saturation limitation in extremely bright scenes; the tuning options and color fidelity themselves are at the highest level.

The version with the IPS matrix performed significantly worse here. Image scaling was uneven – this was particularly noticeable in lower-quality materials, where edges became jagged and the image looked less detailed. At times, there was also a sense of slight blurriness that detracted from sharpness and made the overall presentation seem less polished than in the VA version. The tonal smoothing function turned out to be a lifesaver. At the medium setting, it worked very well – it didn't ruin the image with excessive softening, while smoothing out colors in such a way that everyday content gained consistency. The difference was especially visible with television programs or streaming materials of poorer compression quality, where the television with the function enabled presented itself much better. This is one of those features that is worth keeping active because it significantly enhances the reception of everyday materials.

When it comes to reducing posterization, Samsung has kept the same solutions as last year’s models. The dedicated gradient-smoothing function works quite well and can effectively mask unwanted tonal transitions, which can be useful on a WOLED panel that is somewhat prone to banding. However, keep in mind it acts aggressively. This mechanism, aside from removing artifacts, can clean up fine film grain and slightly soften detail. Ultimately it’s a matter of compromise, but if you care about an absolutely faithful reproduction, it’s safer to leave this option off.

There’s also no breakthrough in scaling. The S90H uses the same NQ4 Gen3 processor as its predecessor, so the quality of upscaling was almost identical. The chip sharpens lower-resolution material very well, extracting a satisfying level of detail. Samsung still hasn’t dealt with the old overscan issue. With some older recordings or archival material the image edges can be slightly cropped. It’s a minor flaw, but it’s a shame the manufacturer still hasn’t eliminated it.

LG UA7500 is a television with a 60 Hz panel, so it's difficult to expect any excitement in this category. It's more of a screen intended for everyday content or an evening movie session rather than for following dynamic sporting events or playing action games. It's clear that the manufacturer designed this model specifically for that group of viewers – and in that regard, it works properly. We have access to the TruMotion feature, which is a motion smoother. It's simple, with just one slider, but it can make a noticeable difference. At lower settings, the picture looks more raw and cinematic, while at higher values, the motion becomes smoother and more pleasant to the eye.

In terms of motion handling, the S90H is simply excellent. This year's panel offers a refresh rate boosted to 165 Hz, though in practice the benefit will be realized mainly by gamers connecting a powerful PC. For movies, TV series, or sports broadcasts, such a high refresh rate makes no difference and the picture looks exactly the same as at the standard 120 Hz. Regardless of the source, the OLED panel's lightning-fast response time does its job, so motion is clean and the ghosting or smearing seen on LCD screens simply doesn't occur here.

LG UA7500 is a television that can be confidently recommended for "casual" gamers. While it lacks a 120 Hz panel and HDMI 2.1 ports, making full use of the potential of modern consoles out of the question, the manufacturer has included a few additions that can enhance the gaming experience. Notably, the Game Bar deserves mention – a very nicely designed panel that allows quick access to and modification of the most important settings. From this panel, we have access to features such as ALLM mode (automatic switching to game mode) and frame synchronization, which is 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 is impressive.

Additionally, it supports HGiG, which is a calibration mode for HDR specifically for gaming. This sounds good, but based on testing experience, we already know that in the case of the UA7500, this option doesn't make much sense. The television doesn't handle HDR very well, so paradoxically, we achieved better results with this feature turned off. This is another signal that the UA7500 is more of a screen for occasional gamers who value simplicity and comfort rather than for those looking for a complete experience from the latest consoles.

Players should feel at home with the S90H, because in that respect Samsung left few reasons to complain. The TV has four HDMI 2.1 ports, each of which supports VRR, ALLM, and high refresh rates. There's also the Game Bar, a handy menu that lets you quickly check key parameters and change settings without leaving the game. Importantly, Samsung has also improved HGiG. In last year's models it could cause issues when used with a console, but in the S90H it now works as it should. What sets it apart from the competition is primarily Game Motion Plus. It's a special motion-smoothing mode designed for games, which works best with titles running at 30 or 60 frames per second. Motion becomes noticeably smoother, while latency remains at a reasonable level. In our measurements it was under 50 ms, so you can still play comfortably. That's important, because on many TVs turning on a similar smoothing mode causes such a large increase in input lag that controls start to feel noticeably sluggish. Samsung has managed to find a good compromise here. There's still no Dolby Vision Gaming, but in practice Game Motion Plus may prove to be a far more useful feature.