LG UT8100 (IPS) vs LG OLED B6

The LG UT8100 television unfortunately does not meet expectations in the HDR effect category. The peak brightness of only 300 nits on the luminance graph is significantly below the required value to fully enjoy HDR effects. In practice, the image resembles SDR quality more than true HDR, which is particularly evident in demanding high-contrast scenes. The coverage of the DCI-P3 color palette is only 82%, which further limits the ability to present vibrant and rich colors. Instead of impressive visual experiences, we get a muted and washed-out image. For those looking for a television to fully utilize HDR content, the LG UT8100 model proves to be highly disappointing.

The LG B6 is a moderately bright OLED. After calibration it reaches about 800 nits, roughly 200 nits more than last year’s B5. That’s thanks to the new budget OLED SE panel from LG Display. In practice it simply gives a bit more headroom and makes HDR in many scenes look fuller than on last year’s lower-tier OLEDs. That doesn’t mean the B6 has no limits. In very bright shots, when a large part of the screen is strongly lit, brightness can drop below 400 nits. This behavior is typical for OLED TVs (especially those from this segment) and that’s when you see the biggest difference versus more expensive models. All things considered, we rate the B6’s results as really solid. It’s still not a TV for breaking brightness records, but the HDR effect is strong enough that you can really feel the step up from ordinary SDR in films.

Color gamut

Using the OLED SE panel has slightly affected wide color gamut coverage. Compared with last year’s model, results fell by a few percentage points. DCI-P3 reaches about 96%, and BT.2020 around 71%. That doesn’t mean the colors on the LG B6 are weak. In most movies and series they look lively, well saturated and simply pleasing to the eye. You only notice a difference in very bright, highly colorful scenes. Then colors lose some intensity compared with QD-OLED panels. This comes from the WOLED panel construction. Besides red, green and blue subpixels it also uses a white subpixel that helps boost brightness. It comes at a cost: at very high luminance some color is effectively “diluted” by the white light, so saturation of some colors can be slightly lower. In everyday use this isn’t a big issue, but you can notice it in the most demanding scenes.

The Filmmaker Mode on LG UT8100, although theoretically the best for watching movies, has significant flaws. The biggest issue is white balance – drops in blue color cause noticeable yellowing of the image, visible in both HD and 4K content. These errors are confirmed by the measurement results in the Colour Checker test, which indicate significant deviations in color reproduction.

As for brightness characteristics, both HD and 4K content feature a high tonal boost. The gamma curve in both cases remains well below the reference value of 2.4, leading to excessive brightening of darker elements in the image. A similar problem is evident in the EOTF curve – in the case of 4K content, the TV struggles with proper brightness management, resulting in issues with screen brightness. This means that the factory settings of this model require significant adjustment to achieve better image quality.

We tested the LG B6 in Filmmaker Mode, which is the best picture setting available right out of the box. ISF modes deliver very similar results, but in our tests we always stick to Filmmaker Mode for better comparison with other TVs. Each of those modes is, after all, a much better starting point than Vivid or Eco mode, where the picture is heavily boosted and noticeably less natural. With SDR content, the factory settings perform really well. Color errors are small, gamma behaves properly, and the image looks natural during ordinary viewing and does not seem overly "pumped up." It's a bit worse with HDR. When you play that kind of content you can quickly see that the white balance hasn't been set perfectly. Too much blue and red causes the image to shift toward a slightly pink tint. This is also confirmed by measurements of the color gamut and the ColorChecker, where samples clearly drift in that direction. It's not a flaw that completely ruins the picture, but you can notice it in HDR films. So people who care about the most faithful image should consider the calibration we describe later in the review.

After calibrating the Filmmaker Mode, the gamma has been aligned to practically ideal, reference values, which significantly improved the overall tonal characteristics in HD content. 4K HDR content also looks better, although some issues are still visible at the end of the graph, where the curve deviates from the ideal. The EOTF curve performs worse, as the television struggles to maintain appropriate brightness values. As a result, the image in some scenes may be overly bright or slightly dimmed, which stems from the device's design. Nevertheless, the calibration has brought significant improvements, especially in the case of HD content, where tonal balance and color reproduction are now at a much higher level.

During calibration we focused primarily on HDR content, because that's where the factory settings required the biggest corrections. We didn't neglect SDR mode, though, which after adjustment was brought almost to perfection. Colors are very accurate and brightness is handled as it should be. The biggest improvement in HDR came from correcting the white balance. After removing the excess red and blue, the pinkish tint disappeared and the image became much more natural. Skin tones, whites and all colors that had been shifting toward magenta improved. After calibration most errors fell below a Delta E of 2–3, the threshold at which the average viewer stops noticing differences with the naked eye. The LG B6 can therefore deliver a very accurate image, especially for the manufacturer's entry-level OLED model.

The fluidity of tonal transitions is also correct, although the effect depends on the settings. The update improved the functionality of smooth gradation, smoothing transitions better than before, but introduced minor issues with loss of detail, e.g., on textures.

Image scaling on LG UT8100 performs very well. The image presents itself decently, without major issues with edge aliasing. Details are preserved at a satisfactory level, which makes lower-resolution materials look really solid on this TV. As a result, users can enjoy watching older content without obvious quality flaws.

The LG B6 handles lower-quality sources very well. Much of the credit goes to effective digital image processing, which can mask some source imperfections without overly smoothing the whole scene. The feature "Smooth Gradation" proves particularly useful. It can significantly reduce posterization, which we mentioned earlier, especially in darker areas of the image. The safest choice remains Low or Medium. The function still effectively smooths harsh tonal transitions, but does not yet interfere too much with fine details. The most dedicated purists can, of course, leave it off. Upscaling to 4K also performs very well. Full HD and 720p content retain a good amount of detail, and the image is neither overly sharpened nor excessively blurred. Some limitations become noticeable only with very poor sources below 720p, where the smallest subtitles and fine elements are not always perfectly sharp, but this is true for almost every other TV on the market.

LG UT8100, equipped with a 60 Hz display, will be especially suitable for people watching movies. The television offers the TruMotion system with de-judder effect adjustment, allowing users to customize the fluidity of the image – from more choppy to exceptionally smooth, reminiscent of a soap opera effect, depending on user preferences.

One of the biggest advantages of OLED panels is their very fast pixel response time. This keeps the image sharp and prevents the visible smearing that often appears on LCD TVs. However, there is a downside. During slow camera pans, motion can look more choppy than on LCD screens, where the slower panel naturally masks some of that effect. Fortunately, on the LG B6 you can easily soften this with TruMotion. With the motion smoothing properly adjusted, you can achieve smoother motion without giving the picture an excessive soap-opera effect.

LG UT8100 offers basic features for gamers, such as ALLM and Game Bar, which makes access to settings easier. The TV also supports HGiG, which improves image quality in HDR games. Unfortunately, the lack of support for Dolby Vision and VRR limits the capabilities of the device, as does the 60 Hz panel, which excludes support for 120 Hz resolution. This model will be more suitable for less demanding gaming applications.

LG OLED B6 offers a powerful set of advantages for gamers; it's simply a complete platform for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, or a solid PC. It has four full-size HDMI 2.1 ports with 48 Gbps bandwidth, so you can skip the annoying cable swapping when you want to connect several newer devices at once. We get the full suite of sync technologies – from classic VRR to G-Sync and FreeSync. The screen seamlessly matches the refresh rate to the frame output produced by the console or graphics card. Of course ALLM is included: the B6 automatically detects a running game and immediately cuts input lag to a minimum. HDR handling is also excellent. The TV supports Dolby Vision, and a properly implemented HGiG standard means that after an initial calibration in the console settings the picture won’t suffer from blown-out highlights or lost detail in bright areas. The cherry on top is the Game Bar. Instead of digging through the full menu during gameplay, one click lets you adjust shadow visibility, tweak selected settings, or simply check the display’s current operating mode. All of this makes the LG B6 a great choice for gamers.