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LG UH7700 TV Review

Tested using Methodology v1.0
Review updated Mar 01, 2017 at 06:31 am
LG UH7700 Picture
7.4
Mixed Usage
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
6.9
Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.6
TV Shows
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.4
Sports
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.6
Video Games
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.7
HDR Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.6
HDR Gaming
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.0
PC Monitor
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
This TV was replaced by the LG UJ7700

The LG UH7700 is a good all-around 4k UHD TV. Gamers will be pleased with its performance, while fans of movies and sports might find it a little lacking, as its picture deteriorates in dark rooms. Regardless of intended usage, its wide viewing angle, ease of use, and great smart features are things that everyone can enjoy.

Our Verdict

7.4 Mixed Usage

Although its picture quality isn't the best when watched in a dark room, those who look for a good all-around TV will enjoy the LG UH7700 UHD TV. Gamers will probably get the most out of it, as well as those looking for a good smart TV experience. The wide viewing angle this TV provides also make it a decent option for a living room.

Pros
  • Good viewing angle
  • Great smart features
  • Especially good for video games
Cons
  • Picture deteriorates in a dark room
  • HDR could be better
  • Poor uniformity
  • 7.4 Mixed Usage
  • 6.9 Movies
  • 7.6 TV Shows
  • 7.4 Sports
  • 7.6 Video Games
  • 7.7 HDR Movies
  • 7.6 HDR Gaming
  • 7.0 PC Monitor
  1. Updated Mar 01, 2017: Review published.
  2. Updated Mar 28, 2016: Our testers have started testing this product.
  3. Updated Mar 23, 2016: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Differences Between Sizes And Variants

We tested the 55" (55UH7700). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for other sizes of the UH7700.

If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their LG UH7700 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.

Size Model
55" 55UH7700
60" 60UH7700
65" 65UH7700

Compared To Other TVs

Comparison picture

Top row, from left: Samsung KS8000 (UN55KS8000), LG UH7700 (55UH7700), Vizio P Series 2016 (P65-C1). Bottom: LG UF7700 (60UF7700), LG UH8500 (55UH8500), Sony X850D (XBR55X850D). Unlike our other photographs, this picture wasn't taken under a controlled environment, so do not draw conclusions from it.

The LG UH7700 feels expensive compared to other TVs that have better picture quality with a lower asking price. It makes it somewhat hard to recommend.

Test Results

Design
9.0
Design
Style
Curved No

The LG UH7700 boast a good-looking and convincing finish that looks metallic, though is truly plastic. The TV is relatively thin, so it could nicely and easily be hung flush on a wall. Doing this will block some of the back connections, though.

Design
Stand

The stand looks like brushed metal, but is made of plastic.

Footprint of the 55" TV stand: 31.5" x 11"

Design
Back
Wall Mount VESA 300x300
Design
Borders
Borders 0.63" (1.6 cm)

Like the stand, the borders are made of plastic, and look convincingly like metal.

Design
Thickness
Max Thickness 2.09" (5.3 cm)

The LG UH7700 is thin and would look good if mounted flush on a wall, although some of the back connections would be blocked.

Picture Quality
6.2
Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
1,153 : 1

Black is a little light, but we have seen worse IPS TVs than this one. Apart from when the TV is displaying dark scenes in a dim room, this won't be a problem.

3.0
Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Local Dimming
Yes
Backlight
Edge

In our test video, with local dimming set to high, the backlight produced big light zones around the white dot. Even then, the dot couldn't get very bright.

7.1
Picture Quality
SDR Peak Brightness
SDR Real Scene Peak Brightness
311 cd/m²
SDR Peak 2% Window
160 cd/m²
SDR Peak 10% Window
297 cd/m²
SDR Peak 25% Window
306 cd/m²
SDR Peak 50% Window
304 cd/m²
SDR Peak 100% Window
303 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 2% Window
160 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 10% Window
297 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 25% Window
306 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 50% Window
304 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 100% Window
303 cd/m²

The SDR peak brightness is average for the UH7700 and is about the same as the UH8500. The local dimming is not so effective and dims the 2% too much, cutting by almost half of the overall brightness of the other sizes windows.

7.6
Picture Quality
HDR Peak Brightness
HDR Real Scene Peak Brightness
356 cd/m²
HDR Peak 2% Window
297 cd/m²
HDR Peak 10% Window
520 cd/m²
HDR Peak 25% Window
444 cd/m²
HDR Peak 50% Window
395 cd/m²
HDR Peak 100% Window
376 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 2% Window
297 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 10% Window
520 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 25% Window
444 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 50% Window
395 cd/m²
HDR Sustained 100% Window
376 cd/m²

The screen cannot get very bright. Local dimming darkened our 2% white window. Since HDR should be able to brighten highlights, the LG UH7700 won't be the ideal choice for that kind of content.
Update: Retested with local dimming turned on, to be consistent with other TVs.

6.7
Picture Quality
Gray Uniformity
50% Std. Dev.
4.765%
50% DSE
0.228%
5% Std. Dev.
0.655%
5% DSE
0.089%

The top part of the screen is darker, as are the corners. Those dark patches can be seen on some panning shots.

6.2
Picture Quality
Viewing Angle
LCD Type
IPS
Color Shift
22°
Brightness
29°
Black Level
75°

The LG UH7700 has a good viewing angle. People sitting on the sides of the TV won't have too much picture degradation. This TV fit nicely in a wide living room.

6.4
Picture Quality
Black Uniformity
Native Std. Dev.
2.407%

There was some clouding on the unit we reviewed, mostly in the top-right corner. This varies from unit to unit. The grayish blacks are more apparent with a totally black screen.

9.5
Picture Quality
Gradient
Color Depth
10 Bit

Very nice color gradation across the board. On most 10-bit TVs, we can still see some imperfections in the gray and green colors, but the LG UH7700 had none of these problems and displayed a near perfect gradient. This means that color banding won't be an issue on HDR content.

7.9
Picture Quality
Pre Calibration
White Balance dE
3.89
Color dE
3.5391
Gamma
2.25

White balance dE is a little higher than ideal for out of the box color. Same has to be said for the Color dE. Gray was lacking blue, and red was a little oversaturated.

9.6
Picture Quality
Post Calibration
White Balance dE
0.48
Color dE
1.0583
Gamma
2.19

White balance calibration fixed nearly all problems, except with the darker shades. As for color, blue stayed far from our 0.5 dE2000 target.

8.0
Picture Quality
480p Input

DVDs and SD TV channels looks good once upscaled.

8.0
Picture Quality
720p Input

Cable TV and other 720p sources looks good and not too soft.

9.0
Picture Quality
1080p Input

Blu-rays look very good and sharp on the UH7700.

10
Picture Quality
4k Input

Native 4k content play without any image quality issues and look very good.

7.1
Picture Quality
Color Gamut
Wide Color Gamut
No
DCI P3 xy
77.6%
DCI P3 uv
83.63%
Rec 2020 xy
58.39%
Rec 2020 uv
63.38%

Although it has a selection of three color gamut presets, the LG UH7700 cannot display a very wide range of colors. The 'Color Gamut' option is located under 'Expert Controls'. 'Normal' should be used for most content, while the 'Wide' setting will display more saturated colors. 'Extended' lies in between.

5.2
Picture Quality
Color Volume
Normalized DCI P3 Coverage
57.802%
10,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage
35.329%
Normalized Rec 2020 Coverage
41.802%
10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage
25.522%

The UH7700 doesn't support a wide color gamut and can't produce very many colors at different brightness levels.

3.3
Picture Quality
Image Retention
IR after 0 min recovery
6.684%
IR after 2 min recovery
0.824%
IR after 4 min recovery
0.138%
IR after 6 min recovery
0%
IR after 8 min recovery
0%
IR after 10 min recovery
0%

The LG UH7700 does present some image retention and behave almost like the more expensive UH8500. The retention is pretty strong right after the 10 minutes exposure, where you can make all almost all the colored logos and even the white left side of the static image. It needed 6 minutes of recovery before the screen came back to normal.

7.5
Picture Quality
Reflections
Reflection
1.8%
Screen Finish
Semi-gloss

Reflections aren't a big problem, but the TV can't get very bright, which this might be an issue in very bright rooms. There is a very faint rainbow effect around bright objects, but this shouldn't be too noticeable.

0
Picture Quality
3D
3D
No
3D Type
No
2D to 3D
No

Although there is a 3D button on the remote, this TV doesn't have 3D.

Picture Quality
Pixels
Type LED
Motion
8.2
Motion
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate 120 Hz
Response Time
15.7 ms
Overshoot
0 ms

No particular problems in the different response time transitions. It uses PWM backlighting to control luminosity.

2.8
Motion
Image Flicker
PWM Dimming Frequency
120 Hz
BFI
No
BFI Frequency
120 Hz
BFI In Game Mode
No
7.1
Motion
24p Playback
Judder-free 24p
Yes
Judder-free 24p via 60p
No
Judder-free 24p via 60i
No

Only 24p content is judder-free. On 60Hz sources, the TV couldn't always remove judder from our test pattern. It shouldn't be a problem for most, though, since that isn't easy to detect by eye. Although it adds the soap opera effect, image interpolation can be used to remove judder in all cases.

10
Motion
Motion Interpolation
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Yes
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
Yes

Motion interpolation (TruMotion) will smooth out motion and remove judder. It will also add the soap opera effect. A low, custom value can remove judder without noticeable introduction of the SOE, though.

Inputs
8.3
Inputs
Input Lag
1080p @ 60Hz
23.5 ms
1080p With Interpolation
57.1 ms
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
56.9 ms
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
57 ms
4k @ 60Hz
22.2 ms
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
48.3 ms
4k @ 60Hz + HDR
15.9 ms
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4 + 8 bit HDR
N/A

The UH7700's 1080p input lag is low. Games that require fast reflexes won't feel laggy, and gamers that want to use motion interpolation will experience a respectably low 57.3 ms input lag, which is something most TVs aren't able to do. To achieve that, just set the picture mode to 'Game'.

Update 01/10/2017: The UH7700 just got a new update (04.30.77) that added a new 'HDR Game' mode and it greatly upgraded the performance of this TV. As you can see, the input lag in HDR is now at 15.9ms, which is very good, even for the more hardcore gamers out there. Note that input lag under game mode with a 1080p and 4k resolution also got cut by 10ms.

8.0
Inputs
Supported Resolutions
Resolution 4k
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
1080p @ 120Hz
No
4k @ 30Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
4k @ 60Hz
Yes
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes

Most resolutions worked, except for 1080p @ 120Hz. To get 1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4, set the input icon to 'PC' (you'll get the same input lag as you do in game mode). For 4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4, 'HDMI Ultra HD Deep Color' must be enabled. Since the LG UH7700 has a wide viewing angle, it would work well as a PC monitor viewed from up close.

Inputs
Side Inputs
Inputs
Rear Inputs
Inputs
Total Inputs
HDMI 3
USB 3
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 1 (incl. adapter)
Composite In 1 (incl. adapter)
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 0
SD/SDHC 0
Inputs
Inputs Specifications
HDR10
Yes
5.1 Passthrough ARC Dolby Digital
Yes
Dolby Vision
Yes
5.1 Passthrough ARC DTS
Yes
5.1 Passthrough Optical Dolby Digital
Yes
5.1 Passthrough Optical DTS
Yes
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth Yes
ARC Yes (HDMI 2)
USB 3 Yes (1)
HDCP 2.2 Yes
CEC Yes
MHL No
Variable Analog Audio Out No
Sound Quality
6.5
Sound Quality
Frequency Response
Std. Dev. @ 70
4.14 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ Max
5.87 dB SPL
Max
80.5 dB SPL
Low-end Cutoff
80 Hz

This TV was tested with "Magic Sound Tuning" enabled. Decent frequency response and low-end cutoff. However, this TV doesn't get loud and it failed our 85dB SPL test. At higher volumes, there seems to be a boost around 200Hz.

4.6
Sound Quality
Total Harmonic Distortion
Distortion @ 70
0.031
Distortion @ Max
0.636

Poor overall performance. At 75dB SPL, this TV performs quite decently, but at Max volume there is a big jump in distortion above 1KHz. There was also a lot of aliasing present at maximum loudness.

Smart Features
Smart Features
Apps

WebOs 3.0 is a joy to navigate, but doesn't offer as many apps as does the competition. The basics apps are there though, including a web browser, Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Video.

9.0
Smart Features
Interface
Smart OS WebOS 3.0

LG's smart platform, WebOS 3.0, is at the top of our recommendations for smart interfaces. The different setting menus blend smoothly with the app navigation. The magic remote can control most other devices and acts as a great universal remote. On the TV itself, you will find all the inputs needed. They are, for the most part, laid out well, so cables can be hidden out of sight. Some handy basic TV controls can be found underneath the front LG logo.

0
Smart Features
Ads
Ad-free
No
Opt-out
No

Ads appear under the content store's "Apps & Games" page. Fortunately, you won't be seeing them often.

Smart Features
TV Controls

Basic TV controls are available and located underneath the front LG logo. They can be accessed even if the TV is mounted flush on a wall, which is good.

Smart Features
Remote
Remote Smart

Model #: AN-MR600

No big changes from the 2015 models. LG's magic remote is one of the best for smart platform navigation. It has a mic for voice command and which can now be used to calibrate the sound of the TV.

Smart Features
In The Box

- Remote
- Batteries
- Composite In adapter
- Component In adapter
- 1 power cord
- 1 cable tie
- 1 cable management hook for the stand
- Manuals

Smart Features
Misc
Power Consumption 56 W
Power Consumption (Max) 118 W
Firmware 03.00.09