The LG UN7000 is an entry-level budget TV that offers okay overall performance and has limited features. It's available in a wide range of sizes, and the larger models are sold as the LG UN7070. Most of the variants have IPS panels, including the 55 inch model we tested, but some sizes have VA panels, which are expected to perform differently. Our unit has fairly wide viewing angles, but that comes at the cost of its low contrast ratio. It also has uniformity issues, but this may vary between units. Unfortunately, it offers a limited HDR experience as it fails to display a wide color gamut, has mediocre HDR peak brightness, and there are some artifacts when displaying native 4k content. On the upside, most casual gamers should enjoy its low input lag and decent response time.
The LG UN7000 is an okay TV for a variety of uses. It has fairly wide viewing angles, so it's well-suited to watching TV or sports with a group. That comes at the expense of a mediocre contrast ratio, which makes it less suitable for watching movies in the dark since blacks end up looking gray. Its low input lag is great for gaming and use as a PC monitor, but its response time is only decent, so fast-moving content may have some motion blur.
The LG UN7000 is disappointing for watching movies. The IPS panel on our model has a mediocre contrast ratio and bad black uniformity, resulting in blacks that look gray in the dark. There's also no local dimming feature to improve the black level. On the upside, it upscales lower-resolution content well, although there are some artifacts with native 4k content.
The LG UN7000 is decent for watching TV shows. It has decent viewing angles, so the image remains fairly accurate when viewed from an angle, which is great for watching with others. It also has great reflection handling, but unfortunately, it doesn't get very bright, so it may struggle a bit in bright rooms.
The LG UN7000 is decent for watching sports. It has wide viewing angles that are great for watching the big game with a group of friends. Despite having great reflection handling, it doesn't get bright enough to combat glare. Unfortunately, even though it has a decent response time, there's visible image duplication in motion because of the backlight's 120Hz flicker.
The LG UN7000 is a decent TV for playing video games. It has a low input lag that makes gaming feel responsive, and its response time is decent, but there's still some image duplication in fast-moving scenes. Unfortunately, it doesn't have variable refresh rate (VRR) support, which may disappoint more serious gamers.
The LG UN7000 is a disappointing TV for watching movies in HDR. The model we tested uses an IPS panel with a mediocre contrast ratio, so blacks are not as deep as they should be, and it lacks local dimming to further deepen blacks. It also has mediocre brightness in HDR, which means that highlights don't pop enough for a satisfying HDR experience.
The LG UN7000 is an okay TV for HDR gaming. It has an incredibly low input lag, especially with HDR, so gaming feels responsive. However, the TV's low contrast ratio, lack of local dimming, and limited HDR brightness mean that highlights don't quite pop as they should in HDR. On the upside, it has a decent response time, although there's still some image duplication in fast-moving scenes.
The LG UN7000 is good for use as a PC monitor. It can display proper chroma 4:4:4, which helps to render text clearly. It also has a remarkably low input lag, resulting in a responsive desktop experience. Its viewing angles are fairly wide, so the edges of the screen don't look washed out when sitting up close. Unfortunately, it doesn't get bright enough to combat glare, but it handles reflections well.
The LG UN7000 is an entry-level 4k TV in LG's 2020 lineup. It replaces 2019's LG UM7000 and sits just below the LG UN7300. Its main competitors are other budget-friendly TVs like the LG UN6950, Samsung TU7000, and the Vizio V Series 2020.
The LG UN7000 looks similar to the LG UN6950. It has thick bezels, a plain design, and no cable management. There's nothing that stands out about it, but at the same time, there's nothing wrong with its design. It's very simple, which is expected from a budget TV.
The back of the TV is basic and the plastic on it has a slightly textured finish to it. It comes with a strap to tie cables together, but there's no cable management.
The LG UN7000 has a mediocre contrast ratio, but this is expected from an IPS panel. Blacks appear closer to gray when viewed in the dark. Note that contrast ratio can vary between units.
Note: The 43, 49, 55, 65, and 75 inch models of this TV have an IPS panel, which results in lower contrast. However, the 50, 60, and 70 inch models have a VA panel, so they should have a much better contrast ratio, much like the LG UN6950.
There's no local dimming feature on this TV. The above video is provided for reference only.
This TV has disappointing peak brightness. It doesn't get bright enough to combat glare. It stays consistent with different content, but it quickly loses its brightness as images stay on the screen for longer, as seen in the difference between the peak and sustained window results.
We measured the SDR peak brightness after calibration in the 'Expert (Dark Room)' Picture Mode with Backlight at max, and all other image processing disabled.
If you want the brightest image possible, set the Picture Mode to 'Vivid'. We were able to get 549 cd/m² in the 10% peak window test. Note that the 'Vivid' mode disables most picture settings.
The HDR peak brightness is mediocre. This TV gets brighter in HDR than in SDR, but it's still not enough to truly bring out highlights. Luckily, it doesn't lose its brightness across varied content.
We measured the HDR peak brightness in the 'HDR Cinema' Picture Mode with Contrast and Backlight at their max. If you want an even brighter image, use these same settings in the 'HDR Vivid' Picture Mode. We got 525 cd/m² in the 10% peak window test.
The gray uniformity is okay, but this may vary between units. There's visible vignetting along the edges and corners, and there's dirty screen effect in the center, which may be distracting during sports. In near-dark scenes, the uniformity is much better.
As is expected with an IPS panel, the LG UN7000 has wide viewing angles. This is ideal for fairly wide seating arrangements.
Note: The 43, 49, 55, 65, and 75 inch models of this TV have an IPS panel, which results in wide viewing angles. However, the 50, 60, and 70 inch models have VA panels, so they should have narrower viewing angles.
This TV has bad black uniformity, but this may vary between units. There's noticeable clouding and backlight bleed in the corners. This can be distracting in dark scenes. If you often watch TV in a dark room, check out the Vizio V Series 2020, as it has significantly better black uniformity.
The reflection handling is great, but it's not as good as the LG UN7300. It performs well in moderately-lit rooms, but the reflections may get too distracting if there's direct sunlight on it.
The LG UN7000 has okay out-of-the-box color accuracy, but this is something that may vary between units. Most colors are inaccurate and white balance is off. Fortunately, the color temperature is very close to the 6500K target. Gamma doesn't follow the target curve all that well, as most scenes are darker than intended, and some scenes are brighter.
After calibration, the color accuracy is fantastic. Gamma follows the curve perfectly and white balance is almost perfect. Sadly, the color temperature is a bit cold, so some colors still have a blue-ish tint to them.
You can see our recommended settings here.
The LG UN7000 uses an RGBW sub-pixel structure, which is less accurate and doesn't display a perfect 4k image. Artifacts are noticeable in the tiles of the roof and the folds of the sails, and small text appears slightly blurry. If you want a budget-friendly TV that upscales 4k content better, check out the Hisense H6570G.
This TV has an RGBW sub-pixel structure. It results in a less-accurate image, especially if you want to use it as a PC. Learn more about it here.
The LG UN7000 has an okay color gamut, but it's not considered a wide color gamut for HDR content. It has good coverage of the commonly-used DCI P3 color space, but disappointing coverage of the wider Rec. 2020.
The EOTF follows the target curve fairly well until it rolls off at its peak brightness, but most scenes are slightly too bright. The image is brighter in 'Game' mode, as seen in this EOTF.
If you find HDR too dim, use the 'Cinema HDR' Picture Mode with Dynamic Contrast set to 'High', Contrast and Backlight at their max, and enable Dynamic Tone Mapping. This results in a slightly brighter image, as seen in this EOTF.
This TV has poor color volume. It fails to display dark, saturated colors well because of the low contrast ratio and lack of color gamut.
Note: The 43, 49, 55, 65, and 75 inch models have an IPS panel like the one we tested. However, the 50, 60, and 70 inch models have a VA panel. We expect the VA panel models to have a better contrast ratio and should result in a slightly better color volume, similar to the LG UN6950.
The LG UN7000 has okay gradient handling. There's visible banding in the darker shades, especially with dark grays. The Smooth Gradation setting doesn't improve the gradients at all.
There's some very minor image retention immediately after displaying our high-contrast static image, but it disappears quickly. This shouldn't be too much of an issue, and this may vary between units, so your experience can be different.
Although some IPS panels can suffer from temporary image retention like this one, this doesn't appear to be permanent as the IPS panel in our long-term test appears immune.
The LG UN7000 has a decent response time. There's some overshoot in the darker transitions, which may result in motion artifacts in dark scenes. Due to the backlight's 120Hz flicker, there's noticeable duplication in motion.
If you want a similar TV with a faster response time, check out the Toshiba Fire TV 2020.
This TV doesn't have a Black Frame Insertion feature.
This TV can interpolate content up to 60fps, a feature known as the 'Soap Opera Effect'. The motion interpolation feature works well and smooths motion out, but there are visible artifacts in busy scenes. Also, there's duplication in motion due to the backlight's 120Hz flicker.
Learn more about the motion interpolation settings here.
Since the TV has a slower response time, there isn't much stutter with lower-frame rate content, which is great.
The LG UN7000 can remove judder from native 24p content, like Blu-rays or native apps. However, it can't remove judder from 60p or 60i sources. To remove judder, enable Real Cinema.
This TV doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology.
The LG UN7000 has an incredibly low input lag. You have to be in 'Game' mode to achieve the lowest input lag possible. There's also an 'Auto Low Latency Mode' that automatically switches the TV into 'Game' mode when you launch a game from a compatible device. Enable Instant Game Response for it to work.
If you plan on using this TV as a computer monitor and want low input lag, simply set the input icon to 'PC'.