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.
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.
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 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Although there is a 3D button on the remote, this TV doesn't have 3D.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ads appear under the content store's "Apps & Games" page. Fortunately, you won't be seeing them often.