LG UQ8000 Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the LG 65-inch UQ8000 (65UQ8000AUB), and we expect them to be valid for the 43-inch model (43UQ8000AUB), 50-inch model (50UQ8000AUB), 55-inch model (55UQ8000AUB), 70-inch model (70UQ8000AUB), and the 75-inch model (75UQ8000AUB). There's also an 86-inch model (86UQ8000AUB), but it has extra gaming features so there are some extra settings to change for gaming. These settings should apply to most types of content, except for gaming or use as a PC monitor, which require a few additional changes listed below.

For SDR content, there are a few different preset picture modes available to choose from. The 'Expert (Dark Space, Night)' Picture Mode delivers the most accurate image out of the box and allows for the most customization, so that's what we used for our calibration. 'FILMMAKER MODE' mode is a great alternative if you're a movie fan and want an accurate image. It automatically disables most of the TV's processing, but it also locks you out of most settings, so we don't use it for our calibration. If you aren't in a completely dark room, the 'Expert (Bright space, night)' preset is a bit brighter overall but less accurate.

From the Advanced Settings menu in the Brightness section, the Panel Brightness setting controls the intensity of the backlight. A setting of '83' is closest to our calibration target of 100 cd/m², but that's way too dark for most rooms, so you should adjust this to your viewing conditions and personal preferences. Changing this setting has no impact on the overall picture quality. From this menu, we set Adjust Contrast to '80', and we left the Black Level at '50'. A Gamma setting of 2.2 is closest to the 2.2 gamma we target for a moderately-lit room, but if you're in a bright room you may want to adjust this. We left Auto Dynamic Contrast disabled, and the Video Range set to 'Auto'.

From the Color menu, we left the Color Depth set to '50', and Tint set to '0' as these settings are already the closest ones to the SDR calibration targets. We also left the Color Gamut set to 'Auto Detect', but if you prefer saturated colors, setting it to 'Native' will adjust SDR content to match the HDR color gamut of the display. From the White Balance menu, we chose the 'Warm 50' Color temperature. If you prefer a warmer or colder image, you should adjust this setting to your liking.

Finally, from the Clarity menu, we left Sharpness at '0'. For most of our testing, we also kept Super Resolution, Noise Reduction, MPEG Noise Reduction, and Smooth Gradation settings disabled, but you should adjust these depending on the content you're watching and your personal preferences. These settings can help improve the appearance of low-quality content, like from DVDs.

HDR is automatically enabled for native apps. Once you start playing HDR content, some of the settings change automatically, including Panel Brightness. We left all settings in HDR to their defaults, as we don't attempt to calibrate HDR, and we used the FILMMAKER MODE. Unfortunately, this TV doesn't support any advanced HDR formats like Dolby Vision or HDR10+, so most content you watch will fall back to HDR10.

For HDR to work from external devices, the HDMI Deep Color option usually has to be set to '4K' from the 'HDMI Settings' menu for the input you're using. Although rare, older devices may have compatibility issues with this setting. If your DVD player or older console isn't working properly, try setting this to 'Off' instead.

If you find HDR too dim, you can try enabling Auto Dynamic Contrast or Dynamic Tone Mapping. These settings can help produce a brighter image but are also highly dependent on the content.

The following are the results of calibrating the white balance of our unit to 6500K in HDR. They are provided for reference, and should not be copied as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model and same size as the TV we reviewed due to manufacturing tolerances. If you want to try them you will need to enter all values shown, as all of them are active at the same time. If you end up with worse picture quality, simply reset them to the default values.

Although we disable most motion-enhancing functions for most of our tests, you should adjust these to whatever looks best for you. Some settings may need to be adjusted depending on the specific content you're watching or because of your personal preferences.

If you want to enable motion interpolation, set TruMotion to 'User Selection' and adjust the De-Judder slider.

The LG UQ8000 can remove judder from all sources, but you have to enable the Real Cinema setting from the Clarity menu.

From the base SDR and HDR settings, very few changes are required for a great gaming experience. When you enable Game Optimizer from the 'General' settings tab, the LG UQ8000 automatically enables all game-related settings and switches automatically to the 'Game Optimizer' Picture Mode for low latency when you start playing a game from a supported source, like a PS5 or Xbox Series X. For HDR gaming, you should set HDMI Deep Color to '4K' for the port you're using; otherwise, you might have some issues. If Game Optimizer is enabled, the TV should do this automatically. 

Most models of the UQ8000 don't have any extra gaming features, but the 86-inch version has extra gaming features in the form of variable refresh rate support and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth. The extra settings can be accessed through the Game Optimizer settings.

For an optimal PC gaming experience and proper chroma 4:4:4 support, it's important to set the input icon to 'PC' for the HDMI port you're using. This can be done from the 'Home Dashboard' menu. Depending on the format you're sending, it might also be necessary to set HDMI Deep Color to '4k'. No other settings are needed for PC Gaming, and you don't need to be in 'Game' mode for low input lag from a PC, as long as you've changed the input label.

The LG UQ8000 supports both ARC and eARC, allowing it to pass high-quality audio from a connected source through to a connected soundbar or home theater receiver. To use it, you must set the HDMI Input Format to 'Bitstream', Digital Sound Output to 'Auto', and then enable eARC Support if your device supports it. To send the audio to your speaker system, you must then set Use External Speakers to either 'Optical Out Device' or 'HDMI(ARC) Device' device, depending on your connection method.

From the AI Service menu, we ran the AI Acoustic Tuning wizard for our sound testing. It's part of the TV's room correction feature, which adapts the TV's sound equalization to suit your room. Depending on your room, you may have better sound quality with this enabled.

We disabled AI Sound Pro for our testing. We also disabled AI Brightness Settings, which adjust the TV's brightness to the lighting of your room using a built-in light sensor, as we don't want the brightness to change with different content.

The LG UQ8000 has a few accessibility features. It supports automatic closed captioning, high contrast mode, or even grayscale mode, just to name a few. There's also an option to disable the picture entirely, leaving the audio, which is great if you want to listen to music and don't need the screen on.

One of the first things we did was disable all of the power saving and automatic image modes because we don't want the TV to adjust the image during testing. For the LG UQ8000, we set Energy Saving Step to 'Off' as we don't want the image changing during our tests.