LG UT8000 Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the 65-inch LG UT8000 (65UT8000AUA​), but they're also valid for the 43-inch (43UT8000AUA​), 50-inch (50UT8000AUA​), 55-inch (55UT8000AUA​), 70-inch (70UT8000AUA​), 75-inch (75UT8000AUA​), and 86-inch (86UT8000AUA​) models. These settings apply to most types of content, except for gaming or use as a PC monitor, which requires a few additional changes, listed below.

These settings are meant to provide a starting point; they're not meant to be copied 1:1. They provide the most accurate image in a dark room, but you should adjust them to match your preferences and viewing conditions.

For SDR content, a few different preset picture modes are available. The 'Expert (Dark Space, night)' picture mode delivers the most accurate image out of the box and allows for the most customization, which 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 also locks you out of most settings, so we don't use it for our calibration. You can also enable FILMMAKER MODE Auto Start from the 'Advanced Settings' menu if you want the TV to automatically switch to the most accurate movie settings when it detects you're watching a movie.

From the Advanced Settings menu in the Brightness section, the Panel Brightness setting adjusts the TV's luminosity. You should adjust this to your viewing environment and personal preferences. Changing this setting has no impact on the overall picture quality. From this menu, we set Adjust Contrast to '95' and left the Black Level at '50'. A Gamma (Adjust Brightness) setting of 2.2 is closest to the 2.2 gamma we target for a moderately-lit room. We also 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 set Adjust Sharpness to '19'. For most of our testing, we also kept Super Resolution, Noise Reduction, MPEG Noise Reduction, and Smooth Gradation settings disabled. Still, you should adjust these depending on the content you're watching and your preferences. These settings can help improve the appearance of low-quality content, like DVDs.

HDR is automatically enabled for native apps. Once you start playing HDR content, some settings, including Panel Brightness, change automatically. We left all settings in HDR to their defaults in the 'Cinema' HDR Select Mode.

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 your input. 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.

The following are the results of calibrating the white balance of our unit to 6500K in HDR. They are provided for reference and shouldn't be copied as the calibration values vary per individual unit, even for the same model and size as the TV we reviewed, due to manufacturing tolerances. If you want to try them, you'll 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 tests, you should adjust these to whatever looks best. Some settings may need to be adjusted depending on the specific content you're watching or because of your personal preferences.

Although we usually leave these settings disabled during testing, you should adjust these settings to your liking, as different people prefer different levels of motion interpolation. If you want to enable motion interpolation, set TruMotion to 'User Selection' and adjust the De-Judder sliders to your personal preferences. You might have to try different content to find a setting that works best for you; higher settings on the sliders can introduce more artifacts in busier scenes.

The LG UT8000 can remove judder from 24p sources, like a Blu-ray player or a streaming device with a 'Match Frame Rate' feature, by enabling the Real Cinema setting. For 60Hz sources, you must set De-Judder to '10' to remove judder.

Very few changes are required for the smoothest gaming experience from the base SDR and HDR settings. When you enable Game Optimizer from the 'General' settings tab, the LG UT8000 automatically enables all game-related settings and switches to the 'Game Optimizer' Picture Mode for low latency when it's connected to a supported source, like a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Note that this TV doesn't support Variable Refresh Rate (VRR).

The Game Optimizer menu makes it easy to adjust all the gaming settings needed. You can enable the Game Optimizer setting or set the Picture Mode to 'Game Optimizer' to get low input lag. From the Game Optimizer sub-menu, you can adjust some settings, like the Game Genre, which adjusts the picture quality depending on the type of game you're playing.

For an optimal PC gaming experience and proper chroma 4:4:4 support, the LG UT8000 offers two options. As with previous LG TVs, you can set the input icon to 'PC' for the HDMI port you're using from the 'Home Dashboard' menu. There's also a separate 4:4:4 Pass Through option, which you can find under 'HDMI Settings' in the 'External Devices' menu. Both options are identical regarding the resulting image quality or input lag. Setting HDMI Deep Color to '4k' might also be necessary, depending on the format you're sending. 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 UT8000 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 set Use Wired Speaker to either 'Optical Out Device' or 'HDMI(ARC) Device,' depending on your connection method.

We ran the AI Acoustic Tuning wizard from the AI Service menu 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 adjusts the TV's brightness to your room's lighting using a built-in light sensor, as we don't want the brightness to change with different content.

One of the first things we did was disable all the power-saving and automatic image modes, as we didn't want the TV to adjust the image during testing. For the LG UT8000, we disabled the Energy Saving and AI Service settings and Motion Eye Care in the Picture menu. You should adjust these settings to your preference.

The LG UT8000 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.