LG Nano99 vs Samsung Q800T Review (65NANO99 vs QN65Q800T, 75NANO99 vs QN75Q800T)

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LG NANO99 is the flagship of the LG’s 2020 LED TV lineup. It is the only model of LG’s 2020 LED TV lineup that comes with 8K resolution. On the other hand, the Samsung Q800T is one of three 8K TVs that released by Samsung in 2020. Aside from Q800T, there are also Q900T and Q950T in Samsung’s 2020 lineup come with 8K resolution.  Just like other model from their company, the Q800T comes with VA panel while the NANO99 comes with IPS panel.  And of course, we have known the advantages and disadvantages of IPS panel and VA panel. In addition 8K resolution, as a company’s premium TV, they both also come with features that found on high-end TVs. But even so, since the availability 8K content is still limited, they both don’t add much over 4K TVs. Fortunately, they both have good 8K up-scaling engine, so you can still enjoy good 8K viewing experience albeit the source has lower resolution.

In the market, the Samsung Q800T is available on 3 screen size variant, which are 65 inches (QN65Q800TFXZA), 75 inches (QN75Q800T), and 82 inches (QN82Q800TFXZA). On the other hand, the NANO99 comes in screen size variant only, which are 65 inches (65NANO99UNA) and 75 Inches (75NANO99UNA). Meanwhile, with the same screen size, which one is cheaper between them is depending on the screen size. For their 65 inches variant (65NANO99 vs QN65Q800T), they both almost the same price while for the 75 inches variant (75NANO99 vs QN75Q800T), the LG NANO99 is sold hundreds dollar more expensive than the Q800T. But of course, their prices are not fixed and could still change at any time.

LG NANO99 vs Samsung Q800T Specification

Technology and Features	Samsung Q800T	LG NANO99
Screen Size Available	65 Inches (QN65Q800TAFXZA), 75 Inches (QN75Q800TAFXZA), and 82 Inches (QN85Q800TAFXZA),	65 inches (65NANO99UNA), 75 Inches (75NANO99UNA)
Resolution	8K (7680 × 4320)	8K (7680 × 4320)
Panel Technology	VA Panel	IPS Panel
Backlight Technology	Direct LED	Direct LED
Local Dimming Technology	Yes (Direct Full Array 24X), 82 inches (Direct Full Array 32X)	Full Array Diming Pro
Wide Viewing Angle	Ultra Viewing Angle with Anti Glare	IPS Technology
Processor	Quantum Processor 8K	Alpha 9 Gen 3 AI Processor 8K
HDR Supports	HDR10, HLG, HDR10+	HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision
HDR	Quantum HDR 16	Dolby Vision IQ, HDR Dynamic Tone Mapping
Color Enhancement	Quantum Dot	Nano Color Pro, Billion Rich Colors, Advanced Color Enhancer, True Color Accuracy Pro
Clarity Enhancement	N/a	Quad Step Noise Reduction, Frequency Based Sharpness Enhancer
Contrast Enhancement	Ultra Black	Advanced Contrast Enhancer, Face Enhancing, Ultra Luminance Pro
Up-Scaling Engine	8K AI Up-Scaling	8K AI Up-Scaling
Motion Technology	Motion Rate 240	TruMotion 240
Native Refresh Rate Panel	120 Hz	120 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate	Yes (FreeSync, HDMI Forum),	No
Smart TV Platform	Tizen 2020	WebOS 5.0
Company’s Voice Navigation	Samsung’s Bixby	LG ThinQ AI
Support Google Assistant	Yes	Yes
Support Amazon Alexa	Yes	Yes
Remote	TM2050C	TM2050C
Speaker Channel	4.2.2	4.2
Total Sound Output	70 watts	60 watts
HDMI Ports	4	4
HDMI Supports	HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth, HDMI 2.1, CEC, HDCP 2.2, CEC	HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth, HDMI 2.1, CEC, HDCP 2.2, CEC
USB 2.0	2	3
USB 3.0	No	No

Technology and Features of the LG NANO99 and Samsung Q800T

Panel Technology

The panel of the LG NANO 99 and Samsung Q800T may both have real 8K resolution, but they use different panel technology. Just like most models of the Samsung’s lineup, the Q800T uses VA (Vertical Alignment) technology while the NANO99 uses IPS (In Plane Switching) technology, just like most model of LG’s TV lineup. But even so, they both use the same backlight technology, which is direct LED backlight with local dimming technology. Unfortunately, there is no information about the number of their dimming zones. Refer to unofficial information, the 65 inches (QN65Q800T) and 75 inches variant (QN75Q800T) of the Q800T have 224 dimming zones and the 82 inches variant (QN82Q800T) has 480 dimming zones while the Nano99 has 120 of dimming zones.

Meanwhile, to optimize their performance in reproducing color, the Samsung Q800T is powered by Quantum dot technology while the LG NANO99 is powered by NanoCell technology. Actually, NanoCell display technology by LG is also based on quantum dot technology. Special for the Q800T, its panel is also has anti glare optical layer called Ultra Viewing Angle for improving its side viewing angle coverage. So, although the Q800T uses VA panel, it has much better viewing angle than a TV with conventional VA panel.

Image Processor

As we see on comparison table above, as their image processor, the Samsung Q800T is powered by Quantum Processor 8K while the LG NANO99 is powered by Alpha 9 Gen 3 AI Processor 8K. Both of these processors actually have almost the same ability. In addition they both can well process 8K signal, they both also have an ability to provide some AI-Based Features. If on Samsung Q800T, there are Adaptive Brightness, Adaptive Volume, Adaptive Sound, on the LG NANO99, there are AI Picture, AI Brightness, AI Sound, and AI Volume. Not only is that, their 8K Up-scaling engine is also already based on AI, making lower resolution content can be displayed on their screen in 8K resolution with detail is still preserved well.

Motion Technology

The LG NANO99 and Samsung Q800T both have native 120 HZ refresh rate panel, allowing them support native 120 fps content or can interpolate lower frame rate content up to 120 Hz. Special for the Q800T, it also already supports Variable Refresh Rate that compatible with some gaming features like FreeSync, GSync, and HDMI Forum VRR. With 1080p and 1440p resolution, its refresh rate can ranges between 20 Hz and 120 Hz while with 4K resolution, its refresh rate can range between 48 Hz and 60 Hz. On the other hand, unlike the other premium models of LG LED TV lineup or OLED TV that also already supports VRR technology, the NANO99 doesn’t support any VRR technology. As we have known, VRR technology can improve gaming experience of a TV by minimizing screen tearing.

Meanwhile, just like most TVs with local dimming technology, to dim their backlight, they both use PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimming system. And the highest possible of their dimming frequency is also same, which is 960 Hz. On the NANO99, except in “Game Mode” where it flickers at 120 Hz, it backlight will flicker at 960Hz in all picture modes. Meanwhile, on the Q800T, it will flicker at 960 Hz only if it is set in “Game” and “Movie” mode, while when it is set in other modes, it dimming frequency will change to 120 Hz. Additionally, enabling “Picture Clarity” or “Game Motion Plus” also makes its backlight always flicker at 120 HZ even when it is set “Game” and “Movie” mode. In addition flicker at 960HZ and 120 Hz, enabling their BFI (Black Frame Insertion) mode also makes their dimming frequency change to 60 Hz. To enable their BFI mode, on the Q800T, you can set “TruMotion” to “User” with “Motion Pro” is enabled. Meanwhile, on the Q800T, you just need to enable “LED Clear Motion”. As we have known, the BFI mode can help to make motion clearer, but on the other hand, since this drops their dimming frequency, this will makes their backlight flicker may be noticeable for some people.

Connectivity

As their main connectivity, they both are equipped with 4 HDMI ports. All of their HDMI ports support HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth, CEC, and HDCP 2.2. A bit difference is about the support of HDM 2.1 where all HDMI ports of NANO99 support HDMI 2.1 while on Q800T, there is only 1 port (HDMI 4) that supports HDMI 2.1. Nevertheless, they both only support around 40 Gbps of bandwidth instead of 48 Gbps required for HDMI 2.1 full bandwidth. Additionally, one of their HDMI ports also already supports ARC and eARC where for the NANO99 is at HDMI 2 while for the Q800T is at HDMI 3. Meanwhile, the resolution supported by them is also a difference where their difference is on 1440p and 4K resolution. For the Q800T, it supports native 1440p resolution at both 60 Hz and 120 Hz while the NANO99 doesn’t support, particularly for 1440p at 120 Hz. Although the LG NANO99 also supports 1440p at 60Hz but it required forced resolution. On the other hand, the NANO99 supports 4K @ 120 Hz while the Q800T doesn’t support. Except them, they both supports the same resolution such as 1080p at both 60 Hz and 120 Hz, 4K @ 60 Hz, 8K at both 30Hz and 24Hz, etc.

While the number of their HDMI ports is same, the LG NANO99 has a bit more USB ports, which are 3 ports while the Q800T only has 2 USB ports. But even so, none of them are USB 3.0 that means all of their HDMI ports are USB 2.0. In addition HDMI and USB ports, they both also have 1 Tuner IN (RF In), 1 Digital Audio Out (optical) and 1 Ethernet port. Special for the NANO99, it also has 1 Analog Audio Out (mini jack 3.5mm) and 1 Composite In (AV In), and IR In. And to connect on the internet or other devices wirelessly, they both have built-in Wi-Fi that supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and built-in Bluetooth.

Check the Latest Price
	LG NANO99	Samsung Q800T
65 Inches	65NANO99UNA on Amazon	QN65Q800TAFXZA on Amazon
75 inches	75NANO99UNA on Amazon	QN75Q800TAFXZA on Amazon
82 inches		QN82Q800TAFXZA on Amazon

LG NANO99 vs Samsung Q800T performance

Contrast and Black Level

Just like other TVs with IPS panel, native contrast ratio of the LG NAN099 is poor, even lower than most of IPS TVs. Its native contrast ratio is only around 560:1. It may have full array local dimming feature that expected can improve its native contrast ratio, but the improvement is not too significant, which is only around 900:1.  The result, the Nano99 cannot produce deep black. In a dark room, black of images displayed on its screen is even look tend to gray than really black. ON the other hand, the native contrast ratio of the Samsung Q800T may be not as high as most VA TVs, which is only around 1500:1.As we have known, the use of “Ultra Viewing Angle” optical layer on its screen may be able to improve their side viewing angle coverage but on the other hand, this will reduce its native contrast ratio. But even so, although contrast ratio of the Q800T is too lower for VA TVs, it has local dimming feature that is able to significantly improve its contrast ratio to around 9000:1. The result, black produced by the Q800T is very deep, deep enough to make it looks really black in a dark room. But unfortunately, its black uniformity is not as good as most VA TVs, even it is still better than the NANO99.

Winner: Q800T

SDR Peak Brightness

The Samsung Q800T also has much brighter SDR peak brightness than the LG NANO99. With real content, the NANO99 hits around 350 nits while the Q800T hits around 650 nits. Additionally, the highest peak brightness reached by the Q800T is also much higher where it hits around 1200 nits on 10 % window while the NANO99 hits around 360 nits on 100% window. Except 2% window where it hits around 180 nits, peak brightness of the NANO99 ranges between 300 nits – 360 nits. This means, its peak brightness is relatively consistent that means it is good. On the other hand, even though SDR peak brightness of the Q*00T is much brighter, but it is not as consistent as the NANO99. On 2% window, it hits around 900 nits, while on 25%, 50% and 100% window, it hits around 1000 nits, 650 nits and 375 nits. Overall, SDR peak brightness of the Q800T is better than NANO99. It is bright enough to fight the glare even in very bright room. On the other hand, although not as bright as the Q800T, SDR peak brightness of the NANO99 is bright enough to combat glare in most bright rooms, except very bright room.

Winner: Q800T

HDR Peak Brightness

HDR peak brightness of the Samsung Q800T is also much brighter than the LG NANO99. With real content, it is able to hits around 1200 nits that mean it is excellent. On the other hand, the NANO99 only hits around 600 nits only. The highest HDR peak brightness reached by the Q800T is also much brighter, where it is able to reach around 1400 nits on 10% window for a short time, albeit after stabilized it drops to around 1200 nits.  Meanwhile, on 2%, 25%, 50%, and 100% window, its HDR peak brightness is not much different to its SDR peak brightness. On the other hand, for a short time, the NANO99 is actually able to reach around 900 nits on 10% window, but after stabilized, it will drops to around 400 nits. And like its SDR peak brightness, its HDR peak brightness is relatively more consistent than the Q800T where on any different window sizes, its peak brightness ranges between 400-500 nits. Overall, HDR peak brightness of the Q800T is much brighter than NANO99. It is able to bring out the small highlight in HDR. Even in certain scene, it is able to show HDR images at 1000-4000 nits of brightness range intended by content creator. On the other hand, for LED TVs, HDR peak brightness of the NANO 99 is too low. It is only able to bring out small highlight in HDR in a moderately to dim room. Meanwhile, in a bright room, its peak brightness is not bright enough to make small highlight pop.

Winner: Q800T

Color Reproduction

Both of the Samsung Q800T and LG NANO99 already supports wide color gamut. However, the Q800T can deliver wider color gamut than the NANO99. In DCI P3 xy color space, if the Q800T can cover around 87%, the NANO99 cover around 86% of color space. Additionally, in DCI P2 uv color space, the Q800T can cover around 93% while the NANO99 cover around 92% of color space. In Rec.2020, color coverage of the Q800T also a bit wider than the NANO99. The Q800T can cover around 65% of Rec.2020 xy and around 73% of Rec.2020 uv color space while the NANO99 can cover around 62% of Rec. 2020 xy and around 69% of Rec.2020 uv color space. Even though in Rec.2020, the Q800T can cover much wider color gamut than the NANO99, but it doesn’t support HDR images that mastered in Rec.2020 like Dolby Vision Content.

In addition it can deliver wider color gamut, the Q800T also has better color volume than the NANO99. Since the Q800T can produce deep black, it can produce deep dark shades of colors fairly well. On the other hand, the NANO99 cannot produce deep dark color due its low contrast ratio. Meanwhile, in brighter color, they both can produce saturated colors fairly well, except very bright blues where it is become the main shortcoming of LED TVs.

Meanwhile, talking about their color gradient, the Samsung Q800T can also produce a bit smoother color gradient than the NANO99. If on the screen of the NANO99, there are a bit banding in gray and green, on the screen of the Q800T, banding is a bit visible in red and green. Nevertheless, overall, their color gradient is equally good and the banding that may be visible is not too serious. But even so, if you feel banding still bothered by banding, they both have a feature that can remove banding. On the Q800T, you can set “Noise Reduction” to “Auto” while on the NANO99, you can enable “Smooth Gradation”. But keep in mind, enabling this feature may be able to make the picture lose some fine details.

Winner: Q800T

Side Viewing Angle

They both have good side viewing angle coverage. Although the Q800T uses VA panel, but it has an optical layer called “Ultra Viewing Angle” that can significantly improve its side viewing angle. On the other hand, the LG NANO99 uses IPS panel. As we have known, a TV with IPS panel usually has good side viewing angle. On their screen, black level can be maintained up to around 70 degrees that means black of images will look consistent, even if you watch TV from side Angle. In maintaining brightness level, the Q800T is even better where it can maintain brightness level up to around 50 degrees off center and front. While on the screen of the NANO99, brightness level will drop started at around 35 degrees. In maintaining color from washed-out , the Q800T is also better where on its screen, color will start to look washed out at around 45 degrees while on the screen of the NANO99, color will start to look washed-out at around 30 degrees. On the contrary, in maintaining from color shift, the NANO99 is better where in its screen, color will start to shift at around 60 degrees while on the screen of Q800T, color will shift started at around 35 degrees. Overall, their side viewing angle is almost similar.

Winner: Draw

Motion Handling

Both of the LG NANO99 and Samsung Q800T can do a great job in handling motion. They both have good pixel response time. But for this case, the response time of the NANO99 is lower than the Q800T. If response time of the NANO99 is around 11 ms, the response time of the Q800T is around 17 ms. The result, when they are playing fast moving object, a ghosting trail following fast moving object looks a bit longer on the screen of the Q800T than NANO99. But even so, ignoring their difference, fast moving images looks very clear and smooth on their screen.

And just we have mentioned above, to improve their motion appearance, they both also have an optional BFI mode that can flicker their screen at both 60 Hz and 120 Hz. For the NANO99, you can set “Tru Motion” to “User” and enable “Motion Pro” to enable its 60 Hz BFI mode. While for enabling its 120 HZ BFI mode, you can enable “Tru Motion” in “Game Mode”. Meanwhile, on the Samsung Q800T, It can either flicker at 60Hz or 120Hz, depending on the content. But of course, you must make some setting like we have discussed at Motion Technology section above. In addition can handling motion fairly well, they both also can do a great job in handling 24p judder. No matter the source of the 24p movies, they both can show them with judder free. To remove judder, on the NANO99, you can simply enable Real Cinema, while on the Q800T, you must set “Picture Clarity” to “Custom” and both “Blur and Judder” Reduction sliders to “0”.

Winner: NANO99

Input Lags

Both of the Samsung Q800T and LG NANO99 also have good input lags in Game mode. But compare among them, the Q800T has a bit lower input lags than the LG NANO 99. With 60 fps content, regardless the resolutions, input lags of the NANO99 are around 16 ms while the Q800T are around 11 ms. Meanwhile, wit 120 fps content, input lag of the Q800T is around 8 ms on both 1080p and 4K resolution while the input lag of the Q800T is around 6 ms on both 1080p and 1440p resolution.  Keep in mind, the Q800T doesn’t support 4K @ 120 Hz while the NANO99 doesn’t support 1440p @ 120 Hz. Special for the Q800T, its input lags with VRR enabled is also good. At 1080p and 1440p resolution, its input lags are around 6 ms and on 4K resolution, its input lag is around 14 ms. This means, whether you are playing 1080p , 1440p, 4K, 60 fps, 120 or fps games, the Q800T is more responsive than the NANO99. Let alone the Q800T also already support VRR technology that can improve their gaming experience, of course this make it is better than the NANO99 when used for playing gaming. As we have discussed above, the NANO99 doesn’t support any VRR technology.

Winner: Q800T

Check the Latest Price
	LG NANO99	Samsung Q800T
65 Inches	65NANO99UNA on Amazon	QN65Q800TAFXZA on Amazon
75 inches	75NANO99UNA on Amazon	QN75Q800TAFXZA on Amazon
82 inches		QN82Q800TAFXZA on Amazon

Conclusion

For Watching Movies

When used for watching movies in a dark room, the Samsung Q800T is much better than the LG NANO99. They both may be able to remove 24p judder from any source. Additionally, they both also have good up-scaling engine, allows you to watch any resolution movies in 4K resolution excellently. But even so, the Q800T is much better than NANO99 in producing black.  In a dark room, black produced by the NANO99 looks tend to gray than really black, so dark screen will look less accurate. The NANO99 actually has local dimming feature, but it cannot improve its contrast ratio significantly.  Meanwhile, although its contrast ratio is relatively low for VA TVs, but it has excellent local dimming that can improve its contrast ratio significantly, makes black produced by the Q800T looks really black. So, when used in a dark room, dark scene displayed on its screen still looks excellently. But even so, although not as good the Q800T, as long as not in a dark room, performance of the NANO99 when used for watching movies is also good.

Winner: Q800T

For Watching Sports

Both of the Samsung Q800T and LG NANO99 are equally great TV when used for watching sports. Since most people prefer to watch sports in bright room, contrast ratio is no longer important. Meanwhile, in general, their performance is almost similar. The Q800T is superior in SDR peak brightness that makes the picture displayed on its screen look more obviously in brighter room. On the other hand, the NANO99 has a bit better motion handling, making fast sports looks a bit clearer and smoother on its screen than on the screen of the Q800T. And the good points of both, they have good side viewing angle coverage and this is very useful when you watch a big game with a group of your family or friend. This will ensure all of you will get the best viewing.

Winner: Draw

For Playing Games

When used for playing games, the Q800T is better than NANO99. As we have discussed above, the Q800T has lower input lags that makes it is more responsive when used for playing games. And it will be more pronounced when you are playing fast games that require fast reflexes. Additionally, the Q800T also already supports VRR technology that compatible with any gaming feature like FreeSync, GSync, or HDMI Forum, allowing you to play any games without screen tearing, particularly when you are playing a game with a compatible console. On the other hand, ignoring its inferiority to the Q800T, its performance when used for playing games is also good. Their good motion handling makes fast games appear smoothly on its screen.  Additionally, although not as low as the Q800T, its input lags are also low enough to make it is very response for any games.

Winner: Q800T

HDR Experience

They both may be able to deliver wide color gamut that makes them can show color of HDR images fairly accurate. Additionally, they both also have good gradient handling, making color gradient of HDR images displayed on its screen looks very smooth without a lot of noticeable banding. But even so, in producing black, the Q800T is much better than the NANO99. This makes shadow details of HDR images looks much better on the screen of the Q800T than NANO99. Additionally, the Q800T also has much brighter HDR peak brightness, makes highlights displayed on its screen look more pop than on the screen of the NANO99.  Additionally, its brighter HDR peak brightness also makes it can show brighter HDR images than the NANO99. Meanwhile, although not as good as Q800T, as long as you don’t use it in a dark room or very bright room, HDR images displayed on the screen of the NANO99 also looks fairly well.  Let alone, it has Dolby Vision IQ that can improve its Dolby Vision Experience.

Winner: Q800T

Summary

Performance	LG NANO99	Samsung Q800T
Movies	(3.4/5)	(3.9/5)
TV Shows	(4/5)	(4.1/5)
Sports	(4/5)	(4/5)
Video Games	(4/5)	(4.3/5)
HDR Performance	(3.3/5)	(3.8/5)
Smart TV	(4.1/5)	(4/5)

As we have discussed a lot above, in general, the Samsung Q800T is better than the NANO99. It has significantly better contrast ratio, local dimming performance, and peak brightness. For gaming, it also has lower input lags in Game mode and also already supports VRR technology. Additionally, even though it uses VA panel, with “Ultra Viewing Angle” optical layer, its side viewing angle is not worse than the LG NANO99 that uses IPS panel, even is similar. On the other hand, the NANO99 has better pixel response time that makes it can do a better job in handling motion. Additionally, although its peak brightness is not as bright as the Q800T, but its reflection handling is better. In general, the Samsung Q800T has better performance for mixed usage and also has better HDR Performance. But even so, although not as good as the Q800T, as long as you don’t use it in a dark room, its performance is also great. Now the decision comes back to you according to your own preferences.

Check today’s Price
	LG NANO99	Samsung Q800T
65 Inches	65NANO99UNA	QN65Q800TAFXZA
75 inches	75NANO99UNA	QN75Q800TAFXZA
82 inches		QN82Q800TAFXZA