The LG OLED E8 is a “Picture on Glass” model of LG’s 2018 4K HDR OLED TV lineup while the LG OLED E7 is the predecessor, a “Picture on Glass” model of the LG OLED TV lineup released in 2017. Although the LG OLED E7 is an older model, some merchants still sell it. On the market, both come in 2 screen sizes, being a 55 Inch (OLED55E8PUA vs OLED55E7P) and a 65 inch (OLED55E8PUA vs OLED65E7P). Within the same screen size, the LG OLED E8 is more expensive than the LG OLED E7, and this is more due to price drops of the E7 since the LG OLED E8 was launched. Of course, their prices certainly are not fixed and could change and usually tend to drop with the passage of the time, particularly the price of the LG OLED E8 as a newer model. So what new features are in the LG OLED E8 and which is a better choice for you?
LG OLED E8 vs LG OLED E7 Key Specs
| Specs and Features | LG OLED E8 (OLED E8PUA) | LG OLED E7 (E7P) |
|---|---|---|
| Screen sizes available | 55 inch (OLED55E8PUA), 65 Inch (OLED65E8PUA) | 55 Inch (OLED55E7P) and 65 inch (OLED65E7P) |
| Resolution | 4K (2160 x 3840) | 4K (2160 x 3840) |
| Screen Type | Flat | Flat |
| Panel Type | OLED | OLED |
| Dimming | Pixel Dimming | Pixel Dimming |
| Backlight | Self Lighting Pixel | Self Lighting Pixel |
| HDR Processor | Alpha 9 Intelligent Processor | M16P Processor |
| HDR Formats | HDR 10, Dolby Vision, HLG, Advanced HDR | HDR 10, Dolby Vision, HLG, Advanced HDR |
| Ultra HD Premium Certification | Yes | Yes |
| Color Technology | 4 Sub pixels technology (RGBW) | 4 Sub pixels technology (RGBW) |
| Tru Color Accuracy | Yes (Pro) | Yes (Standard) |
| Ultra Luminance | Yes (Pro) | Yes (Standard) |
| Features | 4K Cinema HDR, Dynamic Tone Mapping, Intense color, etc | Perfect Black Panel, HDR Effect, Active HDR, Cinematic Color, etc |
| 4K Up-scaling | Tru 4K Up-Scaler | Tru 4K Up-Scaler |
| Platform | WebOS version 4.0 | WebOS 3.5 |
| Smart Features | LG AI ThinQ, Web Browser, VoD Service, Cloud Games, LG’s Apps store, Google Assistant, etc | Web Browser, VoD Service, Cloud Games, LG’s Apps store, etc |
| Remote | LG Magic Remote | LG Magic Remote |
| HDMI | 4 | 4 |
| USB | 3 | 3 |
| Ethernet | 1 | 1 |
| RF (Terrestrial Cable) | 1 | 1 |
| Composite In (AV) | 1 | 1 |
| Component In | 0 | 0 |
| Wi-Fi Built In | Yes | Yes |
| Channel | 4.2 Channel | 4.2 Channel |
| Total Audio Output | 60W (Woofer: 20W) | 60W (Woofer: 20W) |
| Dolby ATmos Decoder | Yes | Yes |
| Price | See today’s price | See today’s price |
The differences between the LG OLED E8 AND the LG OLED E7
Design
Both the LG OLED E8 and the LG OLED E7 come with a design called “Picture on Glass”, and there are some changes brought by the OLED E8 over the OLED E7 predecessor. One of the major changes is the bottom side of the frame where the LG OLED E8 now lacks a bold integrated sound bar like what’s seen on the LG OLED E7 predecessor. Additionally on the LG OLED E7, there are glass protrusions on all sides of the frame, while on the LG OLED E8, there’s more extended glass protrusion at the bottom side of the screen only but it is more pronounced. Instead of glass protrusions at the three sides of LG OLED E8’s frame, there is a smart black finish on the outer side. For supporting their panel, both of them have simple metallic stand, but with a different shape. On the LG OLED E7, the stand attaches directly to its radiator grid style sound bar, while on the LG OLED E8, the stand is attached directly on the glass protrusion. This gives the impression that the screen is floating in the air. Overall the LG OLED E8 has a glamorous design, but without a radiator grid style sound-bar at the bottom of the screen, in my personal opinion its design is not as glamorous as the LG OLED E7 predecessor.
Processor
As seen on the comparison table above, the LG OLED E8 and the LG OLED E7 are powered by different processors. The LG OLED E7 is powered by a M16P processor while the LG OLED E8 is powered by an Alpha 9 Intelligence Processor. According to LG’s claims, the Alpha 9 has 35% better performance than the M16P for both the CPU and GPU. One of the advantages of the Alpha 9 in removing image noise, it uses four-step image reduction by applying a de-contouring filter. This makes quantization errors in the source content in processing images to be minimized. The M16P processor only uses two steps in processing image which makes it more prone to quantization error which causes a posterization artifact. With the Alpha 9 processor, the LG OLED E8 has smoother gradation than the LG OLED E7 predecessor, particularly when playing low bit rate content. Additionally the use of the Alpha 9 processor makes the LG OLED E8 have better performance than the LG OLED E7 for enhancing depth and sharpness. The use of the Alpha 9 processor also impacts the smart TV performance where its performance is more responsive and faster than the LG OLED E7 predecessor.
The Level of Tru Color Accuracy Technology
As a newer model, the LG OLED E8 has a higher level Tru Color Accuracy technology where it comes with the Pro Version while the LG OLED E7 predecessor has the standard version. The difference between them is the 3D Cube LUTs sizes where the Pro version has 33 x 33 x 44 of 3D LUT sizes which means it has 35,937 reference color data points of color correction, while the Standard version has 17 x 17 x 17 of 3D LUT which means it only has 4913 reference colors. Both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 equally support 10 bit color which means they can produce about 1.07 billion of shades of color. With more color references data points, the LG OLED E8 has less color interpolation which means it can produce more accurate color than the LG OLED E7, particularly after calibration.
The level of Ultra Luminance Technology
Just like their levels of Tru Color Accuracy technology, they also have a difference in the level of Ultra Luminance Technology. The LG OLED E8 comes with the Pro Version while the LG OLED E7 comes with the standard version. The result is with the higher level of Ultra Luminance technology, the LG OLED E8 should have a brighter peak brightness than the LG OLED E7. The impact s more noticeable when playing HDR content in a bright room.
Black Frame Insertion
Both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 have outstanding pixel response time to make them minimize motion blur excellently. But this only impacts the blur caused by pixel response time while motion blur caused by persistence may still visible, particularly when playing 60 fps contents like sports and video games. For solving this issue, the LG OLED E8 now has an optional BFI (Black Frame Insertion) mode that will make the backlight flicker at 60 Hz. By activating this feature, it makes motion look clearer, but this will cause backlight flicker on the screen. On the other hand, the LG OLED E7 does not have this feature.
HFR (High Frame Rate) Support
The LG OLED E8 also has an ability to process native 120 HZ content, called “HFR” which allows it to play the 120 Hz content. On the other hand, the LG OLED E7 doesn’t have this ability. Additionally, they have a difference in the version of HEVC decoder used. With the Main10 Profile at level 5.2 of HEVC decoder version, the LG OLED E8 is able to decode HEVC content up to 4K resolution at 120 Hz. The LG OLED E7 has a Main10 Profile at level 5.1 which means its ability in decoding 4K HEVC files is only at 60 HZ. Unfortunately, the ability of the LG OLED E8 in processing HFR is not supported by an adequate HDMI connection. Since HDMI ports only support HDMI 2.0 and don’t support HDMI 2.1 for full bandwidth, its HDMI ports do not have sufficient bandwidth to pass-through HFR content. This means the LG OLED E8 can only play HFR content via a USB device and it doesn’t accept HFR via HDMI.
Smart TV
Both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 equally feature WebOS as their Smart TV Platform but for this case, each comes with different version. The LG OLED E8 comes with version 4.0 while the LG OLED E7 comes with version 3.5. In terms of appearance and menus, there are not many changes brought about by the newer version compared to the older version. With the Alpha 9 processor, this means performance of the LG OLED E8 is faster and more responsive than the LG OLED E7. The major highlight brought by version 4.0, is it now has been integrated with LG Ai ThinQ, a smart home assistant by LG. In addition to allowing you to control and monitor your other ThinQ compatible devices via your LG TV, it also makes voice navigation much better.
The Similarities
The LG OLED E8 as a newer model brings some major changes over the LG OLED E7, although for some aspects they still have similarity in technology and features. Both have an OLED panel and are able to produce a perfect black level and infinite native contrast ratio. Additionally each has 4 sub-pixel technology (RGBW), so their panels are equally able to produce a wide color gamut and good color volume. HDR formats supported by them are the same where they support most HDR formats including HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG, and Advanced HDR. The only HDR format they don’t support is HDR10+ that was developed by Samsung and its alliance and has the same method as Dolby Vision in sending metadata. Additionally these LG TVs have a Tru 4K Up-Scaler engine that does a great job when up-scaling non 4k content to 4K resolution.
For their controller, both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 are equipped with LG’s excellent magic remote. There are not many changes between the remote models and they have similar features. Since the 2018 model comes with ThinQ AI, the remote of the LG E8 has better voice navigation than the remote of the LG E7. Even so, this is more due to ThinQ AI than their own performance. For connecting with other devices, both the LG OLED E8 and the LG OLED E8 are equipped with the same inputs/outputs like 4HDMI ports, 3 USB ports, etc.
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the OLED E7 on Amazon <<
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the OLED E8 on Amazon <<
LG OLED E8 vs LG OLED E7 Performance
Picture Quality
Overall both the LG OLED E8 and the LG OLED E7 have excellent picture quality. One of the aspects that has a major impact on picture quality is the black level and contrast ratio. The deeper the black level produced, the better the picture displayed, especially when displaying a dark scene in a dark room. The result is that dark scenes of images displayed on screen look excellent, no matter the light condition of the room where viewed. Additionally the perfect black level produced by each is dark enough to reveal details of images in dark scenes of HDR images excellently, making shadow detail of HDR images shown excellently like the content creator’s intention. The use of the Alpha 9 in the LG OLED E8 minimizes noise more than the LG OLED E7. The result is that noise in a dark scene is less noticeable on the screen of the LG OLED E8 than on the LG OLED E7. Even with this, overall both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 are able to do a great job showing dark scenes, where the dark scene looks excellent in a dark room, especially when they’re playing HDR images.
As we have discussed above, with the higher level of Ultra Luminance, the LG OLED E8 can produce a brighter peak brightness than the LG OLED E7, no matter if playing SDR or HDR content. When playing SDR content, except for a 100% bright window, the peak brightness of the LG OLED E7 is slightly less than 400 nits while LG OLED E8 is slightl brighter than 400 nits. This means their peak brightness is equally bright enough to fight glare when viewed in a bright room. Combined with its excellent performance for dealing with reflections, this makes the picture displayed on screen look excellent in most bright rooms. Unfortunately, when showing a scene where all objects are bright like an outdoor bright scene, the peak brightness dims significantly to below 200 nits because it’s limited by the ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter). Fortunately in movies, a scene where all objects are bright is rare, so this should not be a major problem for either the LG OLED E7 or LG OLED E8. When playing HDR content, both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 can produce far brighter peak brightness, even on a small white window, the LG OLED E8 can reach peak brightness of up to nearly 900 nits, while the LG OLED E7 is nearly 700 nits. The result on screen of the LG OLED E8, is the highlight of HDR images can be shown brighter than on the screen of the LG OLED E7. On the other hand and although not as bright as the LG OLED E8, the peak brightness of the LG OLED E7 is also excellent for an OLED TV. Offered by both since they have a self-lighting pixel, there is almost no “blooming” visible when are showing a scene with a small bright object on a dark background. Since their peak brightness is still less than 1000 nits, this means they can’t show the highlight of HDR images brighter than 1000 nits. As a side note, some premium LED TVs like the Samsung Q9FN and the Sony X930E have a far brighter peak brightness than these and are able to show highlights of HDR images at 1000 – 4000 nits of brightness range just as their creators intended. Although the performance of these LG TVs is not as great as a premium LED TV for showing bright scenes of HDR images, both the LG OLED E8 and the LG OLED E7 do a great job in showing HDR images in a different way with better shadow detail and blooming-free.
Both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 have excellent wide color gamut, and almost as good as the Samsung QLED TV which is the TV known for the best color gamut. Both of these LG TVs can cover more than 96% of DCI P3 color space which means it is great for HDR content, particularly for those mastered in DCI P3 like HDR 10 content. Additionally both have good color coverage in Rec.2020, making the color of HDR images mastered in Rec.2020 like Dolby Vision content be well produced. In addition to an excellent color gamut, overall the color volume is good. Since their peak brightness is limited by the ABL, extremely bright colors can’t be shown at their proper brightness. This means very bright colors will not be shown as saturated as the darker colors. Fortunatel, this only noticeable when showing extremely bright highlights, so this should not be a problem. Except for extremely bright colors, these LG TVs can show a wide color gamut at the entire brightness range. They even show deeper color better than LED TVs including the Samsung QLED TV. The result, colors of HDR images displayed on their screen looks very accurate. In addition wide color gamut and good color volume, both LG OLED E8 and E7 also have excellent color gradient. Since both of them already support 10 bit depth of colors, they are able to produce more than 1.07 billion shades of colors. The result is that color gradient of images displayed on screen looks very smooth, particularly when playing HDR content. Although with certain colors, there are some small imperfections but this shouldn’t be a problem for normal content.
Side Viewing Angle
As you may have seen, the side viewing angle is an advantage of OLED TV over the typical LED TV. Usually the screen of an LED TV will look worse when viewed from the side, whereas with an OLED TV the picture displayed on screen will look consistent, no matter the angle you view from. Like on an LED TV and starting at certain angles, the color of images displayed on screen may still shift on an OLED TV, but this would happen at a much wider angle and the color shift is not as significant as what happens on an LED panel. For an OLED TV the black level and brightness can be maintained at a wide angle, even at an extremely wide angle. The result is that no matter from what angle you watch TV, the picture displayed on screen will remain good. The great performance of both of these LG TVs to maintain picture quality from the side is even better than an IPS TV which are also designed to deliver a good side viewing angle coverage.
Motion handling and 24p Playback
In addition to a wide viewing angle coverage, the other advantage offered by OLED TV (including the LG E8 and the LG E7) over LED TV is its excellent response time. Both the LG OLED E7 and the LG OLED E8 have excellent pixel response time, and is far lower than the lowest times reached by LED TV. This means it’s great for handling motion blur. As the result, when playing fast moving images like sports and fast movies, the picture produced looks very smooth and clear with almost no motion blur. Following a fast moving object, there is only an extremely short ghosting trail where most people may not notice this much. The blur that may still be visible is more caused by persistence than by pixel response time. Since both of these LG TVs don’t have a backlight, this allows each to be backlight flicker-free. Flicker free may make the picture look smooth, but on the other hand, this will cause some persistence blur. We noticed their performance in handling motion blur and flicker is similar. But the advantage offered by the LG OLED E8 over the LG OLED E7 predecessor, is it now has a 60Hz BFI (Black Frame Insertion) mode. You can enable this feature by turning on “Motion Pro” to the picture setting. When this feature is enabled, the TV will make backlight flicker at 60 HZ. This is useful to make motion look clearer, particularly when playing 60 fps content like sports and video games, but on the other hand this will make possible flicker on its screen. For you who are not too comfortable with blur, you can enable this feature, otherwise you can disable this feature. Meanwhile the LG OLED E7 doesn’t have this feature which certainly means it doesn’t have an ability to minimize blur caused by 60 fps persistence.
When playing 24p movies, the LG OLED E7 can do a better job than the LG OLED E8, particularly when playing 24p movies via 60i signal like movies from satellite TV. When playing movies with this frame rate, the LG OLED E7 is able to show them judder-free, while the LG OLED E8 can’t completely eliminate the judder. The inability of the LG OLED E8 in removing judder at 60i signal actually is not usual, so we expect there will an update firmware for the LG OLED E8 in the future that will address this issue. On the other hand, most people don’t notice judder much so this should not be a problem for them. Except via 60i signal, both of these can equally do a great job. This means that no matter if the source is native 24p video like Blu Ray or DVD movies, via 60p signal like movies from streaming devices, or via streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Video, and others, all of them can be shown smoothly and clearly judder-free on screen. For removing judder without adding the “soap opera effect” you just need to set the “Tru Motion” option to “User” and then set both the “De-Blur” and the “De-Judder” to “0”.
Input/Output
There no changes in the LG OLED E8 compared to the LG OLED E7 in terms of input/output. For their major connectivity, both are equally equipped with 4 HDMI ports where all the ports are support CEC, HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 Full bandwidth. They also have 1 port that supports ARC (Audio Return Channel) that is on HDMI 2. Additionally there are no HDMI ports which support HDMI 2.1. Lacking HDMI 2.1 may not be a big deal for the LG OLED E7, but for the LG OLED E8 that supports HFR (High Frame Rate Content), this means it can not play HFR content via HDMI ports due to the fact the bandwidth of HDMI 2.0 is not sufficient for HFR content. This means it can play HDR content via USB ports only. Additionally they are both equally equipped with 3 USB ports. But in this case, they have a small difference where all the USB ports of the LG OLED E8 are USB 2.0 while on the LG OLED E7, one port is USB 3.0 and the others are USB 2.0. In addition to USB and HDMI ports, they are also equipped with the same other input/output like 1 Composite In (AV In), 1 Antenna In (Terrestrial), 1 Ethernet port, and 1 Digital Audio Out (Optical). Both are not equipped with Component In. For their wireless connectivity, they are equally equipped with a built-in WI-Fi and Bluetooth.
The LG OLED E8 and the LG OLED E7 also have similar input lag in “PC” and “Game” mode. No matter the resolution of the input, their input lag is less than 25 ms which means it is great for any game. The result is no matter if you are playing 4K or 1080p games, casual or fast paced games, you’ll see comfortable and responsive play. Combined with their excellent picture quality, great motion handling and good viewing angle coverage, this makes each a great TV for playing games, even with a group of friends and family where they can watch from multiple angles. Keep in mind that since their image retention is not so good and they have a permanent burn-in risk, playing the same game over long time is not recommended.
Smart TV
As mentioned above, these both feature the same smart TV platform of WebOS. The difference is the LG OLED E7 as an older model comes with an older version, version 3.5 while the LG OLED E8 comes with version 4.0. In terms of user design, there are not many changes brought by the newer version over the last version. There is only an additional quick access button on the top right of the home menu of the 4.0 version for search functionally which makes them different, but nothing major. Additionally the preinstalled apps and features provided by each are also similar. They both have a several preinstalled apps like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Live TVs, Games, Screen mirroring apps, and much more, They also have an app store called “LG Apps Store” which provides thousands of downloadable apps, games, and other programs. Even so, since the LG OLED E8 has the Alpha 9 processor, this has an impact on the performance of its smart TV where its performance is faster and more responsive then the predecessor. The major highlight offered by the 4.0 version is the addition of ThinQ AI where it now has been integrated with ThinQ AI. This allows you to control and monitor other ThinQ compatible devices connected on your TV. Using your voice command, ThinQ AI voice navigation can do a lot more things than the previous platform.
For their controller, they are equipped with the same smart controller named LG Magic Remote. There are not many differences between the 2017 and 2018 version for shape, button layout, smart features, and abilities offered. We have discussed a lot about the ability of LG’s magic remote on other posts. One of the most useful features offered by this remote is the “point and click” to help to make navigation far easier and faster. A small difference between them is their voice navigation ability where the 2018 model can do a lot more jobs than the 2017 model. But keep in mind, this is more due to having ThinQ AI than its own ability.
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the OLED E7 <<
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the OLED E8 <<
Summary
| Performance | LG OLED E8 | LG OLED E7 |
|---|---|---|
| Picture Quality | (4.4/5) | (4.3/5) |
| HDR | (4.5/5) | (4.4/5) |
| Motion Handling | (4.4/5) | (4.3/5) |
| Inputs | (4.5/5) | (4.5/5) |
| Sound Quality | (3.4/5) | (3.6/5) |
| Smart TV | (4.1/5) | (4.1/5) |
Conclusion
There are some major changes in the LG OLED E8 as the newer model over the LG OLED E7. The first is about their design like we’ve discussed above. But in my personal opinion, the new design doesn’t make it look more gorgeous than the predecessor. The other major highlight brought by the LG OLED E8 is the Alpha 9 processor for its image engine where this makes the LG OLED E8 produce better picture quality and performance than the LG OLED E7, particularly when playing HDR content. And lastly, now all of LG’s TV line-up (including the LG OLED E8) have been integrated with ThinQ AI. Overall the LG OLED E8 has a bit better picture quality, better HDR performance and offers a more attractive smart TV experience, but otherwise it lacks a built-in sound bar making its overall appearance not as gorgeous as the predecessor LG OLED E7 and this also makes sound performance not as impressive as the predecessor.
So which is a better choice for you? As mentioned previousl, on the market with the same screen size, the LG OLED E8 is more expensive than the LG OLED E7, while the advantages and disadvantages between them have been discussed a lot here. Now the decision is yours according to your own preferences and budget.
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG OLED E7 <<
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG OLED E8 <<
4K UHD LED TV Comparison is supported by its audience. We review products independently. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Leave a Reply