LG UK7700 vs SK8000 Review (55UK7700 vs 55SK8000, 65UK7700 vs 65SK8000) – What are their differences?

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LG UK7700 and the LG SK8000 are part of LG’s 2018 mid-range priced 4K HDR LED TV lineup. Like most other models of the LG LED TV lineup, the LG SK8000 and the LG UK7700 come with IPS panel technology that makes them have wide viewing angle coverage and to be a good choice for a room with wide seating. As is typical of TVs with the IPS panel, these TVs are not suitable when used in a dark room due their low native contrast ratio. In the market, the SK8000 comes in 3 screen size options including 49 Inch (49SK8000PUA), 55 inch (55SK8000PUA), and 65 inch (65SK8000PUA) while the UK7770 comes in 2 screen size options only — the 55 inch (55UK770PUD) and the 65 inch (65UK7700PUD). And with the same screen size (55UK7700 vs 55SK8000, 65UK7700 vs 65SK8000), LG UK7000 is sold about hundred less than the SK8000. So what are their differences and which is a better choice for you?

LG UK7700 vs the SK8000 Key Specs

Specs and Features LG UK7700 LG SK8000
Size 55 Inch (55UK7700PUD), 65 Inch (65UK7700PUD) 49 Inch (49SK8000PUA), 55 Inch (55SK8000PUA), and 65 Inch (65SK8000PUA)
Resolution 4K (2160 x 3840) 4K (2160 x 3840)
Panel Type IPS Panel IPS Panel
Backlighting Edge-Lit LED Edge-Lit LED
Local Dimming Yes Yes
Picture Engine Alpha 7 Intelligent Processor
HDR Formats HDR 10, HLG HDR 10, Dolby Vision, HLG, Advanced HDR by Technicolor
Nano Cell Color Yes Yes
Tru Color Accuracy Yes Yes
Support wide color gamut Yes Yes
Support 10 Bit depth of color Yes Yes
Ultra Luminance Yes Yes
Nano Cell Black Yes Yes
UHD Up-scaling Yes (Tru 4k Up-Scaler) Yes (Tru 4k Up-Scaler)
Motion Clarity Tru Motion 120 Hz Tru Motion 240 Hz, 49SK8000 = TruMotion 120 Hz
Native Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz, 49SK8000 = 60 Hz
Smart TV WebOS 4.0 with LG’s AI ThinQ WebOS 4.0 with LG’s AI ThinQ
LG Magic Remote Yes Yes
Audio Channel 2.0 2.0
Output Power 20 watts 20 watts
Support Dolby Atmos No Yes
HDMI Ports 4 4
USB Ports 2 3
Prices See today’s Price See today’s price

Features and Technologies of LG SK8000 and UK7700

The differences

Processor

One of the main differences between the LG UK7700 and the LG SK8000 is their processor. As we see on the comparison table above, the LG SK8000 has been powered by the Alpha Intelligence Processor while UK7700 is not yet. Not just for the SK8000, the Alpha 7 is also used by the higher series models like the SK9000, SK9500, and OLED B8. Although its performance is not as powerful as the Alpha processor, at least it is better than the processor of the UK7700, particularly in maximizing image details.  Additionally the Alpha 7 processor makes smart TV performance for the SK8000 faster and more responsive than the UK7700, even though they feature the same smart TV platform.

HDR Support

The other advantage offered by the LG SK8000 as the higher model line is about the HDR format supported. In this case, the LG UK7700 supports HDR10 and HLG only, while the SK8000 also supports those HDR formats in addition it also supports Dolby Vision by Dolby Laboratories and Advanced HDR by Technicolor. This makes the SK8000 more flexible for watching movies in more HDR format options than the UK7700.

Motion Technology

Except for the 49 inch model (49SK800PUA), when maximizing performance in playing fast moving images like sports, fast movies, or games, the LG SK8000 is powered by TruMotion 240 Hz technology based on a native 120 Hz refresh rate panel. The LG UK7700 is only powered by Tru Motion 120 Hz based on a native 60 Hz refresh rate panel. The other advantage of the SK8000, is that it has an optional 60 Hz BFI (Black Frame Insertion) mode that is helpful to make motion look clearer, particularly when caused by the 60 fps persistence. On the other hand the UK77000 doesn’t have this feature.

Dolby Atmos Decoder

Both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 are equally equipped with a 2.0 channel speaker system with 20 watts of total sound output. Their difference is that the SK8000 supports Dolby Atmos while the UK7700 doesn’t. This means that with the SK8000 you can enjoy a Dolby Atmos Sound experience. Since it only has a standard 2.0 channel speaker system and doesn’t have a built-in woofer, to enjoy the Dolby Atmos experience, you’ll need an additional external sound system or sound bar.

The Number of USB ports

Both the LG SK8000 and the UK7000 have 4 HDMI ports for their major connectivity, although the number of their USB ports is different. As seen on the comparison table above, the SK8000 is equipped with 3 USB ports while the UK7700 is only equipped with 2 USB ports. None of their USB ports are USB 3.0 compatible, as all are USB 2.0.

The Similarities

Both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 have the same feature set and are powered by the same technology. For the display panel, they both use an IPS panel with Edge-Led backlight and local dimming technology. Unfortunately we don’t know how many dimming zones each has. For maximizing their color reproduction, both are equally powered by Nano Cell Display Technology and another technology like Tru Color Accuracy, Billion Rich Color, and others. Both of them also have a technology called “Nano Cell Black” that has a function to improve performance in producing black. For maximizing their peak brightness, they also have a technology called “Ultra Luminance”.  And for maximizing the clarity of images when they are playing non 4K content, both of them are also powered by a UHD up-scaling engine called “Tru 4K Up-Scaler”. This means that no matter the resolution of the source whether it is SD content, HD content, or Full HD content, you can enjoy them all with quality as close as possible to 4K resolution.

And for their smart TV platform, both series feature WebOS 4.0. WebOS 4.0 now has been integrated with LG AI ThinQ, a home intelligence system by LG that allows you to control and monitor your ThinQ AI compatible devices via your TV with voice command. Not only that, it also supports Amazon Alexa which means you can monitor and control your Amazon Alexa compatible devices via your LG TV. Additionally, ThinQ AI has voice navigation that is far better. This feature is just like Smart Things and Samsung’s Bixby Voice Assistant on Tizen and Google Home / Google Voice Assistant on Android TV.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG UK7700 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG SK8000 <<

LG UK7700 vs SK8000 Performance

Picture Quality

Contrast and Black Level

As is typical of an IPS TV, the native contrast ratio of the LG SK8000 and the UK7000 is weak where they can not produce a deep black. The poor performance  in producing black will be most noticeable when are used in a dark room. Black will tend to look grey rather than really black, such that dark scenes look a bit washed-out. Additionally their black uniformity is also poor. Both series have local dimming and Nano Cell Black designed for improving the black produced, but in this instance it does not help much. Additionally since they cannot produce a deep black, this means they can not show shadow details of HDR images excellently in the way their creator intended. For you who often watch TV in a dark room or watch movies with a lot of dark scenes like Thriller or Horror movies, both of these TVs may not be a good choice for you. Fortunately once they are set in a bright room, the picture displayed on their screen will look far better due the impact of the high native contrast ratio which is not as sensitive as in a dark room. And since most people watch TV in a moderately bright room, this should not be a major problem. This means that if you don’t like to watch TV in a dark room, you can ignore the low performance in producing black.

Brightness

While their performance in a dark room is equally poor for these series, once set in a bright room, the picture displayed on screen will look far better. Compared between them with SDR content, both equally have a peak brightness lower than 300 nits, and the SK8000 has a bit brighter peak brightness than the UK7700. Although the UK7700 can maintain its peak brightness across a range of window sizes.  On the other hand, the peak brightness of the SK8000 depends on window sizes on screen. In a small window size such as a small highlight in a dark scene, the peak brightness is less than 100 nits, and small highlights will appear too dim. As the bright area increases, its peak brightness also rises, even when the bright area is more than half, it can show an object brighter than 300 nits.  With HDR contents, both of these series are able to produce a better peak brightness, but the increase is not significant. Just like with SDR content, the UK7700 can sustain similar peak brightness at various window sizes of bright areas.

Overall peak brightness of the LG SK8000 and the UK7700 is mediocre and only bright enough to make the picture look bright in a dim room or a moderately bright room. When used in a very bright room, their peak brightness is too low, particularly when they are displaying HDR content. With their limited peak brightness, you will not get the benefits offered by HDR content over SDR content — let alone to show bright scenes of HDR content brighter than 1000 nits like the creator intended. The performance is far from expected.

Color Reproduction

Both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 are powered by Nano Cell display technology, but the SK8000 can deliver a wider color gamut than the UK7700. Overall their color coverage in DCI P3 is good even though still less than 90% of what is recommended. Their color coverage in Rec.2020 is also acceptable. The result is that some colors like dark greens or others cannot be shown as accurate as you’d see on a TV with wider color gamut; but overall the color of HDR images displayed on its screen still looks accurate. While the SK8000 has a wider color gamut, the UK7700 has a better color volume. And overall their color volume is sub-par. They can not show a good color gamut at darker colors well. Except for the darker colors, they can show color gamut at the entire brightness fairly well. Overall the color rendition is good, but not as good as the competitors like the Samsung NU8000 or the Sony X850F. While the color gamut of the LG SK8000 and the UK8000 is not excellent, both of them have excellent color gradient. The SK8000 has better color gradient than the UK7700 but the difference is not noticeable. Both series support 10 bit depth of colors which means they can produce more than 1 billion shades of colors which is good for HDR DHR contents. The result is that the color gradient of HDR images displayed on their screen looks very smooth. Some little imperfections may be still visible in certain colors but this should not be problem for normal content.

Side Viewing Angle

The use of the IPS panel may make both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 where they can not produce a deep black, but conversely this allows them to have good side viewing angle coverage. This ability is not as good as what’s seen on OLED TVs, but its better than what you’d find on VA TVs, particularly in maintaining the black level. Just like on a VA panel, color will fade and brightness will be decreased starting at less than 30 degrees off center and front. As mentioned, the excellence of the UK7700 and the SK8000 is in maintaining their black level at an extremely wide angle. On VA TVs, the black level usually will be degraded at less than 15 degrees off center and front. For you who need the TV to be placed in a room with wide seating, both of these series may be a good choice for you.

Motion Handling and 24p Playback

The pixel response time of the LG SK8000 is lower than the UK7700, but overall their pixel response time is equally excellent. his is very useful when playing fast moving images. The result is that when playing sports or fast movies, there is almost no visible motion blur. Following fast moving objects, there is only a faint short trail where most people may not notice this.  But even so, some blurs that may be visible are more often caused by persistence than by pixel response time.  To help with this the SK8000 has an option mode that can minimize blur that caused by persistence. Since both of these series have local dimming technology, to dim their backlight both the UK7700 and the SK8000 use a PWM Dimming System with 120 Hz of frequency dimming. Their dimming frequency is actually relatively low, so this may bother some people who are sensitive to flicker. Additionally this could cause some duplication when displaying a fast moving object. And as mentioned, for minimizing the blur caused by persistence or backlight flicker, particularly when showing fast moving images, the LG SK8000 has an optional BFI mode that allows it to flicker its backlight at 60 HZ. This is very effective to clear-up the motion, particularly for 60 fps content like video games or sports. But on the other hand, since it flickers its backlight at a lower frequency, this can make backlight flicker more noticeable. Meanwhile the LG UK7700 doesn’t have an optional BFI mode.

When playing 24p videos, the LG UK7700 does a better job than the UK7700. No matter the frame rate of the 24p movie, whether it is native 24p movies like DVD or Blu-Ray movies, via 60p signal like movies from streaming devices, via 60i signal like movies from satellite TV, or movies from streaming apps like YouTube, Netflix, and others; all of them will be shown smoothly and clearly judder-free on its screen. The ability of the UK7700 in removing judder is only from native 24p movies or movies via streaming apps, when the source is 24p movies via 60p or 60i signal, it can not remove the judder completely. Fortunately most people are not sensitive to judder, so this should not be problem for the UK7700. The advantage of the SK8000 over the UK7700 is its ability in interpolating lower frame rate content. Since the SK8000 has a native 120 HZ refresh rate panel, it can interpolate both 30 fps and 60 fps up to 120 Hz, while the UK7700 only has a 60 HZ refresh rate panel, so it can interpolate 30 fps only up to 60 Hz. Although the exception to this is that the 49SK8000 has native 60 Hz refresh rate panel and can not do the 120 hz interpolation.

Inputs/Outputs

For the major inputs and outputs, both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 are equipped with 4 HDMI ports, and all their HDMI ports have the same ability. All of their HDMI ports support HDCP 2.2, CEC, and HDMI 2.0 Full bandwidth. Additionally, both series have 1 HDMI port that supports ARC that is on HDMI 2.  Since the SK8000 already supports Dolby Atmos, it can pass the Dolby Atmos signal via its HDMI ARC while the UK7700 doesn’t support ARC. For USB ports, the SK8000 has 3 USB ports while the UK7700 only has 2 ports where all the HDMI ports are USB 2.0 and none are USB 3.0 compatible. In addition to HDMI and USB ports, both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 also have 1 RF IN, 1 Digital Audio Out (optical), and 1 Ethernet port. The difference is the UK7700 has 1 Composite In (AV In) while the SK8000 does not.

Regarding input lag for PC and Game mode, the UK7700 has a lower input lag than the SK8000. Input lag for each series is excellent, even including the best TVs in this model year. No matter the resolution of the source, the input lag of the UK7700 is lower than 15 ms which means it is excellent for any game. On the other hand, except for 4K with HDR at 60 Hz, the input lag of the SK8000 is also lower than 15 ms. At 4K with HDR at 60 Hz, the input lag of the SK8000 is higher than 20 ms. Even so, it is still lower than 25 ms and still low enough for any game, even for fast-paced games that require quick reflexes. With excellent input lag and excellent motion handling and wide viewing angle coverage, this makes these models a good TV for games, particularly if you often play games with your family and friends.

Smart TV

Like other models of LG’s 2018 4K TV lineup, both the LG SK8000 and the UK7700 equally run WebOS 4.0 as the smart TV platform. WebOS has an intuitive user interface design and is also easy to navigate. There are not many changes on its home menu. Across the bottom of the screen, there is still a strip bar containing “tiles” that are well-organized as quick access to apps, inputs, and menus. A little change is on the top right where there is now a quick access button for search functions, allowing you to find something easily and quickly.  The performance is very responsive and quick and its more responsive than Tizen OS and even Google Android TV. Nevertheless quickness also depends on the processor that supports the TV. Since the SK8000 is supported with a faster chip, this makes the smart TV performance to be faster and more responsive than the UK7700. Considering the apps provided, there’s a decent number of pre-installed apps like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Videos, Web Browser, Live TV, Games, and many more. It also has an app store called “LG apps store”. Although what’s provided is not as complete as what is provided by the Google Play Store or the Samsung apps store, but there are still a lot of apps, games, and content provided. And the new WebOS 4.0 has been integrated with LG AI ThinQ, an artificial intelligence system by LG. With ThinQ AI, you can monitor and control your ThinQ devices like Air Conditioner, Dish Washer, and more via your TV. Not just that, it also supports Amazon Alexa, so not only ThinQ devices can be monitored and controlled via your LG TV, but also Amazon Alexa Compatible devices. Additionally the LG AI ThinQ has excellent navigation.

For the remote, both the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 are equally equipped with theLG magic Remote. The LG magic remote is an excellent remote with a lot of smart features. This remote is not as large as the Sony smart remote, but it is larger than the Samsung smart remote. In addition to the standard buttons like the Volume button, change channel button, power button, and other, the remote also has some quick access buttons for common functions and two dedicated buttons for Netflix and Amazon Videos. At the center of the remote, there is a combination of a direction pad and a clickable scroll wheel that makes navigation is far easier and faster. When you point the remote at the TVs screen, you can move the cursor on the screen by waving the remote.  Like other smart remotes, it’s also equipped with a built-in microphone for voice navigation. Since its platform has been integrated with ThinQ AI, its voice command ability is far better, not for basic commands, but also some advanced commands and searches. This remote also has universal ability, allowing you to control some basic functions of your other CEC compatible devices connected to your TV via HDMI ports.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG UK7700 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG SK8000 <<

Summary

Performance LG UK7700 LG SK8000
Picture Quality (3.6/5) (3.6/5)
HDR (3.7/5) (3.7/5)
Motion Handling (3.6/5) (4/5)
Inputs (4.9/5) (4.8/5)
Sound Quality (3.3/5) (3/5)
Smart TV (4.1/5) (4.1/5)

Conclusion

The LG SK8000 as the higher series has some advantages over the UK7700. The main advantage offered by the SK8000 is in being powered by an Alpha 7 processor to make its performance better than the UK7700 for things like a bit wider color gamut, better motion handling when playing fast moving images, better judder handling when playing 24p movies, and other functions. Additionally the other advantage offered by the SK8000 it that it supports Dolby Atmos and most of the HDR formats like HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, and Advanced HDR while the UK7700 just supports HDR10 and HLG. In terms of picture quality, there is no clear advantage offered by the SK8000 except that it can provide a little wider color gamut than the UK7700. Overall for their price, the performance and picture quality of the LG UK7700 and the SK8000 is fairly good. Since they each have a low native contrast ratio, both of these TVs are not suitable for use in a dark room.

So which is a better choice for you? When comparing the same screen size, the SK8000 is about a hundred dollars more than the UK7700. Considering picture quality and performance offered, I think the SK8000 is a better choice. If you are not interested in all the additional features offered by the SK8000, the LG UK7700 is also not a bad choice. So the decision is yours according to your own preferences and budget.

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG UK7700 <<

>> Please click here to see today’s price for the LG SK8000 <<

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