LG 55SK8100, test and analysis with features and price

Although OLED televisions are the big stars of LG's catalog, the truth is that the Korean manufacturer also has high-end LCD models. One of them is the  LG SK8100, a television belonging to the SUPER UHD range and with Nano Cell technology . It is equipped with the new α7 processor, is compatible with up to 5 different HDR formats, has Dolby Atmos sound and the ThinQ Artificial Intelligence system.

That is, we are facing an LCD TV that offers almost all the technology that the higher-end models incorporate . In general, it is a good TV for all types of use, from watching DTT to playing games. As we will now see, its image quality suffers a bit when viewed in a dark room. However, in a bright room it achieves very good results. In addition, we have the always complete LG webOS operating system. I have had the opportunity to test the LG 55SK8100 for a few days and I will tell you what I think.

Data sheet LG 55SK8100

Nice metallic design

The design of the LG SK8100  is quite striking. The screen is surrounded by a dark metal frame one centimeter thick . Being metallic, they offer a high quality finish.

To place the television on a piece of furniture we have a support in the shape of a boomerang . It is a metallic support, also in dark color, and that leaves a space under the TV of about 7 centimeters. It may be enough to fit a low profile soundbar. By the way, to place the support we will need 82 centimeters wide and about 25 centimeters deep.

Also metallic is the back, with a very striking gray panel . The TV is quite thin on the top, somewhat less on the bottom. The connectors are located on the far left (looking at the TV from the front), some on the side and some on the front.

Specifically, we have 4 HDMI ports, 3 USB ports, an optical output, a LAN input , a headphone output (Minijack) and the different tuners. As for wireless connectivity, the LG 55SK8100 has  802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth .

The stand is “connected” to the TV using four screws, located on a plastic bracket. This has a hook through which to pass the cables , so that they are a little more arranged. Nothing to do with the solutions that we have seen in other brands.

Picture quality

The LG SK8100 has quite a good image quality , although without reaching that of the top models on the market. Perhaps its biggest weak point is a poor contrast ratio, which makes blacks appear gray. The local dimming system doesn't help either, since it uses vertical zones.

It is in dark rooms where we will most notice these defects. However, if we use the TV in a bright room or leave a dim light on when we watch TV, these failures are not so obvious .

4K HDR image

The Zone Control Edge Local Dimming lighting system  fails to prevent blacks from being as deep as they should be . Also, in the test unit we had some clouding problems, quite visible.

On the other hand, the use of an IPS panel negatively affects the blacks, but positively the viewing angles. Without reaching those that OLED technology achieves, the LG SK8100 has good viewing angles, surpassing its rivals with the VA panel .

4K HDR image

All the "failures" discussed may go completely unnoticed by many users. The truth is that we have to carefully analyze televisions to give you a verdict, but not everyone is capable of detecting these problems. That being said, the 4K image the LG SK8100 achieves is quite high quality, sharp and defined .

The same goes for content in Full HD resolution, with which the α7 12 Bit image processor does a good job . This chip performs an analysis by zone and uses a double process of denoising and banding.

FHD 1080p image

This process is also noticeable with lower resolution images, such as DTT or DVDs . However, it is inevitable to see an artifact from time to time if the image has poor quality.

The LG SK8100 covers 91-95% of the DCI P3 color space . However, its coverage of the Rec 2020 color space is much less wide, which makes the TV have a less wide color gamut than other higher-end models. Still, it can produce more vibrant colors than most televisions in its range.

DTT image

One of the LG SK8100's strong points is its handling of movement. It has an excellent response time, achieving a very stable image even in the fastest scenes . However, the panel has a refresh rate of no less than 120 Hz.

This makes it ideal as a television for gaming . In game mode it achieves a really good response time at 1080p resolution, somewhat higher in 4K HDR.

4K HDR image

As for HDR, the LG SK8100 supports most of the HDR formats on the market. It has support for Dolby Vision and Advanced HDR by Technicolor, as well as HDR10 Pro and HLG Pro .

Although the quality of the HDR images is good , I get the feeling that the TV lacks a bit more maximum brightness to achieve a more impressive image.

Dolby Atmos sound

The LG SK8100 is equipped with a 2.0 sound system with a total power of 20W . That is, it does not have a subwoofer, which is noticeable in the final result. We have decent sound for watching TV, with clear dialogue. However, if we want to enjoy a movie properly, we will have to use an external system.

As for the formats, it is capable of decoding DTS and has Dolby Atmos technology . The latter optimizes the sound if the content we are watching has a track in this format. We also have an artificial intelligence system that provides us with Virtual 5.1 sound. It is not that you have noticed a big change when activating it, but a bit more amplitude.

A smarter new webOS

The webOS operating system hits version 4.0 this year. The changes, more than at the visual level, are found in the functionalities. We still have a main bar with applications that appears at the bottom. This is configurable and gives us access to the apps that we use the most.

As soon as we install the TV we will have the most common applications available. However, LG offers us a fairly complete app store . From here we can download and install popular applications like Plex.

The system has some noteworthy options. For example, the media player included in the TV is really good . I have been able to perfectly reproduce very heavy 4K HDR movies, networked and directly with the included player.

On the other hand, the LG SK8100 includes the gallery mode of OLED TVs . This turns our TV into a painting through which different works of art will pass.

But the really striking thing about the Smart TV of this television is the ThinQ system. The combination of the AI ​​system and the Google Assistant allows us to talk to the TV and ask for almost everything . We can know from the weather tomorrow until the result of the match of our favorite team.

Of course, we can also reproduce content. And we can do it whether we know what we want to see or else, because we can tell the television that we are bored and it will look for videos of our liking. According to LG, the ThinQ system will learn while using the TV to make more and more accurate recommendations .

And if we have more ThinQ devices at home, we can use the TV as a command center . I have not been able to test this functionality first-hand because I have no other device with this system in my house.

Conclusions and price

The LG SK8100 is a good TV for a variety of use . It works well if we want to watch DTT during the day, if we want to watch a movie with some light or if we want to play the game console. Its image defects, many associated with the type of panel and lighting, are more present if we use the television in total darkness. However, it is as easy as placing a dim light in the room.

Otherwise, it offers a nice metallic design and a fully established Smart TV system . In it we find the applications most sought after by users and we get a complete Artificial Intelligence system as a gift. Perhaps at first we will see ourselves a bit strange talking to the TV, but the truth is that once you get used to it it is quite comfortable.

The LG SK8100 is available in four different diagonals: 49, 55, 65 and 75 inches . I have tried the 55-inch model, which has an official price of 1,300 euros . However, during these days I have come to see it with a price of 1,000 euros.