Some of you may remember the original r/Xbox [Try & Keep] Looking for Best Gaming TV for Xbox? Try LG Micro RGB evo 100” TV post for the 100" LG Micro RGB. Due to availability in Canada, I ended up receiving the 86" model instead.
I have now had the TV set up and in use for about two weeks, so I wanted to share some of my initial impressions and the things that have stood out to me most so far. I am still planning a much more detailed review later this month, but this should give a good idea of my experience with it up to this point.
Setup and Size
At 86" this is by far the largest TV I have ever owned. I have traditionally used 65" TVs and I honestly underestimated how big the jump would feel. I used to be skeptical of anything much larger than 65" at 4K because of the lower pixel density, more visible aliasing and other image quality tradeoffs. Larger sizes can also sometimes come with their own compromises, such as reduced brightness or simply not getting quite the same panel performance as the smaller models.
After using this TV, I have completely changed my mind. The increase in immersion is massive, and I really don't think I would want to go back to 65" as my main TV. 75" would probably be my minimum going forward.
The TV weighs around 125 lbs so setup definitely required more care than usual. We used three people to safely unpack it, install the feet and move it into position. It wasn't overly difficult though, I just needed a few extra hands.
Xbox Gaming
I have mainly been using this display for the past 2 weeks with my Xbox Series X.
For context, I have owned an LG E7P, LG G2 and LG G4, so I have spent years gaming on high end LG OLED displays. Since moving to OLED I had honestly started to write off LCD as a technology. I always felt OLED was simply the better option and that even higher end LCD and Mini LED displays came with too many compromises. This TV has definitely changed my opinion on that.
I am going to save the full OLED vs Micro RGB comparison for the detailed review, but this is the first LCD display I have used that has made me feel like LCD can actually surpass OLED in certain areas while still retaining genuinely high-end picture quality.
The two things that immediately stand out to me are brightness and color volume.
For HDR I kept the setup simple. I used the default gaming picture preset, turned off additional tone mapping and enabled HGiG. Even with those basic settings, the 20% HDR window in the Xbox HDR Calibration app was reaching around 4,000 nits for both MaxTML and MaxFFTML.
Blinding is honestly the best way I can describe it.
On an 86" screen, that 20 percent window has roughly the same screen area as a 38"-39" display running full screen at 4,000 nits, and I genuinely found myself squinting when running the Xbox HDR test pattern. At night, both SDR & HDR scenes literally light up the entire room.
That brightness is also extremely useful during the day. My family room has a large window and skyline view, and this TV pushes through glare better than any TV I have owned. My newer OLEDs have been very good in bright rooms, but this is on another level. I can leave the blinds open and still comfortably see most of the picture.
In games, that brightness gives sunlight, headlights, reflections, explosions and other HDR highlights a lot more impact. That also seems to carry over into SDR. I don't have a meter to measure it, but subjectively even SDR can look extremely bright, somewhere in what feels like the 500-1000 nit range depending on the scene/content.
The other big standout has been color volume.
The Micro RGB has extremely wide Rec.2020 color coverage and the difference is noticeable to me in both HDR and SDR even without having another TV sitting beside it. Colors can look richer with more intense, reds, greens, blues etc. The TV also seems able to hold onto that saturation as scenes get extremely bright. Bright colors do not seem to "white wash out" nearly as quickly compared to WOLED, so things like neon signs, sunsets, fire, particle effects and highly saturated game environments can have a lot more depth and intensity.
It is not a night and day difference with every piece of content, and obviously the source material needs to be mastered in a way that actually takes advantage of the wider color capability. That said, I have still found the difference noticeable in normal everyday use with everyday content, all without needing a side by side comparison.
The best way I can describe it is that there are colors on this TV that I simply have never been able to see on any other display I've owned, and that is coming from someone who's only bought top of the line TVs.
For gaming features you also get 4K 120Hz, VRR, ALLM, FreeSync Premium, Dolby Vision gaming, Dolby Atmos and LG Game Optimizer. You can virtually max out almost all of the gaming features available on the Series X. The panel can go beyond 120Hz with compatible hardware, but of course the Series X tops out at 120Hz.
Initial Impression / TLDR
After two weeks, the combination of the 86" size, HDR brightness, color volume and 120Hz VRR gaming have made this feel very different from anything I have owned before. The size alone has completely changed my opinion on large TVs, while the brightness and color performance are clear high points to this display.
I will be doing a much deeper review later this month covering picture quality, HDR, local dimming, gaming performance, settings and a proper comparison with the LG OLEDs I have owned. If there is anything specific you want me to test with the Xbox Series X, or if you have any questions about the display, let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
Lastly, I want to thank the moderators over at r/Xbox as well as LG for giving me the opportunity to try out and review this TV.
Disclaimer: I received this TV for free from LG as part of [Try & Keep] Looking for Best Gaming TV for Xbox? Try LG Micro RGB evo 100” TV LG has asked me to share my experience, but all opinions here are my own.
