Choosing a premium television as the center of your entertainment experience can be quite a difficult task. There are multiple factors to consider when purchasing your next TV. Things like image quality, brightness, screen resolution, and HDR are all important considerations to keep in mind when selecting your next TV purchase.
LG’s QNED MiniLED 8K is a premium television capable of 8K resolution, but how does it stack up against the LG B2 OLED? Both of these televisions have screen sizes in excess of 70 inches, but there are some stark differences between the two despite the similar price points.
Let’s take a look at the specs and features of these premium televisions and see which one comes out on top.
LG QNED MiniLED 8K vs. LG Class B2 PUA OLED: Side-by-Side Comparison
LG QNED MiniLED 8K | LG Class B2 PUA OLED | |
---|---|---|
Screen Resolution | 8K | 4K |
Screen Size | 75 inches | 77 inches |
HDR | HDR10 | HDR10 |
Refresh Rate | 60Hz at 8K 120Hz for 4K and lower | 120Hz |
Gaming Mode? | Yes | Yes |
Audio Codecs | AC4, AC3, EAC3 | AC4, AC3, EAC3 |
- REAL 8K QUANTUM DOT NANOCELL DISPLAY: See brighter depth and detail. Thanks to Real 8K, the best in resolution, combined with our best in backlighting. Over 33 million pixels bring your content to life with unbelievable detail. Games, movies and shows pop like never before with Full Array Dimming Pro, our most advanced LED technology.
- MINI LED: New MiniLED technology is a giant leap forward in LCD TV. MiniLED technology uses smaller LEDs to maximize precise luminance, a higher level of contrast and deeper blacks due to increased dimming zones.
- a9 GEN 4 AI PROCESSOR 8K: The a9 Gen 4 AI Processor 8K is specifically engineered to power 8K performance, detecting and enhancing every detail you see on screen. Your non-8K content looks like near 8K with AI 8K Upscaling. Plus, AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro give you clearer, smoother images and maximum sound quality.
- HOME CINEMA EXPERIENCE: Get breathtaking picture and audio that makes you feel like you're in the action with Cinema HDR, Dolby Vision IQ & Dolby Atmos. See movies exactly how directors intended with Filmmaker Mode.And with built-in access to Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and LG channels, your favorite content is at your fingertips.
- ULTIMATE GAMEPLAY: Experience gaming like never before with features that help you beat the competition. Game Optimizer gives you easier access to all your game settings, the latest HDMI allows for fast gaming speeds and you'll get low input lag and fast response times with Auto Low-Latency Mode and HGiG.
- 8 million self-lit OLED pixels
- α7 Gen5 AI Processor 4K
- 120Hz refresh rate
- NVIDIA G-SYNC, FreeSync Premium, and VRR
LG QNED MiniLED 8K vs. LG Class B2 PUA OLED: What’s the Difference?
The most obvious difference between these two televisions is the screen resolution. LG‘s 8K television displays at 8K as the name would denote, which is twice the native resolution of the LG B2.
There are some more key differences, however, despite being from the same manufacturer, so let’s get into them below.
Image Quality
The LG QNED MiniLED uses miniature LEDs to display images, a stark contrast from the OLED panel of the LG Class B2.
While these both result in clearer pictures, one might not notice a truer color depiction from the OLED display. The stark contrast in resolution is very noticeable, but there are areas where the LG QNED falters quite heavily.
The LG Class B2 has beautiful color contrast, giving a rich color experience across a wide breadth of media. Conversely, the LG QNED has poorer color contrast, giving a more washed-out image overall. Blacks aren’t truly black, and this might be thanks to the QNED utilizing an IPS panel for the screen.
Refresh rates also greatly differ, with the LG Class B2 having twice the native refresh rate. This isn’t immediately noticeable when watching most films, but gamers will notice it quite quickly. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with the 60Hz of the QNED, but it isn’t fluid for PS5 and Xbox One Series X gameplay when compared to the 120Hz provided by Class B2. This pairs well with the Gaming Mode which reduces latency, giving both a responsive and fluid feel to gameplay for the B2.
Brightness is comparable between the two televisions, though there does seem to be blooming on certain objects with the QNED.
Audio Support
Both televisions support common audio codecs. This is to be expected given they are both produced by the same manufacturer. In this particular price bracket, both televisions are readily compatible with external sound systems as well. Given their wide support for a variety of audio codecs and playback solutions, it’s hard to give a discernible edge to either television.
Speaker quality is likewise similar, with both displaying minimal total harmonic distortion on playback. Sound for both models is adequate, but you’ll want a soundbar or surround sound system to get the most out of your film or media audio.
Connectivity
Both televisions bear four HDMI ports, which is a nice addition. The QNED has an extra USB port, bringing its total to three while the B2 has two ports. This isn’t an absolute necessity but can be handy for loading external media from your computer or other devices. Both televisions feature a singular digital optical audio out as well, providing a stable connection to your external sound systems.
The QNED and B2 are both smart televisions, utilizing LG’s own webOS. This gives both televisions the means to stream media without the need for an external streaming device. One annoyance is the presence of ads on the webOS interface, however, which is something you can’t opt out of. Given the price point for both televisions, it would be nice to be able to at least have the option of hiding the ads.
The smart functionality of both televisions does mean they are Wi-Fi enabled, and as such you can utilize streaming services like Netflix or Hulu natively on the television itself.
LG QNED MiniLED 8K vs. LG Class B2 PUA OLED: 6 Must-Know Facts
- The LG QNED MiniLED 8K supports 8K, 4K, and 1080p resolutions.
- The LG Class B2 PUA OLED supports HDMI 3.0.
- The LG QNED MiniLED 8K is LG’s only 8K television.
- The LG Class B2 PUA OLED supports G-SYNC when used with NVIDIA graphics cards.
- The LG QNED MiniLED 8K has AI upscaling for lower-resolution media.
- The LG Class B2 PUA OLED has a response time of less than 1ms in Gaming Mode.
- REAL 8K QUANTUM DOT NANOCELL DISPLAY: See brighter depth and detail. Thanks to Real 8K, the best in resolution, combined with our best in backlighting. Over 33 million pixels bring your content to life with unbelievable detail. Games, movies and shows pop like never before with Full Array Dimming Pro, our most advanced LED technology.
- MINI LED: New MiniLED technology is a giant leap forward in LCD TV. MiniLED technology uses smaller LEDs to maximize precise luminance, a higher level of contrast and deeper blacks due to increased dimming zones.
- a9 GEN 4 AI PROCESSOR 8K: The a9 Gen 4 AI Processor 8K is specifically engineered to power 8K performance, detecting and enhancing every detail you see on screen. Your non-8K content looks like near 8K with AI 8K Upscaling. Plus, AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro give you clearer, smoother images and maximum sound quality.
- HOME CINEMA EXPERIENCE: Get breathtaking picture and audio that makes you feel like you're in the action with Cinema HDR, Dolby Vision IQ & Dolby Atmos. See movies exactly how directors intended with Filmmaker Mode.And with built-in access to Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and LG channels, your favorite content is at your fingertips.
- ULTIMATE GAMEPLAY: Experience gaming like never before with features that help you beat the competition. Game Optimizer gives you easier access to all your game settings, the latest HDMI allows for fast gaming speeds and you'll get low input lag and fast response times with Auto Low-Latency Mode and HGiG.
- 8 million self-lit OLED pixels
- α7 Gen5 AI Processor 4K
- 120Hz refresh rate
- NVIDIA G-SYNC, FreeSync Premium, and VRR
Recent Updates to the LG QNED MiniLED 8K and LG Class B2 PUA OLED
LG continues to make advancements to their TVs, and we have seen a couple updates to the LG QNED MiniLED 8K and LG Class B2 PUA OLED. Since February 2023, the LG QNED MiniLED TV has received a new processor, upgrading to the Alpha 9 Gen 6 processor. This allows for better image processing, improved noise reduction, and more. The LG Class B2 PUA OLED also received a processor update to the Alpha 7 Gen 6 processor, allowing for similar improvements in performance.
LG QNED MiniLED 8K vs. LG Class B2 PUA OLED: Which One is Better?
One would think when choosing a television that the supported resolution is king. However, the LG Class B2 PUA OLED presents a better overall value.
If 8K media isn’t in your wheelhouse, then the 4K display of the LG Class B2 presents a stunning and colorful image quality that its 8K sibling can’t come close to. Couple that with the reasonably fast response time and you have a television suited for gaming, multimedia, and even doubling as a massive PC monitor for those running home theater computers.
The LG QNED miniLED 8K is a fine television, but for the price point, one would expect a better quality panel despite the resolution. LG has severely hampered the television by sticking with an IPS panel, and the image quality doesn’t remotely stand up to the asking price. Sure, it supports double the resolution of its 4K counterparts, but the image quality is lacking compared to any of LG’s OLED displays on the market currently. Plus, most media has not caught up with the onset of 8K screens, so you would still be watching most content in 4K or less for the near future.
If you’re looking to spend on premium television, the LG Class B2 is a solid choice that will serve well in a variety of situations. It might not support the latest and greatest resolutions, but it provides an exemplary media experience in 4K.
The Future of the LG QNED MiniLED 8K and LG Class B2 PUA OLED:
As more innovations to technology are made, we may see more updates to these LG Products. In the following six to 18 months, we may see new features to support Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive. LG could also release updates to gaming performance by introducing support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). And, we may continue to see added features for new streaming platforms.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock.com.