The LG OLED B7A (known in Europe as the OLED B7V) is the lowest priced model of LG’s OLED TV lineup. It is a newer model of the OLED B6P (in Europe as the B6V), the lowest priced model of LG’s 2016 4K HDR TV lineup. On the market the LG OLED B7 comes with 2 screen size options, similar to the predecessor LG OLED B6 which also comes with 2 screen size options, those being the 55 Inch (OLED55B7A vs OLED55B6P and in Europe as the OLED55B7V vs OLED55B6V) and 65 Inch (OLED65B7A vs OLED65B7P and in Europe as the OLED65B7V vs OLED65B6V). Although the OLED B6 has been discontinued by the manufacturer, some merchants still have a stock of the OLED B6. When I was writing this comparison comparing the same sized screen, the OLED B7 as a newer model is smore expensive than the B6. Nevertheless, their prices certainly are not fixed and could still change at any time. So what are the new features offered by the OLED B7A compared to the OLED B6P and which is a better choice for you?
LG OLED B7 vs OLED B6 Key Specs
| Specs and Features | LG OLED B6 | LG OLED B7 |
|---|---|---|
| Size Available | 55 Inch (OLED55B6P, OLED55B6V), 65 Inch (OLED65B6P, OLED65B6V) | 55 Inch (OLED55B7A, OLED55B7V), 65 Inch (OLED65B7A, OLED65B7V) |
| 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 |
| Picture Engine | Perfect Mastering Engine | Information not provided |
| HDR Engine | OLED HDR with Dolby Vision | Active HDR with Dolby Vision |
| HDR Format | HDR 10 and Dolby Vision | HDR 10, Dolby Vision, HLG, Advanced HDR |
| HDR Effect | No | Yes |
| Ultra HD Premium Certification | Yes | Yes |
| Color Technology | 4 Sub pixels technology (RGBW) | 4 Sub pixels technology (RGBW) |
| Advanced Technology | Perfect Black Panel, Ultra Luminance, Cinematic Color, etc | Perfect Black Panel, Ultra Luminance, Cinematic Color, True Color Accuracy, etc |
| 4K Up-scaling | Tru 4K Up-Scaler | Tru 4K Up-Scaler |
| 3D Technology | No | No |
| Platform | WebOS 3.0 | WebOS 3.5 |
| Features | Full Browser, LG Content Store, Magic Mobile Connection, etc | Web Browser, VoD Service, Cloud Games, Samsung’s Apps store, etc |
| Remote | LG Magic Remote | LG Magic Remote |
| HDMI | 4 (HDCP 2.2) | 4 (HDCP 2.2) |
| USB | 3 | 3 |
| Ethernet | 1 | 1 |
| RF (Terrestrial Cable) | 1 | 1 |
| Composite In (AV) | 1 | 1 |
| Component In | 1 | 0 |
| Wi-Fi Built In | 802.11 ac | 802.11 ac |
| Channel | 4 | 4 |
| Sound Design by HarmanKardon | Yes | No |
| Support Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
| Total Audio Output | 40 Watt | 40 Watt |
| Dolby Atmos Decoder | No | Yes |
| Price | See today’s price | See today’s price |
The Similarities and Differences between the LG OLED B6 and the LG OLED B7
The Differences
As seen on the table above, the newer LG OLED B7 comes with additional features and technology compared to the OLED B6, but there’s not a lot of changes. They use a similar display panel which is the OLED panel with an RGBW pixel, although they are powered by a different HDR engine. The OLED B6 is powered by a picture engine named the Perfect Mastering engine with OLED HDR, while the OLED B7 is powered by an HDR engine named Active HDR. As a newer model, the OLED B7A supports more HDR formats than the OLED B6P. In this case, the LG OLED B6 supports HDR 10, Dolby Vision, and with a firmware update it can also support HLG. On the other hand, the OLED B7 supports most HDR formats available on the market including HDR 10, Dolby Vision, HLG, and advanced HDR. Additionally, the OLED B7A has a new feature called “HDR Effect” that allows you to enjoy any content with quality as close as 4K HDR, while the OLED B6P doesn’t has this feature. The other difference between them is about sound performance. Although both of them each have a 4.0 speaker system with 40 watts of total power, the sound system of the OLED B6 is powered by Harman Kardon, while the OLED B7 is not. On other hand with a firmware update, the LG OLED B7 supports Dolby Atmos, while the OLED B6P doesn’t support Dolby Atmos. Since sound performance of the OLED B7A is less powerful and doesn’t have a built-in sub-woofer, to enjoy the Dolby Atmos experience, you need an external sound bar.
The other difference between the LG OLED B6 and the B7 is about connectivity, particularly for Composite In (AV In). In this case, the OLED B6 has 1 Composite In (AV In), while the OLED B7A doesn’t have AV In. Although both feature WebOS for their platform, the versions of the platform are also different. The OLED B6P comes with WebOS 3.0, while the OLED B7 comes with WebOS 3.5. In this case as a newer version, WebOS 3.5 is powered by a new chip that makes its performance faster and more responsive. Additionally WebOS 3.5 comes with a number of new features like Magic Link, 360 Degree Videos and other features.
The Similarities
With both having an OLED Panel, the LG OLED B7 and the B6 each have infinite native contrast ratio and perfect black level, making both of them have excellent dark room performance. Additionally the OLED panel makes both of them have a wide viewing angle coverage, where they can maintain excellent picture quality from any angle. Not just that, since the OLED panel has an extremely low pixel response time, this makes both the LG OLED B6 and the B7 has great motion handling, resulting in smooth and clear picture quality with almost no motion blur when playing fast moving images.
For maximizing the rendition of colors, in addition to the RGBW sub pixel that makes them already support wide color gamut, both the LG OLED B6 and the B7 are equally powered by Tru Color Accuracy, making the color of the picture displayed on their screen to look very accurate. Both also support 10 bit depth of color that makes the color gradient of the picture produced look very smooth, particularly when playing HDR content. For maximizing peak luminance, the LG OLED B7A and the B6 are each equally powered by Ultra Luminance. Essentially, the LG OLED B6 and the B7 are powered by similar technology with similar features.
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LG OLED B7 vs LG OLED B6 Performance
Picture Quality
Picture quality is one of the main advantages of the LG OLED B7 and the B6. Since the OLED Panel has a self lighting pixel and doesn’t use a backlight, this allows the screen to not emit any light at all when showing totally black. The result is black color produced looks perfect. Combined with its excellent black uniformity, this makes dark scenes of images displayed on screen to look excellent, particularly when set in a dark room where the effect of a high native contrast ratio is very noticeable. Not even that, when playing HDR video where the contrast ratio is one of the major components, the contrast ratio of the OLED B6 and the B7 is quite strong to reveal detailed images in dark scenes. No matter if playing HDR 10 video, Dolby Vision, or other HDR formats, they can show shadow details of HDR images excellently like what was intended by HDR technology. As we know, to show shadow details of HDR images like what is intended, particularly when showing HDR 10, one of the standards in order to receive Ultra HDR Premium Certification set by the UHD alliance, is for an OLED TV to be able to reach 0.0005 nits of black level or darker. This means that with nearly 0 nits of black level to show shadow details of HDR images like what’s intended, both the LG OLED B7A and the B6P meet the standard with no problem.
When discussing peak brightness, there is a bit of improvement on the OLED B7 compared to the B6. Overall the peak brightness of the OLED B7A is a bit brighter than the OLED B6P, whether the input is an SDR or an HDR signal. As noted, the OLED B7 can reach peak luminance at brighter than 800 nits in a small area of a test window, while peak brightness reached by the OLED B6 is still brighter than 700 nits. This means the OLED B7A can show a small highlight of an HDR image a bit brighter than the OLED B6P. Nevertheless the peak brightness of the LG OLED B6 and the OLED B7 is fairly good for OLED TV. Peak brightness reached by each is quite bright for fighting the glare of ambient light, resulting in a consistently excellent picture quality, no matter the light condition of the room where viewed, even when set in a room with a very bright light or near a sunny window. Additionally the peak brightness is quite bright to show highlights of HDR 10 images like as intended. Unlike an LED TV, where the minimum recommendation to get the Ultra HD Premium Certification set by the UHD Alliance is 1000 nits, OLED TV has a lower standardization that is 550 nits. With brighter than 700 nits of peak luminance, this means both of them can show highlights of HDR images fully as recommended by the UHD alliance. Since most HDR images are mastered in 1000 – 4000 nits of the brightness range, both the OLED B7A and the B6P can not show highlights of HDR images as bright as the native brightness of the HDR image. This means their performance is less powerful than a premium LED TV like the Sony X930E or the Samsung Q9F series that has a peak luminance brighter than 1000 nits. Nevertheless their peak brightness is great for an OLED TV and bright enough to show highlights of HDR images well.
Both the LG OLED B7A and the B6P support excellent color gamut and their color gamut range is similar. Color gamut reached by each is among the best, although a bit less than the Samsung QLED TV which is the TV with the widest color gamut. The result is that almost all colors in DCI P3 of HDR images can show properly, making the color of the picture displayed on screen to look fairly accurate. Additionally, the color gamut delivered by each can cover colors in Rec.2020 color space well. However like most modern TVs, when showing saturated green the result might not be as good as the other colors. Nevertheless color images mastered in Rec.2020 like Dolby Vision content still looks very accurate. Both also have good color volume and can show a wide color gamut almost in all brightness range, even in extremely low luminance. Unfortunately their color gamut narrows at nearly the peak brightness due to its RGBW pixel structure. Regarding color performance, both support 10 bit depth of color which means they can deliver more than 1.07 billion shades of color. The result is color gradient picture displayed on screen that looks very smooth without any major issues. In darker colors, some little imperfections might be visible, but overall the color gradient is excellent. The combination of wide color gamut, good color volume, and smooth color gradient, makes the LG OLED B6P and the LG OLED B7A to have excellent color rendition.
To cover much of the lower resolution content available on the market, both the LG OLED B7 and the B6 are equipped with a great 4K up-scaling engine called Tru 4K Up-Scaler. No matter the resolution of the video source, it will be up-converted as close as possible to 4K resolution. The result is that low resolution content like DVD movies with 480p resolution looks sharp and clear in 4K quality. And of course, the higher the resolution of the source, the final image in 4K produced by them will look sharper and clearer where small detail is preserved better. The ability of the OLED B7 also has a new feature named HDR effect that when enabled, it improves the brightness and color range of the picture to where you can enjoy any content with quality as close to 4K HDR as possible. The OLED B6 doesn’t yet have this feature.
The other superior offering by the LG OLED B7 and the B6 is their wide viewing angle coverage. Since the OLED panel doesn’t use a backlight, this means it has an extremely wide viewing angle coverage — far better than an LED TV with an IPS panel. The result is both series are able to maintain an excellent picture quality from any angle. When you’re watching TV at a wide angle, the picture displayed on screen will look as good as viewed from front and center. This becomes a huge advantage over an LED TV considering that most premium LED TVs have an issue when it comes to side viewing angles. This certainly gives a benefit when used in a wide room where a group of people is watching TV from multiple angles.
Winner: OLED B7 has a bit brighter peak brightness
Motion Handling and 24p Playback
In addition to excellent picture quality, both the LG OLED B7 and the OLED B6 have great motion handling. AOne of the advantages of the OLED panel over the LED panel is its extremely low pixel response time. Until now, the fastest pixel response time reached by an LED TV is about 3 ms, while the OLED panel can reach up to 0.1 ms, which is far faster than an LED TV. The result for playing video content with fast moving scenes like sports and fast movies, the picture displayed on screen looks smooth and clear. Following a fast moving object, there is only an extremely short trail where most people probably won’t notice. When playing 24p movies, there is an improvement in performance on the OLED B7 over the OLED B6. The LG OLED B6 is only able to deliver a judder-free picture when it is playing 24p video like Blu-Ray movies, when playing 24p movies via 60p signal like movies from streaming devices or 24p video via a 60i signal like movies from satellite TV, it can not remove the judder completely. No matter the source of the movie, whether it is native 24p video, 24p video via 60i signals, or even 24 video via 60p signal, the OLED B7 is able to deliver a judder-free picture. Nevertheless to remove judder without adding a soap opera effect on the OLED B7, you should check a certain setting on the “picture option” by activating the “Real Cinema” option, setting the “TruMotion” option to “User”, and setting both the “De-Blur” and the “De-Judder” to “0”. Since both have a native 120 Hz refresh rate panel, this certainly makes them able to play lower frame rate content of 30 fps and 60 fps.
Winner: OLED B7
Inputs/Outputs
For major connectivity, both the LG OLED B7 and the OLED B6 are equally equipped with 4 HDMI ports and 3 USB ports (with 2 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0). All their HDMI ports support HDCP 2.2 and other formats. The HDMI port that supports ARC is HDMI 2. One difference is that the ARC of the OLED B7 can pass through a Dolby Atmos signal while the OLED B6 can not. In addition to HDMI and USB, there is also 1 Composite In (AV In), an RF In, an Ethernet In, and a Digital Audio Out. A small difference is the Component In where the LG OLED B6 has 1 Component In while the LG OLED B7 is not equipped with this input. Regarding input lag, there is a significant improvement on the OLED B7 over the OLED B6, particularly in “PC Mode”. The input lag of the OLED B7 is similar at 4K and 1080 in “PC Mode” and “Game Mode” which is about 21 ms. Although this might not be as low as the SJ8500, this is certainly low enough to play any game with a responsive feel without lag, even for fast paced games which required quick reflexes. On other hand, the input lag of the OLED B6 is low only in “Game Mode” at about 28 ms for 4K and for 1080p resolution. Although not quite as quick as the OLED B7, playing games on the OLED B6 still also feels responsive. Meanwhile in “PC Mode”, the input lag of the OLED B6 is too high at about 60 ms at 1080p resolution and 70 ms at 4K resolution.
Winner: OLED B7
Smart TV
As we have mentioned above, they equally feature WebOS for the smart TV platform. As a newer model, the LG OLED B7 also comes with a newer version of the WebOS. It features the WebOS 3.5 while the LG OLED B6 features WebOS 3.0. According to the manufacturer, the newer version of WebOS comes with some improvements and is supported by a new chip which makes performance faster and more responsive. Additionally the WebOS 3.5 comes with some additional features making it is more appealing such as 360 degree video, Magic Sound Tuning, Magic Link, and more. In terms of the interface, there is not much changed. The user interface of WebOS still looks simple and attractive. Across the bottom of the screen, there is a strip that contains quick access to most popular and favorites apps and smart features. Discussing the apps provided, except for the new features of WebOS 3.5, essentially both series provide a lot of attractive and useful apps. For their preloaded apps, there is video on demand service like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Video, Web Browser, Games, Live TV, and much more. Additionally both series have an apps store named “LG apps Store” providing lots of downloaded apps, games, and content where you can directly download this to your LG OLED TV. Although not as complete as the Samsung apps store or the Google Play Store, the apps, games, and content provided is very good.
For controller, they each come with smart remote called “LG Magic Remote”. At a glance, their remotes are similar. Although the remote is large, it comes with some useful smart features and an attractive design. Both remotes are equipped with a built-in microphone, so you can make a setting change or control TV functions with your voice. Both of these remotes also have universal capability, allowing you to control some functions of other devices connected to your LG TV with the single LG remote. The most interesting advantage for these smart remotes is that they have “point and click” functionality, making it easy for navigating. In the center of the remote is a “scroll wheel” where you can point and click an app or feature that you want to open. This is like a mouse on a PC or laptop. A small difference between the remotes is that on the remote for the OLED B7, there is additional buttons for “Amazon Video” and for “Netflix”, allowing you to open Netflix or Amazon Prime Video directly without entering the main menu of the smart TV.
>> Please click here to see today’s price for the OLED B6 <<
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Summary
| Performance | LG OLED B6 (B6P) | LG OLED B7 (B7A) |
|---|---|---|
| Design | (4.8/5) | (4.8/5) |
| Picture Quality | (4.3/5) | (4.3/5) |
| HDR | (4.4/5) | (4.4/5) |
| Motion Handling | (4.6/5) | (4.8/5) |
| Inputs | (4/5) | (4.6/5) |
| Sound Quality | (3.5/5) | (3.3/5) |
| Smart TV | (4.1/5) | (4.1/5) |
Conclusion
As the newer model, the LG OLED B7 comes with some improvements over the OLED B6 making its performance better. Peak brightness is a bit brighter, where the OLED B7 can show brighter highlights of HDR images compared to the OLED B6. Additionally the OLED B7 can now show any source of 24p video with judder-free, while the OLED B6 still has an issue when playing 24p movies via 60i signal or 60i signal. The other improvement on the OLED B7 over the LG OLED B6 is about input lag where the LG OLED B7 has lower input lag in “Game Mode” and “PC Mode”, making it more appealing when used to play games, particularly fast paced games. The other advantage offered by the OLED B7, is it already supports Dolby Atmos, allowing you to enjoy the Dolby Atmos Experience in your home. Unlike some of the higher models, you need an additional external speaker to be able to enjoy Dolby Atmos with the LG OLED B6. Then there is also some improvement on WebOS 3.5 as the platform of the OLED B7 compared to WebOS 3.0 as the platform for the OLED B6. Nevertheless, regardless of the improvements on the OLED B7, picture quality and performance of the OLED B6 is also excellent.
So which is a better choice for you? Although the LG OLED B6 has been discontinued by the manufacturer, some stores still have it in stock. It will likely be sold for less than the LG OLED B7. So the decision comes back to your own preferences. If you don’t mind to spending about a hundred dollars more to get the newer model with its improvements offered, the LG OLED B7 might be a better choice for you. Even so, if you want to be a little frugal, the performance of the LG OLED B6 is very close to the LG OLED B7. Once again, their prices can change at any time.
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