HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality is very good. Reproduction of fine HD image detail is excellent. Color accuracy is very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Contrast is limited, giving images a somewhat flatter appearance. Depth of black level is below average, with darker scenes in particular looking hazy, with little contrast. Image brightness is very good (with the backlight control turned up), so the picture is well suited for a brighter room. A lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model does a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. Film mode operation for HD film-based content is excellent, with no visible jaggies along the edges of objects during motion scenes. Deinterlacing is very good, with minimal jaggies visible when converting 1080i video content, such as from cable, to the display's native resolution.
UHD PICTURE QUALITY. 4K UHD picture quality is very good and HD-to-UHD upconversion falls short. All native 4K content (non HDR) we played on this model, including movies and test videos, is presented in full 4K detail with excellent fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. Via the USB port, high-resolution photos are displayed in full 4K detail. With regular HD content, the TV's HD-to-UHD up-conversion processing falls short, revealing some visible jaggies along the edges of diagonals when playing HD content.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance has very limited effectiveness. The display's lack of high peak brightness capability (by HDR standards) limits its ability to show the benefits of HDR on 4K content. The contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene is excellent, while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, are dimmer than expected. In darker scenes the lack of black level depth gives the image a hazy appearance and compromises contrast. It does a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, with no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations. There is no visible loss of detail within the highlights of the brightest areas. Brighter colored objects remain nicely saturated.
VIEWING ANGLE. This LG has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions -- say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. The picture does show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we find distracting. With dark scenes this model doesn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels vary depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brighten significantly.
MOTION BLUR. This LG TV has good motion performance, with some blurring on our motion tests. This model does not include a blur reduction feature.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has good sound quality; about average among the models we've tested. When watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it delivers decent performance but falls short of the better performers. Bass is adequate, which adds some fullness to the sound but is lacking in definition a bit, and treble is nicely detailed, while the overall sound is a bit closed in. The speakers can play at a fairly loud volume level and without obvious distortion. Most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. LG’s Blue-tooth remote allows you to navigate on-screen menus using either a traditional button key pad or a gesture-controlled on screen cursor. Using a point-and-click operation, the cursor’s movement is linked to the motion of your hand and is used to make selections. It includes a built-in microphone to access the voice assistant feature. It also provides convenient direct button access to streaming services including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Consider the TV's stand is 53 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This Smart TV provides Internet functionality via its "WebOS" portal with access to a library of applications, and a full Web browser. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Includes built-in Google Assistant and Alexa, a virtual assistant, which allows you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming via the remote's built-in microphone. Support for external voice assistants (not built in to the TV) include: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time). It also has two USB ports, an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; DLNA, to access files within your home network; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network; Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A printed user manual. A quick start guide. An electronic user guide via the TV's menu. A remote control with batteries. A detachable power cord.
