LG Electronics 65SJ8500 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2017 Model)
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Product Specifications
- Dimensions (W x H x D): TV without stand: 57.2” x 32.8” x 2.3”, TV with stand: 57.2” x 35” x 12.3”
- Smart functionality gives you access to your favorite apps and content using webOS 3.5
- Pairs 4K Ultra HD picture clarity with the contrast, color, and detail of High Dynamic Range (HDR) for the most lifelike picture
- Full-array LED backlighting and local dimming produces excellent picture quality
- 120Hz refresh rate allows fast moving action scenes to be seen with virtually no motion blur (240Hz effective rate)
Inputs: 4 HDMI, 3 USB, 1 RF, 1 Composite, 1 Ethernet, 1 Optical, 1 RS232C (Mini Jack)
Product Description
Size:65-Inch | Style:TV This LG Super UHD TV with Active HDR + Dolby Vision features Nano Cell Display, delivering deep black levels for rich shadow detail and colors that are more accurate, even at wide viewing angles. Dolby, Dolby Vision and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.
Product Reviews
Beware the technology limitations, and make an informed decision
The LG 55SJ8500 is a beautiful television that can delivery absolutely stunning imagery. A quick demonstration of “store mode” will easily convince you that this is true. But before you place the 55SJ8500 in the cart, you should be aware of how this set performs under various real world conditions – and while many aspects will continue to delight, some may disappoint. Read on to discover why.VISUAL ACUITY: It is worth quickly reviewing the concept of visual acuity. At a high level, visual acuity can be considered the limits of the human eye.Pop quiz - which has the larger physical size, a golf ball or the moon? The moon, of course. Which has the larger angular size? Now the answer depends on a point of perspective. Hold the golf ball close enough to your eye and it will appear to be larger than the moon, hold it far away and it appears smaller than the moon.Now apply this concept to the pixels of the 55SJ8500 and consider the limitations of the human eye. The human eye can see individual pixels when the pixel has an angular size of 1 arcminute or larger (when drawing a line from your eye to the left edge of the pixel, and then another line from your eye to the right edge of the pixel, the angle between these two lines will be 0.17 degrees). When the angular size of the pixel is smaller than 1 arcminute, adjacent pixels blend together and increased resolutions cannot be detected by the human eye.All this to say, be informed of the advantages of a 4k display. It’s not the physical resolution that you should be concerned with, it’s the angular size of the pixels from where you intend to view it. At a 55 inch diagonal, 4k resolution will be discernable at approximately 5 feet or closer from the screen. Measure your room and beware the siren call of 4k. At 8 feet away or greater, there is no advantage of UHD over HDX resolutions on a 55” television.PICTURE QUALITY: Under the correct conditions, the 55J8500 is a real beauty. For example, when viewing David Attenborough’s Life documentary in HDX resolution, the imagery of panning earth landscapes and slow motion wildlife is breathtaking. LG’s 4K scaler performs with admirable results and the TrueMotion technology interpolates the motion to a convincingly fluid 120Hz. And when viewing 4K UHD HDR content such as Amazon’s original Just Add Magic series the results will blow you back into your seat, the clouds will part, and the obligatory angelic choir from the heavens will bless you. However, when viewing certain native UHD HDR content, such as Amazon’s original Goliath series, the results often disappoint. Additionally, Playstation 4 HDR gaming content can significantly frustrate and underwhelm, depending on the scene. To understand why this discrepancy exist, let’s once again dive into the technical details.The LG 55SJ8500 is a backlit LCD/LED display. This means that many LED chips produce the pixel color that you see, while fewer LCD chips produce the light. There are less LCDs producing luminance than there are LEDs producing color.For comparison, a more expensive OLED display has an LED chip that produces both the color and the luminance, thus each pixel can control luminance independently and each pixel can be turned off completely. This technology is generally considered superior to backlit LCD/LED technologies, and is more expensive.There are two ways for the less expensive backlit LCD/LED televisions to provide the luminance – edge lit or array lit. The LG 55SJ8500 is edge lit. This means that the luminance is provided by LCDs around the edges of the screen, unlike an array lit television that provides the luminance in partitions directly underneath the screen. LCD/LED edge lit televisions, like the LG 55SJ8500, are the least expensive and generally the poorest performers of these technologies.In order to increase contrast ratios, backlit televisions like the 55SJ8500 use a technology called “local dimming”. That means that the computer inside the television will analyze the information on the screen, and turn off the LCD light on areas of the screen that are black. Without local dimming, blacks appear as washed out grey tones on LCD/LED displays. This technology works most effectively on array lit screens. With edge lit screens, like the 55J8500, only an entire vertical band can be dimmed.In practice, imagine a black background with a 1 inch white circle panning from the center left to center right of a 55” edge-lit local-dimming display. The computer will analyze the image and determine that large areas of the screen are black, so an edge lit display will dim the LCDs located on the top and bottom edge of the screen in these areas. But the vertical band that contains the white circle will remain lit – not only underneath the white circle but also in the entire vertical band extending above and below the circle. This causes serious black level conformity problems. As the circle pans from the left to the right, a grey washed out vertical band will travel with it where the LCD edge remains lit.This problem is very noticeable and distracting in darkly lit scenes where part of the vertical band is lit with a bright HDR effect and the top or bottom of the area is black. Imagine a scene of a dark restaurant with two gangsters conspiring at a table. A light overhangs the table and a sunlit window appears in the background. HDR and local edge lit LCD dimming will destroy this scene on the 55J8500 and the picture quality will be disappointing. Now imagine a brightly lit landscape with a fox bounding through fields of gold. Now it will look absolutely stunning!And thus will be your experience on the LG 55J8500. The picture quality is very dependent on the scene. Want to bet that the “store mode” demo completely hides the significant shortcomings of the technology while trumpeting the strengths?SOUND QUALITY: The LG 55J8500’s 40 watt stereo internal speakers coupled with its 20 watt subwoofer, designed by the Harmon/Kardon company, incorporates Dolby Atmos technology. What does this mean? A microphone on your remote control is used to calibrate the technology to leverage the natural acoustics of your room to deliver atmospheric 3D sound. The software running on the LG becomes intelligent and aware of how sound bounces from walls and ceilings, and computes the output signal dynamically. This is unlike traditional Dolby Surround technology, where the audio is hard-coded to be delivered to specific speakers.Is it a gimmick? No, it works and it works very effectively. When watching Terminator Genisys using the internal speakers, I was convinced that I was hearing a 7.1 surround speaker setup. Bullets whizzed from the screen to the back of the room. The rumble of unseen helicopter blades were heard behind me and Brad Fiedel’s classic Terminator theme filled the room completely. Wow, very well done! I’m impressed.That’s not to say that the LG 55J8500’s internal technology tops an amplified home theater setup, it doesn’t. But the optical pass-through output on the back of the 55J8500 allows the audio signal to be sent to an external system easily. So switching from internal sound delivery to an external home theater system is a very simple setup. There is an option in the software to use both the internal speakers and to pass the signal through an optical output, so simply mute the television volume and turn on your receiver. Done. Turn off the receiver and increase the television volume and you’re back. I really appreciate this single cable setup that allows delivery of the audio signal from the internal software applications to an external home theater receiver.MAGIC REMOTE: LG’s amazing Magic Remote is worth highlighting. This is simply the best remote control I have used on a television. It has an internal accelerometer that can place a mouse-like-cursor on the screen for navigating the software interfaces. A microphone allows voice commands at the touch of a button and also serves as a calibration tool for the Dolby Atmos technology. The Magic Remote is ergonomically appropriate and feels great in the hand. A centered scroll wheel also acts as a push button that can activate the cursor or function much like an enter key. If the cursor is motionless for 5 seconds then it disappears. Rest assured, you are getting one of the industry’s best remote controls if you decide to purchase the LG 55J8500.SOFTWARE: Before I get ahead of myself and start singing the praises of LG’s WebOS 3.5 interface, let’s take a quick look at the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in which you must first agree. I’ve read each tier of this contract in its entirety and I can safely conclude that this is an Orwellian nightmare of an agreement. In a nutshell you are agreeing to let LG collect personally identifiable information and keep all content you introduce to the LG 55J8500 indefinitely, and you agree to allow LG to sell this information to third parties without restriction. Perhaps LG’s intentions are not nefarious, but keep in mind that there is an advanced computer inside this television that is analyzing every single frame and it is connected to LG’s remote computers through your internet service. Couple this with modern artificial intelligence algorithms, such as deep learning, and the potential for abuse is considerable. The software Terms of Service and Privacy Policy get a grade of F. Go stand in the corner, LG.But contract aside, the user interface itself and the provided software get an A+ with a smiley face. It’s beautiful, responsive, intuitive, and appropriate. Navigation is very fluid and all icons and fonts are sized appropriately. A gear icon button on the remote pulls up a quick menu on the right side to quickly change common settings with minimal distraction on the screen. Another dedicated button brings up an animated row of applications on the bottom of the screen. Two dedicated buttons are also on the remote, one for Netflix and one for Amazon, and will instantly launch the associated app.Using peripheral hardware with the LG 55J8500 is possible through the interface. Miracast screen mirroring eventually worked with a Sony Xperia Android smartphone with a few connection attempts, so this didn’t go quite as smoothly as it should have. Bluetooth connections to headphones, on the other hand, worked flawlessly and switching audio back and forth is a breeze.Both VUDU and Amazon worked very well. Having the mouse-like-cursor on the Magic Remote benefits both of these applications. No longer are you restricted to using digital up, down, left, right buttons – you have a full analog screen cursor and a scroll wheel to navigate through the content. Each of these applications animats through lists smoothly when the cursor reaches an edge, and the scroll wheel further enhances navigation. The user interfaces of these applications on the LG 55J8500 are superior to the Roku 3, PS4, or Amazon Fire Stick counterparts. Amazon additionally has dedicated channels for its UHD/HDR content that makes finding high quality 4K content easy.Bringing your own content to the LG 55J8500 is simple via the provided USB ports located on the back and a user-provided external USB 3.0 drive. Scrolling to the content is as simple as choosing the LG provided software player and selecting the appropriate video icon. 4K H.265 MPEG content looks beautiful, starts immediately, and is easily controlled via the Magic Remote and LG software.Other customizable options are available, such as pinning frequently used applications and storing custom user modes for quick access. Using the LG interface is immediately intuitive, while discovering new and advanced functionality is never frustrating.The User Manual is also integrated into the software interface and makes learning very accessible. There are options within the on-screen User Manual to take a “tour” of features and the software will walk you through the various settings and functionality. From within the interface, hovering the cursor over a setting will also pop up an information window describing the options. Bravo!SHIPPING AND SET-UP: The LG 55SJ8500 shipped from Amazon in its original packaging, so it’s going to be obvious what the box contains while in transit. Delivery companies can be brutes when it comes to the treatment of property, and this was confirmed by the appearance of the box when it arrived. The corners were dented and there was a long puncture scrape on down the back. Luckily there is a few inches of space between the outside of the box and the screen, and another quarter inch thick piece of Styrofoam in front of the screen. In this case, the television inside arrived undamaged.There is a quick setup guide inside the box, which doesn’t exactly correspond to this model. It was not very detailed and caused some confusion. Removing the television from the box requires two people. The instructions suggest placing the television front side down on the box in order to install the stand. If mounting to a wall, you will use a VESA 300x300 compliant wall mount. The unit weighs about 45 pounds. Several warnings strongly advise against applying any pressure at all to the front screen, so be careful.When mounted on the stand, the unit is wobbly. The stand is connected via four screws into a plastic frame. Touching the top frame of the LG 55J8500 will cause it to sway back and forth. I would not recommend installing this on the stand where children can get to it, it just doesn’t seem that stable. Mounting it to a wall might be a better choice.PHYSICAL AESTHETICS: A beautiful display be any standard. LG understands the art of subtle branding and deserves a round of applause – the LG branding is mostly hidden underneath the screen near the standby light. The stand has larger lettering on the right side that states “SUPER UHD”. The micro bezel is hidden by a flush front, while the outer edge is offered in a tasteful silver metallic. The plastic back of the television is all white. There are two sets of input/outputs, one that is accessible from the side (useful for a wall mount) and another set directly in the back. Mounting brackets are provided in a VESA 300x300 standard configuration.SUMMARY: At the time of writing this review, the 55SJ8500 is a new product for 2017 that was just launched by LG. The MSRP price tag is high today, but will most likely drop in the future. This is a beautiful television and performs admirably on a wide variety of content. There will be times that it will be breathtaking, but at other times it will disappoint. The 55J8500 does a lot right – Dolby Vision, LG’s 4K scaler, Dolby Atmos and sound by Harmon/Kardon, LG’s Magic Remote, 120 Hz TruMotion, LG’s webOS 3.5 software interface, and the physical aesthetics of the product. There is a lot here to love! Watch out for the Orwellian User Agreements, you are compromising your privacy to use the amazing software. And ultimately this is still an edge lit LCD/LED television with local dimming, and the limitations of this technology cannot be avoided. Do your homework, check your budget, measure your room, and optimize your purchasing decision. Hopefully this review will help you with your quest.
Four Stars
Pretty good picture quality when watching 4k.
LIFE IS GOOD indeed LG - 15 Stars, This is “TV AS IT SHOULD BE”. BEST TV I have ever owned - EVER - 15⁄5 LG…
ABOVE THE FOLD REVIEW: WOW - I wish I could use a larger font in my review but WOW!!!!!!!! If you are reading this review - just go ahead and buy one NOW… Every manufacturer dreams of having products whose allure go beyond features and benefits, and through physical & functional design, and quality, makes people love the product. This emotional connection creates brand loyalty, and free advertising as people freely recommend the brand or the specific product. This product fosters the magical bond of an emotional connection with the consumer.MEDIUM SIZED REVIEWIncredible TV - stunning picture quality and astonishing sound quality (thanks Harman Kardon) This does 4k flawlessly (as it should), but also does a delicious job with upscaling (upconverting) HD (1,920x1,080 pixels) to 4K (3,840x2,160 pixels). Basically, it has to stretch the smaller image to fit the bigger screen, and in the process, it is inventing data to between the existing pixels. What has to happen is well known, but different manufacturers have different ways of accomplishing this with different results.Ok - the picture is bonkers beautiful - and the TV has various picture settings allowing you to adjust to better suit the your viewing environment or time of day preferences.There are two sets of pictures included - one is pictures of the product, & the other is pictures I took of the screen with my phone during playback.In addition to amazing visuals - the TV sound is truly TRULY amazing - I have been around TVs and Home Theater a lot and the reality has always been that in the last 10 or so years, as the screens have become larger and higher quality, there was always a complete experiential disconnect when using the speakers in the TV when watching a movie etc - There is little use having an amazing picture with (usually) less than impressive sound.Until now, regardless of any marketing claims of “Surround Sound” or “Spatial Effects”, or “Deep Bass” etc, I always ALWAYS expect that I will never use the TV speakers and simply connect everything up to my surround sound setup.I know I am not every customer and can only speak to my requirements and expectations. Plenty of people just want a large screen TV and are not seeking a fully immersive audio experience (think action movie with explosions etc) and get the TV for watching the news, sports, soaps etc. - none of which really require surround sound. I am very very impressed with the quality of the sound which includes various modes to match the type of content you are watching, and even includes a graphic equalizer to give you more custom control over the sound. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the audio modes when you use the TV first. If watching a movie, without the sound set to movie mode, the vocals can be a tad lost.Ok - great sound, great picture - that’s the main things a TV should do, but then we have the WEBOS operating system which allows you to navigate the connected apps and the settings for the TV. It is super fast compared to other TV settings screens, and it doesn’t take over the entire screen.Lastly, for the medium sized review Ill touch on the remote - nice shape, has a scroll wheel, voice input button to speak to the tv for commands like Mute etc, and the remote functions as gesture device (think WII remote) - just move the remote about and a pointer appears on the screen allowing you to interact with the TV options like settings or when using the apps like Netflix and Amazon etc.Seriously, the TV is brilliant - Really brilliant - I do not foresee anyone being disappointed with this purchaseDISCLOSURE - My son moved out and took the Playstation with him so I cannot test Blue Ray. When I test it in 2 days time, if it less than stellar I will update, until then assume it is just as incredible.LONGER REVIEW: ( AND BE WARNED I MEAN LONGER - If you DON’T like long reviews stop now and just go with the review above :) But hey, you are considering a $1,999 TV, not a new flavor of coffee, so I wanted to do it justice..BACKGROUNDFirst, some background on me so you have some understanding on my mindset, and to give you some idea as to the weight behind my comments for this review. A long time ago, I was a sound engineer for 8 years, followed by a 20 year career in IT, and have been a photographer for the last 9 years. Based on my past and current career fields, sound, technology, and visuals are all very important to me, and I have had at least five home theater setups over the last 20 years. I have a disease in that once I have been exposed to excellence I can never backtrack and be content with something less, so if I say something nice, I’m not being nice, that comment was earned by the brand and or the product.When I was born, my dad worked for a television manufacturer in Dublin called Bush. When I was 13, I got my first summer job working in a TV repair shop replacing components and circuit boards. I wanted to study electronics to pursue a career in electronics but the math was too hard :) Growing up, Sony was the Apple of consumer electronics - but they were not positioned at the price conscious shopper. I now firmly believe LG is the Sony for this generation.Lastly, I have reviewed 370 products across a wide range of categories including many in the electronics arena. This is the BEST product I have ever reviewed. It is the best quality, best design everything…. This isn’t just how TV should be, this is how products should be. You cannot fake a dedication to excellence.CURRENT TVsBefore getting this, LG ,I already had two other large TVs in the house - the https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XMUU5KU and the https://www.amazon.com/Sony-BRAVIA-KDL55EX720-55-Inch-1080p/dp/B004HYG9Y6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491921472&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Sony+Bravia+46%22+KDL%2746EX720At the time of purchase (2011), the Sony was a $2,000 TV, and the Hisense (late 2015) was only a $349 TV so that any comparison is more of an apples to grapes standoff, but because the Hisense was a 4K TV I thought maybe it would replace the Sony in the livingroom as the main TV. Initially I was excited when I was streaming some youtube 4K content - the picture was amazing. However, for all other non-4K content the Hisense lost its lustre, and has now become relegated to my office to become a 50 inch monitor for my computer (not as the main monitor - mostly for netflix etc) I won’t bring these two TVs up again because there’s no comparison, just letting you know what I had before the LG.MY LG AWARENESSI have heard of LG, but I had never owned any LG products prior to 3 weeks ago, when I took delivery of an incredible LG laptop, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS79LGW . Based on that experience with the laptop, I was ready for nothing but the best regarding this LG TV. Before the TV arrived, I did a search on Amazon for LG TV, selected the category from 50-59inch, and all the results were either 4 or 4.5 stars, for many this was after hundreds of reviews.My excitement in tracking the shipment of the TV and then the anticipation of using the product was richly rewarded when it finally arrived.FIRST BEFORE WE GET TO THE NITTY GRITTY - Wahoooo - I got a 4K TV - now, what can I do with it?Lets revisit the Upscaling / Upconverting discussion for just a moment - this is REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT because right now there are not a lot of 4K video sources available.TV (Regular over the air (antenna)) is not broadcast in 4K (usually SD but increasingly HD depending on the market), and even though they are broadcasting HD, the content they are showing may not have been shot in HD.DVDs are only 480p (NTSC, 720×480 pixels) or 576p (PAL, 720×576 pixels).BLUE-RAY (standard) is3,840x2,160-pixel resolution as 4K TVs – you may well be able to see additional detail. (4K TVs – also known as Ultra HD sets – are so named because that 3,840-pixel horizontal resolution is almost 4,000 pixels wide. 4K TV is easier to say than 3.84K TV.)Also, this passed my GOLD SEAL test - I got it completely setup without reading a word of the instructionsPRODUCT USE - SETUPBefore I really do a deep dive - I just want to say that one simple thing I saw before I got this TV setup and switched on for the first time which led me to believe I was in for a treat - the Power Cable (picture attached) - Love the attention to detail and non traditional design.The TV is a bit heavy, and physically large for one person to remove from the box and setup. I did it, but, I’d advise waiting till someone can give you a hand because it could be quite difficult, and you don’t want to crack that screen. Once out of the box it only took another 3-5 minutes to have the base connected, and to have the TV operational. In total, I had the base secured and was in the setup menu about 12 minutes after the item arrived (can you tell I was eager ?)PRODUCT USE - SETUP -SETUP MENUThe TV uses WEBOS and there is plenty of guidance from the helpful Bean Bird as you work your way through setup.First it asks how you get your TV service and what your Zip code is. Next it asks for Language, Timezone, and Internet connection, (it automatically detected the cable when I plugged in the cat5 cable)Next is programming - I don’t have cable or satellite so I set it up to scan for Over The Air with my HD antenna - I never watch TV but this was just to see how long it takes etc. It found 31 channels - it will be interesting to see what they are :)My greatest anticipation prior to arrival of this product was the fact that it was a 4K TV and that it is an LG. Initially I was not so interested in all the connected features like Netflix, etc., since I already have many options to provide that functionality including the PS3, connected DVD player, Alienware Alpha etc. but now I much prefer the built-in Netflix apps etc on the LG, because they know to offer 4K content, which does not appear to be the case when using netflix in a browser streaming from the Alienware.PRODUCT USE - VISUALSPRODUCT USE - INPUT - Regular TV - Last time (a few years back) I tried my trusty DH antenna my Sony found 14 stations. The LG just found 31 stations On over the air channels that broadcast in HD WOW! Broadcasts not in HD are not so great (as is to be expected on a 4k screen). In that respect, I won’t be using over the air channels unless the internet goes out.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMINow, I move on to finding some random 4K videos to watch on Youtube in Google Chrome playing via HDMI from my https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MA7AFDI Internet performance is not an factor as I have 419Mbps download.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Youtube in a Google Chrome - “4K Hawaii Drone Footage”“Tornado in 4K UHD” - There is visible noise in the shadows - most likely the poor dynamic range of the camera it was shot on - oddly enough it doesn’t mention the camera in the more details on youtube so it probably wasn’t expensive.“4K California Drone Footage” - Shot on a DJI Phantom 4 drone - In some scenes where the is a lag and then it jumps forward like when the drone flying over the road looking down on the palm trees - less obvious on the following shot lowOver the coast and not at all looking at the deloitte building in downtown LAPRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Youtube in Google Chrome - “Manhattan New York City - NY United States - A Travel Tour - 4K UHD”WOW - nothing but delicious footage showing perfectly - I never checked, but clearly they had a great camera.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Youtube in Google Chrome - “Costa Rica in 4k 60fps (ultra HD) w/ Freefly Movi”WOW x 3000PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Youtube in Google Chrome - “4k timescapes: The Movie (full) Ultra HD 60fps”Weird Issues looking at the turbine blades in the center of the screen - likely a camera Frames Per Second issue.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Netflix in Google Chrome. It didn’t say anywhere that any of the content in Netflix was 4K, so I have to assume it was not.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Netflix in Google Chrome - “Moving Art”Nice when scene is bright but less than 4k in appearance in shadows - not the TV.What we see in this test depends on the scene, & camera setting etc because the same camera settings are not used across every scene shot.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Netflix in Google Chrome - “Rosewood”Opening scene running on the beach in the early morning it is nice and sharp but not too sharp. The second scene the lead is talking to a detective definitely seeing the benefits of this being a stunning display. The scene itself is actually overlit (not too bright just an unnatural look because of too many light sources) but again this is not the TV. There is a slight bit of evidence in viewing HD upscaled to 4k and a barely noticeable degree of ghosting - the image is so good (not hyper real- still good quality) that forgiveness abounds…PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Netflix in Google Chrome - “Sandy Wexler”Opening scene there are people talking at a wedding reception - nice and clear but not oversharp. The second scene in the street is better lit than the street scene in Rosewood & again a clean upscaling from the HD content again, excellent results.PRODUCT USE - INPUT - HDMI FROM Alienware - Netflix in Google Chrome - “IRON FIST”Opening scene man walking along in the street and other NYC street scenes - looking good - man moves indoors - nice and clean - again great results with only minimal ghosting from upscaling - Sadly the amazing TV doesn’t improve the bad acting….PRODUCT USE - INPUT - BUILT IN Netflix appNow I am presented with 4k options that I couldn’t see using the browser on the Alienware via an HDMI cable. So easy navigate around and the picture quality is astonishing….PRODUCT USE - INPUT - BUILT IN Netflix app - “IRON FIST” - There is a tiny bit of noise in bright areas - kinda looks like film grain so not terribly distracting, After watching the first few scenes of Sense8 I see this is an effect unique to IRON FIST - so not the TVPRODUCT USE - INPUT - BUILT IN Netflix app - “SENSE 8” WOW - BEST STREAMING 4kUHD I have ever seen - TV as it should be…..PRODUCT USE - INPUT - BUILT IN Netflix app - “The Durrels in Corfu” Gorgeous results - possibly the highest quality non 4K content so far on this screen - such a joy to watch on this TV :)PRODUCT USE - INPUT - BLUE-RAY PLAYERMy son moved out and I just realized he took his Sony Play Station with him so today I cannot test Blue Ray on the TV but I will update in 2 days if it is less than stellar :)PRODUCT USE - AUDIOAMAZING - deep bass - FOR A TV… then you switch the surround mode on…. Wow x2 - I have in 20 years of owning many different home theater setups never come across a TV that had a surround mode that was worth anything until now. They will never ever replace a real surround system, but this has just set the bar for others to compete against. For those who don’t want the extra expense or visuals of a home theatre setup, this will do you proud when watching a movie.PRODUCT FEATURESPRODUCT FEATURES - HDMI PICTURE MODE SETTINGS‘Vivid’ is 20% increase in brightness over ‘Standard’.‘APS’ Auto power Save appears to be the same as ‘Standard’ - probably just consumes less power.‘Cinema’ is a minor drop in brightness from ‘APS’ but significant desaturation and an overlay that looks like color grading.‘Sports’ is significant boost in brightness and saturation from ‘Cinema’, with the most noticeable boost in blues.‘Game’ looks like going back to ‘Cinema’ (without the color grading overlay) with a drop in brightness and contrast resulting in more detail in the shadows. Definitely a win for gaming exposing the baddies hiding in the dark corners.‘HDR’ mode has 3 settings - light medium and strong which all appear to be different levels of contrast to reveal details in the shadows - Also - light mode results in a slight green tint to the picture - only noticeable if you are being as rigorous as I am in my testing.Personally as a professional photographer - I STRONGLY dislike the HDR style of imagery so I was ready to not like this, but thankfully it is nothing like HDR photography. and it is nice to have that extra level of control.‘Expert (Bright Room)’ and ‘Expert (Dark Room)’ Both settings just show minor adjustments in brightness.PRODUCT FEATURES - BUILT- IN NETFLIX APPPRODUCT FEATURES - BUILT- IN NETFLIX APP - PICTURE MODE SETTINGSWhen using the built-in Netflix app, I see the picture modes are reduced to Vivid, Standard, Cinema, Cinema homePROSMad delicious soundMad delicious screenDoes 4k FlawlesslyGoes amazing job upscaling HD to UHD/4KVoice commands on the remote - only active when you press the button - not listening all the timeMouse gesture with the remote to select menu options - WOW - love thisRemote does not need line of sight for buttons or the gesture featureWEBOS is just gorgeous to use and fast like a computer - gone are the days of car factory GPS style interfacesSetup menu offers and image and some sound generated by the TV to determine if the problems you might be experiencing are in the TV or the AV sourceSound tuning to assess the dynamics of sound in your room and adjust the setting automaticallyLG content store - Platform agnostic view of all available movie choices letting you know which service they are available through by displaying an icon for each platform so you will know if you can watch it if you are a subscriber4 HDMI in - 3 USB (includes 1 USB 3,0)Optical out to go to your Surround SoundEthernet socketBuilt-in WiFi connectivityRegular OTA antenna connectionCable arrangement hook on the back of the stand to tidy your input and power cablesEven the white back of the TV is gorgeous - shame it’s never seenThis thing just frikin rocksCONS:Boy it sure is silent in here right about now…..The only thing and its not even a con, just a preference - I would prefer to see some physical button method to activate and deactivate the gesture pointer. I don’t want the pointer appearing when I pick up the remote to adjust the volume. Additionally from time to time it takes a bit of a jiggle to get it to wake up the gesture feature so an on/off slider / button would be nice.SUMMARY:In case you didn’t pick up on this already - I am very much in love with this product. My phrase that captures everything for this product is “TV as it should be”. I was thinking about maybe giving it to my son, but I guess I just don’t love him as much as I thought I did ;)
Blown Away!
I’m upgrading from a Vizio tv that was about 32 inches… and WOW it’s such a difference! The colors are amazing! The sound is unbeatable (for an in TV speaker) and I love all the apps that are included. The speak part of the remote still hasn’t learned our voices yet, but I can’t say enough good about this TV. I’m not a tech person, butI love this! One thing I hate about this TV? Nothing! I think the only complaint I have is that my table I had it on now looks too tiny and so I have to spend more money to get a bigger one! LOL So as the old saying goes “measure twice cut once” however, I guess it could be translated into: Measure twice, buy once!!!If you truly want a TV that will blow your last TV out of the water (especially if you’re like me and you have a 5-6 year old TV) this one is awesome! Also just a small tip, look around for discount apps… you can save a few hundred on various ones that hook up to amazon.
Easy peezy.
This is our first smart TV and I have to say it has exceeded my expectations. We were previous ROKU users, so the interface is familiar and very easy to use. The ways in which it organizes content and allows for searching across multiple streaming services is awesome. The TV itself is beautiful! I put on an HD flying video from youtube (“one six right”) and was blown away by the picture quality. If i had to complain about anything it would be the speakers. We were use to using our older stereo receiver, via RCA cables for our sound and now this is not compatible. I would recommend trying out the speakers but if you want the sound to match the picture quality you may want to upgrade to a better sound system. For the money this TV rocks and I wouldn’t hesitate at all to recommend.
Great home tv for now and the future
Ok, I’m going to keep this simple… If you’re like me and just want an amazing picture with vibrant colors, this tv is an excellent choice!
Great for the football season.
My wife loves it. She is a college football junket and this is much better than our last tv.
Need Remote Code
Very nice TV and great sound. But I can not find a remote control code that will work to have my DirecTV remote RC72 control the sound.
Great value - works as described.
Fantastic TV. I bought this for my mom’s bedroom and it’s wonderful. I have several TCL Roku TVs and have now purchased two for her house and they are truly great for the price…
Worth it!
This is my first flat screen TV. I’ve been watching antenna TV on the tube for years. I finally got tired of watching Netflix on the computer. It was simple to set up.
Value for money.
Very easy to set up the Roku. We have a separate Roku on another TV and like it very much, and that is why I considered buying this TV.
Unlucky every time.
I have several smart LG TVs and a Vizio. They are all great. However this is the best TV I have ever owned. I purchased it for a room that did not have a tv and took a chance.
One Star
Green vertical line of the death.
Impressive
I had one of the best 1080P TVs (lightning took it out) before this 4K super TV. I am very impressed with the magic mouse and the 3.5 webOS.
It’s ok
comments powered by DisqusI didn’t purchase this TV on Amazon because I got a better deal at a local store for $899. 65SJ8500 is a good looking 65 inches tv.
