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LG OLED65C9PUA Smart 4K TV Review: Design
The C-class OLED TV by LG gives you fantastic picture quality and comprehensive technical specifications at an affordable price.
The TV set itself looks fantastic. It has a very thin panel and plastic housing that covers the connection ports, processors and speakers. The thickest part of the TV is a mere 4.7cm.
Looking at the TV from the front, the speakers are basically invisible. Instead you’ll only see a thin black border around the screen. If mounted on the wall, the TV may even create the illusion that it’s floating. Those who opt to use the TV stand provided in the box, will notice how elegant and subtle that is as well.
LG OLED65C9PUA Smart 4K TV Review: Ports
All of the HDMI ports included with this smart 4K TV are 2.1 certified sockets. This is definitely an upgrade from a lot of other 4K sets on the market right now that still offer the older 2.0 sockets in combination with a few 2.1 sockets.
Additionally, you’ll also find three USB ports, an Ethernet port, optical and headphone ports and an antenna connection for your broadcast television.
LG OLED65C9PUA Smart 4K TV Review: Features
In the engine room, LG has included its Alpha 9 processor. This processor is renowned for using AI technology to enhance picture and sound automatically based on what’s being played and the lighting and sound conditions of the room.
The processor also adds to the smart functions of the TV by offering more responsive voice control capabilities. You can utilise LG’s own ThinQ voice interaction service, Google Assistant or even Amazon Alexa. Content recommendations are also offered based on past viewing habits.
LG’s familiar webOS operating system is on hand for the C9 smart 4K TV. Apps are laid out in an easy to view and accessible fashion on screen. An ‘AI Preview’ feature has been added which highlights a bunch of content above the app you highlight – again based on past viewing habits. A nifty feature, giving users a head start on content they may wish to view next.
Various apps are on offer here, many that we’ve all come to expect these days - which include Netflix, Prime Video and Disney +. Apple TV is also available as well as Google Play Movies & TV for those who prefer ‘pay as you go’ viewing.
LG OLED65C9PUA Smart 4K TV Review: Remote Control
The remote control for this 4K set is very ergonomic. There are numerous button options available as well as a pointer features that allows you to highlight and select content and apps on the TV by aiming the controller at the screen. This allows for very efficient navigation of the C9 set.
While the interface of this set is intuitive and responsive at its surface, users may experience some frustration when attempting to make adjustments to picture and sound settings. There is a plethora of picture presets available for SD content (10 in total), while there are only 6 for HD content.
Some of the picture presets have ‘Expert Controls’ or advanced settings if you will, which allow you to customise and fiddle with the picture settings in greater depth for some presets while other picture presets don’t have this option.
To avoid confusion, users may just opt to stick with the Standard picture preset, which can be tweaked to your liking with minimal hassle.
LG OLED 65C9PUA Smart 4K TV Review: Picture
Picture quality is expectedly great in this LG 4K TV. Black levels are solid, and probably the best in the market right now in comparison to any other brand you can think of. Additionally, the ability to adjust the brightness of each pixel in the TV makes for jaw dropping contrast. Although the maximum brightness levels on this set are a bit below the standards of its competitors, it is still very good in its own right.
Colour production is superb. Skin tones look natural and sunrises/sunsets look vivid and warm. LG has always aimed for a natural quality in their pictures, and their efforts in that regard are evident here.
Everything from the freckles and scars of the characters on screen become very apparent, and it’s clear that this 4K TV shines when it comes to presenting fine details.
On the downside, users may experience some motion blur. You can activate TruMotion processing and switch on Dejudder to minimise motion blurring effects and sharpen up the movement on screen.
Another area that can be disappointing with the LG C9 4K TV is that when viewing the picture with the brightness fully turned up or fully turned down, the visuals can lose a bit of detail. The brightest areas of the screen can begin to look washed out whilst the darker areas appear to lose hue. It has to be noted that these issues are only apparent when viewing pictures at either end of the spectrum at extremely dark or extremely light brightness levels.
One other thing to note is that these problems only seem to arise when viewing HD content. SD content projects very nicely at both very light and dark, and the picture remains looking natural.
The LG C9 4K TV is a master in its craft when it comes to upscaling content. You can play content from Blu-ray, DVD or satellite and the C9 will provide an impressively crisp and smooth image. The end results are a balanced and controlled picture, with more than adequate sharpness produced for HD content.
Gamers will be equally impressed with the fact that input lag is less than 14ms. It doesn’t really get much lower with any other TV in the market right now – so the TV is state of the art in this regard as well. Thanks to the TV’s intelligent smart functions, it will also automatically switch the picture preset to Game mode when it identifies an input signal from a games console.
LG OLED65C9PUA Smart 4K TV Review: Sound
Even with hidden speakers, the LG C9 4K TV produces audio that is better than most of its competitors.
Dolby Atmos sound is available which makes audio sound dynamic and weighty, whilst adding a lot of clarity to dialogue. Although it could be said the TV lacks a little when it comes to projecting sound across really vast rooms, it still does a decent job considering the speakers are integrated.
Aside from Dolby Atmos sound mode, this smart 4K TV also benefits from LG’s AI Sound mode that does a similar job when it comes to enhancing atmosphere. A Sound Tuning function is available to users which allows them to tweak the audio presentation to match the environment of the room.
The Verdict
An impressive smart 4K TV indeed in all respects. This TV stands tall in many areas, including the ability to emit natural colours and contrast, as well as really good audio. A great effort by LG, and users should not be greatly disappointed with anything it has to offer if they make the purchase.
Judge's Score
9.3
You can purchase the LG OLED65C9PUA Smart 4K TV using the following link:
UK customers click here to buy
Canada customers click here to buy
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