65SM9000PUA NanoCell 120Hz Smart LED TV
Review Summary
Product Name: SM9000PUA
Product Description: 4K HDR | Full-array direct-lit LED backlight with local dimming for enhanced picture contrast and black levels | IPS (In-Plane Switching) LCD panel provides very good off-axis viewing | Alpha7 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor | HDMI 2.1 inputs for high frame rates, variable refresh rates, and 48Gbps bandwidth | Game Mode supports frame rates up to 120Hz, and variable refresh rate, to deliver fast-action content
Brand: LG
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LG 65SM9000PUA
See full review below
Model year: 2019
Screen size reviewed: 65”
Bottom Line: The LG SM9000 is a very good 4K TV with commendable performance when viewing most video images, with the exception of viewing dark content in a dark room setting which renders blacks with a grayish overtone. This is less of an issue when watching this TV in a well-lit room. Color reproduction is impressive on this display delivering a vibrant and accurate color presentation. In addition, impressive picture detail, clarity and image definition round out its performance. The IPS panel enables wide viewing angles with minimal color fading and contrast loss.
Dimensions:
- With stand: (W x H x D) 57.3″ x 35.7″ x 12.8″
- Without stand: (W x H x D) 57.3″ x 32.9″ x 2.5″
Weight:
- With stand: 61.9 lbs.
- Without stand: 58.2 lbs.
Warranty: One year parts and labor
Pros
- Great color, detail, clarity and picture definition
- Very good wide-angle viewing performance
- Decent HDR performance
- Excellent webOS 4.5 smart TV platform
- Low input lag (approx. 13.0 ms) – Variable Refresh Rate – Auto Low Latency mode
Cons
- IPS panel produces a lower contrast ratio and grayish blacks in a dark room setting
- Poor black screen uniformity – some clouding and backlight bleed. Turning on the TV’s local dimming feature improves screen uniformity and reduces clouding/backlight bleed
- Some slight blooming around white text against a black background
LG’s SM9000 is part of LG’s Nano 9 series of 4K HDR displays. The SM9000 is available in 55” and 65” screen sizes. The Nano 9 series also consists of the 65″ SM9500 (the next model above the SM9000). There is also an SM9070 model that LG refers to as “Ultra Large”, and is available in 75’ and 82” sizes.
Design/Features
Side View
The SM9000’s build quality is pretty solid. It doesn’t feel or appear cheaply made. The panel itself is handsome in appearance and is fashioned with an ultra-thin bezel, which is now commonplace for many flat-panel TVs today. The screen contains a semi-gloss finish and has full-array LED backlighting with local dimming to bring the SM9000’s pixels to life to create its picture images.
The TV’s “curved shape” stand looks attractive but leaves the TV feeling a bit unstable with some excess wobble, having more than most conventional “two-piece” feet designs. The stand does, however, provide enough support without the risk of topple-over.
LG has rebranded its latest lineup of 2019 Ultra-Premium displays as “NanoCell” and has dropped the Super UHD name. LG’s NanoCell technology isn’t new and was introduced a few years ago.
NanoCell provides greater color accuracy and a wider color spectrum of rich colors. In addition, Nano Cell technology uses particles to absorb unwanted light wavelengths and enhance the purity of the red and green colors displayed on the screen; this allows color purity and intensity to be maintained even at wide viewing angles.
LG still offers the excellent Magic Remote which has become one of my favorites to use. It has remained mostly unchanged over the years (which is a good thing) and offers very good functionality. I really enjoy using its “point-and-click” feature which uses an on-screen mouse pointer to control certain TV functions. It also uses voice recognition via the remote’s built-in microphone and enables voice commands for live TV, internet apps, web browser, input selection, and volume control.
LG Smart TV
LG’s smart TV platform uses a new webOS 4.5 version on its 2019 TVs which brings a new look and added functions. The on-screen menu is getting an improvement, adding a second contextual row to the app menu that pops up when you select an app. In this second row, you’ll see recently watched content, along with movie recommendations and trending content.
Smart home enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that the new version of webOS also includes a feature called Home Dashboard. This dedicated tool lets you manage all of your connected home devices, from smart doorbells to thermostats, right from the TV.
LG’s webOS now supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and will be adding support to Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit.
webOS 4.5 will continue to bring together all of the most popular streaming video apps, including Netflix and Amazon plus many more, some of which offer content in 4K and HDR.
Additionally, webOS 4.5 uses your content choices and puts together entertainment options that neatly organize your recent viewing history, what’s on Live TV, what you might like to watch next, and the latest movies, TV shows, apps, and games from the LG Content Store.
More features:
- Alpha7 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor improves picture depth, sharpness, and color accuracy. It also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize your viewing and listening experience. The TV will automatically and intelligently analyze source content and ambient conditions in real-time to enhance the picture and sound quality.
- High Dynamic Range (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG) for extended picture contrast and brightness and enhanced color when viewing HDR content
- Full-array direct-lit LED backlight with local dimming for enhanced picture contrast and black levels
- TruMotion 240 blur reduction (120Hz refresh rate)
- IPS (In-Plane Switching) LCD panel provides very good off-axis viewing
- 8-bit panel with 10-bit dithering for expanded color range
- HDMI 2.1 inputs for high frame rates, variable refresh rates, and 48Gbps bandwidth
- 4K Upscaler enhances standard-def and high-def video signals for optimum display on a 4K screen
- Game Mode supports frame rates up to 120Hz, and variable refresh rate, to deliver fast-action content
- LG ThinQ AI – ThinQ w/ Voice Control uses voice commands to control TV functions and seamlessly perform functions to discover and play content, control TV settings, manage schedules, access information, and control compatible connected smart home devices such as lighting and home appliances.
- Built-in 2.2 speaker system (40 watts total)
Connectivity
- 4 HDMI 2.1 inputs (HDCP 2.2 compliant)
- 1 Composite video input (3.5mm A/V minijack – adapter supplied)
- 3 USB inputs – 2.0
- 1 Ethernet input
- 1 RF input for antenna/cable/satellite
- 1 Digital optical audio output
- Built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth wireless audio streaming to a compatible speaker or set of headphones
Rear Panel
Performance
LG’s SM9000 delivered very good picture performance with the exception of the contrast ratio. It’s not that contrast was bad; it just didn’t have the extended range needed to produce deep and highly saturated black levels. The culprit for this deficiency was the TV’s IPS panel. IPS panels are great with color reproduction and wide-angle viewing setups but do suffer from contrast and color saturation loss, and the SM9000 was definitely no exception to this anomaly.
Personally, I would like to see LG switch to VA panels, at least on some of their TV models; this move would most certainly put an end to the contrast issues in their LED/LCD TVs. So in the meantime, if you desire inky black levels while watching TV in a completely dark room, then you won’t be truly satisfied with this TV and may want to look elsewhere. A good alternative (although more costly) would be one of LG’s OLED models such as the C9 OLED 4K TV, which is capable of outstanding contrast and black-level performance.
Nevertheless, if you plan on doing the majority of your TV watching in a well-lit or moderately lit room, then the SM9000’s lack of contrast and black levels will mostly go unnoticed under these conditions, as the room lighting will affect the appearance of these picture metrics and cause them to appear much better than they actually are.
The SM9000 does have a feature to help increase the appearance of contrast which can be found in the “Picture Options” menu. Once there go to “LED Local Dimming” – I suggest starting with the medium setting – use this feature at your own discretion. With that said, I’ve found this feature can help increase black levels depending on the content it’s applied to. However, it still won’t give the extended contrast range of a good LED TV with a VA panel.
Now on to some positive attributes for the SM9000. This display made a strong showing with its color reproduction. Colors were very vivid and fully saturated all without appearing over-processed or unnatural. The overall color palette was presented with very good accuracy as well; this was most notable with HDR content which made a fine showing on this TV.
Clarity and detail were very good on this display delivering pristine and sharp picture images, with great image depth and transparency.
The SM9000 does a decent job with HDR content when set to the Cinema picture mode. In this mode, the TV has acceptable HDR peak brightness which helps bring HDR content to life and allows bright highlights to be rendered with a fair amount of brilliance. Furthermore, and thanks to the TV’s wide color gamut, it displays rich colors with excellent dynamic pop and realism.
Note: To increase HDR peak brightness output, you can use the Vivid picture mode, which will allow for better picture peak brightness highlights. Just be aware this will come at the cost of picture accuracy.
Wide-angle viewing on IPS panels is usually very good and outperforms most VA panels. The SM9000 did well in this area and had very good side-angle viewing performance as expected. In this regard, having seating arrangements that are placed well off-axis from the screen will not encounter any picture degradation.
Motion handling was good on this TV with most of the content I viewed. However, with some fast action content, I did detect some slight motion artifacts, such as motion blur. The SM9000’s TrueMotion feature will help or eliminate motion blur when using the Smooth setting. However, using this setting can reveal what is called the soap opera effect which makes film-based content look like video. So I normally leave all motion features set to “off” unless really needed.
In the recent past, certain LG LED TVs have used harmon/kardon speaker systems which produced above-average sound quality. This type of audio system is absent from LG’s latest models. So that leaves this TV with your typical flat panel sound quality, which was somewhat lean in its sound impact and lacking in bass output.
On a positive note, the sound quality was clean and clear with very discernible dialog. It also had decent imaging with an open and spacious quality.
Conclusion
LG’s 65SM9000PUA is a good LED/LCD TV and is capable of excellent picture quality within an ideal viewing environment, which is a room with moderate to bright lighting. In a low light or dark room setting, the image quality will suffer from low contrast capability which will leave dark images with a grayish appearance. However, the TV’s LED Local Dimming feature does help improve the appearance of black levels.
Putting its contrast deficiencies aside, I was generally pleased with the performance of the SM9000 which is usually the case with all LG TVs I review. Its bright, colorful, sharp and detailed picture image made most hi-def images a pleasure to watch.
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Is this series one step down from there OLED’s?
Hi John,
You are correct. The next step up would be their OLED models.
Hello, just got my 55sm9000 last month, and everything works fine except blu ray movies on the xbox one x. I get an error message, saying to make sure the tv is hdcp supported. I thought it has four 2.1(hdcp 2.2) inputs? Why do my games work fine, but not the blu ray movies? 4K Hdr works also. Im confused. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Martin,
I’m sure this is a very frustrating situation for you. Problems like this are the type I like to be able to deal with hands-on. But of course that’s not possible. Not 100% sure what the problem is. Check your setting on both the TV and Xbox and make sure they are both setup to handle HDCP 2.2. Even though you can play video games without any problems, a wrong setting could still cause problems playing Blu-ray movies via the Xbox. Will the Xbox play standard DVD movies? Some older titles aren’t copy protected. Also, as another trouble shooting step, if you have a dedicated Blu-ray player, try hooking it up to the TV and see if your movies will play. That will let you know for certain there is an issue with the Xbox and how its communicating with the TV, and as I mentioned earlier, check your setting. Your can also try a “hard reset” on the Xbox to reset the unit.
Note: Use the “Device Connector” located in the TV’s menu under “Connection” to help setup your X-box to the TV and see if this will help with your Blu-ray playback issue.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Milton
Hello Milton. Thank you for the response. I have tried a blu ray player, and it plays movies fine. With that out of the way, i guess the Xbox is not playing nice with the tv for movie playback. Thank you for helping me narrowing it down. I appreciate it.
Hi Martin,
You welcome. Glad I could help.
Regards,
Milton
Is the FALD better on this year’s model than last year’s?
Also, is the clouding/light bleed real noticeable with FALD turned on? Or does it do a good job of clearing most of that up?
I’m wanting to purchase this set, but wanted to learn a few more things before doing so.
Hi Brian,
I don’t know if this year’s model FALD is better than last years since I wasn’t able to do a side-by-side comparison.
Setting the TV’s local dimming feature to “High” eliminates most of the clouding/light bleed. But it will increase blooming around white text or objects against a solid black background on test patterns. However,this shouldn’t be much of an issue when watching normal TV content. I will note this in the review. Thanks for the questions.
Regards,
Milton
Sounding good. Thank you for the response!
I do have a couple of more questions that I forgot to ask. How was the DSE and the input lag?
Hi Brian,
I don’t specifically evaluate DSE. However, I do tend to watch for it with normal content and it usually isn’t a big issue with any of the TVs I review, with the possible exception of during a hockey game where the DSE can be noticed more as the camera pans across the ice surface. The issue can and will vary from TV to TV, even on the same models.
I will consider adding DSE (gray uniformity) as one of my regular test procedures in the near future.
Input lag is very good on the SM9000 and measures approximately 15.0 ms.
Regards,
Milton
Would you rather have this TV or the Samsung Q60? I am really drawn to LG for the operating system and “smart” integration. I watch a lot of sports and movies. I always have on closed captioning. This is a concern based on your feedback. I rarely ever watch TV in a completely dark room. Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Hi Jay,
Personally, I would choose the SM9000PUA over the Q60R. I have seen both TVs in action and preferred the SM9000PUA’s picture quality over the Q60R, with the exception of the Q60R having better contrast and black levels which will provide better picture quality when watching dark content in a dark room. Other than those factors, I feel the SM9000PUA has better overall picture quality.
Samsung’s Q60R is their entry-level model of QLED TVs and doesn’t perform as well as the other models in their current QLED lineup in my opinion. The next model up, the Q70R which I recently reviewed, has much better picture quality than the Q60R.
When comparing the Q70R to the SM9000PUA, I would choose the Q70R. They both have very good picture quality, but my deciding factor between the two is the Q70R’s higher contrast and deeper black level abilities.
As far as your situation, you’ve already shown favor for the LG model, and being that you don’t watch much TV in a dark room I think the clear choice for you would be the SM9000PUA, in my opinion.
Hope this helps.
Regards’
Milton
HDTVs and More
Would you recommend the Samsung q90r or the Lg sm9500pua? Is there the same wobbling issue on the 9500 version? I don’t plan on wall mounting mine and I love the features of the lg however the chance of topple/wobble terrifies me. I’ve never had a tv wobble on its stand so this seems like a gross oversight in design on lg’s part.
Hi Phylicia,
To answer your first question, I would personally recommend the Q90R even though I haven’t reviewed the SM9500PUA. Both TVs, however, have very good picture quality. In fact, I would like to point out that the Q90R produces some of the best picture images I have seen to date. And since the Q90R uses a VA display panel, instead of the IPS panel design used on the SM9500; this means the 9500’s contrast and black levels can’t compete with the Q90R’s contrast and black level performance, which are only two of the key factors that I believe will give the edge in overall picture quality to the Q90R.
The LG SM9500PUA and SM9000PUA use the same stand design, so I would expect the TV wobble to be the same. I do understand your concerns about TV tip-over, and I’m not trying to minimize this. But I don’t see the excess wobble as a problem, and as I stated in the review, the TV stand still provides enough support and does not leave the TV at risk of toppling over. It’s just that when compared to most other “two-feet” stand designs, the SM9000 has a bit more wobble than usual.
I hope this helps put to rest any concerns you may have regarding the SM9000PUA’s stand wobble. I personally believe the stand design is safe.
Regards,
Milton
HDTVs and More
In a nutshell… If I plan to spend $1000 on a 65″ TV, would you recommend this one?
If not, do you have any other recommendations.
Thank you for your great input above.
Best Regards,
Dan
Hi Dan,
If you stick to your $1000 price range, I can definitely recommend the SM9000PUA, however with one exception, and that is if you don’t mind giving up strong contrast and deep black levels which the SM9000PUA is lacking due to its IPS panel. Other than that, the SM9000PUA will make a fine choice.
On the other hand, if you are concerned about contrast and black levels, which will only be a factor when viewing the SM9000PUA in a dark room, I would suggest you take a look at Vizio’s 65″ P-Series Quantum (the base model) which can be had for just over $1000. This TV offers very good picture quality in addition to excellent contrast and black levels.
I would also like to recommend TCL’s R625 which offers very good picture quality and can be had for well under $1000 for a 65″ screen size.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Milton
HDTVs and More
Thanks for this review. I’m in the same situation as the person you just replied to. I have about $1000 to spend but would be willing to go to $1200 if the upgrade seemed justified and am leaning to the LG Nano 9000 series. I am also considered the Sony SXF900 and the Samsung Q6 series. I’m a big believer in Consumer Reports reliability rankings and don’t want to consider A TCL or a Vizio. I read where you’d go with the LG over the Samsung but wondering what you think of it compared to the Sony SXF900. The Sony is a little more expensive but Sony is rated a little more reliable by CR.
Hi Jim,
For clarification, I assume you meant the Sony X900F. If that’s the case, I would personally go with the X900F for its overall excellent picture quality which in my opinion and experience outperforms LG’s SM9000PUA.
Regards,
Milton
HDTVs and More
Thanks, Milton that is what I meant. Went into Best Buy today and really got sold on the Sony but now I’m thinking of increasing my budget and moving up to the 65x950G. The picture is clearly better, I think it’s the best on any LED tv I have looked at. It’s $300 more but seems worth it and in reading your reviews I take it you think so also. I love your site and will share it to any friends I have looking for a TV beyond the entry-level. Thank You
Hi Jim,
As you have discovered the X950G is an excellent performing TV, and I consider the X950G and X900F very similar in overall performance with the edge going to the X950G.
I appreciate your kind comments regarding this website and glad you like the info presented here. Thank you.
Regards,
Milton
HDTVs and More