Lg Ultra Hd 4k 55 Inch

Tom's Guide Verdict

For those who want the best 4K HDR Tv bachelor — but have to continue their spending downwards to a dull roar — the LG B6 delivers a jaw-dropping movie.

Pros

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Exceptional picture quality
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The blackest blacks
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Neat off-axis viewing

Cons

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No 3D back up
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Notwithstanding pricey

It may sound like an oxymoron to call a $2,500 Goggle box a bargain, but when compared to previous OLED models that cost thousands more, LG's 55-inch B6 is a relative steal — peculiarly for what is in many means the best 4K picture show available.

The 55-inch LG B6 is the visitor'due south tertiary-from-the-elevation OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display. OLEDs offering several benefits over LCD sets, yielding deep blacks, staggering sharpness and excellent viewing angles. The LG B6 boasts all these advantages and more. Information technology supports not one, but several high dynamic range (HDR) formats: standard HDR10 video, Ultra Hd Premium and Dolby Vision. So why does this set cost $1,000 less than the comparable LG E6? It doesn't back up 3D (no great loss), doesn't boast the heart-catching picture-on-drinking glass blueprint, doesn't have the new designer remote control and lacks the rich sound of the more expensive model. Can you lot live with those compromises? We tin can.

Design: Floating worlds

LG has given the B6 a Zen-like blueprint flourish (something adopted from the before EF9500 model) to brand it appear as if the set is floating above a tabletop. That'south thanks to a single, wide pedestal made out of transparent Plexiglas. Together with a very narrow black bezel that's nearly invisible, the cumulative effect is to draw your attention more toward the screen itself than what's around it.

The panel is likewise thinner than the one on the more expensive E6 model; it'south but 1.9 inches thin. But the LG B6 even so has all the necessary connections for a home-theater setup, including iv HDMI jacks, an Ethernet port and built-in Wi-Fi.

More than: Our Favorite 4K (Ultra Hard disk) TVs Available Now

Performance: Crystal clear

It is almost impossible to dislike the LG B6'south movie. Some may bespeak out that in terms of maximum brightness, OLEDs are non as vivid as LCD sets, but the effulgence range from full black to elevation illumination blows away LCDs, which simply cannot get down to true blackness. And while in that location have been quibbles about color in the by, LG's latest OLED phosphors seem to have addressed the issue, turning in respectable color-accuracy charts in our tests.

Supposedly, this panel should be identical to the E6, just our tests showed there was less drift toward libation blues on the LG B6 than the E6 set, although this could be chocked upwardly to differences in the manufacturing process or samples (the B6 is not a "pic-on-glass" design).

Watching 4K HDR programs on the LG B6 is a genuine pleasure. Whites, for example, look blisteringly clean compared to pictures on other sets such every bit Samsung's KS9000, which can make some white objects await jaundiced by comparison. The LG B6's power to bear witness bright highlights also makes for darkness-cutting flashlights in The Martian and even reveals how some costumes have different white materials sown into the cloth.

A related reward is that considering OLEDs can turn individual pixels on or off, there'due south almost no light leakage that might bleed from, say, a spotlight into the surrounding darkness in an prototype. It ways that an astronaut spinning in space or a shot of the infinite shuttle against a black background did not produce whatsoever artificial halo effects; no LCD is able to manage this without some light seeping out.

While the LG E6 and B6 models are supposedly the same, I did notice some differences, particularly in upscaling HD content. The E6 (which costs about $1,000 more than) didn't appear to have whatsoever trouble making the conversion, but I did witness some very pocket-sized glitches with the B6 brandish fifty-fifty in the aforementioned Picture palace mode. In scenes with very rapid move, such equally the opening hunt scene in Skyfall, the LG B6 had some trouble keeping up. So there was the occasional drop out, such equally a slight flicker of the motorcycle-riding villain'southward head. However, to nigh viewers, this would be ephemeral.

Audio: Loud enough

The floating design of the LG B6 means it doesn't benefit from the console-wide sound organization tucked underneath the screen that the E6 enjoys. Just in that location's nevertheless enough of book, certainly enough to fill the average suburban living room. In its preset Movie theatre Sound mode, the LG B6's sound is nicely balanced and precise enough to allow you lot hear the string section in the groundwork of a sound track.

While it doesn't let whatsoever single aspect of the sound dominate (no piercing highs or overblown explosions), switching the audio to Music mode gives you much less presence and virtually sounds muffled. My advice: leave information technology in Movie house mode.

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Interface: Cute and crisp

Swift and attractive, LG's unique smart-TV interface — webOS — has been steadily improving with each iteration. Dominated past a series of brightly colored tabs along the bottom of the screen, the webOS includes support for the major streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon and Vudu, but it doesn't accept the broad back up that the others like Android TV and Roku Boob tube relish. There are no HBO, Showtime or PBS apps, for case, and the pickings in the app store are slim.

Watching 4K HDR programs on the LG B6 is a genuine pleasure.

The LG B6 comes with the standard "Magic" remote command rather than the newer, bigger controller that accompanies the more expensive E6 set. The magic office of the remote is that it behaves like a wireless mouse, letting you direct the on-screen cursor across menus past waving the remote in the air. The controller is nevertheless uncomplicated and sweet, with a four-mode directional pad with a clickable curlicue-wheel that sits nicely under the user's thumb. Also included is a mic button for vox searches, which are about boilerplate in terms of accurateness compared to the contest.

Lesser Line

If you can afford — and are willing — to spend $2,500 on a Television receiver, the LG B6 OLED is a swell investment, especially since it supports all the current HDR formats. Admittedly, the more expensive LG E6 OLED looks just slightly better in a handful of scenes, but y'all'd have to study the images to see the deviation, and for the most role, those infinitesimal advantages will disappear when yous sit more than a few feet away. For OLED buyers, unless you really desire 3D support or appreciate the better audio, salve $1,000 and choose the LG B6.

John R. Quain has been reviewing and testing video and audio equipment for more twenty years. For Tom's Guide, he has reviewed televisions, HDTV antennas, electric bikes, electric cars, also every bit other outdoor equipment. He is currently a contributor to The New York Times and the CBS News goggle box program.