Vivid TV with a magic remote

The LG UB850T is a new series of ultra-high-definition 3D smart TV sets that features the easy-to-navigate webOS system as well as a built-in digital TV DVB-T2 tuner.

The webOS system makes it easy to set up and navigate functions, while the ultra-HD resolution makes the picture sharp and clear.

The set offers four-times-higher resolution than a Full HD TV. It has a resolution of 3,840x2,160 pixels – that’s 8.3 million pixels – compared to the resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (2.07 million pixels) of a Full HD TV.

It uses an IPS Ultra HD panel with a Tru-Ultra HD Engine at its core. The engine helps enhance the picture quality with an upscaler to boost lower-resolution pictures to match the panel. The Triple XD Engine improves the colours, contrast and clarity.

The fast IPS panel and powerful picture engines allow the UB850T series to achieve a very high Motion Clarity Index of 1,200, so it’s very good for watching fast-action movies and sports.

This unit’s built for the future, with advanced ports. Apart from an HDMI 1.4 port, it has two HDMI 2.0 ports that can be used to receive ultra-high-definition movies from future ultra HD players. It also has a USB 3.0 port that can be connected to an external hard drive for recording and playing HD movies without performance hiccups.

LG designed webOS to make it simple and intuitive. It provides a launcher at the bottom of the screen that brings together all your favourite catch-up TV, movies, sports and music services. The launcher is customisable and can be scrolled left and right. You just press the home button on the “magic remote” that works like an air mouse with its pointer on the TV.

The webOS makes it simple to call up the smart-TV function to use online content and services and switch over to TV broadcasts and back again. Press “Home” to see the menu of online features, among them YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Twitter and AccuWeather. There’s a Web browser where you can log on using an LG account and visit the LG Store to buy more apps and smart-TV content.

LG Thailand distributes two models of the series – the 55-inch 55UB850T and the 49-inch 49UB850T. I got to test the latter.

To use the Smart TV function, you need to connect the TV to your home router, using either its LAN port or a wireless connection. I connected it to a Linksys X3500 modem/wireless router wirelessly. The magic remote called up an onscreen keyboard where I typed in my router’s Wi-Fi password.

During my test, high-definition clips on YouTube played in full screen with sharp resolution and smooth motion. The Web browser generated pages fast, with sharp text and beautiful graphics.

I had no problem receiving 24 terrestrial digital TV channels, including Nation (22) and Now (26). The channels like Thairath HD, Amarin HD and Thai PBS HD looked very sharp and clean.

I had no 4K or ultra-HD movie sources to test, so I connected a TrueVisions Humax HD receiver to an HDMI port on the TV.

As for the upscaler boosting picture resolution, I found that, to make most of the set, the original signal needs to be at last 1080i resolution, as used in TrueVisions’ HD broadcasts.

I enjoyed watching NFL American football on True Sports HD 666 on the 49UB850T. The pictures were very sharp and clean and very colourful. The sound was great as well.

Movie channels, like HBO HD and Fox Movies Premium HD, also looked very sharp and clean.

The TV provides nine picture modes – Vivid, Photo, Standard, Auto Power Save, Cinema, Soccer, Game, Expert 1 and Expert 2. Vivid is for watching in a bright room, while Cinema is for enjoying movies in a dark room. I enjoyed Vivid in most situations.

The TV also provides six sound modes – Standard, News, Music, Cinema, Soccer and Game.

The 49UB850T has a suggested retail price of Bt79,990, while the 55UB850T retails for Bt109,990.

 

KEY SPECS

 

Display Device: LED

Screen Size: 49 inches

Resolution: Ultra HD 3840x2160

Analog TV reception: PAL, PAL/SECAM BG/DK, NTSC M

Digital TV reception: Terrestrial: DVB-T2

Picture modes: Vivid, Photo, Standard, APS, Cinema, Soccer, Game, Expert 1, Expert 2

Aspect ratio: 6:9, Just scan, Original, Full Wide, 4:3, 14:9, Zoom, Cinema Zoom

Speaker system: Two channels with 20 watts output

Time machine recording: NTFS external HDD recording

USB playback: DivX HD, JPEG, JPS, MPO, AC3, EAC3, HEAAC, Mpeg, MP3, PCM, DTS

Input, output side: 1 HDMI 4, 2 HDMI 2.0, 2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0

Input, output rear: RF in, Composite In (CVBS + audio), Component In, digital audio output, LAN, Headphone out, RS-232C (control and service)

Power supply: 100~240Vac 50-60Hz

Standby mode: 0.3W

Weight with stand: 18.5kg

TV with stand: 1093x680.6x631