The first of LG’s Super Ultra HD LCD TVs, all with Dolby Vision and HDR 10 high dynamic range (HDR) technology, will appear in stores later this month, LG announced.
Six of the nine UHD models will be available later this month, with the remaining three available sometime in the spring. Prices range from $1,799 for a 55-inch model shipping in March to $9,999 for an 86-inch model shipping in the spring.
In early April, the six TVs will get a firmware update to add Dolby Vision, making them the first TVs compatible with both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision, the company said.
All nine TVs, unveiled at 2016 CES, are smart TVs featuring 4K Ultra HD streaming from Vudu in Dolby Vision HDR; from Netflix, which plans to offer Dolby Vision and HDR 10; and Amazon Video, which offers HDR 10 and plans to add Dolby Vision, LG said.
A total of 33 streaming titles are available in Dolby Vision from Vudu, and by year’s end, Dolby said it expects as many as 100 titles will be available from multiple services.
All of the TVs also feature HDMI 2.0a inputs to stream HDR from HDMI-connected connected sources such as Ultra HD Blu-ray players.
To date, only a pair of Vizio 4K TVs feature Dolby Vision, but they lack HDR 10. Philips and TCL, however, have announced plans this year to offer 4K TVs with both Dolby Vision and HDR 10.
Unlike LG’s planned 2016 OLED TVs, the Super UHD TVs do not bear the UHD Alliance’s Ultra HD Premium logo, which certifies that TVs meet the group’s 4K minimum performance criteria. The logo appears on products and content that meet the alliance’s minimum requirements for resolution, bit depth, HDR, peak luminance, black levels and wide color gamut, among other things. The Super UHD TVs do not meet the alliance’s 1,000-nit brightness requirement for 4K LCD TVs.
The Super UHD series sits between the OLED series and a planned opening-price UHD series in performance levels. Ship dates and pricing for those two series haven’t been announced.
The OLED series will feature Dolby Vision and HDR 10, but the opening-price UHD series will offer only HDR 10.
The Super UHD TVs and their availability dates are as follows.
UH9500 series
–86-inch 86UH9500: $9,999 (spring)
–65-inch 65UH9500: $3,999 (spring)
UH8500 – SUPER UHD TV
–75-inch 75UH8500: $4,999 (spring)
–65-inch 65UH8500: $2,999 (March)
–60-inch 60UH8500: $2,299 (March)
–55-inch 55UH8500: $1,999 (March)
UH7700 – SUPER UHD TV
–65-inch 65UH7700: $2,799 (March)
–60-inch 60UH7700: $2,099 (March)
–55-inch 55UH7700: $1,799 (March)
Performance levels: Compared with LG’s previous UHD TVs, the Super UHD TVs feature picture enhancements such as higher brightness levels, wider color gamut and higher contrast ratios. A new IPS display reduces glare by 40 to 50 percent depending on the model.
A Color Prime Pro video engine in the flagship UHD9500 series and in the UHD8500 series produces 91 percent of the DCI-P3 color-gamut standard and 125 percent of the Rec 709 standard, which is delivered by Blu-ray discs. The Color Prime engine in the UH7700 series delivers 84 percent of the DCI-P3 standard and 110 percent of the Rec 709 standard.
All three series feature 240Hz refresh rates, Super Luminance technology to boost brightness by 10 to 30 percent depending on model, and the new IPS display, which also boosts color accuracy by two times during off-angle viewing, the company said. The display also delivers a seven-fold improvement in contrast-ratio consistency at off-axis viewing angles.
All also feature edge-lit local dimming, which enhances black levels, and detail-enhancement technology, which sharpens images.
All also feature 10-bit color to display more than a billion possible colors for more realism. And like the planned 4K OLED TVs, the series features Harman Kardon audio technology.
The top-tier models add the company’s new UniScreen design, said to seamlessly integrate the display panel and body. They also feature a thin bezel that makes it seem like the screen is “floating,” the company added.
Ultra Slim designs deliver a depth of as little as 6.6mm at the thinnest point of the 65-inch 65UH9500.
The TVs also use YouTube’s VP9 codec throughout its 4K lineup to stream YouTube’s 4K and HD content.
More product details are available here.
