Our Verdict
Though it is affordable, the LG LB5900 LED TV is not a great value for the price. The picture quality, especially in a dark room, is not as good as other TVs in its price range. The Vizio E Series is a better alternative for a barebones TV.
- Great viewing angle. The colors are great, even when viewed from the side.
- It has a fair amount of motion blur, however, making it average for video games.
- Very low contrast ratio. In a dark environment, the blacks are gray.
- Wide stand. You need a very wide table to support it.
Check Price
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests are done with specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
This TV has an IPS panel, which means the contrast ratio is very low. It doesn't matter in a bright room, but the blacks will appear gray if you watch TV at night.
The black uniformity is average. The poor blacks accentuate the uniformity issues a bit, but there is no significant clouding or flashlighting.
The LB5900 LED TV has a lot of gray uniformity issues. The edges are darker than the rest and it has a lot of darker spots everywhere. This isn't an issue with normal footage, but if you watch a scene with a solid color (like in sports or a panning shot), you will see the dirty screen effect.
This TV's viewing angle is great. Even if you are watching TV at an angle, the colors are excellent. The screen just darkens off-axis instead of losing saturation like most other LED TVs would.
At least it reflects less light than the similar LB5800. The screen is more visible when you have a light on.
The LG LB5900 does not get very bright. Enough that a few lights in the room will not ruin the picture, but still not optimal for a room full of windows.
This TV has a rare artifact on fast moving objects called inverse ghosting. It overvolts the pixels with the goal of reducing the ghosting, but it results in an opposite white trail. This isn't good for fast moving footage like video games or sports.
This TV's input lag is very low. You won't notice it, even in fast video games.
