Our Verdict
Very good mixed usage performance for the LG SK9500. The TV has excellent reflections, and excellent brightness, making a good choice for a variety of usages in bright environments. The gray uniformity is ordinary and that might annoy some sports fans but it has a great response time which is good for games and an ok viewing angle so that it can be placed in moderately wide rooms.
- Those with wide seating still get an accurate image
- Can get very bright
- Very good motion handling
- Dark scenes appear gray and blotchy
Decent performance of the LG 65SK9500PUA when watching movies. Contrast is ok and blacks cannot get very deep especially in a dark room and the local dimming cannot help improve the situation. This is somewhat expected on IPS panels. Although the black uniformity is not great, it does a great job upscaling content from Blu-ray.
Very good performance when watching TV shows. The TV gets quite bright to overcome glare and has excellent reflection handling, making it a good choice for bright rooms around the house. Viewing angles are ok. It is good at upscaling 720p and cable content so TV shows look great.
The LG 65SK9500 is very good for sports watching. It has the great response time to catch all the action. It handles reflections well and gets bright enough suitable for bright rooms. Also, the viewing angle is not bad so you can watch a game with a few friends, although you might notice some gray uniformity issues on panning shots.
Playing video games on this LG SK9500 is impressive. It has an amazing low input lag and excellent response time, providing an immersive gaming experience. It handles great a variety of input resolutions and although the contrast does not allow it to produce deep blacks, it will make most people happy.
This TV is okay for watching HDR movies. The contrast ratio is not so great and local dimming cannot help the TV display deep blacks in dark environments. Small highlights in HDR content are boosted and shown well. Colors are saturated and accurate, however, some clouding is visible in very dark scenes and that might bother some people.
This TV is impressive for playing HDR games. Colors are accurate and rich, input lag is low and response time is great so that the SK9500 can handle fast action well. There is a variety of inputs including the 4k @ 60Hz + HDR allowing you to have a nice HDR gaming experience.
Very good performance for this LG 65SK9500PUA as a PC monitor. It has excellent low input lag and feels very responsive to mouse movements. It does not have a permanent burn-in risk so one should not be afraid to use it as a monitor. Colors on the edges might look a little washed out when sitting too close to the screen due to average viewing angle performance.
Changelog
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Feb 28, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Jun 26, 2018: Review published.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 65" (65SK9500), the only size available at the moment.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their LG 65SK9500 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.
| Size | Model |
| 65" | 65SK9500 |
Popular TV Comparisons
The LG SK9500 offers good performance for most viewing habits and is very well suited for bright rooms. See our recommendations for the best TVs and the best smart TVs.
The Sony X900F is better than the LG SK9500. The Sony X900F is better for watching movies or HDR content right in front, as it has better native contrast ratio, better local dimming along, and better black uniformity. The Sony X900F also has a faster response time, which is great for watching sports. The LG SK9500 has an IPS panel that gives better viewing angles, and this is good for wide seating arrangements and a lower input lag that makes it very responsive for playing video games.
If you've got a bright room with wide seating, then the LG SK9500 is a better choice as it has better viewing angles and can handle reflections better and this is important when watching sports or TV shows. For a dark room, however, with seating directly in front, the Samsung NU8000 is better. The better contrast ratio and better black uniformity allow it to display deeper blacks in a dark room and thus you'll enjoy movies and HDR movies more on the Samsung NU8000. Finally, it supports FreeSync VRR, which is great for gamers.
The Samsung Q7CN/Q7C QLED 2018 is a bit better than the LG SK9500 unless you'll be watching from the side, in which case the LG is a better choice due to the wider viewing angles. When sitting directly in front, the Samsung Q7CN has deeper blacks in a dark room due to the higher native contrast ratio and better black uniformity. The Q7CN also has better gray uniformity and is better at handling bright room reflections. Finally, the Samsung Q7CN is a better choice for HDR gaming due to the lower input lag and support for the FreeSync variable refresh rate.
The LG SK9500 is slightly better than the LG SK9000. The LG SK9500 has slightly better response time, which is great if you watch sports, and better contrast ratio and black uniformity that produce marginally better blacks while watching movies. The LG SK9500 can get brighter, and this is good as you can watch TV shows in a slightly brighter room.
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 use 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
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
for pictures & test results
