The LG 75SM9970PUA is a good 8k TV that features LG's Nanocell technology. Its IPS panel has decent viewing angles that's well-suited for a moderately large room, and it's well-equipped to handle glare and reflections in very bright environments. It has great motion handling and input lag, however, FreeSync support is noticeably lacking. On the upside, there are some forward-thinking features such as HDMI 2.1 support and eARC, and although an external box is required to display 8k content, it's provided by LG for free. Unfortunately, native 8k content is pretty scarce at this time, so for now, it's a good choice for those in need of a large TV and don't mind waiting for more content to be widely available.
Our Verdict
The LG 75SM9970PUA is a good TV for most uses. Its large size and decent viewing angles are great for medium-sized rooms, and it can get bright enough to overcome glare. It has low input lag for those who want to game on a giant screen, but unfortunately, there are some uniformity issues that can be distracting. Overall, though, it's a good TV for most content.
- Excellent upscaling.
- Outstanding motion handling.
- Low input lag.
- Bad color accuracy.
- Mediocre contrast ratio.
- Difficult to display native 8k.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is an okay TV for watching movies. Its size provides an immersive experience and it has impressive motion handling to keep the picture crisp. Unfortunately, contrast ratio and black uniformity are only mediocre, so it may not be the best choice for dark room viewing. It's not the most color accurate TV either, but it upscales lower resolution content well without any visible artifacts.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is great for watching TV shows. It has a good peak brightness and excellent reflection handling for watching daytime TV, but its low contrast ratio and mediocre black uniformity make it less suitable for dark room viewing. The TV can display lower resolution content well, such as cable TV, and it has decent viewing angles so everyone can see the picture clearly.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is great for watching sports. Its size, resolution, and viewing angles make this TV the perfect choice for watching the big game with a large group of friends and family. It has outstanding motion handling to keep motion blur to a minimum, but there's some dirty screen effect that can be distracting.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is a good TV for gaming. It has a low input lag for a responsive gaming experience, and its impressive motion handling is great for fast-paced games. The TV's resolution and size provide an immersive experience for atmospheric RPGs, but the lack of variable refresh rate is a bit disappointing.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is an okay TV for watching movies in HDR. It delivers a good picture quality, even for lower resolution content, but its HDR performance is limited, as it isn't able to produce dark and saturated colors well due to its low contrast ratio. Although there's a full array local dimming feature, its effectiveness is questionable, as there's noticeable blooming and flickering when it's enabled.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is a decent TV for HDR gaming. It has nearly everything that gamers ask for, such as fast response time and low input lag; however, variable refresh rate doesn't seem to function at this time. It upscales lower resolution games well, and it has an acceptable HDR performance thanks to its great color gamut and decent peak brightness.
The LG 75SM9970PUA is a great TV for use as a monitor. It has a fast response and low input lag for a responsive desktop experience, and there's no risk of permanent burn-in with user interface elements being always in the same place. Text is sharp and legible, and the TV can display chroma 4:4:4 properly.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 27, 2020: We've retested the input lag and supported resolutions with an HDMI 2.1 source and the latest firmware version 05.00.02.
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Feb 03, 2020: Review published.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the LG 75SM9970PUA and it's only available in one size; there are no other variants of this TV.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their LG 75SM9970PUA doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
Our unit was manufactured in September 2019; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The LG 75SM9970PUA is a difficult TV to compare, as there aren't many 8k TVs on the market, and the only other 8k TV we've tested so far is the Samsung Q900R, which is its main competitor. When compared to the Samsung, the LG 75SM9970PUA feels incomplete, as we were only able to display an 8k image from an external storage device, not through an HDMI connection.
You can also see our recommendations for the best TVs, the best 4k HDR gaming TVs, and the best smart TVs.
The Samsung Q900/Q900R 8k QLED is better than the LG SM9970 8k in most uses. It has a better build quality, a significantly better contrast ratio due to its VA panel, and it can get much brighter in HDR content. The Samsung also has better black uniformity and color accuracy, but its upscaling isn't as good as LG's.
The Samsung Q90/Q90R QLED is much better than the LG SM9970 8k. Samsung's VA panel has a significantly better contrast ratio and black uniformity, and it can get much brighter than the LG in both SDR and HDR content. Samsung's local dimming performs much better, and it has better reflection handling and gray uniformity as well. Viewing angles are about the same on both, despite having different types of panels.
The Sony A9G OLED is significantly better than the LG SM9970 8k in mixed usage. Since the Sony is an OLED TV, its contrast ratio and black uniformity are much better than the LG. Also, the Sony has better gray uniformity and viewing angles, but the LG can get brighter in both SDR and HDR content. However, the Sony has a risk of permanent burn-in, while the LG doesn't, since it has an IPS panel.
The LG SM9970 8k is very similar to the LG SM9500. They both have an IPS panel, but the SM9500 has a better contrast ratio, much better reflection handling, and significantly better color accuracy. On the other hand, the SM9970 has much better black uniformity, as well as significantly better motion handling, but its viewing angles aren't as good as the SM9500. Gray uniformity is much better on the SM9970, but both TVs have visible vignetting and dirty screen effect.
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
for pictures & test results
