The LG UN6970 is an okay overall 4k TV. It's a variant of the LG UN6950, but it's only available in a 75 inch size and sold exclusively at Best Buy. The picture quality is decent, and it displays 480p through 4k content without any issues. It has an IPS panel with wide viewing angles, but that comes at the cost of its contrast, so blacks appear closer to gray when viewed in the dark. HDR content also doesn't look good on this TV because it fails to display a wide color gamut and has low peak brightness, so highlights don't pop how they're supposed to. Casual gamers should be happy with its low input lag and quick response time, but it lacks many extra gaming features and is limited to a 60Hz panel. The LG WebOS interface is easy-to-use, the menus have smooth navigation, and there are a ton of apps available to download through the app store.
Our Verdict
The LG UN6970 is an okay overall TV. It performs best in wide seating arrangements as it has wide viewing angles. It displays lower-resolution content, such as from cable boxes, without any issues. It's good for gaming thanks to its quick response time and low input lag. However, it doesn't perform well in dark rooms due to its low contrast ratio. Also, it has low peak brightness and doesn't display a wide color gamut for HDR content.
- No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
- Wide viewing angles.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Low contrast ratio.
- Doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
- Can't display wide color gamut.
The LG UN6970 is disappointing for watching movies. It has an IPS panel with a low contrast ratio and lacks a local dimming feature, so blacks appear gray when viewed in the dark. It also has disappointing black uniformity. Luckily, it upscales 1080p content very well and removes judder from native 24p sources.
- No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
- Removes 24p judder.
- Low contrast ratio.
- Uniformity issues.
- No local dimming.
The LG UN6970 is decent for watching TV shows. It has wide viewing angles so that you can walk around while watching your favorite series without losing image accuracy. It also upscales 720p content, such as from cable boxes, without any issues. Sadly, it's not the best choice to use in well-lit rooms as it only has decent reflection handling and doesn't get bright.
- No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
- Wide viewing angles.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Uniformity issues.
- Doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
The LG UN6970 is decent for watching sports. You can easily watch the big game with a large group of friends because it has wide viewing angles. It also has a good response time, but there's still some image duplication with fast-moving content. Unfortunately, it doesn't get bright enough to combat glare and has only decent reflection handling if you want to use it in well-lit rooms.
- Wide viewing angles.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Good response time.
- Uniformity issues.
- Doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
- Blacklight flicker results in image duplication.
The LG UN6970 is good for video gaming. It has a good response time that results in smooth motion and the input lag is incredibly low. However, it has a 60Hz panel and lacks variable refresh rate (VRR) support. Its IPS panel means it has a low contrast ratio and doesn't display deep blacks, but it has wide viewing angles if you want to use it for co-op gaming.
- No issues upscaling lower-resolution content.
- Good response time.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Low contrast ratio.
- Blacklight flicker results in image duplication.
The LG UN6970 is disappointing for HDR movies. It has a low contrast ratio, disappointing black uniformity, and lacks local dimming, so blacks appear closer to gray when viewed in the dark. It also doesn't get bright enough to make highlights pop in HDR and fails to display a wide color gamut.
- Removes 24p judder.
- Low contrast ratio.
- No local dimming.
- Low HDR peak brightness.
- Can't display wide color gamut.
The LG UN6970 is okay for HDR gaming, mainly due to its good gaming performance. It has a quick response time and incredibly low input lag. Sadly, HDR content doesn't look all that different from SDR content. It has a low contrast ratio, low peak brightness, can't display a wide color gamut, and lacks local dimming.
- Good response time.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Low contrast ratio.
- Low HDR peak brightness.
- Can't display wide color gamut.
The LG UN6970 is great to use as a PC monitor. It has wide viewing angles, so the image remains accurate at the sides if you sit too close. Also, it has low input lag, a quick response time, and it displays chroma 4:4:4. However, it doesn't get bright and has only decent reflection handling, so it doesn't perform well in bright rooms.
- Wide viewing angles.
- Decent reflection handling.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Displays chroma 4:4:4.
- Doesn't get bright enough to combat glare.
- Blacklight flicker results in image duplication.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 02, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.6.
- Updated Nov 25, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Nov 23, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Nov 02, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 75 inch LG UN6970, which is only sold at Best Buy in the United States for Black Friday and only available in this size. We tested the 50 inch model of the LG UN6950 variant sold at Walmart in North America, which is also available in more sizes; you can see them in the table below.
| Size | Panel | Best Buy | Walmart US |
| 43" | IPS | - | 43UN6950ZUA |
| 50" | VA | - | 50UN6950ZUF |
| 55" | IPS | - | 55UN6950ZUA |
|
65" |
IPS | - | 65UN6950ZUA |
| 70" | IPS | - | 70UN6950ZUA |
| 75" | IPS | 75UN6970PUD | 75UN6950ZUA |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their UN6970 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, such as gray uniformity and contrast, may vary between individual units.
The unit we tested was manufactured in October 2020 and you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The LG UN6970 is an okay overall TV that delivers good performance for its size and price. It's better overall than the LG NANO80, and if you have a wide seating arrangement, it's a better choice than some other budget-friendly models, such as the Hisense H6510G. However, if you prefer something with better contrast, there are other options available. Also see our recommendations for the best 70-75-77 inch TVs, the best 4k TVs, and the best budget TVs.
The LG UN6950 is slightly better than the LG UN6970, but the units we tested have different panel types. The 50 inch UN6950 has a VA panel with a much better contrast ratio. It also has much better black uniformity and there's less stutter. However, the UN6970 has an IPS panel with wide viewing angles and it has better out-of-the-box color accuracy, but this may vary between units.
The Samsung TU7000 and the LG UN6970 are similar-performing TVs, but they have different panel types. The Samsung has a VA panel with a much better contrast ratio and significantly better black uniformity. It also has better gradient handling and a black frame insertion feature. However, the LG has an IPS panel with a wide viewing angle, gets brighter, has better reflection handling, and has a quicker response time.
The LG UN6970 and the LG UN7000 perform very similarly overall. The UN6970 gets brighter in SDR, has wider viewing angles, and displays native 4k content perfectly. However, the UN7000 gets brighter in HDR and has better reflection handling.
The LG UN6970 is slightly better than the LG NANO80 2020. The UN6970 gets much brighter, has wider viewing angles, and a quicker response time. However, the NANO80 displays a wide color gamut and has better color accuracy.
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
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