LG E6 (OLED65E6V) UHD 4K TV Review

Is the E6 the best OLED TV yet?

by Steve Withers
MSRP: £4,999.00

What is the LG E6?

The E6 is LG’s mid-tier OLED TV, sitting just below the flagship G6 and above the C6 and B6 in the manufacturer’s 2016 range. The E6 boasts a flat Ultra HD 4K OLED panel with support for High Dynamic Range including both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision, was well as passive 3D and the latest version of WebOS. As with all of LG’s OLED TVs this year, the E6 meets the criteria for Ultra HD Premium certification, as laid down by the UHD Alliance. That means the E6 can deliver black levels lower than 0.0005nits and a peak brightness of at least 540nits; it also means that the TV uses a 10-bit panel and has a native colour gamut that is over 90% of DCI-P3.

The E6 uses LG’s attractive Picture on Glass design and comes with a built-in Harman/Kardon soundbar, so it looks very different from LG’s lower tier models. It also has a newly designed magic remote, a second smaller remote and four HDMI 2.0a inputs. The 55-inch OLED55E6V retails for £3,499, as at the time of writing (July 2016), whilst the larger 65-inch OLED65E6V will set you back £4,999. We were impressed by the OLED55C6V when we reviewed it recently and although the E6 has the same specifications on paper, LG have suggested the performance is even better due to a superior SoC (System on Chip) implementation. So let’s see how the 65E6 measures up.

Design

Whatever else the E6 may be, there’s no denying that it is an absolutely gorgeous piece of industrial design. The incredibly slim Picture on Glass panel is only 6mm wide at the top, broadening out to 57mm nearer the bottom where the electronics are housed. The OLED panel itself is bonded to a transparent plane of glass to create a design that is not only attractive but also well constructed and sturdy, which is important when you think of the slimness of the E6. The screen is surrounded by a 8mm black border and then a 6mm glass border, which results in a TV that is minimalist, stylish and contemporary all at once.
LG OLED65E6
LG OLED65E6

A soundbar made for LG by Harman/Kardon has been crafted into the stand of the E6 and is the full length of the panel, measuring 1461mm wide. There is a central plate on which the TV sits and this acts as the stand, so you can install the E6 on a surface that is less wide than the TV itself. This plate can also be removed and the entire TV including the built-in soundbar can be wall mounted using a 400x200 Vesa bracket. The connections are located just above the soundbar, on the bottom left hand side as you face the screen. The 65E6 measures 1461 x 893 x 57mm (WxHxD) including the stand and weighs in at 24.8kg.
The E6 is a truly beautiful piece of industrial design that uses LG's Picture on Glass construction

Connections & Control

As mentioned in the previous section, the connections are all located at the bottom rear of the panel, just above the soundbar. They are a combination of sideways and rearwards-facing inputs. However the sideways-facing inputs are only 10cm from the edge of the panel, which is too close in our opinion and there's a very real possibility of being able to see the cables from the front.

The sideways-facing connections are comprised of three USB ports (two 2.0 and one 3.0) and four HDMI 2.0a inputs with support for Ultra HD 4K 50/60p, HDR and HDCP2.2. We confirmed that all the HDMI inputs were capable of accepting Ultra HD 4K 50/60p, HDR and HDCP2.2 using our Murideo Fresco Six-G test pattern generator and the second HDMI input supports ARC (Audio Return Channel). There's also a CI (Custom Interface Slot) and an headphone jack.

The rearwards-facing connections are comprised of AV inputs that use break-out cables for composite and component video input, along with analogue audio. There are also connectors for the built-in terrestrial and satellite tuners, as well as an optical digital output and RS-232 for serial control. Finally there's an Ethernet port for a wired connection, although the E6 also has built-in wireless capability using the 802.11 a/c standard and support for both WiDi and Bluetooth.
LG OLED65E6
LG OLED65E6

The E6 comes with a revised version of the Magic remote, which uses a silver and black design. It is well made, comfortable to hold and looks suitably high-end. It's ergonomically designed to be easily used with one hand and as a result controlling the user interface on the TV was seamless. All the main buttons are sensibly laid out with the navigation controls and track wheel in the middle and the remote includes voice control.

The pointer function is highly effective and perfectly compliments the WebOS smart TV platform, making controlling and navigating the E6 easy. If for some reason you find the larger remote unwieldy or too complicated, there is also a smaller remote control included that offers a stripped down set of buttons that covers the most frequently used functions. If two controllers aren't enough, there is also a free remote app for iOS and Android that is quite effective.
The newly designed remote is lovely and the feature set impressive with 3D, Dolby Vision and WebOS 3.0

Features & Specs

The E6 is at the higher end of LG's OLED range for 2016 and so it naturally includes just about every feature you could imagine in a modern TV. There is a 10-bit Ultra HD 4K panel (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) that includes a wider colour gamut of at least 90% of DCI-P3 and support for High Dynamic Range (HDR). LG is currently the only manufacturer in the UK that not only supports HDR 10 but also Dolby Vision and all their OLED TVs are certified as Ultra Premium by the UHD Alliance. The Ultra HD Premium certification programme has separate criteria for both LCD and OLED to reflect the different attributes of the two technologies, so for an OLED TV to achieve Ultra HD Premium certification it not only has to use a 10-bit panel and have a native colour gamut of over 90% of DCI-P3, but it also has to be able to deliver a dynamic range that goes from 0.0005 to 540nits. In terms of other features the E6 not only includes LG's Perfect Mastering Engine, 3D Colour Mapping and 4K Upscaling but also their HDR Effect feature and support for passive 3D, with two pairs of glasses included.
LG OLED65E6
LG OLED65E6

The E6 has a built-in 2.2-channel soundbar designed by Harman/Kardon, that includes 40W of built-in amplification and Dolby and DTS decoding. Other audio features include Surround Mode, Clear Voice and Wireless Sound Sync. There's also built-in WiFi, WiFi Direct and Bluetooth, along with Simplink (HDMI CEC), Screen Share and Content Share. There are four HDMI 2.0a inputs, all of which support Ultra HD 4K 50/60p, HDR and HDCP 2.2 and one of which supports ARC. The E6 comes with two remotes, including a newly designed Magic Remote Control, which has Natural Voice Recognition, Magic Zoom and Universal Control Capability. There's also a free remote app for iOS and Android, if you'd rather use your smart device as a controller. The Smart TV platform uses WebOS 3.0 and includes the LG Content Store, a Full Web Browser and the Magic Mobile Connection. WebOS also includes the main video streaming services such as Amazon, Netflix, Now TV, YouTube, Wuaki TV and BBC iPlayer. The WebOS platform has had a few tweaks but is essentially the same as previous generations and it remains the best designed and most intuitive Smart TV system available.

Picture Settings - Out-of-the-Box

As with all LG TVs, the E6 comes with a number of different picture modes but when it comes to Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content, i.e. pretty much everything you currently watch, the best choices are ISF Expert (Bright Room) and ISF Expert (Dark Room). The idea is that you use one for a daytime setting when there's a lot of ambient light in the room and the other one at night when it's darker. The reason you don't just use the daytime setting at night is because if you are watching an image that is too bright in a darkened room, it can be fatiguing for the eyes.

The two ISF Expert Picture Modes are very close to the industry standards of Rec.709 and D65 and they also conveniently turn off most of the special features and select the correct Colour Temperature of Warm2. As a result all you need to do is set the OLED Light, Contrast, Brightness and Gamma controls to suit your particular environment. You can set TruMotion depending on your personal preference but we would always recommend turning it off for film-based content and don't forget to turn the Horizontal and Vertical Sharpness controls down to zero and the Edge Enhancer off.
LG OLED65E6
The out-of-the-box greyscale performance of the E6 was excellent with all three primary colours tracking each other quite closely, although there was a slight excess of green across most of the scale. However the DeltaE errors were all below the visible threshold of three and the gamma was tracking our target of 2.4 reasonably closely, with a slight peak at 70IRE and a slight dip at 90IRE. Since the E6 includes 2- and 20-point white balance controls and a gamma control, we would expect to be able to improve on this already impressive performance.
LG OLED65E6
The out-of-the-box colour gamut was equally as good and, as the graph above shows, all three primary colours and all three secondary colours were tracking their saturation points for Rec.709 quite closely. It could have been better and there were some minor errors, especially in terms of the hue of magenta and the saturation of red but overall this was an impressive performance. Since LG include a full Colour Management System (CMS) we would expect to improve on this performance but even if you can't get you new TV calibrated, you should be able to enjoy a very accurate image.
The E6 delivered an impressive performance out-of-the-box and a reference level of accuracy after calibration

Picture Settings - Calibrated

Since the E6 has a comprehensive set of calibration controls, including both 2- and 20-point white balance controls, a detailed gamma control and a full Colour Management System (CMS), we should be able to improve the already excellent image accuracy. LG's calibration controls have been somewhat buggy in the past, often introducing artefacts when used too much but since we're only fine-tuning the E6, we don't anticipate any problems.
LG OLED65E6
As always we started by calibrating the greyscale using the 2-point control and then we fine-tuned each 5 IRE point using the 20-point. As you can see from the graph above, the greyscale tracking was perfect after calibration, with all the DeltaEs basically at zero an thus essentially perfect. The gamma was also tracking our target of 2.4 precisely and overall this was a reference performance.
LG OLED65E6
After calibrating the greyscale the colour temperature of white was now measuring at our target of D65 precisely, as evidenced by the dot being at the centre of the square in the middle of the graph above. This immediately improved some of the hue errors in the colour gamut that we measured previously and, using the CMS, we then fine-tuned the overall colour performance. There were still some minor hue errors in magenta and cyan but the luminance performance (which is not shown on the graph above) was accurate and overall this was a superb colour performance against Rec.709.

Picture Settings - High Dynamic Range

The arrival of Ultra HD 4K with HDR has resulted in the adoption of a revised set of industry standards and to reflect this we now review HDR-capable TVs against these standards. So we've introduced new tests to see how a TV performs in terms of mapping the PQ EOTF for HDR, which can be mastered at up to 10,000nits, and tracking the Rec.2020 colour space within the confines of the TV's native colour gamut. The E6 supports both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision but for these tests we're using HDR 10 as the basis for our measurements. At some point Spectracal will add a 'golden reference' file for the LG OLEDs to CalMAN 5 which will allow us to calibrate them for Dolby Vision but in the meantime we're using test patterns produced by our Murideo Fresco Six-G and measured by our Klein K-10A.

When the E6 detects an HDR signal it automatically defaults to the relevant and sensibly-titled HDR mode, which for an HDR 10 source is called HDR and for Dolby Vision is called Dolby Vision. A notice also appears in the top right hand corner of the screen, identifying which type of HDR content has been detected. For HDR there is a choice of Vivid, Bright and Standard Picture Modes and we would always recommend using the latter; whilst for Dolby Vision the choice is Vivid, Movie Bright and Movie Dark and in this case Dolby themselves recommend using Movie Dark. The majority of the controls default to their correct settings for HDR/Dolby Vision but we would recommend turning down any Sharpness controls, turning off the Edge Enhancement and TruMotion features and, for HDR 10, selecting the Wide Colour Gamut.
LG OLED65E6
The E6 did a very good job in our first test, which shows how well it tracks the PQ EOTF used for HDR. The measurements shown above are for an out-of-the-box performance based upon a basic setup and the LG is tracking the EOTF very closely and rolling off at around 70IRE. The greyscale is tracking very well, aside from a deficit of green and overall the errors were below three, until the curve rolls off at 70IRE, when it goes up to just over six.

We measured black at 0.000nits and peak brightness at 640nits on a 10% window, which means the E6 does indeed meet and exceed the minimum criteria for Ultra HD Premium certification. However using a full-field peak white test pattern the E6 measured 124nits, thanks to the ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter). An HDR TV is supposed to map content mastered at a higher peak brightness to its native capabilities without clipping. However when sending a 10,000nits HDR test pattern to the E6 it was clipping above 600nits and we experienced the same issue when reviewing the C6.
LG OLED65E6
The E6 delivered a wider colour gamut, with a native measurement that was 96% of DCI-P3, which equates to just over 70% of Rec.2020. The latter standard is the container that delivers the Ultra HD content, even though the original source content used DCI-P3, which was developed for professional cinema use and is not a recognised colour space for domestic displays. That's why Rec.2020 is used for delivery of the colour space even though no content or any displays can actually reach it. There is currently some debate over which is the best approach to measuring a display's colour gamut performance with HDR content. Some experts suggest measuring the native colour gamut against the saturation points for Rec.2020 and others recommended measuring the DCI-P3 saturation points within the Rec.2020 colour space.
LG OLED65E6
In the interests of completeness we have included both graphs in this review. The first shows how the E6 tracks to the saturation points for Rec.2020 and as you can see there are some noticeable errors. The second graph shows how the E6 tracks the DCI-P3 saturation points within the Rec.2020 container and in this test the LG does better, although there are still plenty of errors when it comes to the saturation measurements. Since neither performance is ideal, we feel that LG has some work to do in this area and needs to improve the colour accuracy of their displays with Ultra HD HDR content.
The colour accuracy against Rec.2020 could have been better and the E6 was clipping HDR 10 content

Picture Quality

Black Levels and Contrast Ratios


Since the E6 is an OLED TV it naturally delivered absolute blacks in our tests with 0IRE measuring at 0.000nits, it also had no problems achieving our standard dynamic range target of 120nits; which equates to an on/off contrast ratio of infinity because we're dividing 120 by zero. The ANSI contrast ratio is thus a more useful indicator and that was a very impressive 147,000:1. Whilst we obviously expected these kinds of contrast ratios numbers from the E6, LG have also improved the amount of detail or gradation just above black, which had been an issue with previous generations of their OLED TVs.

By gradation, what we really mean is the amount of detail visible as an image transitions from black into very dark parts of the image that exist just above it. To improve this performance LG have built a slight dip into the gamma curve just above black that reveals more detail but you might also need to move the Brightness control up a couple of notches to avoid additional crush, depending on your viewing environment. Although there was no doubt that LG have improved the near black performance of their OLED TVS, we did see some slight noise and blockiness in areas just above black on occasion.

Screen Uniformity, Viewing Angles and Image Retention


If you've read our reviews of OLED TVs in the past you'll know that, along with black crush, OLED TVs have also suffered from an issue of banding in dark images just above black. LG have also made improvements in this area and although it was still apparent if we went looking for it with test patterns, we were never aware of it when watching actual content. The other major issue with previous generations of OLED has been the vignetting or dark edges that tended to manifest when the TV was showing images with dark scenes just above black. We're pleased to report that LG have eliminated this problem and we couldn't see any issues with vignetting on the E6, even when we went looking for it.

In testing our review sample had absolutely no issues with screen uniformity, yellow tint or dead pixels; nor was there any of the banding, lines on the screen or other issues that have been reported by some owners. It's possible that the banding reported was a production issue as it doesn't seem to have affected later builds. Aside from the issues that we mentioned in the previous paragraph, the panel in the E6 was free of any uniformity, discolouration or other issues and just delivered a lovely image. As we would expect from an OLED TV the off-axis performance was also exceptional, allowing us to watch the screen from just about any angle without the contrast performance or colour accuracy dropping off.

In much the same way as plasma, OLED is a self-emitting technology and thus it could theoretically suffer from image retention and even screen burn. LG have gone to great lengths to ensure this doesn't happen and safety features including dimming the screen if a static image is left up and washing the panel whilst in standby mode have been developed. Although we didn't have any issues with image retention on the E6 with normal content, when using HDR test patterns we did occasionally see image retention, although it quickly went away. However we do wonder about image retention, screen burn and especially the life span of OLED TVs now that LG are driving the panels harder in order to deliver the increased brightness required for HDR.

Motion Handling


The E6 uses the 'sample-and-hold' approach seen on other OLED TVs, which means the panel displays and holds a static frame until the next one is refreshed. As a result the LG was delivering around 300 lines of resolution with TruMotion turned off and this could immediately be improved by selecting any of the TruMotion options (Smooth, Clear and User). However using TruMotion will make film-based content look unnaturally smooth and we could also see artefacts being added in some of our testing. The effect of motion smoothing is very much a matter of personal preference and you are certainly free to experiment with TruMotion when watching sports content but we would always recommend leaving TruMotion off for film-based content. We didn't experience any issues with judder and suspect that any reports of judder are the result of incorrectly setup sources but if you do feel that there is noticeable judder, the de-judder control in the User TruMotion setting could help but be careful not to introduce excessive smoothing with film-based content.

Standard and High Definition


The E6 proved very capable with standard definition content and thanks to its excellent video processing the results could be quite watchable, even if the TV couldn't do much about the terrible compression that often affects standard definition broadcasts. The LG did manage to effectively deinterlace and scale standard definition content to match the native resolution of the panel without introducing unwanted artefacts. It was also able to take full advantage of its accurate greyscale and colour gamut to ensure when we watched a superior standard definition source like DVD it looked surprisingly good.

When it came to high definition TV broadcasts the E6 was really able to step up a gear and the better channels could look absolutely stunning, with the nature and wildlife documentaries producing some of the best images. The combination of the accurate image, wonderfully deep blacks and an impressive dynamic range all helped to deliver a marvellous level of picture quality. The wider viewing angles, great motion handling and excellent screen uniformity also played their part in producing lovely-looking pictures. As soon as we moved on to Blu-ray, the image quality got even better with regular test discs like Gravity and Star Wars: The Force Awakens looking sunning. The overall performance of the E6 with high definition content was superb and proved that when it comes to standard dynamic range content OLED remains the superior TV technology.

3D


LG's OLED TVs are also superior performers when it comes to 3D and the E6 was absolutely stunning with three dimensional material. The use of a passive polarised filter allowed a Full HD image to be delivered to each eye, with absolutely no crosstalk or flicker visible. The panel could deliver brighter images to combat the dimming nature of glasses, whilst the the black levels, colour accuracy and motion handling were excellent. Using the various 3D torture tests on the Spears & Munsil Blu-ray, the E6 performed extremely well, reproducing the patterns without introducing any crosstalk. As a result the overall 3D images produced by the E6 were completely free of any distracting artefacts or flicker but had plenty of brightness and depth with a lovely sense of layering to the picture. We watched Kung Fu Panda 3 and the results were stunning, whilst regular test discs like Hugo and Avatar looked just as impressive. So if you're still a fan of the 3D, the performance of the E6 will knock your three dimensional socks off.

HDR Effect


HDR Effect is LG's faux-HDR mode, which takes a standard dynamic range signal and enhances it to create an experience that is intended to seem more like HDR. This mode achieves this by mapping the Rec.709 colour gamut to the TV's native colour gamut and manipulating the gamma curve to brighten highlights and darken the shadows, resulting in a more contrasty image. The HDR Effect Picture Mode offers three different settings – Low, Medium and High – although we couldn't see much difference as we cycled through the three options. You can also change various picture settings, allowing you to customise the experience based on your personal preference. HDR Effect can't add what isn't there, so although an image may appear to have brighter highlights, the detail in those highlights may be missing when compared to the same scene actually graded in HDR. The mode also deviates from the industry standards, resulting in images that can appear over-saturated and highlights that can appear blown-out. As video purists we would always rather use the correct settings, as described in the picture settings section earlier, for standard dynamic range content and save the HDR effect for actual HDR material.

High Dynamic Range


The Ultra HD Alliance has created two separate set of criteria when certifying displays for Ultra HD Premium status and these reflect the inherent advantages and disadvantages of those particular display technologies. LCD TVs are naturally brighter than OLED TVs but OLEDs are superior when it comes to delivering blacks. So the Ultra HD Premium requirements for OLED TVs are that they can accept a 10-bit signal, support the PQ EOTF, have a native colour space that is at least 90% of DCI-P3 and are able to deliver a dynamic range of at least 0.0005 to 540nits. In testing the E6 proved it was capable of reaching and exceeding all of these minimum requirements, which is excellent.

Naturally where the E6 was strongest in terms of HDR was with the darker parts of the image and the OLED produced deep blacks and plenty of detail in the shadows. We found that our favourite darker scenes from Sicario and Mad Max: Fury Road looked very impressive on the E6, with images that retained a solid foundation when it came to the lower end of the dynamic range. Another advantage of HDR is the wider colour gamut and here LG's TVs appear to be slightly skewed by the fact that they track DCI-P3 rather than Rec.2020 but the colours still looked very natural, with a saturated image that appeared more realistic on reference Ultra HD Blu-rays like Sicario and The Revenant.

However the E6 struggled with HDR 10 material at the other end of the dynamic range spectrum and the OLED was incorrectly mapping content which resulted in clipping. This was particularly obvious in the arrival at Neverland scene in Pan, which we have in both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. There is a shot in the scene where the sun is setting behind a mountain and in the Dolby Vision version the sun is a clearly defined circle - you can see the Dolby Vision version in the left hand side image below. However when watching the exact same scene in HDR 10 the sun is clipping and appears as a patch of colour with no definition or detail - which is the one on the bottom right.

However when watching the exact same scene in HDR 10 on the Samsung KS9500 it appeared to be identical to the Dolby Vision version, with the sun well defined, which proves it isn't an issue with the Ultra HD Blu-ray. We often found that even when the highlights weren't clipped, they just didn't have as same impact as the identical scene viewed on an LED LCD TV. Where the E6 does have an advantage is in terms of the precision with which it can handle specular highlights because the self-emitting OLED technology can accurately deliver them at a pixel level. In many respects the E6 is a victim of its own success because the images with standard dynamic range content looked so good, that when watching HDR content it didn't appear as much of a step-up as it did with an LED LCD TV.
LG OLED65E6
LG OLED65E6

At present LG are the only manufacturer in the UK to offer TVs that support Dolby Vision. This proprietary version of HDR shares some of its specifications with HDR 10 but is an end-to-end ecosystem. As with HDR 10, Dolby Vision can support a maximum peak brightness of up to10,000nits and the Rec.2020 colour space but it also has a maximum video depth of 12-bits as opposed to 10-bit with HDR 10. Dolby Vision uses dynamic metadata on a scene-by-scene basis, rather than the static metadata currently used by HDR 10. Perhaps most importantly Dolby Vision is a closed system, which means that Dolby control every aspect, from the mastering of the content to the final display.

This means that the Dolby Vision content will contain metadata that identifies how it was mastered and the exact monitor used to master it and then Dolby's Intelligent Display Mapping Engine will ensure that the content is precisely mapped to the maximum capabilities of the display. Although Dolby Vision is a great format, it is currently only supported by a few display brands because most manufacturers would rather use the open source HDR 10 than rely solely on Dolby for their HDR solution. Dolby Vision is delivered via the TV's SoC (System-on-Chip), which is why it can't be added to a non-Dolby Vision TV or upgraded. There is also limited Dolby Vision content available and at present the only source in the UK is Netflix.

When the OLED detects Dolby Vision it defaults to one of three Dolby Vision Modes, although Movie Dark is the only one you should actually use. Interestingly unlike the HDR Modes, the OLED Light defaults to 50, rather than 100; although changing it didn't seem to make any difference and the majority of settings were greyed out. Although it isn't available yet, eventually the E6 will have a 'golden reference' file in CalMAN, so that it can be calibrated to ensure that it is perfectly setup.

We have a few scenes from the film Pan encoded in Dolby Vision and the content looked wonderful on the E6 with deep blacks, plenty of shadow detail and well defined highlights, whilst the colours looked saturated but natural. As far as the E6 was concerned, the Dolby Vision content was definitely superior to the same scenes on the Ultra HD Blu-ray because in HDR 10 the E6 was clipping highlights and skewing the colour gamut. However those same scenes looked equally as good on the Samsung KS9500, which also delivered deep blacks, plenty of shadow detail and well defined highlights.
The E6 delivered some of the best Full HD and 3D images we have seen from a TV

Sound Quality

Thanks to the built-in Harman/Kardon soundbar, the E6 delivered a very good audio performance for such an ultra slim TV. The size of the panel and the width of the soundbar certainly helped, resulting in an open front soundstage that had plenty of stereo separation. The larger size of the soundbar also meant that despite its ultra slim panel the E6 could actually deliver some decent bass response, even if it was never going to match an actual subwoofer. The speakers in the soundbar handled the mid-range and high frequencies well and dialogue always remained clear and centred; whilst the 40W of built-in amplification means it can go quite loud without becoming harsh or brittle. We generally find that the Music option in the sound settings tends to provide the most balanced audio and so it was for the E6. Although the inclusion of a built in soundbar means that the E6 sounds better than much of the competition, this TV is never going to be able to compete with a proper surround sound system. So for the best audio experience, we would still recommend that you consider buying an outboard solution so that you can get the most from your new OLED TV.

LG OLED65E6 Video Review

Input Lag & Energy Consumption

In the past LG TVs have suffered from rather high input lags, so we were pleased to hear that the manufacturer has been working to reduce them. Using our Leo Bodnar tester we initially measured the E6 in our calibrated ISF Expert mode and got readings that ranged from 50 to 75ms but as soon as we selected the Game mode that dropped to a range of between 34 and 42ms which should be low enough for all but the most demanding of gamers.

Just like with the C6, the input lag measurements on the E6 behaved rather strangely and gradually increased from 34ms to 42ms before cycling back to 34ms and repeating. We're not entirely sure why it was doing this but regardless of this recycling number an input lag of between 34 and 42ms shouldn't be an issue for the majority of gamers.

In terms of the E6’s energy consumption it proved to be very efficient for a 65-inch TV. We measured the out-of-the-box Eco Picture Mode at 184W on a full window 50% white pattern and our calibrated ISF Expert (Dark Room) mode used 98W. Once we moved on to brighter modes like 3D and HDR the level of energy consumption increased, with the LG drawing 156W in the 3D mode and 206W in the HDR mode.

How future-proof is this TV?

4K Ultra HD Resolution
HDR Support
Colour Space (percentage of Rec.2020 - 100% best) 70.4%
10-bit Panel
HDMI 2.0a Inputs
HDCP 2.2 Support
HEVC Decoding
4K Streaming Services
Smart TV Platform
Picture Accuracy Out-of-the-Box (score out of 10) 9
What do these mean?

Conclusion

The Good

  • Superb blacks and contrast ratio
  • Fantastic dynamic range
  • Impressive greyscale and colour accuracy
  • Excellent video processing
  • Wide viewing angles
  • Supports Dolby Vision
  • Reference passive 3D
  • WebOS remains effective

The Bad

  • Minor banding just above black
  • Slight crush in shadow detail
  • Clipping with HDR 10 material
  • Rec.2020 tracking could be better
  • Side inputs too close to edge

LG E6 (OLED65E6V) UHD 4K TV Review

Should I buy one?


Despite this being a period of significant change for TV technology, there have been some truly excellent new models released this year and the LG E6 is another great example. It's simply one of the most beautifully designed TVs that we've ever seen, with an ingenious Picture on Glass construction that is both minimalist and contemporary. Despite being incredibly thin, the build quality is excellent and the built-in soundbar means that you don't have to compromise on the audio either. The E6 will fit onto smaller surfaces thanks to a sensible stand and you also have the option to wall mount. There's an excellent selection of connections including four HDMI 2.0a inputs, although as is often the case they are quite close to the edge of the screen. The magic remote has had a face lift and now sports an elegant silver and black design that matches the stylish panel, there's also a more stripped down remote if you prefer and a remote app for iOS and Android. The E6 features just about every feature possible on a modern TV with an Ultra HD 4K panel, HDR 10 and Dolby Vision support, passive 3D and LG's excellent WebOs Smart TV platform.

The 65E6 is certified as Ultra HD Premium by the Ultra HD Alliance and this was confirmed in testing with the LG meeting or exceeding all the requirements. The OLED delivered an extremely accurate image both before and after testing, as well as demonstrating excellent video processing and motion handling. As a result both standard and high definition content looked lovely, with the deep blacks that we expect from an OLED and natural-looking pictures. The majority of the issues that have affected OLED TVs in the past have been addressed by LG, although the E6 does still struggle slightly with detail just above black. LG is the only manufacturer currently supporting Dolby Vision in the UK and based on our testing the E6 performed extremely well with this version of HDR. The same wasn't true with HDR 10, where we found that the E6 clipped bright detail in images and the colour tracking against Rec.2020 could have been better. There's no doubt that OLED remains our preferred technology for watching standard dynamic range content but the limited brightness does sometimes rob HDR images of impact when directly compared to an LED LCD TV. However the LG OLED65E6V remains an excellent TV and easily worthy of a Highly Recommended badge.

What are my alternatives?


If you're in the market for an OLED TV then your choices are currently limited to LG but we can't see any reason for choosing the more expensive 65G6 when, according to LG, it has exactly the same image processing as the E6. The only differences are cosmetic, which makes the E6 something of a sweet spot as far as LG's higher tier OLED TVs are concerned. If you want to save some money then the cheaper C6 and B6 are available, they both come in 55- and 65-inch screen sizes and can be picked up for around £500 less. The image processing isn't quite as good as the E6 and they don't have the built-in sound but they are still excellent OLED TVs, with the C6 using a curved screen and losing an HDMI input but including support for 3D. The B6 uses a flat screen, has four HDMI inputs but doesn't support 3D; so which you choose will largely depend on how you feel about curves, soundbars and 3D.

If you're thinking of an LED LCD TV as an alternative, then there have already been some excellent choices released this year, including Panasonic's DX902. This flat screen model uses a full array backlight with local dimming, 512 zones and the most accurate colours on any TV currently available. It's available in 58- and 65-inch screen sizes and, thanks to a recent price drop, it can be picked up surprisingly cheaply. If you don't mind curved screens then there's also the excellent Samsung KS9500 which comes in a 65 inch screen size. The KS9500 is slightly more expensive than the DX902 but also uses a full array backlight, with local dimming and offers a superb HDR performance. Finally if you're happy with the idea of an edge-lit LED LCD TV then there have also been some impressive models released this year including Samsung's curved KS9000 and Sony's flat XD93, both of which come in various screen sizes and at competitive prices.

Scores

Contrast/Dynamic Range/Black Level

.
9

Screen Uniformity

.
9

Colour Accuracy

.
9

Greyscale Accuracy

.
9

Video Processing

.
9

Picture Quality

.
9

3D Picture Quality

10

Picture Quality Out-Of-The-Box

.
9

Picture Quality Calibrated

.
9

Sound Quality

.
.
8

Smart Features

.
9

Build Quality

.
9

Ease Of Use

.
9

Value for Money

.
9

Verdict

.
9
9
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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