4K TVs are undoubtedly the future of home entertainment. They are designed to offer amazing picture quality and a surreal movie experience. However, not a lot of people today are very keen to move on to an Ultra HD display, even when there are so many models to choose from. There are two major reasons for that. One being the lack of 4K content and the other is their sky-high prices. Although 4K content isn’t yet mainstream, prices have already started dropping. 4K TVs are slowly falling into the affordable category, so you don’t have to spend much more than a full HD TV. One of the first TV models to launch with an all-attractive pricing is the LG 40UB800T. Priced around Rs. 75,000*, the 40UB800T is one of the most affordable Ultra HD TVs out there. For that price, you not only get a 40-inch 4K TV, but also get the latest smart features that you find on any other high-end TV. Looks quite promising, doesn’t it? We take a closer look at it and find out how good it really is.
Design and Build
The LG 40UB800T TV has quite simple looks. It has a plastic build all around. The first thing you notice is the slim bezel around the screen. At the bottom, is the LG logo in the centre with an LED placed right above it. The LED goes off every time you switch on the TV. Like most TVs today, the LG UB800T is quite slim, measuring around an inch. All the inputs are placed on the right outer side and so, they're easy to reach. The stand that comes with the TV is probably the most unique feature of the design. We couldn't find any physical buttons anywhere on the TV.
The remote that comes in the box is quite stylish. It supports motion and voice controls as well. There is a scroll wheel at the centre that makes it easy to navigate through the interface. The buttons on the remote are reasonably large and easy to use.
Features
The LG 40UB800T is a 40-inch TV that runs an Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160. The resolution is four times more than any full HD TV. The size and the resolution both work in favour of the TV, giving it razor sharp picture quality. It's because of this resolution that you can actually stand as close a foot from the TV and not clearly notice any pixels.
The TV comes built-in with the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) decoder which is ideal for 4K content. This means you do not need an external Ultra HD player to play 4K content. The encoder supports 4K movies that are shot at 30fps, with video formats of MP4, MKV or TS. Some of the higher end models support 60fps videos in comparison. There is a decent amount of 4K content available on the web that you can download to watch on the TV, and the amount of content is constantly expanding.
Like most UHD TVs today, the 40UB800T can also upscale low resolution videos to 4K. It won't look as good as playing authentic 4K content, but LG's 4K Engine promises to offer clear and detailed performance, no matter what the resolution. We’ll find out how good it really a bit later in our test. In terms of connectivity, the TV has plenty of options to offer, both wired and wireless. The TV comes with three HDMI 1.4 ports that can be used to connect a 4K compatible Blu-ray player. You can also connect your PC to your TV and use it as a monitor. The 4K resolution will enhance your web browsing and gaming experience. However, for gaming you might require a PC that’s equipped with a high-end graphic card that supports 4K resolutions. The TV also comes with three USB ports out of which one is a USB 3.0. 4K files are huge and a high-speed USB port is required for a seamless performance. Most of the other input connectors are the same; they consist of a composite, component and a digital audio out.
The TV can be connected to a router via a LAN cable or using Wi-Fi. The TV also supports Wi-Fi Direct, so if you want to connect your smartphone or tablet directly to it, you can. You can stream media content or do screen mirroring of your device on the TV. There is also a 2nd Display option, which lets you stream TV content to your smartphone or tablet, connected to the same network or directly to the TV. This feature is pretty useful if you have some important to work to do around the house but don't want to miss your favourite TV shows or movies being aired.
There are very few apps to choose from, but the most important ones like YouTube, Facebook, Skype are all included. Football fans can enjoy the latest news and videos around the football world with the help of the Goal app. A few lightweight games are also included. There are plenty of apps that let you stream videos online but unfortunately none of them stream 4K content. The TV also has a built-in video recorder that LG likes to call Time Machine. It lets you record your favourite TV shows or sports events that you are more likely to miss. Not only that, you can also schedule the time for recording, so you don't have to do it every time you want to record something. All the videos recorded are in a proprietary format and can be saved on an external hard drive.
Performance
We reviewed the TV by playing couple of sample 4K videos using a 1TB hard drive. We were astonished by the sharpness of the picture. Even from a distance of 5 feet, we were able to see every speck of detail in the picture. What makes it even more impressive are the colours. The TV seems to have just the right mix of vibrant and natural. Skin tones looked a little pale at first, but we were able to fix the problem by tweaking the picture settings a bit. Black levels are dark, but they aren't overly dark. Brightness levels are good enough to give you a clear picture even when there is plenty of light around the panel. Viewing angles are good too. Colours don't lose their tone, no matter where you view the panel from. Text looks exceptional clear on this 40-inch panel. Even the smallest font on the screen are easily readable from a reasonable distance.
Full HD videos played using a Blu-ray player looked good too, but there isn't a whole lot of difference here compared to an ordinary full HD TV. You would only find the difference when you take a closer look at the picture. The same goes for 480p content as well. The built-in speakers are pretty loud for a 40-inch panel. We couldn't notice any distortion even while playing music on high volumes. The Smart Sound Mode not only enhances the sound but also widens the sound stage of the audio, so you get a bit of that virtual surround sound-like effect, while watching movies. The interface of the TV looks good, but we found it a little difficult getting used to.
The same can also be said about the motion remote. However, it offers plenty of shortcuts around the interface, which makes it lot easy to use and less time consuming as well. Voice recognition is spot on. Every single time we tried it, the TV presented us with the right keywords we were searching for. The only complaint is that it cannot be accessed all the time. For example, you cannot use it if you already have an app running on the TV or some other function like the built-in guide. You can access it from the home panel of the smart features
Verdict
Though there is not much 4K content available right now, we still think that the LG 40UB800T is a very good TV to invest in. It is a little expensive compared to similar full HD TVs, but then it would have to, considering what you get it. You get amazing picture and audio performance in return for that. Supported for 60fps 4K videos would've been nice but it's not a critical shortcoming. None the less, it is still 4K and the important thing is that you don’t have to think about replacing your TV for a very long time. 4K content will become popular and easy to get, as time goes by
