LG 65UM6900PUA Review: A TV for Gaming and Entertainment

LG 65UM6900PUA: At First Glance

LG released the LG 65UM6900PUA television in 2019 alongside other entry-level TVs. The LG 65UM6900PUA is an impressive 4K resolution smart television with promising features.

It might interest you to know that the LG 65UM6900PUA is a successor to the 2018 LG 65UK6300. Thankfully, the LG 65UM6900PUA packs some qualities that make it compete favorably with other entry-level televisions like Samsung RU7100 and VIZIO V505-G9.

Some of these features include its 4K resolution display and its user-friendly WebOS. More impressively, you will get all these features at $1,069.00, which is applicable in April 2022 when I wrote this review.

That said, you might be wondering if the LG 65UM6900PUA will impress you in terms of its performance. The only way to find out is by reading the subsequent sections of this review.

LG 65UM6900PUA: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The LG 65UM6900PUA features a design that matches its inexpensive cost. Hence, the TV’s display is framed by thick bezels that protrude.

Furthermore, the bezels are built of plastic, so you might want to be careful when moving the TV around. Regardless, the plastic bezels have a glossy-black finish which gives them an iota of sleekness.

Additionally, the bottom bezel houses the LG logo, and under it is a control button. The control button lets you adjust the basic controls of the TV and turn it on or off.

If you love to stand the TV on a desk, you will appreciate the two pedestals that have been included to hold the television erect. The pedestals are also plastic-built and have a matte black finish. 

Also, the pedestals span nearly the full length of the TV; hence, you will need a wide table to place them. However, the pedestals do not provide sufficient support, so the TV will still wobble if you mistakenly bump into it.

Flipping the TV to its back, you will find its plastic back panel where the ports are located. The back panel feels cheap and flexible, especially in the region around the ports.

Speaking of the ports, some face backward, while others face the sides of the TV. Sadly, one notable omission of the LG 65UM6900PUA’s back panel is a cable management system.

Therefore, to keep the cables organized, you will have to arrange the cables manually.

If you recall correctly, I mentioned earlier that the TV stand does not give enough support to the TV. Therefore, you might appreciate wall-mounting the TV instead of placing it on a desk.

To do that, you can use the VESA 300 x 300 holes at the back of the TV. However, when you mount the TV on the wall, some ports might be difficult to reach.

Also, the TV might also bulge out of the wall due to its thickness. To be precise, the LG 65UM6900PUA is 88.9 mm thick.

For its overall dimension, it measures 1468.1 x 88.9 x 853.4 mm (W x D x H) and also weighs 21001.3 g. Unsurprising for a 65-inch TV, the LG 65UM6900PUA is pretty heavy.

However, it is even heavier than the TCL 65S425, which is 65-inch also. Specifically, the TCL 65S425 weighs 17599 g.

In summary, the LG 65UM6900PUA offers a minimalist design but has some design flaws, one of which is its lack of cable management. Therefore, I will be rating this television a six in this design section of the review.

LG 65UM6900PUA: Display Features and Picture Quality Review

The LG 65UM6900PUA’s display has a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution. Hence, this TV should deliver four times the picture quality offered by televisions with FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution.

In addition to its resolution, the LG 65UM6900PUA display is also made of an IPS panel. In case you don’t know, IPS displays usually have good viewing angles.

Therefore, if you have a large sitting area for watching the TV, you can sit anywhere and still get a clear view.

So far, we have been impressed by the resolution and viewing angles of the LG 65UM6900PUA display. However, it might break your heart to know that it has a poor contrast ratio of 971:1.

The implication of the poor contrast ratio is that the display will have poor highlights, and dark regions will not look very deep. To worsen the situation, the LG 65UM6900PUA’s display also lacks local dimming.

For clarity, local dimming is a display feature that increases the contrast of a display, enabling it to produce deep blacks. However, because this TV lacks local dimming, black colors might have a gray tint instead.

Unfortunately, the LG 65UM6900PUA’s flaws do not end with its poor contrast ratio and lack of local dimming; it also has a poor peak brightness. Specifically, it has a peak brightness of 295 nits.

As a result of that, the LG 65UM6900PUA might be too dim to view in well-lit rooms. On a brighter note, this TV’s display has a semi-glossy coating that helps it absorb bright lights and reduce reflections.

However, the semi-glossy coating can only do so much with indirect light reflections. For direct lights, the TV’s display might still struggle with reflection.

At this point, let us also talk about some technologies that can further improve the picture quality of this TV. First, the LG 65UM6900PUA has a 4K upscaling capability which improves lower-resolution display contents to a 4K resolution quality.

Secondly, the LG 65UM6900PUA has TruMotion 120 which increases the refresh rate of the display by as much as 2 times. With the TruMotion 120 technology, motion blur will be reduced, and the display will update picture frames more quickly.

In addition to all I have said, the LG 65UM6900PUA also uses a Quad-Core Processor. Therefore, the conversion between digital signals to pictures on the display is satisfactorily smooth.

That said, let us also talk about the motion handling of this TV. To do that, one of the display factors that determines motion handling is response time.

As the name implies, response time refers to the time taken for a display to transition from one-pixel color to another. Hence, a fast response time reduces blurs and makes pixel transitioning on the TV very seamless.

In that regard, the LG 65UM6900PUA records a decent response time of 14.1 milliseconds. 

Another display feature that determines the motion-handling ability of the display is its input lag. Input lag refers to the delay between the time an input signal is sent and when it outputs on the display.

Hence, a low input lag is preferable.

Signals in this context could be from gamepads or the TV remote. Thankfully, the LG 65UM6900PUA boasts an excellent input lag of 10.3 milliseconds.

Thankfully, due to its fast response time and low input lag, the LG 65UM6900PUA will be an excellent choice for gamers.

To conclude this section, the LG 65UM6900PUA’s display handles motion impressively. It also has good viewing angles and high resolution.

However, its contrast is disappointing; it lacks local dimming and has a poor viewing angle. To sum it all up, I will rate the LG 65UM6900PUA an eight in this section of the review.

LG 65UM6900PUA: Sound Features

As regards sound, the LG 65UM6900PUA comes with a pair of 2-channel 20-watt speakers. These speakers’ sound production is adequate, except you are far from the TV.

If that is the case, you should consider purchasing external speakers. Furthermore, the television’s audio lacks adequate bass so you shouldn’t expect rumbling sounds.

Therefore, watching movies with heavy bass on this TV will not be ideal. Notwithstanding, you can buy a subwoofer to complement its inadequate bass.

On the plus side, dialogue clarity is impressive due to its well-balanced sound. Therefore, in TV programs that involve dialogue (conversations between people), like TV shows, you will differentiate the voices clearly.

Furthermore, the LG 65UM6900PUA features the DTS-HD Studio Sound. This sound technology delivers an immersive surround sound that literally turns your home into a cinema.

However, the DTS-HD will work better when you pair the TV with external speakers.

Now, let us proceed to the distortion performance of the LG 65UM6900PUA. To do that, we’ll be discussing its result in the total harmonic distortion (THD) test.

For clarity, the total harmonic distortion test examines the amount of deviation in the sound frequency produced by sound systems. In this test, a THD value below 0.01 (1%) is preferable.

Sadly, the LG 65UM6900PUA performed poorly in the THD test. Specifically, it recorded a THD value of 0.851 at medium volume.

This means that at the medium volume, you will notice ample sound distortion.

In addition to that, at maximum volume, the sound distortion rose significantly to 3.493 THD. Therefore, at maximum volume, the sound distortion is even more noticeable.

Nevertheless, you can manage the sound distortion of this TV by keeping the volume low and using external speakers if you plan to get louder sounds.

Generally speaking, the LG 65UM6900PUA’s sound performance is not impressive. However, I am glad that it produces clear dialogue.

Therefore, I will rate the LG 65UM6900PUA a six in this section of the review.

LG 65UM6900PUA: Ports and Connectivity Features

For inputs, the LG 65UM6900PUA comes with a reasonable number of ports, all located at the back of the TV. As earlier mentioned, these ports are in two groups – some face backward while others face sideward.

These ports include three HDMI ports, one belongs to the backward-facing group of ports while two belong to the side-facing group.

Also, one of the HDMI ports has an audio return channel (ARC) through which you can connect a soundbar.

Other ports you will find on this TV include two USB ports, one among the back-facing group of ports and the other among the side-facing ports.

This TV also comes with optical audio output and a shared component/composite in ports. In addition to that, there is an antenna port and an Ethernet port.

Furthermore, the LG 65UM6900PUA can connect wirelessly to the internet thanks to the built-in 802.11ac WiFi. However, this TV doesn’t have Bluetooth.

Before I round up this section, let me talk about the TV’s remote. In that regard, this TV has a standard remote and not a magic remote that ships with more expensive LG TVs.

The standard remote control has an average size and it’s made of plastic. Also, the LG 65UM6900PUA remote has a lot of buttons.

To mention a few, it has number buttons (0-9), a plus-shaped navigation button, and a search button. Also, there is a shortcut button that gives you quick access to Netflix and Amazon Video.

Then, there is a movie button that brings up the list of suggested movies from different apps. Other buttons on the remote include the channel and volume controls as well as the home button and the playback buttons.

The only downside of the remote is that it doesn’t have a built-in microphone for voice commands. However, you can pair the TV with a Google Home or Echo dot for voice input.

All things considered, the LG 65UM6900PUA features a good number of ports and has an efficient standard remote. However, the remote has no built-in mic.

Hence, the LG 65UM6900PUA deserves an eight in this review section.

LG 65UM6900PUA: Smart Features

The LG 65UM6900PUA comes with the LG’s WebOS which has made it to the list of my favorite operating system. Thankfully, the WebOS interface is easy to use.

In addition to that, the LG 65UM6900PUA WebOS operates smoothly and doesn’t lag.

Furthermore, you can locate the app ribbon at the bottom of the display, along with the settings and tool menus. Above the application ribbon, you will find movie suggestions from a variety of streaming apps available on WebOS.

Speaking of streaming apps, they include YouTube, Vudu, Hulu, Sling, Netflix, Google TV/Movies, and Amazon Prime Video, among others. Additionally, there are tons of more apps on the LG content store to choose from if you need more.

Another positive side to the LG 65UM6900PUA’s WebOS is that it allows you to cast your mobile device’s display to the TV, thanks to its content share capability. Therefore, if you want to view content on larger frames from your PC, smartphone, or tablet, rest assured, the LG 65UM6900PUA has got you covered.

One downside to the LG 65UM6900PUA WebOS, however, is that it displays a lot of adverts even on the LG content store. Sadly, there is no way to opt out of these ads.

To conclude this section, the LG 65UM6900PUA’s WebOS offers a lot of apps, and it allows you to cast the content on your mobile phone and other devices to the TV. However, the OS has a lot of ads that can’t be disabled.

Hence, I will rate this TV an eight in this section of the review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Generally, the LG 65UM6900PUA is a fascinating TV thanks to its 4K resolution display which delivers quality pictures. Other factors that influence the display performance of the TV include its wide viewing angle and the useful display technologies it features.

For its sound production, the LG 65UM6900PUA produces a clear and loud sound, but it lacks adequate bass.

Furthermore, the LG 65UM6900PUA has good motion handling which makes the television a good choice for gamers. On the negative side, the LG 65UM6900PUA lacks local dimming and has a mediocre contrast ratio.

Nevertheless, if you are a gamer and you need a good TV that does not cost too much, then I suggest you consider the LG 65UM6900PUA.

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