TECHWEEK
In 2024, the LG MiniLED TV line was expanded with the QNED91T6A series. The company promises a large screen at a relatively affordable price, as well as brightness that even the most powerful OLEDs can only dream of. Plus, of course, there was a lot of work on characteristics and functionality. Mini LED technology uses much smaller LEDs in the backlight than a conventional LCD panel.
Full array backlighting (FALD) allows for greater control of the glow by emitting light from a much more focused source. This LG QNED91 comes in 3 available diagonals: 65, 75 and a huge 86 inches. So is it worth buying a Mini LED TV from a company that has built its reputation on completely different types of TV technology? We will answer this question in our review of the LG 65QNED91T6A 4K TV HDR.
LG QNED91T review
Design
It is precisely because of the presence of MiniLED in the specification that the 65-inch LG 65QNED91T6A TV seems bulky and weighs 31 kg. This is now completely unfashionable and causes concern. But at least it’s only 4.6cm deep, so if you can find a wall strong enough to support that weight, the TV will look fairly flat.
If the wall-mounting method doesn’t suit you, there’s a hefty (4kg) metal stand that replaces the QNED916P’s crescent-shaped base . It features a central pedestal design, so you won’t need a large surface area to place this LG. The stand raises the bottom of the screen to such a level that any soundbar should sit comfortably underneath it.
And since the QNED91 is a WOW Orchestra device, this means that any compatible LG soundbar will allow a screen to connect to its audio output. Build quality, as you’d expect from this brand and any other major TV company, is largely impeccable. There’s nothing special about the plastic the LG QNED91T6A is made of, but everything is put together correctly and the bezels around the screen are as thin as possible.
The QNED91 uses the same LG Magic Remote as the LG C4 and G4 . It’s straight and slim in design compared to the more rounded shape of the LG CX remote , with six convenient shortcut buttons for popular streaming apps at the bottom. You can use the built-in gyroscopic cursor controls to point and click elements on the screen, although many will prefer to use the standard buttons.
Image quality
At the event in Frankfurt, the manufacturer confirmed that the 65-inch QNED91T uses a VA LCD matrix with a layer of nanoparticles. This led to a noticeable improvement in contrast and image quality in a dark room, but on the other hand, viewing angles became narrower. But the company does not refuse to use IPS matrices . The QNED91T6A TV has a native refresh rate of 120 Hz and is compatible with HLG, HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR standards.
It uses an unknown (but definitely very large) number of mini-LEDs to backlight its LCD panel. The goal is to offer impressive brightness levels while at the same time fine-tuning the backlight. One of the most impressive aspects of the 65QNED91T6A is the amount of tweaking it requires before it starts producing truly impressive images.
While the LG QNED91’s local dimming technology isn’t as precise as OLED technology, it does a fairly good job of keeping dark images dark while still keeping bright areas well lit. Unfortunately, the published specs don’t mention the TV’s exact brightness, but it’s bright enough to compensate for varying lighting conditions and also produce a good HDR picture.
A slight blur is still present – a halo effect at the junction of light and dark images. But it’s most noticeable when navigating the TV’s UI, which is when it matters least. Another thing to be aware of is that depending on where the light source is located, it will most likely appear on a semi-matte screen.
The LG QNED91T TV is also a very adept upscaler of sub-4K content. Of course, it’s given away by a slight drop in detail levels when viewing at 1080p, but edges remain sharp. And only resolutions of 720p and below make the QNED91 lose patience and composure. When it comes to on-screen motion control, the TV handles it just as well.
The LG QNED91 is completely flicker-free, even with local dimming enabled. This is one of the few LG TVs, other than OLED, that is flicker-free. This is very good as it helps reduce eye strain. There’s an optional motion interpolation feature that can improve the appearance of motion in low frame rate content.
Games
LG has been on the side of gamers for a long time, and the LG QNED91 TV is another one of the models that provides gaming lovers with everything they need. Of course, all four HDMI inputs are ready to take advantage of all the next-gen box’s smart features, and switching the screen to Game Optimiser mode increases image output speed with 13ms or less latency for 120Hz content.
LG has also made all of the screen’s picture modes available to gamers, with some nice improvements (like a Black Level Stabilizer mode that’s designed to reveal more detail in the brightest and darkest areas of the screen). The motion control is excellent, the level of detail is very high indeed and of course the response time is also excellent (less than 5ms).
Smart TV
LG has slightly rethought the interface of its smart TV and expanded the capabilities of the operating system. The result is webOS 24 . It’s a very clever and worthwhile overhaul of the company’s venerable user interface, and LG promises at least five updates for anyone with a new TV running webOS24.
Thus, by the end of the fifth year of owning your 65QNED91T6A (for example), it will be running webOS 28. There have been changes to the main page. Now it is divided into three groups; in addition to applications and recommendations, there is also a line of Q-cards. They’re grouped by topic (music, games, sports, whatever you’ve got) to make searching as simple and straightforward as possible.
They can also be configured individually for each user profile, which is very convenient. There’s even an AI chatbot that will try to help you with any operational issues you may encounter. LG research shows that more than a third of customers who called customer service in 2023 only needed help with system settings.
Navigating webOS 24 (and, of course, things like the setup menu) can be done in one of several ways. LG has a built-in Amazon Alexa assistant; to call it, simply press the “microphone” button on the remote control. There’s also a ThinQ control app, free for iOS and Android. While it’s not the most visually appealing app, it gets the job done reliably and quickly.
All the “business” is taken care of by the Alpha 8 AI processor. It’s capable of running audio/video almost autonomously – if you decide to enable features like automatic brightness control or audio calibration, the processing algorithm takes care of that. But of course, LG also provides detailed setup menus for those who prefer a hands-on experience.
Sound
In terms of sound, the LG Cuned91 TV has a 40W 2.2-channel audio system with down-firing speakers. It is compatible with Dolby Atmos audio tracks. However, it is clear that the LG QNED91 series is not able to provide the feeling of real spatial sound – for this you will need at least a suitable soundbar.
The TV actually has quite a bit of detail in the midrange, which helps with dialogue intelligibility. But the QNED91 sounds thin and underpowered, lacks significant bass presence, and is completely undynamic. However, you won’t have to spend a lot of money on a soundbar to get a decent improvement.
Connections
All physical connections are grouped on the right side of the rear panel. There is no cover or cable management. All four HDMI 2.1 inputs support 4K at 120Hz, as well as all other gamer-focused features, one of which works with eARC . The remaining ports: a pair of USB 2.0, an Ethernet port, antenna jacks for a pair of built-in TV tuners, a CI slot and a digital optical output. Wireless connectivity is provided by Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi.
Conclusion
This is one of the best LCD TVs currently available, thanks to the use of mini-LEDs that provide excellent contrast and peak brightness, as well as color reproduction using quantum dots. It is good for both games and movies.
Colors and black level detail in OLED are excellent, but QNED offers potential owners a great argument that they are just as good in terms of peak brightness and contrast, especially with the VA panel. QNED is best suited to buyers who for some reason don’t like OLED TVs due to potential burn-in (which is extremely rare given today’s impressive panel technology).
