OLED TVs are LG’s hobbyhorse, you would almost forget that they also sell LCD models. LG even has a number of miniLED models with quantum-dot technology in store for us under the ‘QNED’ banner. What can you expect from the 65QNED866?
LG 65QENG866
Brand: LG
Fashion model: 65QENG866
Price: 2,099 euros
What: Ultra HD LCD TV (MiniLED FALD, 15×12 zones, Quantum Dot)
Screen size: 65 in (165 cm), flat
Connections:
4x HDMI (2x v2.1 (48 Gbps), 2x v2.0, ARC/eARC, ALLM, VRR, 4K120), 2x USB, 1x optical digital out, 2x antenna, Bluetooth 5.0, WiSA
Extras: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Atmos, WiFi (802.11ac) built-in, WebOS 22, AirPlay 2, USB/DLNA media player, DVB-T2/C/S2, CI+ slot, Alpha 7 Gen 5 processor
Dimensions:1,452 x 910 x 336 mm (incl. foot)
Weight:31.9 kg (incl. feet)
Average usage: SDR 108 (G) / HDR 175 watts (G)
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Alpha7 Gen5 processor delivers good image processing
- HDR images are clear and colorful
- Good calibration
- Relatively wide viewing angle
- Dolby Atmos and powerful sound
- WebOS 22 is feature-rich and smooth
- Good gamer support
- Negatives
- Moderate contrast
- Local dimming cannot completely hide zones
Buy the LG 65QNED866QA at Bol.com
We should not beat around the bush, this design does not rise above the average. A dark gray back, a dark titanium-colored frame, we don’t go so far as to call the device a gray mouse, but we really don’t get excited about it. Only the foot catches the eye with its sickle shape. The screen hangs eight centimeters above the furniture, which leaves enough space for a soundbar.
LG chooses a slightly less rich selection of connections for this model. Of course you still get four HDMI connections, but only two of them offer the 48Gbps bandwidth of HDMI 2.1. One of those two connections is for ARC/eARC, so if you connect an external audio solution, you still have one HDMI 2.1 connection.
There is support for ALLM, VRR (HDMI VRR and AMD Freesync) and 4K120. Gamers can also count on a very low input lag of 14.8 ms (4K60) and 6.2 ms (2K120). The QNED also supports the combination of Dolby Vision and 4K120 (for Xbox Series X) and the Game Dashboard helps gamers adjust settings and see all relevant image information at a glance.
You will also find two USB connections, an optical digital audio output, Ethernet port, WiFi and Bluetooth and WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Audio Association). The QNED866 is equipped with a single DVB tuner, with one connection for DVB-T2/C and one for DVB-S2. All connections point neatly down or to the side, so wall mounting will not be a problem.
QNED: bright and colorful
OLED and QNED are really very fundamentally different from each other. And that has several reasons. To start with, LG uses an ADS panel in this QNED866, which is a variant of IPS technology and therefore provides rather moderate contrast but a good viewing angle. The viewing angle is even remarkably good and preserves both brightness and color. In concrete terms, the panel only provides 1,070:1 contrast and the local dimming that works in 15×12 zones raises that to approximately 2,300:1, although we achieved 11,700:1 in some scenes.
While that may seem good, there is an important consideration. That limited number of dimming zones is not a good combination with the low natural contrast. We quickly see in dark SDR scenes that there is a lot of black detail and that the LG does not dim bright accents excessively, but you also occasionally see a zone turn on or off. We couldn’t get rid of that problem through the settings.
Subtitles in dark scenes sometimes trigger that problem too. In HDR, those kinds of scenes are even more challenging, and you can see halos very easily. Another indirect consequence of the moderate contrast is that you lose some shadow nuances in HDR.
In addition to that modest contrast, the QNED866 does present a considerable peak brightness and wide color range. On a 10% window, in HDR Filmmaker mode, we can easily see 1,130 nits and on a completely white screen, it still achieves 570 nits.
The color range clocks in at 91% P3, which is sufficient for beautiful, intense HDR colors. LG can mainly exploit this combination in clear images, such as sports and animation, for example. Especially in HDR it delivers very nice results, especially because LG’s tone mapping is excellent.
The Filmmaker Mode is the right choice in both HDR and SDR if you want the best calibration right out of the box. The color reproduction is generally very good, with only red tones that are slightly too weak, something that also shows through in skin tones. However, these deviations are very small and do not disturb.
Good image processing across the board
You may have noticed that the QNED866 is equipped with LG’s Alpha7 processor. A step down from the Alpha9, but does that make much difference? Yes, but luckily only on one level. LG claims that the Alpha9 can bring slightly better depth to the image through better object detection and foreground and background separation. But in practice we don’t think you will notice that.
No, the big advantage of the Alpha9 is LG’s new ‘Dynamic Tonemapping Pro’. (read about it in our review of the LG G2). The Alpha 7 still delivers Dynamic Tonemapping, but it is unchanged from last year. And it delivers good results, it brings out a lot of color and contrast that you would miss without Dynamic Tonemapping.
It is not error-free, the TV clips a little white detail, and with very bright images the image also loses some color intensity. The LG also supports Dolby Vision, which remains a good asset.
The Alpha7 is exemplary of all other image processing. Very good noise reduction, and a separate setting to eliminate color bands in soft gradients, an excellent upscaler that makes a lot of detail visible, reliable deinterlacing, these are all things that ensure that you see a good 4K image from all sources.
Only for the sharpness of motion we would have liked to see a slightly better result, but that is probably due to the ADS panel. We see a visible faint or double border on fast-moving objects, especially at the end of the object. If you hate judder, LG TruMotion can provide excellent motion interpolation, without excessive image errors.
Powerful sound
The audio performance was a pleasant surprise, the sound has certainly not been neglected. With a short test procedure you can adjust your sound in such a way that it takes the acoustics into account. The 40 Watts of power provide a warm and powerful soundtrack that fills the room well and has a good bass response.
Although the surround effect was limited, despite Dolby Atmos support, our film fragments continued to sound somewhat flat. And your most aggressive metal can push the speakers beyond their limits. A soundbar is of course better, but certainly not mandatory.
WebOS 22 in another new dress
LG’s smart TV system got a facelift at the beginning of the year, but a few months ago it got a new look for the Homa Page. It is now greatly simplified, a good decision, but still wastes a lot of space. We have to resign ourselves to that.
WebOS 22 does offer a lot of apps and a wide feature list, including Airplay2, Google Cast for YouTube and Netflix, a profile per user, Multi View to view different sources at the same time and the Home dashboard where you can also view all your smart devices.
LG’s remote remains a pleasure to use. Pointing at the screen is smooth, and the key selection is excellent.
Conclusion
The moderate contrast, but excellent brightness and color range make it immediately clear that this TV is intended for a somewhat lit living room. Preferably with clear content. In dark movie scenes, the local dimming cannot always hide the zone boundaries. If you take that into account, then this LG 65QNED866 is a fine TV with a relatively wide viewing angle, so feel free to invite friends.
It also performs well in all other areas, sometimes even excellent, from sound and ease of use to support for gamer functions. What we do look at is the price, keep your eyes open for a good deal if you have this in mind.
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