LG QNED91 (65QNED91) review: A flagship 4K TV that’s Mini LED in name only

It’s fair to say that for over a decade, LG’s TV research and development department has been squarely focused on OLED. While the results of these endeavours were successful, with the brand dominating this nascent display technology and becoming the primary manufacturer of OLED TV panels, the downside is that LG’s various LCD ranges have received far less corporate investment.

This year LG has announced a new lineup of LCD TVs that includes the 8K QNED99 and the 4K QNED91 reviewed here, where the emphasis is on Mini LED, quantum dot and very large screen sizes. The question is has LG managed to keep pace with the competition, or has it fallen behind other manufacturers?

LG QNED91 (2024) review: Key specifications

LG QNED91 (2024) review: What you need to know

The LG QNED91 is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR smart TV that comes in 65in, 75in and 86in screen sizes. Its picture and sound are powered by LG’s α8 AI 4K Processor and it uses a 120Hz VA LCD panel with a direct Mini LED backlight, Colour Pro quantum dot filters and Precision Dimming technology.

The QNED91 supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, plus Dolby Atmos audio. It includes extensive wireless connectivity, along with four HDMI 2.1 inputs that support current-gen gaming features including 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM and HGiG. It also offers various gaming customisation options via LG’s Game Dashboard.

In terms of other features, there’s the latest version of LG’s excellent webOS smart system, with its comprehensive choice of streaming services, and built-in Amazon Alexa for added smarts. The QNED91 is available in 65in, 75in and 86in screen sizes; I tested the 65QNED91.

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LG QNED91 (2024) review: Price and competition

You can buy the 65in LG QNED91 reviewed here for £1,599, while the 75in model retails for £2,39, and the 86in version will set you back £3,459, which is very reasonable for such a big screen. However, this is a highly competitive segment of the market, with some well-specified and attractively-priced alternatives to consider.

The TCL C845K is an obvious competitor, with screen sizes ranging from 55in to 85in. The 65in option only costs £1,049 but still sports a direct Mini LED backlight with quantum dot filters. It can handle HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ and IMAX Enhanced, plus it also supports VRR for gaming up to 4K/144Hz, Google TV and has an Onkyo sound system with Dolby Atmos. Its main weakness is its lack of support for UK catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV X and My 5.

The Samsung QN90D, announced at CES 2024, is also worth considering. It comes in a variety of screen sizes ranging from 43in to 85in, with the 65in model costing £2,699. While this is considerably more expensive, the QN90D sports cutting-edge tech with a MiniLED backlight, quantum dot filters, superior local dimming, AI-enhanced processing, wider viewing angles and an anti-reflection screen. There’s also Object Tracking Sound Plus with Dolby Atmos, and extensive gaming features including VRR up to 4K/144Hz.

LG QNED91 (2024) review: Design, connections and control

The LG QNED91 keeps things simple with its design, but there’s an elegant minimalism to the styling with a 10mm wide black bezel around the screen, brushed metal trim on the outer edge and a matching stand. The materials used for construction are all fairly standard, and while this TV isn’t as high-end as others I’ve tested, the overall build quality appears to be very good.

This TV may use a Mini LED backlight, but it’s surprisingly bulky with a panel that’s 45mm deep. It also clocks in at a back-breaking 31kg without the stand (35kg with), so bear that in mind if you’re planning on wall mounting. If you do decide on the latter, the LG is compatible with a 400 x 400 VESA bracket, the stand itself is only 425mm wide, making it good for narrower surfaces.

The connections are located at the back left of the panel, as you face the screen. There are four HDMI 2.1 inputs, all of which support 4K/120Hz and one of which supports eARC. There are also terrestrial and satellite tuners, an optical digital output, an Ethernet port, two USB ports and a common interface slot. For wireless connectivity, there’s Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and AirPlay 2.

The QNED91 includes the Magic Remote, which remains the gold standard for TV controllers with its ergonomic comfort and intuitive pointer interface. There are direct access buttons for Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, along with a built-in microphone for voice control; while anyone looking for alternatives can also try LG’s simple but effective ThinQ remote app (iOS and Android).

LG QNED91 (2024) review: Smart TV platform

The LG QNED91 uses the latest version of the brand’s smart platform, which is based around the revamped webOS24. While the changes are minor refinements rather than major innovations, LG has promised to support the system with at least five years of upgrades. So anyone buying the QNED91 can expect its operating system to remain up-to-date until 2029, and possibly later.

In terms of the interface’s finessing, it’s arranged around a home page with a big promotional banner at the top for adverts, followed by three layers below for apps, recommendations and the Q-cards – which are now smaller. There’s also a Global Tab added to the top left-hand corner for quick access to accounts, any notifications, the settings, a search function and the TV Guide.

The Q-cards can be arranged by theme, such as Game, Music, Sports, etc., and they can also be curated for each user profile – making it easier to access your favourite content. Accessibility is further enhanced by the addition of the new Chatbot, an AI assistant that can be accessed via a Q-card, quick menu or using your voice, and then answers questions about the system settings.

Speaking of smart assistants, webOS24 has Amazon Alexa built-in, which can be accessed using the microphone in the Magic Remote. The latter also makes navigation incredibly intuitive, while the comprehensive choice of streaming services means you’ll always have something to watch. Overall, LG’s webOS24 remains one of the best smart operating systems on the market.

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LG QNED91 (2024) review: Image quality

The LG QNED91 would appear to use a VA panel based on its excellent contrast ratio of 8,000:1 and incredibly narrow viewing angles. The latter is an area where arch-rival Samsung has made significant strides, but if you’re thinking of buying the QNED91 you’ll need to sit square in front of it to get the best picture quality; I found that as soon as I moved off-axis the colour and contrast suffered

Sadly there are a few other basic issues that affect the underlying panel performance. Firstly the screen filter is quite reflective, so don’t position the TV opposite a light or window. Secondly, while LG claims the QNED91 uses a MiniLED backlight I only counted 160 (16 x 10) zones, which might explain the patchy uniformity and obvious banding on camera pans across football pitches.

The more zones you have, the better the performance, but a good local dimming algorithm can still get impressive results even when the zone count is low. Unfortunately, LG’s Precision Dimming doesn’t live up to its name, with some fairly obvious blooming around bright objects against dark backgrounds. This annoying glow was apparent with SDR but was especially evident when I was watching HDR content.

The QNED91 ships in the Eco mode, where the emphasis is on energy efficiency rather than image accuracy, but thankfully the Filmmaker mode improves the accuracy significantly. I measured an average DeltaE (error) of 1.8 for greyscale and 2.1 for colours on a saturation sweep, while the gamma tracked 2.4 fairly closely.

This is an area where LG is normally strong, and any errors are certainly below the visible threshold of three. Naturally, since this is an LG TV there are extensive calibration controls available if you want to dial in the accuracy to near perfection. Using my calibration equipment and a few tweaks I could quickly get the errors below one for greyscale and colours.

Another area where the QNED91 proves impressive is image processing, with the AI-enhanced α8 4K processor effectively upscaling and cleaning lower-resolution. It can’t work miracles but even a ropey standard definition TV channel is passable, while HD broadcasts look great, and the LG pulls out all the detail in the exquisite production design of Crimson Peak on Blu-ray.

The motion is equally good for an LCD TV with the LG handling fast-paced sport without blurring and displaying 24p content without adding judder. As a result, movies retain a pleasing film-like quality, and the TruMotion feature offers several processing options including Cinematic Movement, which can even smooth out films without introducing the dreaded soap opera effect.

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LG QNED91 (2024) review: HDR performance

The LG QNED91 is capable of a decent amount of brightness with HDR, hitting a peak luminance of 1,400cd/m2 nits on a 10% window in Standard mode, this drops to around 1,300cd/m2 in the more accurate Filmmaker mode, though. While this helps give specular highlights greater impact, the limited local dimming does cause some fairly obvious blooming against a dark background.

The gamut coverage is good, hitting over 96% of DCI-P3, and the overall accuracy in Filmmaker mode is generally acceptable, despite not being as impressive as LG’s OLED TVs. However the tone-mapping is excellent, and when it comes to hitting the luminance peaks the QNED91 manages to deliver HDR graded at 1,000, 4,000 and 10,000 nits without clipping the specular highlights.

The inclusion of LG’s dynamic tone mapping feature allows this TV to get the most out of HDR10 and HLG, plus there’s support for Dolby Vision (although not the competing HDR10+ format). I found that the general HDR performance was good, retaining plenty of detail and some nice colours, while the bright desert scenes in Oppenheimer were rendered with plenty of depth and definition.

However, the colours in La La Land don’t pop quite as much as I’d expect from a higher-end TV, and the compromised local dimming struggles when displaying difficult scenes like the burning torches in The Revenant, the flares at night in 1917 or when Apollo 11 goes into lunar orbit in First Man. The QNED91 is a solid HDR TV, but there are definitely better options available.

To test the LG QNED91 I used Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software.

LG QNED91 (2024) review: Gaming

The LG QNED91 sports some excellent gaming credentials, with four HDMI inputs that support all the latest features including 4K/120Hz, VRR, HGiG and ALLM, with the latter automatically switching to the low latency Game Optimiser mode when compatible consoles are detected. I measured input lag in this mode below 13ms, which should please even the most demanding gamer.

The Game Optimiser mode also allows users to customise their gaming experience with different genre settings such as Standard, First Person Shooter, Role Playing Game and Real-Time Strategy; along with Black and White Stabiliser sliders. In addition, there’s a useful Game Dashboard that pops up to provide key information and access to various features and settings.

I enjoyed playing Call of Duty at 4K/120Hz with HDR10 and found the gameplay to be both responsive and smooth. In brightly lit scenes the effective tone-mapping delivered some pleasingly saturated and punchy images. As I looked around, however, the QNED91’s patchy screen uniformity and banding was evident, as was some blooming around bright objects.

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LG QNED91 (2024) review: Sound quality

The LG QNED91 doesn’t set the world on fire when it comes to its sonic capabilities, but the deeper chassis at least means there’s room for a half-decent pair of downward-firing speakers in a 2.2-channel configuration powered by 40W of amplification. This setup was able to create a decent front soundstage that enabled me to clearly hear dialogue, voice-overs and commentary.

The sound can be optimised depending on whether the QNED91 is on its default stand or wall-mounted, and LG includes AI Acoustic Tuning to help users correct the sound for their specific environment. There are also several sound modes, including a Clear Voice feature and AI Sound Pro for upmixing audio to a virtual 9.1.2-channel sonic experience using psychoacoustic processing.

Expectations need to be managed here, and even though this TV can decode Dolby Atmos it can only do so much with two speakers firing down. It was unable to deliver a genuinely immersive experience, but at least sounded relatively composed and well-balanced. I felt it rather lacking where bass was concerned and distortion crept in when I pushed the volume right up, but the QNED91 will get the job done well enough for most people. 

LG QNED91 (2024) review: Verdict

The LG QNED91 is a solid performer in a number of areas, so it’s a shame the image quality is let down by narrow viewing angles, poor screen uniformity, banding and local dimming that suffers from halos around bright objects. On the plus side, the Filmmaker Mode delivers accurate images with both SDR and HDR content, while the HDR tone-mapping is generally excellent.

The QNED91’s other strengths are in areas where I’d expect any LG TV to excel. Its gaming features are cutting-edge and the excellent webOS24 smart system provides a comprehensive choice of streaming apps while being intuitive to navigate using the Magic Remote. The sound quality is capable but unimpressive, and as you’d expect from LG there’s support for Dolby Vision but no HDR10+.

However, I get the feeling LG’s development has been so focused on OLED that its LCD TVs have been somewhat left behind – apart from the features that appear across all its ranges. As a result, the QNED91 performs more like an LCD TV from a decade ago; in the meantime other brands have pushed this display technology forward in terms of uniformity, viewing angles and local dimming.