LG’s super slim Super UHD TVs promise SDR-HDR conversion

LG’s taken the wraps off new ‘Super UHD’ LED TVs at CES 2016. As well as boasting an incredibly slim 6.6mm screen depth, these new 4K TVs promise to convert standard dynamic range content to high contrast HDR. 

Similar to how Blu-ray players upscale DVDs to near-HD quality, LG promises that TVs from its new UH9000 range will let viewers enjoy near-HDR content from any standard source. As well as boasting an SDR-to-HDR conversation engine, the ports of the UH range are described as ‘HDR-compatible’. 

This bodes well for folks with Netflix and Amazon subscriptions and superfast Internet services; pseudo-HDR content should look comparable to the actual HDR streams, once those actually arrive. 

As well as this so-called ‘HDR Plus’ feature, the 65-inch UH9500 and 86-inch UH9550 sets will feature LG’s ULTRA Luminance technology (enhanced contrast) ColourPrime Plus (broader colour palette) and Billon Rich Colours (a gamut of over 1 billion colours); basically improved contrast and colour fidelity, the same things that all TV manufacturers promise every CES. 

Related: Details of BT Sport’s 4K HDR trials emerge, Sony’s high-end Android TVs to support HDR 4K Netflix and Amazon As well as the UH9500 and UH9550, LG’s also announcing two smaller sets today, the 65-inch UH8500 and 75-inch UH8550. These models will feature all of the above mentioned bells and whistles with the notable exception of HDR plus. 

While these units will be undoubtedly cheaper than their UH9000 counterparts, it’s potentially a dealbreaker for those who wanted some futureproof SDR-HDR love.

That’s if it’s any good of course. We’ve yet to see any video evidence of any upconverted content side by side with native HDR footage, so we’ll reserve judgement until then. 

While all of these models have been confirmed for an ‘early spring’ US launch, it’s unclear when (or even if) us Brits will be able to open our wallets for any of these. Similarly, a monstrous 98-inch 8K Super UHD TV will also go on sale in the States later this summer, with the jury still out on a UK release.