Here we are comparing to to reveal their common strengths and weaknesses as well as the differences between them which will help you in making a correct decision before the purchase. Both models have the same resolution and none of them support HDR.

Let us first have a glance at the highlights of the models.

We have evaluated the TVs from available features and specifications. They both get the same overall score in our ranking system which is based on the display specifications, video, audio and other features, connectivity and format support.

And in the end we display all the specifications which are present for both models.

Note: The following table shows only those details which are applicable for both models and excludes the ones that are applicable for only one model. If you want to see a full list of specs for each model please visit their individual pages here - and here - .

BASICS	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Brand	LG	LG
Country	UK	UK
Series 2	SM85	SK85
Model	49SM8500PLA	49SK8500PLA
Release Year	2019	2018
Size	49"	49"
Smart TV	Yes	Yes

DISPLAY	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Actual Size (Diagonal)	48.5"	48.5"
Resolution	4K UHD (3840 x 2160)	4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
Refresh Rate	100 Hz/120 Hz	100 Hz/120 Hz
Screen Design	Flat	Flat
Display Type	LCD	LCD
LCD Technology	NanoCell	NanoCell
Panel Type	IPS	IPS
Backlight Type	LED	LED
LED Type	Edge LED	Slim Direct LED
Backlight Dimming	Local Dimming	Full Array Local Dimming
Color	Nano Cell Color	Nano Cell Color Pro
Viewing Angle	Wide Viewing Angle	Wide Viewing Angle
Panel Bit Depth	8 bits + FRC	10 bits
Color Depth	1.07 Billion	1.07 Billion

VIDEO	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
3D Capability	No	No
HDR10	Yes	Yes
HDR10+	No	No
Dolby Vision	Yes	Yes
Dolby Vision IQ	No	No
HLG	Yes	Yes
Advanced HDR by Technicolor®	Yes	Yes
IMAX Enhanced	No	No
4K HDR	Yes 4K Cinema HDR	Yes
HDR Effect	Yes	Yes
Technicolor Expert Mode	No	Yes
AMD Freesync™	No	No
NVidia G-Sync	No	No
4K HFR	Yes 4K HFR via HDMI will be updated	No
2K HFR	Yes	No
VRR	No	No
HGIG Compatibility	No	No
Picture Processor	α7 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor	α7 Intelligent Processor
Upscaling	4K Upscaler	4K Upscaler
Frame Interploation Technique	TruMotion 200	TruMotion 200
Frame Interpolation Frequency	200 Hz	200 Hz
Filmmaker Mode	No	No
Auto Low Latency Mode	No	No
Depth Enhancement	Yes Object Depth Enhancer	Yes Active Depth Enhancer
AI Picture	No	No
Auto Genre Selection	No	No
Face Enhancing	No	No
Image Enhancing	No	No
Color Enhancer	Yes Advanced Color Enhancer	Yes Dynamic Color
Noise Reduction	Quad Step NR	Yes NR
Deep Learning AI Picture	Yes	No
AI Brightness	Yes	No
True Color Accuracy	Yes	Yes
Ultra Luminance	Yes	Yes Pro
Sharpness	Frequency based Sharpness Enhancer	No
Dynamic Tone Mapping	Dynamic Tone Mapping	Enhanced Dynamic Tone Mapping

AUDIO	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Speaker Channels	2.0 Channel	2.2 Channel
Speaker Type	Down Firing	Down Firing
Speaker Power Rating	20W	40W (WF:20W)
Dolby Atmos	Yes	Yes
DTS Digital Surround	Yes DTS-HD	Yes DTS-HD
Simultaneous Audio Output	Yes	Yes
AI Sound	Yes	No
Surround Mode	Dolby Surround / ULTRA Surround	Dolby Surround / ULTRA Surround
Clear Voice	Clear Voice III	Clear Voice III
Sound Tuning	One Touch Sound Tuning	One Touch Sound Tuning
WiSA Ready	Yes	No
Bluetooth Audio Playback	Yes	Yes
LG Sound Sync	Yes	Yes
Smart Speaker Compatible	Yes	No
LG Smart Speaker	Yes	No

CONNECTIVITY	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Ethernet Input	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi Direct	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi Frequency	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
Wi-Fi Protocol	IEEE802.11ac/a/b/g/n	IEEE802.11ac/a/b/g/n
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth Version	5.0	4.2
Apple Airplay	Yes Airplay 2	No
LG TV Plus App	Yes	No
Smart ThinQ App	Yes	No
Chromecast	No	No
Google Home	Yes	Yes Google Home device sold separately (This feature is not available in Republic of Ireland)
Virtual Assistant	Yes Google Assistant	Yes Google Assistant Built-in Google Assistant features require software update (This feature is not available in Republic of Ireland)
Works with Alexa	Yes 19.5 MR	Yes Amazon Alexa device sold separately (This feature is not available in Republic of Ireland)
HDMI Inputs	4	4
HDMI Version	2.1	2.0b
HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC)	Yes eARC (HDMI 2)	Yes HDMI 2
HDCP Version	2.2	2.2
HDMI-CEC	Yes SIMPLINK	Yes SIMPLINK
USB Inputs	3	3
USB 3.0 Ports	No	No
RF (Terrestrial / Cable ) Inputs	2	2
Component Inputs	No	No
Composite Inputs	1 via A/V 3.5mm Jack	1 via A/V 3.5mm Jack
RCA Audio Outputs	No	No
3.5mm headphone Audio Output	Yes	Yes
Optical Audio Output	Yes	Yes
RS-232C Remote	No	No
DLNA	Yes	Yes

OTHER	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
CPU Cores	4	4
GPU Cores	2	2
RAM	2 GB	2 GB
Storage	8 GB	4 GB
Operating System	webOS	webOS
Internet Browser	Yes	Yes
Electronic Program Guide (EPG)	Yes 8 days	Yes 8 days
Parental Control (V-Chip)	Yes	Yes
Application Store	Yes LG Content Store	Yes LG Content Store
PVR Function	Yes	Yes
On-Screen Display Languages	36	36
LG AI ThinQ®	Yes	Yes
Speech to Text	Yes	Yes
LG Voice Search	Yes	Yes
Amazon Echo Compatible	Yes	No
AI UX	Yes	No
AI Home	Yes	No
AI Recommendation	Default: off	No
Intelligent Edit	Yes	No
Home Dashboard	Yes	No
Apple HomePod	Yes	No
Voice Recognition	Yes Intelligent Voice Recognition	Yes Intelligent Voice Recognition
Magic Link	Default: off	No
Audio Guidance (Text To Speech)	Yes	Yes
Gallery Mode	Yes	Yes
Multi-view	Yes	Yes
DIAL	Yes	Yes
Music Player	Yes	Yes
360 VR	Yes	No
Mobile TV On	Yes	No
Wi-Fi TV On	Yes	No
Bluetooth Low Energy On	Yes	No
Instant Game Response	Yes ALLM	No
Live Plus (ACR-based Bilateral Service)	Yes with Samba TV App	No
Hotel Mode	Yes	No
Screen Share	Yes	Yes
Digital Recording	Yes	Yes
Time Shift	Yes	Yes
Watch & Record	No	No
Auto Calibration	Yes	Yes
Time Machine (DVR)	Yes	No
Analog DVR	Yes	No
HEVC	Yes	Yes

VIDEO FORMATS	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
3GPP	Yes	Yes
AV1	No	No
AVI	Yes	Yes
ASF	No	No
DivX	Yes	Yes
Flash Video	Yes	Yes
H.263	Yes	Yes
H.264	Yes	Yes
H.265	Yes	Yes
MKV	Yes	Yes
M2TS	Yes	Yes
MP4	Yes	Yes
MPEG-4	Yes	Yes
QuickTime	Yes	Yes
RealVideo	No	No
TS	Yes	Yes
VC-1	Yes	Yes
VP7	No	No
VP8	No	No
VP9	Yes	Yes
VOB	No	No
VRO	No	No
WebM	No	No
WMV	No	No
Xvid	No	No

AUDIO FORMATS	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
AAC	Yes	Yes
AC4	No	No
AIFF	No	No
ALAC	No	No
APE	No	No
aptX	Yes	Yes
eAAC+	No	No
EAC3	No	No
FLAC	Yes	Yes
HE-AAC	Yes	Yes
LPCM	Yes	Yes
M4A	No	No
MIDI	No	No
MP2	No	No
MP3	Yes	Yes
OGG	Yes	Yes
RealAudio	Yes	Yes
WMA	Yes	Yes
WAV	No	No

IMAGE FORMATS	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
BMP	No	No
GIF	No	No
JPEG	Yes	Yes
JPS	Yes	Yes
MPO	Yes	Yes
PNG	No	No

TUNER	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Digital Tuner	Yes 1	Yes 1
SAT Tuner	Yes	Yes
Analog Tuner	PAL/SECAM, B/G, D/K, I, SECAM L	PAL/SECAM, B/G, D/K, I, SECAM L
Digital Terrestrial TV System	DVB-T/T2	DVB-T/T2
Digital Cable TV System	DVB-C	DVB-C
Digital SAT TV System	DVB-S/S2	DVB-S/S2
Color system	PAL / SECAM / NTSC	PAL / SECAM / NTSC
CI+	CI+ 1.4	CI+ 1.4

GENERAL	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Energy Efficiency	A	A+
Power Supply	AC 100-240 V, 50/60 Hz	AC 100-240 V, 50/60 Hz
Power Consumption (In Standby)	0.5 W	0.5 W
Dimension Without Stand (W x H x D)	1096 mm x 640 mm x 63.6 mm	1096 mm x 638 mm x 63 mm
Dimension With Stand (W x H x D)	1096 mm x 700 mm x 231 mm	1096 mm x 707 mm x 248 mm
Dimension of Package (W x H x D)	1192 mm x 740 mm x 152 mm	1197 mm x 810 mm x 175 mm
One Connect Box	No	No
VESA Wall Mount	Yes	Yes
VESA Hole Pitch (W x H)	200 mm x 200 mm	200 mm x 200 mm
Weight Without Stand	14.2 kg	14.0 kg
Weight With Stand	14.4 kg	15.5 kg
Weight of Package (Gross)	17.1 kg	18.3 kg

ACCESSORIES	LG 49SM8500PLA	LG 49SK8500PLA
Remote	Magic Remote Control - AN-MR19	Magic Remote Control - AN-MR18
Universal Control Capability for remote	Yes	Yes
Magic Remote Control Compatible	Yes	Yes