•   Overview
•   Advantage of Sony KD-49XG8096
•   Advantage of LG 49SM8500PLA
•   Common Strengths and Weaknesses
•   Selected Features
•   Specifications

Here we are comparing Sony KD-49XG8096 to LG 49SM8500PLA 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 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution and they both support HDR.

We have evaluated the TVs from available features and specifications. LG 49SM8500PLA gets higher overall score in our ranking system which is based on the display specifications, video, audio and other features, connectivity and format support.

This section shows the features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony KD-49XG8096 over LG 49SM8500PLA.

This section shows the features and specifications which are the reason to choose LG 49SM8500PLA over Sony KD-49XG8096.

Nano Cell Technology on LG 49SM8500PLA

LG 49SM8500PLAuses nanocell technology on its LCD display. This technology uses particles to absorb unwanted light wavelengths and enhance the purity of the red and green colors displayed on the screen. In addition, they create subtler, more accurate colors that stay true, even at wide viewing angles. So, even if the whole family is gathered around the TV, everyone has the best seat in the house, whether they’re front and center, or across the room and off to the side.

IPS Panels

Both TVs have in-plane switching (IPS) panels. Such panels are not commonly used in LCD TVs as they suffer from light leakage which lead to the lower contrast and poor HDR experience. However, this type of panels can provide better viewing angles and color accuracy compared to the VA panels.

HDR10

Sony KD-49XG8096 and LG 49SM8500PLA support HDR10 which was announced on August 27, 2015, by the Consumer Technology Association and uses the wide-gamut Rec. 2020 color space. It is not backward compatible with SDR. It sends static metadata via video stream to the TV which calibrates its screen brightness and color according to that. HDR10 is technically limited to a maximum of 10,000 nits of brightness and uses 10-bit color which corresponds to 1024 shades of the primary RGB colors.

Dolby Vision on LG 49SM8500PLA

LG 49SM8500PLA also supports Dolby Vision which is an update to HDR10 by adding dynamic metadata that can be used to more accurately adjust brightness levels up to 10,000 nits on a scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame basis and supports up to 12-bit color depth (4096 shades of RGB) and 8K resolution.

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 - Sony KD-49XG8096 and here - LG 49SM8500PLA.