Rather than gunfights and mayhem, however, fanciful finger food and coffee were the order of the day at the Intercontinental, with StereoNET attending an exclusive event to celebrate the launch of LG's new 8K television.

The star of the day and the newest addition to LG's 2019 lineup was the 8K capable and equipped 75-inch SM99, also sporting LG's Full Array Dimming Pro technology. 

The staff at LG gave nothing away concerning the number of zones on board the SM99. They did, however, assure us that the number of dimmable zones was greater than its 4K SM99 which has Full Array Dimming technology.

The SM99 has four HDMI 2.1 ports allowing playback of compatible 8K content at 60 frames per second. While high frame rate video content, the HFR capabilities of HDMI 2.1 will be of particular interest to gamers.

Equipped with LG's latest Alpha 9 Gen 2 processor, its onboard AI can apply six-step upscaling and colour correction to images. As with LG LED/LC D's the SM99 uses an IPS panel for wider viewing angles.

The IPS panel, which is coupled with LG's Nanocell technology, is also said to offer a higher level of colour accuracy. The already available Super UHD SM94 also features Cinema HDR, allowing users to play HDR10, HLG, Advanced HDR by Technicolour and Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos.

Apple Airplay 2 and HomeKit integration will become available from October, allowing it to join both the currently available SM94 and SM86 models in the list of Airplay2 compatible displays. In addition to smart home features, the technology will enable owners to stream titles directly from compatible Apple devices to compatible TVs.

From October the SM99 will also be compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, courtesy of LG's ThinQ ecosystem. To the best of our knowledge, LG is the only manufacturer producing televisions that support both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Although time was limited, we were provided with a demonstration of both the 8K 75-inch SM99 and 4K SM94 with HDR content from a range of sources, including Netflix, Youtube and of course LG. There was also 8K and 4K panels from a rival brand on hand for comparison.

Unsurprisingly, the IPS panels produced better off-axis contrast. More surprising was that the IPS panels appeared to offer better on-axis contrast. Likewise, the IPS panels offered more natural colour reproduction. However, none of the televisions offered a neutral greyscale, at least in their Standard picture mode.

While the differences were noted, at StereoNET, we understand how incorrect picture settings can unduly influence the picture quality and subsequent evaluation of a television or projector. With that in mind, we've asked for review samples for evaluation.

LG's 2019 NanoCell 75-inch 8K 75SM9900PTA is now available from select stores for $11.849 RRP.

For more information, visit LG Electronics.