For starters, the new range represents LG’s first foray into 8K territory with the 88-inch Z9 OLED and 75-inch SM99 LCD models, promising the sharpest pictures and highest detail levels of any televisions the company has yet produced and with OLED possibly the best 8K pictures so far.

Secondly, all of the new flagship TV (there are six in total: the OLED Z9, W9, E9 and C9 series and the advanced SM9X and SM8X ‘NanoCell TV’ LCD series) support the new HDMI 2.1 standard.

First outlined back in November 2017, HDMI 2.1 is certified to transfer 8K content at a brisk 60fps and 4K at 120fps, as well as VRR (variable refresh rate) and Dynamic HDR. 120fps and VRR are highly prized by gamers looking for buttery smooth, blur-free motion, so HDMI 2.1 looks set to become an increasingly common appearance in high-end TVs this year. LG is the first company to actually confirm it on its models, though.

Finally, every model also comes with native support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing them to act as smart home hubs and adding support for spoken commands, requests and queries. It’s not just the UI that gets an AI-assisted boost, though: thanks to a new algorithm, deep learning AI can analyse and recognise the quality of the TV’s video source and adjust picture and sound settings for optimal quality.

Pricing and availability for LG’s 2019 flagship TV range are yet to be confirmed. It looks likely to be Q2 2019 in Australia.

While we expect other big manufacturers to follow LG’s CES 2019 example with built-in voice assistants and HDMI 2.1, there’s no doubting the South Korean manufacturer’s upcoming TV range looks mightily impressive.