Sony X90L vs LG MRGB85B

HDR on the Sony X90L television looks promising. The luminance chart indicated that the TV has a solid power reserve, achieving a maximum of 1000 nits in synthetic tests. But how does this perform in real-world scenarios? In scenes such as the opening of Life of Pi or the final sequence from The Meg, the TV is capable of delivering that power on HDR content, reaching around 800 nits. Unfortunately, displaying small light elements on a black background, like in the scene from Sicario 2, presents greater challenges for the X90L – here the results reach around 600 nits. Nevertheless, when looking at competitive models with mini-LED technology, the effect looks very good and can shine enough to impress us. The colour gamut coverage is also noteworthy, with a result of 96% for DCI-P3 and 76% for BT.2020, which indicates good colour reproduction in HDR content.

LG MRGB85 offers moderate brightness. On test patterns it reaches around 700 nits, which is a decent result in itself. In real movie scenes, however, values are lower and most often fall in the 400 to 600 nits range. Bright, wide shots look best. In scenes with large areas of black the TV noticeably reduces luminance, attempting to keep contrast as high as possible. The HDR effect is therefore visible, but it is far from the level offered by more advanced Mini-LED designs. Particularly in darker parts of films, the limitations of the edge-lit backlight and imprecise local dimming become apparent again.

HDR colours

A much stronger suit of the MRGB85 is its colour. The TV covers around 95% of the DCI-P3 colour space and 74% of BT.2020, so HDR content can look vivid and impressive. Colours are well saturated, and the difference compared with basic LCD TVs is clearly noticeable. It is worth noting, however, that this is not a classic RGB backlight, where each of the three primary colours is generated by a separate diode. Red is produced by a PFS phosphor, which expands the palette and achieves more saturated red tones. This solution performs well for colour reproduction, but it does not change the limitations of the local dimming. The diodes are not driven independently in the way the series name might suggest... so it turns out that Mini RGB is not the same as Mini-LED RGB!

The best mode on Sony televisions is the IMAX Enhanced mode. Although IMAX is mainly associated with the cinema experience, the colour reproduction out of the box is average here. In the case of lower quality materials, such as HD – regular television or YouTube – it's worth paying attention to the white balance. It suffers from a shortfall in red and excessive dominance of blue, which gives the image a pinkish hue. The brightness characteristic, or gamma, for HD content is quite acceptable, but a slight boost can cause the image to appear washed out and look as if it’s behind a light fog.

For 4K HDR content, the situation is somewhat different. The white balance shows a significant boost in blue, which makes the image unnaturally sharp and gives it an artificial feel. Such an exaggeration in colour reproduction may not appeal to everyone, especially if one prefers more realistic tones. Additionally, the EOTF curve in Sony X90L looks quite acceptable at first glance. However, at the end of the graph, there are certain fluctuations that suggest the television is trying to maintain the correct brightness to avoid overexposing larger elements.

We tested the TV in Filmmaker Mode because, of the available presets, it produced the image closest to reference. The out-of-the-box colour reproduction wasn’t perfect, though. The biggest deviations were in the white balance, with too much red and not enough blue in the image, so the overall picture shifted noticeably towards warmer tones. Whites took on a slightly yellowish tint, and skin tones and bright areas didn’t always look natural. It wasn’t a fault that ruined the viewing experience, but in a direct comparison with the same panel after calibration the difference was clearly visible.

Sony offers many tools for improving picture quality, including two extra picture modes that we decided to use during testing and apply calibration to. This solution greatly simplifies the calibration process and is very effective, provided you have the right tools. In the case of HD content, white balance was almost perfectly aligned – only one shade of grey exceeds an error value of "1", which is a great result. The same can be said for the brightness characteristic (gamma), which presents almost perfectly, with microscopic deviations of around 0.01.

For 4K HDR content, the situation is not as ideal. Although white balance has been significantly improved, it was not possible to completely eliminate the dominance of blue. Nevertheless, errors in the Colour Checker test only occasionally exceed the value of "2", which means that picture distortions are practically unnoticeable. When it comes to the EOTF curve, it's worth activating the filter in the top right corner "EOTF in Films" – the graph looks correct, but the TV struggles with illuminating very small elements, which is due to the limited number of backlight zones. Despite these minor errors, it's thanks to the calibration that the IMAX Enhanced mode in the Sony X90L makes watching movies feel like a true cinema experience.

Calibration primarily corrected the white balance and removed the previously noticeable warm cast. After the correction, whites no longer had a yellow tint and colours became more neutral and natural. The biggest improvement was seen in SDR material, where the picture looked even and much closer to the reference. A similar effect was achieved in HDR. After calibration the image became more controlled, although not all of the TV’s limitations could be eliminated. The main issue remained intense reds, which were not always reproduced with sufficient precision. In practice the MRGB85 handles everyday SDR content very well, but in more demanding HDR material its limitations are still clearly visible.

The Sony X90L television features a smooth tonal transition function known as Gentle Gradation, which is incredibly effective. Even at the "low" setting, the effects are satisfactory, but at the "medium" setting, it works like a dream – we recommend using this option for the best results. The image scaling on the Sony X90L is simply excellent. The image is not overly sharpened, which gives a natural effect and makes everything look cohesive. It's clear that the engineers have really put effort into this aspect, creating a solution that impresses and performs well in everyday use. This means that even when watching content like regular television or YouTube, where the image is by nature not stunning, you can enjoy a smooth, coherent, and visually pleasing experience.

Upscaling and digital image processing perform quite well in the LG MRGB85. The Alpha 8 AI 4K Gen7 processor efficiently upscales lower-resolution material, and you can easily turn off overscan regardless of the source. The TV also handles compression artefacts well. The "Smooth Gradation" function can effectively reduce visible banding and tonal unevenness, but it isn't always precise. At higher settings it can also smooth out fine details, such as the texture of materials. A plus is that it doesn't remove film grain. The safest option is the "Low" or "Medium" setting, which offers the best compromise between artefact reduction and preserving detail.

Sony X90L with a 120 Hz display is an excellent choice for both gamers and film enthusiasts. The television is equipped with the Motion Flow smoothing feature, which allows for adjusting motion smoothness using two sliders: "smoothness" and "clarity". The "smoothness" slider controls the level of motion fluidity, which affects the reduction of image stuttering, while "clarity" is used to reduce blurriness and enhance motion sharpness, which is especially useful in dynamic scenes.

The LG MRGB85 is fitted with a VA panel with a native 144 Hz refresh rate, so its motion handling is very good. The TV easily handles 120 Hz content from consoles and higher refresh rates when connected to a PC. That matters not only for gaming but also when watching sport, where camera motion is noticeably smoother than on basic 60 Hz panels. There’s also the TruMotion system, which lets you set the level of motion smoothing yourself. You can keep a more cinematic motion or increase smoothness, which works well for live sports and TV programmes. The adjustment range is wide, so you can easily tailor the motion smoothing to your own preferences.

Sony X90L is a TV that performs well in terms of compatibility with consoles and features for gamers. Its 120 Hz panel and two HDMI 2.1 ports with a bandwidth of 48 Gb/s allow for smooth playback of high-resolution games at high frame rates. Gamers can also take advantage of the ALLM feature, which automatically switches the TV to low latency mode, and VRR, which ensures smooth gameplay without frame tearing. The Game Bar is an added bonus – an intuitive tool that provides quick access to essential settings and gaming features, making it easier to control the gameplay.

Unfortunately, when it comes to HDR in games, the Sony X90L has its limitations. It lacks support for HGiG, a standard that many gamers consider crucial for accurate HDR representation in games. While the TV supports Dolby Vision, which theoretically could enhance image quality in games, the practical implementation of this feature is problematic. Dolby Vision in game mode comes with very high input lag, making gameplay less comfortable and precise movements more difficult. Additionally, Dolby Vision cannot be enabled alongside VRR. This means that despite numerous advantages, gamers seeking the perfect HDR in games may feel unsatisfied.

When it comes to gaming, the LG MRGB85 performs by far the best. The manufacturer hasn’t skimped on the kit and has essentially carried over the full suite of features from pricier TVs into this model. You get three HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gb/s bandwidth. Each supports 4K 120 Hz from a console, and when connected to a PC also 4K 144 Hz. So you don’t need to worry which port to plug your console or PC into, as they all offer the same set of capabilities.

On board you’ll also find VRR, AMD FreeSync Premium, NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible, ALLM and HGiG. Dolby Vision Gaming is included too, allowing supported games to use high refresh rates and dynamic HDR simultaneously on Xbox. Rounding it off is Game Optimizer, a handy in-game menu. Without leaving the game you can change the picture profile, brighten shadow detail or check the current frame rate. In terms of gaming features, the MRGB85 therefore offers almost the same as significantly more expensive LG models.