The 4 Best OLED TVs – Summer 2023: Reviews
- Table of Contents
- Intro
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Best TV
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Best Living Room
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Best Mid-Range
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Best Budget
- Notable Mentions
- Recent Updates
- All Reviews
- Discussions
Updated Jun 29, 2023 at 10:30 am
By Pierre-Olivier Jourdenais
By the very nature of the technology, all TVs on this list have much in common, regardless of price point. Even entry-level OLED TVs deliver fantastic dark room performance, with deep inky blacks and no distracting blooming around bright objects in dark scenes. New technologies like QD-OLED and MLA (Micro Lens Array) are starting to set the high-end models apart, with more vibrant colors and brighter highlights.
Note: Remember that we only buy and test products available in the United States. While this list is relevant regardless of your region, a few popular models from Panasonic and Philips aren’t available in the US, so we haven’t tested them.
We’ve bought and tested more than 45 TVs that use an OLED panel, and below are our recommendations for the best OLED 4k TVs you can buy in the US that we’ve tested. See our picks for the best TVs, the best TVs for Xbox One Series X, and the best TVs for PS5. Brands have started releasing their 2023 lineups, so vote on which ones you want us to buy and test. To learn more about the 2023 models, check out our 2023 TV lineup page.
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Best OLED TV
LG G3 OLED
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Mixed Usage
9.1
TV Shows
8.8
Sports
9.0
Video Games
9.
4HDR Movies
9.1
HDR Gaming
9.1
PC Monitor
9.5
Type
OLED
Sub-Type
WOLED
Resolution
4k
Sizes
55″ 65″ 77″ 83″See all our test results
The LG G3 OLED is the best OLED TV we’ve tested, especially if you want to upgrade your home theater experience. It stands out from the other OLED TVs on this list thanks to its Micro Lens Array (MLA) layer, which acts as a focusing lens to enhance the brightness of the TV’s WOLED panel, making it very bright indeed. It has many additional features, like support for every variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all its HDMI ports, and very low input lag for super responsive gaming.
What makes this a home theater standout is its support of Dolby Vision HDR, allowing it to deliver an incredibly immersive movie-watching experience that perfectly recreates the content creator’s intention. It also supports a wider range of advanced audio codecs, including DTS:X, one of the most widely used audio formats on UHD Blu-ray discs, ensuring you’ll get the best audio experience possible when connected to a compatible A/V receiver or soundbar.
See our review
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Best Living Room OLED TV
Samsung S95B OLED
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Mixed Usage
9.1
Movies
9.4
TV Shows
8.
8Sports
9.0
Video Games
9.3
HDR Movies
9.0
HDR Gaming
9.3
PC Monitor
9.7
Type
OLED
Sub-Type
QD-OLED
Resolution
4k
Sizes
55″ 65″See all our test results
If you’re looking for a new TV for a bright living room and don’t care about advanced home theater features, check out the Samsung S95B OLED. It’s very similar to the Sony A95K OLED and very close in performance to the LG G3 OLED. Still, you’re losing out on a few advanced features like Dolby Vision HDR support, so some movies don’t look quite as good, as well as advanced audio features like DTS:X, so it’s a bit more complicated if you want to take full advantage of a home theater receiver and surround sound.
What you lose in features, you gain in price: the S95B is significantly cheaper than the A95K or the G3.Like all OLED TVs on this list, it delivers fantastic picture quality, with deep, inky blacks and no distracting haloing or blooming around bright areas in otherwise dark scenes. What stands out most, however, is its color performance. It displays a wider color gamut than WOLED displays like LG’s OLEDs and some of Sony’s. The colors are much brighter and more vibrant, delivering a more realistic viewing experience. It’s been replaced in 2023 by the Samsung S95C OLED, which is almost as bright as the G3, and while the S95C is certainly one of the best OLED 4k TVs you can get, it isn’t currently worth the price difference over its predecessor. As the price decreases, it’ll eventually become the better buy, but for now, get the 2022 model.
See our review
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Best Mid-Range OLED TV
LG C2 OLED
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Mixed Usage
8.
8TV Shows
8.4
Sports
8.6
Video Games
9.3
HDR Movies
8.8
HDR Gaming
9.0
PC Monitor
9.3
Type
OLED
Sub-Type
WOLED
Resolution
4k
Sizes
42″ 48″ 55″ 65″ 77″ 83″See all our test results
The LG C2 OLED is the best mid-range OLED TV we’ve tested. Although all OLEDs deliver similar fantastic picture quality, this one stands out for its value with its many gaming-oriented features.
It provides the same stunning picture quality as other OLEDs in dark rooms, with perfect blacks and no blooming around bright objects. However, it uses a different OLED panel than the Samsung S95B OLED or Sony A95K OLED, so it’s not as bright in HDR, and its colors aren’t as vivid. On the other hand, it’s available in a wider range of sizes than the S95B, up to an impressive 83-inch size.It’s an amazing TV for gaming thanks to its nearly-instantaneous response time, low input lag, and a great selection of gaming features. It supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four inputs, meaning you can take full advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s capabilities with 4k @ 120 fps gaming. It has native FreeSync, HDMI Forum VRR support, and G-SYNC compatibility to reduce screen tearing. It uses LG’s webOS, a user-friendly smart platform with many apps available to download. As with the LG G3 OLED, it’s a very versatile TV, although it doesn’t have that TV’s DTS audio format support. If you want that feature, you can check out the LG C3 OLED, which has DTS and is marginally brighter than the C2 while being more expensive.
See our review
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Best Budget OLED TV
LG A2 OLED
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Mixed Usage
8.6
Movies
9.1
TV Shows
8.3
Sports
8.3
Video Games
8.8
HDR Movies
8.4
HDR Gaming
8.8
PC Monitor
8.
8Type
OLED
Sub-Type
WOLED
Resolution
4k
Sizes
48″ 55″ 65″ 77″See all our test results
No OLED TVs are available at a budget price point, but the LG A2 OLED is as close as possible. It’s a great choice if you want to experience the impressive picture quality that OLED TVs deliver but don’t care about the gaming features of the LG C2 OLED. It still provides stunning picture quality in a dark room, with deep, inky blacks that look perfect in the dark, with no distracting blooming around bright highlights in dark scenes.
Its incredibly low input lag and nearly instantaneous response time make it excellent for gaming; you’ll enjoy a smooth, responsive experience with little blur behind fast-moving objects. It’s limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, so it can’t take advantage of the high frame rates supported by the new-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, but it’s a great choice if you prefer the ‘Graphics’ mode of your favorite games.
See our review
4
8
What you lose in features, you gain in price: the S95B is significantly cheaper than the A95K or the G3.
8
It provides the same stunning picture quality as other OLEDs in dark rooms, with perfect blacks and no blooming around bright objects. However, it uses a different OLED panel than the Samsung S95B OLED or Sony A95K OLED, so it’s not as bright in HDR, and its colors aren’t as vivid. On the other hand, it’s available in a wider range of sizes than the S95B, up to an impressive 83-inch size.
8
Notable Mentions
- LG G2 OLED:
The LG G2 OLED is a fantastic TV available in an even wider range of sizes than the LG C2 OLED, up to a massive 97-inch model, and it’s brighter. It’s also a lot more expensive due to its gallery design, which is meant to be wall-mounted with the included mounting bracket. It’s not as versatile, though, and it’s not worth the price difference for most people.
See our review - Sony A95K OLED:
The Sony A95K OLED delivers image quality that’s almost identical to the Samsung S95B OLED, but it also supports advanced home theater features like Dolby Vision HDR and DTS:X. However, it has worse input lag, so it’s worse for gaming, and it’s currently more expensive and harder to find, so we recommend the Samsung TV over it. For home theater fans, it has much better processing than the LG G3 OLED, so if that’s your primary interest, the Sony is a better buy.
See our review - LG B2 OLED:
The LG B2 OLED is a fantastic buy, especially its 55″ and 77″ models, which are much cheaper than the corresponding sizes on the LG C2 OLED. It has most of the C2’s features and is almost as bright, although it has only two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth ports and slightly worse processing than its bigger sibling.
See our review - Samsung S90C OLED:
The 55″ and 65″ Samsung S90C OLED is a repackaged Samsung S95B OLED with official 4k @ 144Hz support and the 2023 version of Tizen OS. Its 77″ size has a second-generation QD-OLED panel, which is a bit brighter than the one in the S95B. Overall, the S90C is much more expensive than the S95B and isn’t worth the added cost for most people.
See our review
Recent Updates
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Jun 29, 2023:
Added the Samsung S90C OLED and LG B2 OLED to the Notable Mentions and refreshed the text for consistency and accuracy.
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May 23, 2023:
Replaced the Sony A95K OLED with the LG G3 OLED as our pick for best OLED TV, added the Sony A95K OLED as a Notable Mention, and refreshed the text. -
Mar 27, 2023:
Verified our picks for accuracy and refreshed the text throughout. Added a mention of the Samsung S95C OLED. -
Feb 13, 2023:
Moved the Sony A95K OLED to the top position in the article. Refreshed the text throughout for clarity and to better reflect current market conditions. -
Jan 12, 2023:
Verified our picks for accuracy and consistency, and refreshed the text.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best OLED TVs available in the United States for most people. We factor in the price (a cheaper TV wins over a pricier one if the difference isn’t worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no TVs that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere, and we only test those available in the U.S.).
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our reviews of OLED TVs. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no TV is perfect, most TVs are great enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.
LG G2 OLED (OLED65G2) review
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LG’s top-tier 4K OLED TV turns up the lights
Best in Class
(Image: © Future)
TechRadar Verdict
Having made its high-end G series of OLED TVs relevant again in 2021 by giving them a clear picture advantage over the ever-popular C series, LG has repeated the trick – with knobs on – with 2022’s G2 range.
The G2 OLED’s big story is that it takes the latest (WRGB-type) ‘Evo’ OLED panel and adds in a new heat sink element not present in 2021’s G1 series. This might sound like a mere technicality on paper, but it actually allows LG to bring enough extra brightness to the table to take OLED picture quality to places we once never imagined it would be able to go.
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Gorgeously bright, vibrant pictures
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Beautiful premium design
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Outstanding gaming support
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One-minute review
The new LG G2 OLED is full of surprises – all of them positive. As soon as you get the G2 out of its box you can see that LG has moved the dial on from previous G-series generations. The old black, chamfered-edge ‘Gallery’ design has been replaced with a much cooler, much more outwardly opulent ‘two layer’ design that finds the main layer clad in a seriously strokable silver metallic finish.
What’s inside this fancy new design is also unexpected. For alongside LG’s latest brightness-enhancing Evo OLED panel is a new heat sink element designed to help the TV reach new brightness heights LG’s OLED standards.
There’s a new processor, too, designed to unlock the full capabilities of this new OLED breed, while LG’s webOS smart platform gets a host of new features instead of the usual small evolutions. Even the G2 OLED’s sound suddenly and unexpectedly fixes a couple of big problems that have plagued previous LG G1 OLED.
The best surprise of all, though, is the way the OLED65G2 uses its extra brightness to make pretty much every frame of any source you care to mention look even more sublime than it has on any LG OLED before.
We’ve been taking a closer look at this new range-topper, which boasts a number of interesting improvements over the less-expensive LG C2 OLED, and can now say that it’s a formidable competitor to incoming QD-OLED (Quantum Dot OLED) models like the Sony A95K QD-OLED TV and Samsung S95B range.
Read on to learn exactly how this year’s G-Series screen differs from last year’s model, and what sets it apart from its red-hot rivals…
- LG G2 OLED (55-inch Silver) at Amazon for $1,496.99
LG G2 OLED price and release date
The G2 range of OLEDs represent LGs flagship 4K TVs for 2022. They cost around £600 or so more than their same sized equivalents in the step-down C2 series – though if you want to place them on a stand rather than hang them on a wall you’ll have to add a couple of hundred pounds or so extra for the optional desktop stand.
The G2s do, though, ship with a flush wall mount and installation kit, so if you definitely want to wall hang your TV then the G2 saves you from having to buy an optional wall mounting set up like you would for most other TVs – including LG’s own more affordable C2 range.
The G2 OLED’s pricing makes it very much a premium TV range, sitting in the same ballpark as the mini LED-based Samsung QN95B and OLED-based Sony A90J/A80K series.
The OLED65G2s are available on a global basis, and will all feature the same fundamental features, design and picture quality in every territory. Depending on where you live, the OLED55G2 has a retail of $2,199 / €2,500 (approximately £2,081, AU$3,668).The OLED65G2 comes in at $2,999 / €3,600, (approximately £2,996, AU$5298). Finally, the OLED77G2 sits at $3,999 / €6,000 (around £5,000, AU$9160).
If you want anything bigger, you’ll need the OLED83G2 that’s priced at $6,499 / €9,000 (around £7,500, AU$13,740). There’s been no pricing details yet for the giant 97-inch G2, but let’s assume it’ll not be heading for the bargain aisles anytime soon.
All models were released in late March or April 2022.
(Image credit: Future)
- 65-inch WRGB OLED screen
- New Gallery design
- Optimized for wall hanging
Although the OLED65G2 shares the same ‘Gallery’ design name as its GX and G1 predecessors, it actually looks completely different: gone is the dark frame and chamfered edges, in is a nifty two-layer effect where a thin black rear ‘slab’ sits proud of and slightly narrower than a chunkier front tier housing the screen that’s encased in a very fetching and opulent-looking silver metal coat.
The results look sleeker, cleaner, and – crucially! – like they cost a lot of money. Suddenly the previously attractive G1 series looks rather ordinary.
If you’re thinking of plonking – or rather, very carefully placing – the G2 on a piece of furniture, it’s worth noting that LG’s robust, centrally mounted stand option costs extra. Though, it’s nice to find that LG has at least done a proper design job on it this year – no more are you expected to make do with a couple of spindly legs like you had to with 2021’s G1s.
The minimalist elegance and wall-hanging preference of the OLED65G2 had us thinking that it might not be a bad idea if LG shipped future generations with an external connections box. Having cables hanging out of a TV this pristine feels almost criminal. Though I guess decent DIYers could always channel all their cables into a wall with some help of an installer.
The quality of the G2 OLED’s connections is beyond reproach. In particular, all four of its HDMI ports are capable of handling the maximum 48Gbps of data supported by the HDMI 2.
1 standard. This means that hardcore video gamers could simultaneously attach an Xbox Series X, PS5 and cutting-edge PC graphics rig to enjoy full-fat 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates and automatic low latency mode switching from all of them. That, plus you’ll still have one HDMI left for adding a 4K Blu-ray player or streaming box.
The G2 OLED’s seriously distinctive design package is rounded out by one of LG’s Magic remote control handsets. These are nicely weighted and balanced, but their biggest innovations by far are its spinning wheel control for making it easier to whizz up and down long submenus, and the way they let you select onscreen options just by pointing the handset at the right part of the screen and hitting ‘Select’.
The point and click feature can be a little fiddly to use with some menus, but you get better at it the more you use it.
LG G2 OLED review: smart TV (webOS 22)
- Carries most major streaming services
- Introduces profiles and family settings
- Now named after its year of introduction
The G2 OLED’s smart system is called webOS 22.
.. which comes as a bit of a shock considering last year’s was called webOS 6.0. Has LG somehow brought back a webOS version from 16 years in the future? Sadly not. Rather more prosaically the brand has decided to start numbering webOS iterations in line with the year they first appeared.
WebOS 22 doesn’t radically re-invent the whole webOS interface again. It does, though, introduce some useful new features. The best one is support for profiles, so that different family members can set up their own home screen preferences and have the TV recommend content based on just their viewing history.
Also handy, though, especially now LG is encouraging more family engagement with webOS, are new Family Settings that let you monitor and limit screen time, as well as call in volume limit and eye care settings.
Another new feature that took a bit of getting used to but which we ultimately ended up using pretty much all the time was Always Ready. This lets you keep the set running in a number of ‘laid back’ scenarios rather than just turning it off when you’re not actually watching it.
So, for instance, you can leave digital artworks playing on the screen, or have the screen show weather and news reports, while leaving the TV’s voice recognition features active so that you can talk to it and get it to deliver features – even streaming music – much like you would a regular Alexa device.
(Image credit: Future)
LG G2 OLED review: picture quality
- Extra brightness boost
- Brilliant color and contrast
- Improved motion, clarity and upscaling
While ‘adding a heat sink’ might not sound particularly exciting on paper, in the flesh it turns out to be pretty much revolutionary.
To anyone familiar with LG’s OLED TVs over the years, the impact made by the extra brightness the heat sink unlocks is instantly obvious in at least four different ways. Perhaps the most impressive of which is how much extra brightness the G2 OLED finds for HDR images that fill the screen with bright content.
This helps them look more lifelike, more intense, and more three-dimensional.
This clearly noticeable increase in a light image’s median brightness holds good for all sorts of bright content too, be it a naturally lit desert scene or an internal or external scene lit using the gaudiest of artificial lights.
The G2’s heat sink-inspired punch makes a difference, too, in the brightest peaks of HDR pictures. These highlights of an HDR image – candles fluttering on a background window ledge, direct sunlight reflecting off a car windscreen, pure white text on a dark backdrop and so on – might be much smaller and less consistently visible than the full screen brightness increase we’ve just talked about, but they are no less important to a convincing HDR experience. And the extra intensity the G2 gets out of them with the heat sink on hand to dissipate what might otherwise be panel-damaging brightness in such punchy areas is spectacular.
Despite the new intensity extremes the OLED65G2 hits by LG OLED standards, the newly ramped up HDR highlights typically avoid clipping – that is, the loss of subtle shading details.
In fact, it suffers less with clipping than any other LG OLED TV to date.
An early UK demo of the TV in action had suggested that its extra brightness might come at the expense of some color richness and vibrancy. Happily, though, the finished OLED65G2s show no such color issues. On the contrary, the extra brightness gives colors more volume and punch, regardless of whether you’re talking about a very vibrant, rich tone, or a subtle, mild one.
As if all these benefits of the OLED65G2’s new brightness kick weren’t already tempting enough, its pictures also look slightly more detailed, especially with native 4K HDR sources, than those of any previous LG OLED. Or this year’s new C2 series. This must be a result, we assume, of the way the extra light range of the new premium TV in combination with OLED’s natural pixel-level light controls enables it to add more emphasis to small light and contrast changes.
(Image credit: John Archer)
In fact, if anything the OLED65G2 handles dark scenes and dark picture areas even better than previous LG OLED generations.
They look less noisy, they typically contain slightly more shadow detail, and they almost completely avoid the flickering instability during very dark scenes that very occasionally crops up with older LG OLEDs.
The quality of the OLED65G2’s black tone reproduction merely enhances the impact of its extra brightness, making OLED’s peerless local contrast capabilities all the more starkly beautiful.
LG’s new Alpha 9 Gen 5 process delivers a few extra improvements to LG’s picture quality for good measure. Upscaling of sub-4K sources is much better, for one thing. LG has actually removed a step from its upscaling system after finding that it could add noise to upscaled pictures, and the results really do look remarkably more polished and sharp.
Motion handling is also much more sophisticated, with both LG’s Cinematic Movement and default Natural motion settings now able to gently massage away excess judder while generating far fewer distracting unwanted processing ‘glitches’.
The G2’s stunning picture talents apply at least as obviously when you’re gaming, too, as they do with TVs and movies. The set also takes just 9.4ms to produce received image data on its screen.
Problems with the OLED65G2’s pictures are as rare as hen’s teeth. Oddly our sample showed signs of mild shadow detail loss and brightness fluctuations in Dolby Atmos mode that didn’t show up in regular HDR10 mode.
There’s no support for the HDR10+ mode developed as a rival for Dolby Vision, either, and as always when we’re talking about OLED technology, we’re duty bound to point out that some top-price LCD TVs – including a few of LG’s own models – can reach brightness levels much higher than that achieved by even the G2. For instance, while the OLED65G2 manages to hit around 1000 nits in its Vivid mode (up around 15% on LG’s previous LG OLEDs), Samsung’s mini LED 65QN95B gets up close to 3000 nits in its Dynamic preset.
For many home cinema fans, though, the OLED65G2’s immaculate black levels and the precision you get from being able to put a picture’s brightest and darkest pixels side by side without compromise will still be enormously persuasive./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22873299/cfaulkner_210921_4751_0001.jpg)
(Image credit: Future)
LG G2 OLED review: audio performance
Although it’s still not up there with the best TV sound performers, the G2 OLED is a handy improvement sonically over the past few LG TV generations.
For one thing, its 60W, 4.2 speaker system manages to project sound over a wider area while also delivering more well-positioned detailing than its predecessor. It can go louder without distorting, too, and holds on to a more dynamic sound stage, with greater range between its highest treble and deepest bass sounds. The new speakers are much less likely to generate buzzing or crackling than those of its predecessor, too.
Maybe the single best improvement, though, is how much powerful and dynamic Dolby Atmos movie soundtracks get than they have for the past few LG OLED generations. Particularly welcome is a new resistance to the sound slipping down a gear in density and power, as happened on the OLED65G1, just when a Dolby Atmos track most wants a sound system to shift up.
LG’s AI Sound Pro processor still delivers more aggression and room-filling power even with Dolby Atmos sources than the G2’s Dolby Atmos mode does. Now, though, the Dolby Atmos mode does at least have a few sound placement strengths of its own, giving you a genuine choice over which sound mode you prefer.
The last feature worth mentioning here is the new 7.1.2 upmixing of lower-channel sources – even basic stereo – made possible by the TV’s new Alpha 9 Generation 5 processor. While we struggled to make out every one of those 7.1.2 channels, we had no trouble appreciating how intelligently the processing remixes the source audio for more channels, and how much more immersive, large and detailed the resulting sound stage becomes.
(Image credit: Future)
Should you buy the LG G2 OLED 4K TV?
Buy it if…
You want the best picture quality, and don’t mind paying for it
If you simply have to have the very best picture quality LG OLED – maybe any OLED TV, period – has ever produced, your buck needs to stop with the the G2 range.
You love gaming as well as movies
As well as its brighter pictures being well suited to video game sources, the G2 handles all the very latest gaming features brilliantly – across all four HDMI ports.
You want to wall hang your TV
The G2 OLED’s ultra-slim design and supplied flush-fit mount make it unusually well-suited to wall mounting.
Don’t buy it if…
You think the OLEDC2 range might be good enough
While the G2 OLED delivers consistently better picture quality than the improved midrange LG OLEDC2s, if money’s tight you may feel the extent of the difference isn’t enough to justify the price difference – we certainly wouldn’t blame you.
You don’t want to wall mount your TV
Just be careful: the G2 only ships with a wall mount, with the optional desktop mount adding hundreds more to the asking price.
You want HDR10+ support
While some rival TVs these days support both of the premium HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats, LG still only supports Dolby Vision.
LG G2 OLED: Price Comparison
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John has been writing about home entertainment technology for more than two decades – an especially impressive feat considering he still claims to only be 35 years old (yeah, right). In that time he’s reviewed hundreds if not thousands of TVs, projectors and speakers, and spent frankly far too long sitting by himself in a dark room.
LG is preparing a mass recall of its smart TVs in Russia due to a dangerous defect
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LG is about to recall over 4,000 of its OLED smart TVs for repairs. The program covers 14 TV models released between 2016 and 2019gg.
– their power boards are prone to overheating, which can lead to TV failure. Repairs will be carried out at the expense of the company – for consumers it will be free.
LG Hot TVs
LG is going to conduct a massive recall of its OLED TVs in Russia, released between 2016 and 2019. inclusive. This was announced by Rosstandart – on its website it is indicated that the program affects only models with screens based on OLED panels.
A total of 4,009 TVs are subject to the recall: smart TVs with OLED screens, differing, in addition to years of production, in diagonal. In total, the list includes 13 models with displays of 65 and 75 inches – three samples each in 2016, 2018 and 2019. and five – 2017
The description of the defect says that in some LG TVs of 2016 and 2017. cases of overheating were noted, causing damage not only to the power board but also to the back cover of the case.
According to LG, there has not yet been a single such complaint from users in Russia, but it decided to conduct a recall campaign anyway and include even those models in which the defect has not yet manifested itself.
How the repair will be carried out
According to LG, as part of the new recall campaign, specialists will not repair the power boards already installed in the company’s OLED TVs. Instead, they will simply replace them with new ones that are known to be good. What exactly can cause overheating of old boards, the company does not report, but clarifies that the detected defect does not provoke the spread of flame or fire outside the TV. The company’s website also says that “power supply boards contain elements that reduce the noise of electric current circuits inside the power supply board.”
List of LG OLED TV models for recall
| Year of manufacture | Model |
|---|---|
| 2016 | OLED65E6, OLED65G6, OLED77G6 |
| 2017 | OLED65C7, OLED65E7, OLED65G7, OLED65W7, OLED77G7 |
| 2018 | OLED65W8, OLED77C8, OLED77W8 |
| 2019 | OLED65W9, OLED77C9, OLED77W9 |
Source: LG
Users whose TVs are included in the recall program will be notified about this by a pop-up window on the TV screen when connected to the Internet.
You can also find out the TV model yourself and compare it with the list of models for review – you can find out the number in the instructions for the TV, or you can find it on a sticker on the back of the TV.
Model number on the back of LG Smart TV
Another way is to go to the settings menu on the TV, then select the “General” tab and go to the “TV Details” item. You will then need to contact LG Customer Support to apply for the recall campaign.
What to do if you lose access to key IT systems?
Repairs, according to Rosstandart, will be carried out free of charge – LG will cover all expenses. But the company does not specify where exactly the power board will be replaced – at the LG service center or directly at the user’s home.
You can find out the TV model directly in its menu
In addition, LG does not disclose the timing of the recall campaign and does not tell how to deal with users who have bought a TV with a power board prone to overheating, if there is no LG service center in their locality.
The fate of “gray” TVs LG
LG and Rosstandart do not specify whether the so-called “gray” TVs of this brand will participate in the recall program – TVs purchased by consumers abroad privately and specifically for themselves. This category also includes televisions that are massively imported into the country by sellers without first obtaining the necessary permits.
Such a scheme for buying equipment, not only TVs, is common in Russia, since it allows you to purchase this or that device much cheaper than in official Russian retail. As a result, in Russia there may be a number of “gray” TVs from the recall list, and it is not clear whether they are subject to repair or not.
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Meanwhile, LG is known for its negative attitude towards the import of its TV into Russia under “gray” schemes. Back in October 2020, it became known about the company’s plans to block smart functions on its smart TVs that arrived in Russia through unofficial channels.
At that time, LG did not disclose the exact update schedule for specific TV models – it was only known that it planned to start distributing the “dangerous” update on November 16, 2020. At the same time, LG’s website says that this schedule “may be changed depending on depending on the circumstances of the company, and the update details may differ depending on the model and country.
In this regard, LG did exactly the same as another Korean company – Samsung. It began blocking smart features on its gray TVs in Russia at the end of January 2020, resulting in a flood of consumer complaints. She responded to them with an official statement published on the website of her Russian representative office on February 6, 2020. It says that “the blocking affected the functions of devices that were produced for use on the territory of other states or regions. Locked features could not be accessed on such devices without performing manipulations to change the factory settings (for example, unlocking or flashing).
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What are OLED displays and is it really a breakthrough in the screen market?0113
- how OLED displays work;
- how OLED differs from LED and LCD;
- why OLED shows better than plasma;
- OLED or IPS: what to choose;
- OLED vs AMOLED: what’s the difference;
- OLED or QLED: pros and cons;
- trends in the display market in the coming years.
How OLEDs work
OLEDs are organic light-emitting diodes that emit light on their own when an electric current is passed through them. In English, this abbreviation stands for Organic Light Emitting Diod.
If translated into Russian, light-emitting organic displays will be obtained. Organic doesn’t mean “alive”.
Here organic means carbon-containing polymers that phosphoresce when current is passed through them. Moreover, they glow the brighter, the more current is applied to them. If no current is applied at all, there will be no glow.
OLED technology has surpassed LCD and LED in many ways. Until recently, matrixes based on organic light-emitting diodes were found only in smartphones and TVs. In 2020, the release of laptops with OLED displays was launched by ASUS.
Photo: ASUS
How OLED differs from LED and LCD
- The key difference between OLED screens and the more common LCD options is that LCD or LED require an external backlight . Such displays consist of multiple layers, resulting in the thickness of the devices being increased.
Actually, these layers are needed, among other things, in order to accommodate the backlight: to minimize the volume, it is customary to place it on the sides. In simpler versions, the entire LCD screen glows: in fact, the screen turns into one large lamp that shines directly into the user’s eyes.
OLED screens do not require such a backlight: as soon as current is applied to the device, the desired diodes begin to glow without additional stimulation. “Necessary” is the defining word when describing OLED technology.
Because LCDs and LEDs do not light individual pixels, but the backlight under groups of pixels, even a crystal black screen will be a bit overexposed – “grayish”. In OLED, only those pixels (diodes) that they should glow. As a result, the contrast ratio of OLED displays can reach a million to one, while LED options offer a thousand to one.
- Device weight. If LED displays need to fit all the “stuffing” inside, then there are fewer layers in OLED. Therefore, they are lighter and thinner. This parameter is especially important for large wall-mounted TVs and laptops: lighter laptops are easier to carry around. And lightweight wall-mounted TV screens are easier to mount on the wall.
- Energy consumption. LCD and LED screens consume electricity all the time, because the backlight is needed every second of operation. OLED allows you to spend less watts.
- Screen can be bent. Forming an OLED display from thousands of small diodes allows you to give it any shape: for example, a semicircle in the case of large TVs. Smartphone manufacturers put an OLED screen on the edges of the phones – it turns out that the display seems to “fit” on the side edges of the phone.
- There is another property that distinguishes OLED from the previous generation of liquid crystal displays: diode response speed. True, you can notice the absence of delays on OLED displays only when watching sports broadcasts or fight scenes in action movies, where the picture changes very quickly.
LCD and LED screens consume electricity all the time, because the backlight is needed every second of operation. OLED allows you to spend less watts. Most modern gadgets, be it TVs, laptops or smartphones, are equipped with LED screens. But in the premium segment, OLED has already won: such displays are put on the most advanced models.
LCD and OLED color reproduction
(Photo: ASUS)
“The process of developing display technology is not fast in itself. As practice shows, 30-40 years pass from the moment of creation to mass use,” said Vlad Zakharov, Marketing Director of ASUS in Russia, the CIS and the Baltic States. “Mass distribution of OLED technology is happening at the moment: in the next few years everyone will be talking about OLED.”
Why OLED shows clearer than plasma
In the mid-2000s, plasma screens already had an alternative to standard LCDs. Ten years ago, they produced sharper images than LCDs and were considered breakthrough technology. In 2014, history came to a standstill: manufacturers considered the development of plasma screens unprofitable and stopped producing all such devices.
Plasma TVs can now be bought second-hand, as some still believe that plasma screens still offer the best picture quality.
In fact, liquid crystal displays have come a long way, and even modern LCD screens have surpassed plasma screens.
Image quality difference between LCD and OLED displays
(Photo: ASUS)
It’s all about pixel size. The smaller it is, the more resolution an arbitrarily small screen can get. Plasma display technology implies a certain pixel size, which, with all desire, cannot be reduced. This is invisible in giant wall-to-wall screens, but becomes critical when choosing a compact TV or laptop.
The reason is that each pixel in plasma screens is a section of a tube into which an inert gas is pumped. This gas is in the fourth state of aggregation – plasma – hence the name. Such tubes need to be compactly placed under the display surface. It turns out that in small sizes, plasma screens cannot produce such a clear image as OLED and even LCD displays of the 2020s – the “plasma” has a larger pixel.
OLED or IPS: what to choose
IPS is not an alternative technology but a type of LCD matrix. In fact, all IPS displays are the same LED screens that scatter incoming light, while OLED screens emit light.
Color rendering of LCD and OLED displays at the same brightness level
(Photo: ASUS)
Benefits of OLED vs. IPS:
- OLED screens are usually thinner and lighter than IPS;
- OLED contrast can be several orders of magnitude higher than IPS;
- OLED uses less electricity than IPS devices;
- all IPS screens are strictly flat. OLED can be made both flat and curved;
- in OLED, the pixels are located closer to the screen, so the image is less distorted at an angle than on IPS displays.
Disadvantages of OLED versus IPS
- Service life. Each pixel has a certain duration of operation, and if each one glows on its own, sooner or later burnout will occur. Of course, IPS also does not last forever, but with a comparable intensity of use, IPS should last longer.
Each pixel has a certain duration of operation, and if each one glows on its own, sooner or later burnout will occur. Of course, IPS also does not last forever, but with a comparable intensity of use, IPS should last longer. Some manufacturers have figured out how to get around this limitation. “For OLED displays, it is not recommended to use a static image of elements for a long period of time – this will help to avoid the problem of fading,” says Vlad Zakharov. – From our side, all OLED laptops will have a black screensaver with animation in the form of soap bubbles pre-installed. This will protect the screen when the laptop is not in use.”
- Effects on vision. People with high pupil sensitivity may notice flickering of the OLED. This flickering is caused by a higher frame rate: pixels go out and on more often, and it becomes difficult for the eyes to perceive it. Eye fatigue does not occur for every owner of an OLED device, but it is still worth remembering when choosing between IPS and OLED.
Photo: ASUS
OLED and AMOLED: what’s the difference
AMOLED is the top variant of OLED displays. If OLED is a whole class, then AMOLED is a subspecies ideal for touchscreens. The peculiarity of AMOLED is that an additional layer is added to the standard layers of an OLED display: an active matrix of thin-film transistors is almost the same as in IPS displays. So, AMOLED combines the advantages of IPS and classic OLED.
A layer of transistors allows you to “remember” the information that is necessary to maintain pixel compatibility. As a result, image clarity is improved. A side effect is the thickening of the screen, as well as the risk of depressurization: if the AMOLED transistor layer “peels off” from the main OLED display, the screen will quickly lose all color rendering capabilities.
AMOLED “at maximum speed” is SuperAMOLED. Here, an active matrix of silicon transistors is connected to the rest of the display layers, and depressurization is not terrible.
Therefore, if there is a choice between OLED and AMOLED, then the second option will give a win in picture quality, but the first will avoid the risk of sudden fading. If you need to choose between OLED and SuperAMOLED, then the latter option is preferable.
OLED or QLED: pros and cons
QLED are displays based on quantum dots, that is, on ultra-small charge carriers a few nanometers in size. QLED is considered to be the next step in the evolution of displays due to an even more noticeable reduction in pixel size, and with it an increased image clarity.
At the same time, in the currently existing displays, which are positioned as QLED, quantum dots are used exclusively for backlighting. They do not generate an image on their own. This means that commercially available QLED devices are just high-quality images without a real breakthrough in technology. A good alternative for OLED, but nothing more.
A full-fledged QLED TV or QLED laptop still does not exist.
Research in the field of quantum dots has been conducted since the 1990s, but no one has yet released a ready-to-sell product with such a display.
Giant companies are investing billions of dollars in this area and are announcing true QLED screens by the mid-2020s. In 2011, Samsung showed a prototype of a four-inch QLED display. Whether engineers will be able to bring this technology to mind is still unclear.
Trends in the display market in the coming years
- Replacing LED displays with more modern OLED displays. Only the price stops mass updating: as of 2021, OLEDs are more expensive. But the rapid development of this technology and the opening of new factories will inevitably lead to cheaper prices – the only question is timing.
- Capturing the top price bracket with even better screens like TOLED. These are transparent screens that make it easy to see the image even in very bright light.
- Augmented reality. The absolute transparency of TOLED-displays will allow you to mount them directly on the windows or windshields of cars and, if necessary, display pop-up tips for the driver when driving on the road. The technology could also be adapted for helmets: a boon for motorcyclists, pilots and professional racers.
- microLED technology. “This technology aims to solve a major drawback of current OLED panels: OLED burn-in. In microLED technology, the organic light-emitting diode has been replaced with a microscopic gallium nitride LED, which is able to work much longer and is not subject to fading. For the next ten years, the main task for microLED developers is to achieve a qualitatively new approach to soldering microscopic LEDs, so that an increase in the number of pixels per inch becomes possible. Accordingly, in terms of the quality of the display structure, microLED will be able to catch up with OLED. Over time, the cost of microLED production will decrease so much that the technology will compete with OLED panels,” said Vlad Zakharov.
The absolute transparency of TOLED-displays will allow you to mount them directly on the windows or windshields of cars and, if necessary, display pop-up tips for the driver when driving on the road. The technology could also be adapted for helmets: a boon for motorcyclists, pilots and professional racers. 