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.
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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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Pros
- +
Gorgeously bright, vibrant pictures
- +
Beautiful premium design
- +
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.
(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 C3 review of the most advanced TV of 2023
At the very beginning of 2023, LG introduced its new line of OLED TVs. Among the new models is the successor to one of the most popular OLED TVs of last year, the LG C3. In this review, we will try to figure out how the new device differs from last year’s C2, what new technologies LG has introduced into the new series, and decide whether the LG C3 is worth the attention of buyers.
Appearance
Externally, the new series of TVs is practically no different from its predecessor LG C2.
The TV still has ultra-thin bezels and a composite back panel. The hull material has been lightened by the use of lightweight carbon fiber. This will allow the new device to feel more confident when mounted on the wall and stay more stable on the stand.
The design of the stand has also not changed much, however, it is now slightly narrower than that of the C2. In addition, the C3 stand has an additional option in the form of a special bracket for mounting the SC9 soundbar.S Dolby Atmos. This solution allows you to rotate the TV panel along with the soundbar, which perfectly matches the design of the TV itself and together they look like a single device.
Speaking of the stand, it’s impossible not to notice that the 42″ model has a drastically different stand. Instead of the metal rectangle familiar to the series, engineers have provided legs that make the LG OLED42C3 a more convenient device for gaming. This solution allows you to raise the TV panel higher, which will allow you to place all the necessary computer peripherals or a game console in front of it and use it as a monitor.
New Processor
LG Electronics has not been stingy with installing the same processor in the C3 as used in their flagship model, the Alpha 9 Gen6. Although it’s not much better than the previous Gen 5, it still has a number of new algorithms and features that can make your TV picture and sound even better.
The new version of the processor still has a set of tools for image processing under the general name AlphaReality. Among them is AI Super Upscaling, designed not only to scale the image to 4K, but also to maintain its clarity by eliminating noise. With the help of the Object Enhancer function, the TV is able to improve the texture of faces and objects on the screen depending on the depth of the image. In this way, a much more realistic picture can be achieved.
Among other things, like previous TVs, the new C3 still has the advanced FilmmakerMode function, which, thanks to artificial intelligence, allows you to make the image on the screen exactly as it was intended during production.
It turns off unnecessary image enhancements and makes color reproduction, frame rate and aspect ratio as the director intended.
Among the new features, it is worth noting the ability of the processor to distinguish the foreground from the background in real time and correct them in accordance with the content being played. Thus, it turned out to achieve even greater realism and brightness of the image in many scenes.
The sound quality has also improved compared to C2. Thanks to the Alpha 9 Gen 6 processor, sound is now encoded into a 9.1.2 virtual system, while before the sound was limited to only seven channels.
Gaming options
Like last year’s C2, this model has a wide range of options for using the TV as a gaming monitor. To connect consoles or a personal computer, the LG C3 has as many as 4 HDMI 2.1 connectors with a bandwidth of 48 Gb / s. They are capable of displaying an image on the screen in 4K @ 120 Hz format. And of course, as in any premium segment TV, it was not without support for ALLM and VRR.
To ensure a smooth gaming experience, LG’s new TV comes with Nvidia’s G-Sync feature. With it, the gaming device and the TV are synchronized to exchange data and synchronize the screen refresh rate and game frame rate. Thus, it turns out to visually eliminate lags and gaps during the gameplay. For devices based on AMD graphics accelerators, there is a similar solution – AMDFreeSync. The principle of its operation is fundamentally no different from that described above.
To manage all the game settings in the LGC3 menu, there is a special section called GameOptimizer. It contains image and sound settings, and you can also enable VRR (Variable Refresh Rate Mode). With the help of Game Optimizer, the user can easily calibrate the TV for the game of any genre.
In order to enjoy your favorite HDR games with enhanced fidelity, LG has not forgotten to add HGiG support to its TV. DolbyVision is also available for game consoles from Microsoft.
Operating system
In 2023, LG’s proprietary operating system WebOS has undergone major changes.
It is with the new version that the LG C3 comes with. The new version of webOS 23 has retained all the advantages that were in the system of last year and has acquired a number of improvements not only in terms of design, but also in terms of functionality.
The first thing that catches your eye when you look at webOS 23 is a completely redesigned design. He became more comfortable and concise. At the top of the main menu, as before, there are personal recommendations for content, and at the bottom, in addition to the line with applications, “quick cards” appeared. They serve to access the most popular modes and applications.
The new version of the operating system supports the new unified smart home standard Matter. It works with devices from such popular companies as Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, and, of course, LG itself. Third-party smart devices are connected using the LG ThinQ app and controlled from HomeHub.
It is worth noting the increased stability of the new operating system.
All scrolling, transitions and application launches occur with smooth animation and without sudden jumps. This level of optimization was achieved thanks to the new Alpha 9 processorGen6, which has already been written about above.
Sound
LG has been equipping its premium TVs with Dolby Atmos audio for several years now. This is true for both the built-in speakers and the sound sent to compatible external soundbars. The LG C3 is also no exception in this regard, and its built-in speakers can sound in DolbyAtmos format.
In terms of overall sound quality, it’s a marked improvement over last year’s C2. This is largely due to the technical capabilities of the updated Alpha 9 processor.Gen6. As mentioned above, the virtual sound scheme has been increased to 9.1.2.
The sound of the LG C3 TV is provided by 4 speakers working according to the 2.2 scheme. Their total power is 40 watts. However, this information is not relevant for models with a diagonal of 42 inches – they use two speakers according to the 2.
0 scheme, with a total power of 20 watts.
Speaking of sound, it should be noted that the new TVs from LG have acquired an analogue of Samsung’s Q-Symphony function. She received the name WOWOrchestra. For this technology to work, you need to get an appropriate soundbar that supports this function, for example, the aforementioned LG SC9S, under which there is just a mount on the stand.
LG has also taken care to equip its new TV with the innovative WiSA audio over the air technology. It only works with compatible external speakers and, unlike Bluetooth, is capable of transmitting sound to them in DolbyAtmos format. According to the developers of the novelty, the quality of the transmitted sound using this technology is 20 times higher than that of the usual modern wireless data transmission methods.
Overall, the sound of the LG C3 is excellent. Surround sound with good detail is projected in the right direction and leaves an excellent impression. Thanks to intelligent processing by the processor, the output is clear and crisp.
Image
The first thing that affects the picture quality of a TV is its matrix. LG has worked on the main drawback of OLED panels – low brightness – and, having improved them, presented its new development to the world. The new OLED matrices, which are also equipped with LG C3, are called OLED Evo. Their main advantage is a significantly higher brightness, which now reaches 900 nits, as well as increased image detail.
Like any self-respecting representative of the premium segment, the LG C3 supports all modern HDR formats (HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG), but now it also has the ability to work in DolbyVisionIQ mode. The essence of this format is to monitor the level of illumination in the room using sensors. In accordance with these data, the content on the screen is adjusted, allowing you to maintain maximum detail and image quality, regardless of external conditions. Among other things, the smart DolbyVisionIQ system is able to independently recognize what you are watching and, depending on this, change image modes.
Not a small role in the quality of the picture on the LG C3 TV screen is played by its processor. Improved to the sixth version, Alpha 9 has many updated algorithms, which have already been written about above. Here, perhaps, it is also worth noting that its computing power is now enough to process 20,000 dynamic tone mapping zones at once (by the way, the C2 had 5,000 of them), thanks to which the content in HLG and HDR10 formats has become even brighter and more saturated. .
Switching
To connect with peripherals, the LG C3 TV has 4 HDMI 2.1 connectors, a digital optical audio output, a LAN port for connecting to the Internet via a wire, and antenna inputs. Among other things, the TV is equipped with three USB 2.0 interfaces and a CI + slot. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and WiSA are used for wireless connections.
Specifications
|
Shield |
|
|
Display technology |
OLED |
|
Diagonal size |
55 in. |
|
Matrix type |
OLED evo |
|
Matrix Bit / Bit / Color Depth |
10 bit |
|
Display colors |
1073741824 colors 30 bit |
|
Screen resolution |
3840×2160 pixels (4K Ultra HD) |
|
Aspect ratio / aspect ratio |
16:9 |
|
Vertical frequency / Refresh rate |
40 – 120 Hz |
|
Pixel pitch |
0.0315 cm |
|
Pixel density |
31ppm |
|
Screen area |
95.8% |
|
Viewing angle |
178° |
(140 cm) |
Video |
|
|
Image processor |
α9 Gen 6 AI Processor 4K |
|
Number of processor cores |
4 |
|
High Dynamic Range (HDR) |
yes |
|
HDR 10 support |
yes |
|
HLG support |
yes |
|
Dolby Vision support |
yes |
|
Fimmaker Mode |
yes |
|
Resolution scaling up to 4KUltraHD |
yes |
|
Digital noise reduction |
yes |
|
Audio |
|
|
Power output |
2 x 10 W |
|
Speaker system |
2. 2 |
|
Subwoofer |
yes |
|
NICAM stereo audio support |
yes |
|
Surround |
yes |
|
Dolby Digital Decoder |
yes |
|
DTS decoder |
yes |
|
Dolby Atmos decoder |
yes |
|
Bluetooth 9 audio support0003 |
yes |
|
One Touch Sound Adjustment |
yes |
|
Voice processing algorithm |
yes |
|
AVL function |
yes |
|
Smart service |
|
|
Smart TV |
yes |
|
Operating system |
webOS |
|
Web browser |
yes |
|
App Store |
yes |
|
Voice control |
yes |
|
MagicRemote included (for LG) |
yes |
|
OneRemote included (for Samsung) |
no |
|
TV control with smartphone |
yes |
|
Airplay 2 support |
yes |
|
Miracast function (mobile to TV) |
yes |
|
WiDi function (PC to TV) |
yes |
|
Smart home support |
yes |
|
Bluetooth Low Energy |
yes |
|
Remote voice control |
yes |
|
Voice assistant support |
yes |
|
Additional functions |
|
|
Russified menu |
yes |
|
Auto channel search |
yes |
|
Parent mode |
yes |
|
Painting/Gallery Mode |
yes |
|
Electronic TV guide |
yes |
|
Game mode |
yes |
|
HGIG mode |
yes |
|
Teletext in Russian (TTXT) |
yes |
|
On/off timer |
yes |
|
Sleep timer |
yes |
|
Favorite channels |
yes |
|
Tuner / broadcast |
|
|
Digital terrestrial television |
DVB-T2/T |
|
Digital cable television |
DVB-C |
|
Digital satellite television |
DVB-S2/S |
|
Analog signal reception |
yes |
|
Color system |
PAL, SECAM |
|
CI (Common Interface) Support |
yes |
|
Subtitles |
yes |
|
Connecting external devices |
|
|
HDMI connector |
4 pcs. |
|
HDMI CEC |
yes |
|
USB connector |
3 pcs. |
|
Ethernet (LAN) |
yes |
|
Audio output (3.5 mm headphone jack) |
yes |
|
Digital audio output (optical) |
yes |
|
Antenna input (RF) |
yes |
|
CI slot |
yes |
|
Built-in Wi-Fi module |
yes |
|
Bluetooth |
yes |
|
HDMI Quick Switch |
yes |
|
Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) / control the functions of devices connected via HDMI with a single remote control |
yes |
(2.1) |
Digital media playback |
|
|
Playback HEVC |
yes |
|
MP3 playback |
yes |
|
MPEG4 playback |
yes |
|
DivX playback |
yes |
|
Playback MKV |
yes |
|
JPEG playback |
yes |
|
WMA playback |
yes |
|
Energy efficiency |
|
|
Standby power consumption |
0. 5 W |
|
Energy saving function |
yes |
|
Light sensor |
yes |
Review results
The new TV from LG C3 has every chance to get the same popularity as its predecessor. The 2023 model not only retains the best features of this series, but also adds a lot of great innovations. It is worth noting that it is almost not inferior in performance to the company’s flagship – G3, but at the same time it is much cheaper, and therefore will win the hearts of a much larger audience.
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LG OLED A1 review by Rtings — Hardware on DTF 5ab2554b0fb”,”title”:”\u041d\ u043e\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0430\u043a\u0441\u0435\u043b\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0442\u043e\u0440 \u043e\u0442 \u00ab\u0413\u0430\u0 437\u043f\u0440\u043e\u043c\ u043d\u0435\u0444\u0442\u0438\u00bb: \u0432\u043e\u0442 \u0447\u0442\u043e \u043e \u043d\u0451\u043c \u0438\u0437\u0432\u0435\u 0441\u0442\u043d\u043e”, “buttonText”:”\u041d\u0443-\u043a\u0430″,”imageUuid”:”40ed9758-8562-5256-9706-2991fd77dfae”}
Lg A1 turned out to be worthy of attention, but it was not without flaws – the manufacturer had to remove several important functions.
15 226
views
Experts from the reputable site Rtings.
com have released a review of the long-awaited LG A1 OLED series. This series allows you to plunge into the world of OLED TV at a very seductive price.
Here’s what we learned from the review:
- The buyer gets a real OLED TV without significant compromises – infinite contrast, perfect blacks, excellent viewing angles and brightness.
- Unfortunately, it was not without drawbacks – for the sake of an affordable price, we went under the knife: HDMI 2.1 support, Variable Refresh Rate technology, support for 120hz, G-Sync and Free-Sync
- LG A1 got a fairly dark panel – the maximum brightness in SDR does not rise more than 264 nits, and in HDR it does not exceed 452 nits. Rtings notes that this brightness will not be enough for true and high-quality HDR content.
- Uniformity of gray and dark color at an excellent level.
- Outwardly LG A1 almost does not differ from LG C1 and B1. The main differences are in the legs. The body material is plastic and metal.
- The LG A1 has an excellent anti-glare coating so you don’t have to worry about glare in a room with lots of light sources
- Matrix latency in game mode is an excellent 10ms, which makes LG’s new product an excellent gaming solution, if we discard the VRR, G-Sync and other functions.
- The top and sides are 1cm thick, slightly thicker than the LG C1.
- The sound from the speakers is not outstanding in quality, with strong distortion at maximum volume and inexpressive in general.
The main differences are in the legs. The body material is plastic and metal. In summary, Rtings says the LG A1 is compelling enough to be looked at when choosing a new OLED TV. Unfortunately, the manufacturer had to sacrifice a number of technologies and maximum brightness for the sake of an attractive and competitive price (from $1400 for a 55-inch model).