LG’s OLED TVs have dominated the conversation among high-end TV enthusiasts for a few years now, but the past couple have finally brought at least some OLED TVs to prices that middle-class households could afford.
And like clockwork each year, LG attends the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to announce a new lineup of OLEDs that include some improvement or another: cheaper, bigger, smaller, whatever. This year, the big news is that some of LG’s TVs are brighter.
LG maintains a few different lines of OLEDs currently: the entry-level A series, the slightly more feature-rich B series, the flagship C series, the high-end G series, and the 8K Z series.
LG announced new models in all of these lines at CES this week. We’re mostly looking at minor updates, but the new C2 model is getting a notable change over the C1: it now offers the brighter “Evo” panels that LG introduced in the more expensive G1 last year.
LG’s OLEDs are often praised by reviewers for their inky blacks, accurate color, and strong contrast. But one of the two most common knocks against them is that they don’t offer the same peak brightness as the most expensive non-OLED sets. (The other knock against them is, of course, burn-in risk, which has reduced over the years but is still an issue for certain use cases.)
A big price gap has historically separated the C and G series TVs, so would-be OLED buyers are probably happy to hear that the more reasonably priced C series is getting better peak brightness. We’ll have to wait for the first tests and reviews to come in later this year to know just how big the improvement is though.
To continue to differentiate the G series, LG is giving the G2 a feature it calls “Brightness Booster,” which is not available in the C2. The company says Brightness Booster TVs have panels that include a heatsink to allow them to reach peak brightness more easily.
Additionally, 2022’s C2 and G2 have a screen bezel that measures just 6 mm, down from 10.2 mm in 2021. They likely use LG’s new OLED EX tech, which we wrote about briefly a few days ago.
The C2, G2, and Z2 (which is basically the G2, but 8K instead of 4K) will have a new AI processor to support improved dynamic tone mapping. The cheaper A2 and B2 use an older, less powerful processor. The B2 and up offer 120 Hz displays, variable refresh rate support, and HDMI 2.1 support. The big difference between the A2 and the pricier sets is that it lacks those things, which are mostly relevant to gamers.
LG always throws in something for gamers with these updates, and this time it’s Nvidia G-Sync support on the 120 Hz TVs. The previous generation supported AMD’s FreeSync, but now both big VRR standards are here.
It’s not just about hardware changes, either—there are new software features, too. LG’ webOS now supports multiple user profiles for those who use the TV’s built-in smart app features instead of a set-top box, game console, or dongle. And LG plans to roll out support for the Matter smart home standard on its TVs in 2022.
The A2 will come in 48-, 55-, 65-, and 77-inch sizes. For the B2, it’ll be 55, 65, and 77 inches. The C2 comes in the most sizes: 42, 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83 inches. It’s important to note, though, that the 42- and 48-inch C2 don’t have the brighter Evo panel that the bigger sets do.
The G2 clocks in at 55, 65, 77, 83, and 97 inches, while the Z2 is only offered in 77- or 88-inch sizes.
Pricing and availability is yet to be announced, but LG probably won’t stray too far from 2021’s prices given that it’s facing fiercer competition in the OLED space than ever before. Whereas LG, Sony, and Panasonic produced most consumer OLED TVs in recent years, other companies have been jumping on the bandwagon, including Samsung, the current leader of the overall TV market.
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1823604