LG OLED C4 Assessment: Excessive-Finish Staple Balances Image High quality and Worth

Professionals

• Glorious general picture high quality
• Preserves distinction properly in vivid rooms
• Superior distinction and off-angle viewing
• Vast number of dimension choices

Cons

• Costly
• No main enhancements over the C3

OLED TVs are among the many finest cash should purchase, and whether or not you go for an entry-level mannequin or high-end model, you may find yourself with an ideal image. The LG C4 combines very good image high quality with a worth that is not extremely unreasonable, making it a high canine amongst its opponents.

After we take a look at OLED TVs in CNET’s TV lab, the variations may be extraordinarily refined as a result of the TVs usually all carry out very properly. For this evaluation, we in contrast the LG C4, Samsung S90D and Samsung S95D, which is Samsung’s high-end OLED that premiered a brand new glare-reducing end this yr. We additionally lined up the TCL QM851, the predecessor of our present finest TV, for a comparability between mini-LED and OLED know-how and to reply the query for individuals who could also be on the fence: Is it value upgrading to an OLED TV?

Final yr’s LG C3 was our favourite high-end TV, creating large expectations for this yr’s model. The C4 is presently about $1,000 inexpensive than the G4, the step-up LG OLED, which we additionally reviewed lately. And whereas the G4 was one of many best-looking TVs we have seen, we predict the C4 is the higher worth for most individuals.

Between the LG C4 and the Samsung S90D, we give the LG C4 the slight edge. That is primarily as a result of the LG C4’s display appeared a bit higher in a vivid room, with superior distinction to the S90D. For gaming, we additionally most popular the cinematic picture high quality of the C4’s default image mode to the extra dynamic picture of the S90D. Each TVs have wonderful general picture high quality, nevertheless.

Nonetheless an excellent higher worth is the C3, which remains to be accessible, considerably discounted from this yr’s model, and has a lot of the similar options. (We advocate shopping for older fashions of TVs for so long as potential, as year-over-year developments are likely to not be tremendous substantial.) 

However we discovered the most recent model of the storied C-Collection OLED TV from LG to be beautiful in its personal proper and an actual contender for finest high-end TV once more this yr.

LG C4 sequence TV sizes

We carried out a hands-on analysis of the 65-inch LG C4, however this evaluation additionally applies to the opposite display sizes within the sequence. All sizes have very comparable specs and will present very comparable image high quality. 

Light-weight panel with textured design

The C4’s panel is extremely skinny and the bottom has a slick textured design that just about appears like shiny grey wallpaper, which is a singular design component that — whereas will principally go undetected if mounted to the wall — elevates the general design of the TV. The bezel is so skinny that it is nearly nonexistent, like most OLEDs. The C4 is significantly lighter in weight than its competitor, the Samsung S90D. 

LG’s distant is unnecessarily advanced and feature-rich. It is considerably bigger than Samsung’s and its additional buttons and scroll wheel did not really assist us navigate to content material extra shortly. There are a number of elements that may simply appear outdated for many customers, just like the quantity pad that is irrelevant in our more and more streaming-dominant world. The LG distant additionally has a motion-controlled point-and-shoot cursor, which appears fairly pointless and finicky for a TV the place you are navigating between apps, versus a pc that requires a cursor. 

LG’s menus are simple to navigate, with apps for an array of streaming companies entrance and heart whenever you energy on the TV. The stand is glossy and secure.

Gallery function helps TV mix in

Each the C4 and S90D help Dolby Atmos and a 144Hz refresh fee. The C4 is supplied to deal with Dolby Imaginative and prescient, in contrast to the S90D (or any Samsung OLEDs), however we do not contemplate that to be a make-or-break function both approach. 

LG TVs and a handful of others in the marketplace now provide an idle mode, type of like a screensaver, that shows artwork when the TV is not in use. This operate was initially an indicator of the matte-screen Samsung Body, however further TV makers now provide the function that is meant to assist the TV mix into the wall (type of like a gallery, as LG calls it).

Multiconsole gaming made simple

The C4, like its competitor Samsung OLED and the step-up LG G4, helps HDMI 2.1. 

Which means the HDMI ports can deal with 4K at 120 frames per second and variable refresh fee, in addition to enhanced audio return channel and automated low-latency mode (auto recreation mode).

This versatility in HDMI is necessary for gaming fanatics seeking to help a number of next-gen gadgets.

• 4 HDMI inputs with HDMI 2.1, HDCP 2.2
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• Optical digital audio output
• RF (antenna) enter
• RS-232 port (minijack, for service solely)
• Ethernet (LAN) port

Excessive-end OLED comparability: Samsung S95D and S90D vs. LG C4

TV and films: In a darkish room, we in contrast the S90D to the LG C4, the Samsung S95D and the TCL QM851. Each the S90D and the C4 appeared nice, and the next variations have been refined. 

Whereas watching Set off Warning, an motion film new to Netflix, the LG had a slight edge in preserving distinction in vivid and darkish scenes. Within the opening scene of the present, as Jessica Alba’s character drives by way of the desert, the distinction is preserved a bit higher — regardless of the sunny scene.

The C4 equally preserves distinction in darkish scenes of the identical present. It additionally has higher shadow particulars in super-dark scenes, like in Set off Warning when a personality is smoking a cigarette in a darkish room, and the shadowy areas of her face are remarkably seen.

I attempted watching some documentaries and docuseries, and the C4 and S90D have been basically comparable as far as image high quality was involved. The slight benefit in distinction and shadow element of the C4 basically disappeared with this documentary sort of content material, which was constant after we in contrast the TVs with the Spears and Munsil 4K benchmark footage.

For sake of comparability between a high-end mini-LED and entry-level OLED, we launched the TCL QM851 to this lineup as properly. Total, the QM851 was far brighter than any of the OLEDs. Whereas a vivid picture can look good, it can be inaccurate. When watching Set off Warning, this was particularly obvious with lifted black ranges in a vivid, out of doors scene. A personality sporting a black shirt within the solar appeared far much less black on the QM851 than it did any of the OLED comparisons.

The TCL additionally had some blurriness with movement, whereas the C4 maintained crispness in the identical scene. The C4 additionally had extra depth in its image than the QM851. In a cooking scene in Set off Warning, the C4 confirmed extra dimension between individuals sitting on couches within the foreground and somebody grilling towards the again of the house, giving it an general extra immersive, sensible really feel. 

The variations between mini-LED and OLED image high quality are studied and may be considerably huge, but it surely’s value noting a number of of those variations for individuals who could also be torn between upgrading to an OLED or selecting a extra reasonably priced, however nonetheless general good trying, mini-LED.

Brilliant lighting: The C4 display is glossier than its direct competitor the S90D, which makes it extra vulnerable to glare. Nonetheless, we discovered the preserved distinction and black ranges to be properly well worth the tradeoff of some glare in a vivid room. (We appeared on the TV with vivid overhead lighting, pure gentle streaming in from a window off to the facet and a mix of the 2 forms of gentle.)

In case you’re purchasing for a TV for an particularly vivid room, nothing , beats the Samsung S95D. It suffered some distinction loss in these settings, but it surely successfully diminished glare in a vivid room — an inexpensive tradeoff, we predict. However keep in mind that the S95D is Samsung’s high-end OLED sequence, so it is significantly costlier than the C4.

The brightest mode for SDR (Vivid) is fairly inaccurate. For the correct outcomes listed above on the C4, I used ISF Brilliant image mode. Notice that with SDR, you may must disable the Auto Power Saving setting (Normal > Power Saving > Power Saving Step > Off) and have interaction Peak Brightness (Image > Superior Settings > Brightness > (Peak Brightness: Excessive) to get its full brightness. 

For HDR, the brightest mode on the C4 was Vivid. Filmmaker was essentially the most correct image mode. 

Gaming: When enjoying Star Wars: Jedi Survivor on the XBox of their default gaming image modes, the C4 had a way more cinematic image than the S90D, particularly in darkish scenes. Daylight coming in by way of the window of a ship appeared way more sensible on the C4 than on the S90D, the place the picture was general brighter and contained much less shadow element.

The C4 additionally allowed for better customization of settings, even past switching recreation genres to finest go well with the content material. The S90D allowed tailoring of black ranges, however the LG allowed for an entire array of different minor tweaks in its Recreation Optimizer settings menu. This would possibly not matter to the common gamer, however would enchantment for these image high quality fanatics who recognize the power to customise even essentially the most granular settings. 

After we examined enter lag, the C4’s lag was lowest in recreation optimizer mode with the sport enhance on. Once more, like with movie and TV content material, each OLEDs appeared nice from a gaming perspective and the variations we noticed have been refined. 

Uniformity and viewing angle: The C4 appeared good regardless the place you watched, in keeping with most OLED TVs. The image was additionally uniform all through.

Image settings and testing notes: Filmmaker mode proved to be the general finest image mode on the C4, each from our quantitative measurements and with the naked eye. Cinema mode was a detailed second, but it surely permits some smoothing, which may create the usually undesirable cleaning soap opera impact.

In most image modes, the power to just accept the sport style whereas in recreation mode is grayed out. You as an alternative have to enter all settings, navigate to sound after which choose Recreation Optimizer as an alternative of AI Sound Professional. That can then mean you can change the style.

Portrait Shows Calman calibration software program was used on this evaluation. 

How We Take a look at TVs