View Full Version : LG OLED TVs
Bought a 55 inch LG OLED flat TV.
This display tech is different in its presentation and takes a bit of getting used to. RGB plus white. That leads to a pretty goddam white white, as it were.
It is very sensitive to ambient light in a way I have never seen from any other display tech. OLED intensity level is critical depending on the current level of said light.
Being self-emissive, it does in some ways remind me of the last decent Loewe 32 inch widescreen CRT that I had and would not get rid of for 20 years. That went up in smoke as the PS broke for the second time. Sure they were built to last exactly 10 years.
4K YouTube, of which there is a plethora, looks freaking amazing. Even at a distance where, in theory, there shouldn't be a difference between that and normal HD, I'm sure I can see one. At a few feet it is just stunning how much extra detail is apparent.
Quality product no question. It will show sub-standard rubbish for what it is, though, just like a well engineered speaker. A bit Wilson, maybe. It won't flatter, but then it can amaze, which Wilson's have never done for me, so maybe not a great analogy. But not too bad a one.
To understand its qualities and vices, just like decent hi-fi components, you have to try living with one for a while. Interesting so far... maybe I'll say more after a few days extra acquaintance.
Spectral Morn
14-06-2016, 21:51
Interesting.
The last CRT TV I wanted to buy was a Loewe Vitros, but alas I missed the last few in the UK so ended up with the last 37 in Panasonic CRT TV.
I worked in the TV trade during the introduction of flat CRT TVs and the Panasonic was by far the best example outside the esoteric Loewes anyway a few years ago my Dad died and I got his 42 inch Panasonic plasma, which was nice and then these days I have a GT60 the last of Panasonic's plasma's and I like it a lot.
I have looked at 4K TVs and so far I think there is something slightly unnatural about what they do, its like etched audio, detail standing out too much, colour way too rich. I confess I used to feel that way to a degree about HD and Blu Ray early on, compared to analogue TV at its best.
It could be that 4K properly set up for on a quality later generation screen might reach that quality for me, even surpass it - I am thinking the last winter Olympics before, analogue switch off, which was breathtaking on that Panasonic 36in CRT TV. Rose tinted glasses maybe, maybe not.
Look forward to your further thoughts.
Most of the stuff I watch is old, so is not always inproved by higher screen ratios. Ive got a standad 37" lcd and its good enough for my needs . Blu-ray is very good, as are older print dvd and freeview.
Son has a fairly cheap huge Bush lcd, and its got a fantastic picture but takes up half the room lol
The Black Adder
15-06-2016, 04:43
Does it make Eastenders any better?
Only kidding. Wow... For £2k I'm sure it would have to knock ya socks owf.
Only kidding. Wow... For £2k I'm sure it would have to knock ya socks owf.
I'd set myself a £1500 threshold a while back and bit as I'd promised myself. The set was £3500 less than a year ago. So it is obviously a 55EF950V for those in the know. The E6 is now £3.5K at 55 inches but it isn't worth the difference.
I'm not looking at prices now LOL but the flat ones of the previous generation command a premium, because they're not stupidly curved. The current gen are nearly all flat. Glad we've got over that one quickly LOL.
I have looked at 4K TVs and so far I think there is something slightly unnatural about what they do, its like etched audio, detail standing out too much, colour way too rich. I confess I used to feel that way to a degree about HD and Blu Ray early on, compared to analogue TV at its best.
Agreed 100%.
Edge lit LED Samsung's are hyper-real IMHO. Look at the telly then look at the real world. My 10 year old 46 inch florescent back lit Sony does better at looking "natural" by a big margin. No matter what you do with my 46 inch hi-fi room Samsung, you can never get it to look natural. It always looks hyped to some extent. For my money the current Sony's look more natural, but some of the HDR demos you see in store are just beyond belief unnatural.
The hardest thing to get uses to on the OLED is not the blackest blacks, but the whitest whites. Looking at lights is hard to get used to because it gets so close to looking directly at a light it can be a bit unnerving, and especially so if the TV settings are off for the ambient light conditions.
There's no doubt in my mind it is better then my sister's last of the crop of Pioneer Kuro plasmas - though they are still stunning at times. There isn't much out there that is better than an LG OLED at the mo.
One more thought - £1500 quid gets you close to a reference display - but is half the cost of a decent frigging cartridge. Go figure.
Spectral Morn
15-06-2016, 07:09
Agreed 100%.
Edge lit LED Samsung's are hyper-real IMHO. Look at the telly then look at the real world. My 10 year old 46 inch florescent back lit Sony does better at looking "natural" by a big margin. No matter what you do with my 46 inch hi-fi room Samsung, you can never get it to look natural. It always looks hyped to some extent. For my money the current Sony's look more natural, but some of the HDR demos you see in store are just beyond belief unnatural.
The hardest thing to get uses to on the OLED is not the blackest blacks, but the whitest whites. Looking at lights is hard to get used to because it gets so close to looking directly at a light it can be a bit unnerving, and especially so if the TV settings are off for the ambient light conditions.
There's no doubt in my mind it is better then my sister's last of the crop of Pioneer Kuro plasmas - though they are still stunning at times. There isn't much out there that is better than an LG OLED at the mo.
Interesting.
My GT60 incorporates some Kuro tech, at the time I wanted one of those plasma TVs but despite access to a trade rate I couldn't justify it.
The biggest issue with seeing TVs in Curry's or the like is that the picture settings are ramped up to make them look impressive. I just want to grab the remote and turn everything down.
I will look out for the LG next time I am in a TV shop, the current Sonys are very good. Personally I am going to sit on my current TV until 4K has been around for longer then I will have a look again.
Agreed 100%.
Edge lit LED Samsung's are hyper-real IMHO. Look at the telly then look at the real world. My 10 year old 46 inch florescent back lit Sony does better at looking "natural" by a big margin. .
I think the same about my rear projection Sony. But it is on its way out. Audio out no longer works, neither does HDMI in. And it ghosts on the PC input and with the DVD player. Fine with the cable box though which is odd. I need something new so this thread is of interest, but not sure I want to spunk £1500 on a telly, though.
The Black Adder
15-06-2016, 08:10
One more thought - £1500 quid gets you close to a reference display - but is half the cost of a decent frigging cartridge. Go figure.
Really?... Can't see the comparison there but for £1500 you can get something truly special cartridge wise. :)
Really?... Can't see the comparison there but for £1500 you can get something truly special cartridge wise. :)
Thought someone would pick me up on that. Of course it will. But close to world's best? Probably not at new prices. That was the point.
Additionally, in the world of audio, a ref quality system costs way more than a ref quality display.
I will look out for the LG next time I am in a TV shop, the current Sonys are very good. Personally I am going to sit on my current TV until 4K has been around for longer then I will have a look again.
I would have plumped for a Sony 65 if I hadn't gone for this. I just decided I had owned too many Sony's over the years, and wanted a different display tech to the other TVs I own.
Justin,
Going forward...
Have you thought about 6500K Bias lighting for your set?
With OLED tech maybe not so much to fix the black levels, but given the white levels you speak about even from an eyestrain point of view?
What about getting it callibrated?
Both made a HELLUVA improvement on my Samsung plasma, its money well spent.
I put up a thread about my adventures with that somewhere here.
Agreed 100%.
Edge lit LED Samsung's are hyper-real IMHO. Look at the telly then look at the real world. My 10 year old 46 inch florescent back lit Sony does better at looking "natural" by a big margin. No matter what you do with my 46 inch hi-fi room Samsung, you can never get it to look natural. It always looks hyped to some extent. For my money the current Sony's look more natural, but some of the HDR demos you see in store are just beyond belief unnatural.
The hardest thing to get uses to on the OLED is not the blackest blacks, but the whitest whites. Looking at lights is hard to get used to because it gets so close to looking directly at a light it can be a bit unnerving, and especially so if the TV settings are off for the ambient light conditions.
There's no doubt in my mind it is better then my sister's last of the crop of Pioneer Kuro plasmas - though they are still stunning at times. There isn't much out there that is better than an LG OLED at the mo.
I've calibrated it as per this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzubSKAGQu0
That works extremely well for night time viewing, as it says. I'm currently using a daytime setting guess based on that.
The whites are not eye strain inducing, but watching Titanic the other night, with the AV forum settings, I've never seen lighting look so realistically bright.
The AV forum settings are probably close to as good as you can get them I'd guess.
One thing - can't stream YouTube videos in 4K as my graphics card on the PC can't handle it. But Wi-Fi into the telly with a 38Mbps link there's no stuttering and it is absolutely fine.
Got a link to that thread Gaz?
Looks good mate. :thumbsup:
My link is here, some of the pics are broken after tidying up my photobucket, but can put them back in if need be.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?34289-Looking-at-Bias-lighting-for-my-telly&highlight=bias+lighting
Looks interesting but only had a quick look. Will check it out in greater depth. Got a coloured LED light with R/C control I will experiment with now.
Looks interesting but only had a quick look. Will check it out in greater depth. Got a coloured LED light with R/C control I will experiment with now.
Colour or colour temperature? :)
Set at blueish white much as I remember the Philips lighting. It is useless, though. This is a spot light behind a stand mounted display. Likely over 6000K but it needs to be way more diffuse. I have a bulb LED that will do a much better job somewhere.
Wife not keen on it:D
Wife not keen on it:D
Maybe some pics will help. :)
Mines uses 4 6500k tubes which Ive cable tied to vents on the back of the tv
http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/gazjamster/IMG_20141022_225740312.jpghttp://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/gazjamster/IMG_20141022_225810878.jpghttp://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/gazjamster/IMG_20141023_243822835.jpg
http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq61/gazjamster/IMG_20141023_011823928.jpg
Its cool how it works, you can control the diffuse/brightness of each tube by turning a white transparent film inside which limits the ammount getting through the light aperture in each tube.
You set it once and forget about it....my kinda thing. :)
That is pretty much exactly what I expected to be honest. There are some very good Fishtank lights at the local garden centre for about £60. These are LED based and look to be very good being almost instantly configurable in terms of Kelvin.
Due to the distance of the TV set from the wall one strip in the middle of the rear of the TV might do the job quite well.
I've just done this post using the voice recognition of the TV set with minimal edits. Quite impressive.
BilliumB
16-06-2016, 13:33
Hi Justin
How well do you find the TV copes with standard definition transmissions?
Cheers. Bill
Well the SKY SD stuff really varies in levels of compression. When the level of compression isn't obviously high it is fine. When it is high, it looks pretty poor.
To be fair the same is true of my 46 inch LCD Sony, but it seems to blur highly compressed stuff in a politer fashion. Still looks pretty poor though.
My overall impression is it isn't that forgiving.
BilliumB
16-06-2016, 13:48
Thanks for that - only problem is that I've not got Sky, so difficult to relate. How far away from the TV do you think you would really want to sit to happily watch a freeview SD transmission?
Cheers. Bill
Bill - this might not be the answer you want to hear. I think:
1) If Freeview is your only source do NOT buy it. Insufficient HD program input.
2) If your internet connection isn't fast e.g. 20-30Mbps+ really, that's a big loss of Ultra HD content that could be available to you via live streaming. A strong pointer not to buy a set like this. At the mo for having fun with UHD it is the only good & easy option til Sky get on the bandwagon, which should be soon I hear. I'm running Sky Q at the mo.
For Freeview, keep your screen size much smaller and your watching distances appreciable. My 26 inch LG works fine in the kitchen on SD and HD content. In fact, you're frigged to tell the difference between SD and HD most of the time even when quite close up e.g. 4 to 5 feet.
It is too unforgiving to watch poor quality content on even at 12+ feet, really.
Upscaling can help a bit?
BTW good 4K UHD does the job at super close distances at this screen size i.e. a foot or a few inches.
Upscaling can help a bit?
You'd hope but I don't think it is that effective really. Which is counter to what the TV manufacturers would want you to believe.
Garbage in and no degree of mathematical processing/guesswork really saves it. IMHO of course.
BilliumB
16-06-2016, 19:08
Hi Justin
I'm looking at around 15-16 feet I'd guess. Current broadband is only around 6-7Mbps. Am wondering about freesat, but not too keen on paying for Sky.
I currently use an excellent 36" Philips CRT, but am wondering about a bit of new technology!
What do you think?
Cheers. Bill
I am watching at pretty much exactly the the same distance as you are Bill.
If I were you, if it is available, upgrade to fast broadband and forget SKY TV services. We only have that because of my wife's preferences.
Then see which online TV service provider you favour out of Amazon, Netflix etc and buy either a Sony if you prefer a warmer picture or an LG OLED if you can handle something that ultimately has better definition.
But, just like audio, it is a personal choice based on experience and preferences. All I can say is the OLED tech is interestingly different in the same way that different speaker technologies are. Choose your poison based on your own instinct, as I am sure you will anyway. You're the boss if you're paying, after all.
I'm still assessing plus and minus points. The in-set LG s/w is a massive leap ahead of the 26 inch LG kitchen TV, though. And the controller is a very interesting change on GUI interfaces.
Keep checking back for more thoughts as I suss the thing out.
BilliumB
16-06-2016, 21:17
I'll keep my eyes open, it'll be interesting to hear your thoughts as time goes on. Sadly no sign of high speed broadband getting to me any time soon, and now it seems that the government don't think people out in the sticks will want it anyway! Can you believe it?
Cheers. Bill
OLED really does 'pop' out of the screen, black black blacks.
I guess the RGB + white is to counter how OLED can have 'blue hues' on the whites.
I'll keep my eyes open, it'll be interesting to hear your thoughts as time goes on. Sadly no sign of high speed broadband getting to me any time soon, and now it seems that the government don't think people out in the sticks will want it anyway! Can you believe it?
Cheers. Bill
You could always attach a USB hard drive and download videos from YouTube using a 4K downloader, then hook the USB drive into the TV set. That works well although you lose the on demand immediacy that a broadband connection gives.
Referring to the broadband speed yes I can believe it. You should be hunting rabbits!!!;)
OLED really does 'pop' out of the screen, black black blacks.
I guess the RGB + white is to counter how OLED can have 'blue hues' on the whites.
I am not sure but at extreme viewing angles you do get a minor blue tint.
Discovered a bug - I'm using DVI to HDMI output from my PC's graphics card, which is somewhat long in the tooth now.
So the audio is going out from my ASUS Xonar Essence ST sound card to the TV's audio in, as DVI doesn't handle sound.
The trouble is it keeps the audio switched out, unless you change to the PC input WHEN some sound is playing. Then it is OK.
Need to update the graphics card for an HDMI one, and buy DOOM 2016 for some fun, as the YouTube videos of it look stunning. Still doesn't look quite as fast a gameplay as DOOM 2, though. The timing in that game was spot on, not in terms of framerate, but in terms off gameplay. It was so fast in really kept you on you seat. Genuine classic.
As far as the picture goes, it takes sometime to get used to its different presentation - which is very different to a LED lit LCD of any make. It is the reproduction of whites that makes it so different, and the screen's setting needs tweaking to make sure it isn't a problem, because it really can be, with things like white shirts looking too white saturated.
Dark scene detail visibility is better than any LED LCD I have seen, I think. Which is really necessary with a lot of dark lit Hollywood films.
No doubt it is very input sensitive. But then it is a top end display technology, of that I am convinced. So feed it rubbish and you are in trouble. Feed it 4K and it is stunning, providing it is good 4K.
An example of an amazing 4K video would be this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuSWSSLQOb4
LG's 3D tech is compatible with cinema glasses. It is a better compromise than battery fed flicker types, IMHO. It also works well in daytime ambient light, which my Samsung's flicker efforts do not. Checkout some of YouTube's 3D pop out videos for some real in your face effects.
Yosemite - the super-volcano that will one day kill us all. But it is pretty.
Have to say I don't care a jot for 3D but good contrast ratio is really important. On mine if you have a dark scene the screen is just black the whole time. Makes it really hard to follow the plot sometimes. That's my only priority - that and screen size. I can live without HD too, although it is noticeably better, unlike 'HD' music.
My fluro LED Sony, 10 years old now, is hopeless in dark lit scenes. It also has a very pastel like look to the way it paints colours, by way of comparison. It still looks good in its own way, especially in well lit scenes.
The early LED tellys were very un-natural. My father had one and I messed with every parameter but couldn't get it looking right. Films looked especially odd - you know that weird over-lit style you get with some sitcoms and soaps? Coronation Street is a good example. You could perform an appendectomy in the Rovers, it is that bright in there. Nowhere in real life is lit like that except an operating theatre. Well films on this thing all looked like that.
I made a mistake there - it is a fluro lit LCD. It was the first 1080P LCD Sony made. It was initially £4K!!! Anyway, a low contrast ratio on the spec sheet in comparison to today's sets. Hence bad in low light scenes, as you said.
Clive197
19-06-2016, 19:05
Yosemite - the super-volcano that will one day kill us all. But it is pretty.
Have to say I don't care a jot for 3D but good contrast ratio is really important. On mine if you have a dark scene the screen is just black the whole time. Makes it really hard to follow the plot sometimes. That's my only priority - that and screen size. I can live without HD too, although it is noticeably better, unlike 'HD' music.
Sorry Martin, it's Yellowstone National Park that's the super-volcano. However I agree with you about Yosemite being pretty (actually that's a bit of an understatement).
Ah that's right. It's the one where Yogi Bear lives. I always mix them up.
Yosemite is the one where Ansel Adams took his superb B&W photos. :)
https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=OIP.Mf864a1b3f5676019344c7ae98a3a0d64H0&pid=15.1
Clive197
20-06-2016, 15:00
Ah that's right. It's the one where Yogi Bear lives. I always mix them up.
No Martin, that's Jellystone, close but no cigar. LOL
OK - so - are these OLED displays worth £3.5K - which is what this one was less than a year ago? I don't think so.
TBH I think you'd be a nutcase to spend that on the newer E6. Just wait til it is £1.5K or less. Which really won't be long. Maybe 9 to 12 months time if they issue a new model again?
For now, this one is way less than half the price of the E6, with only a fraction less performance. 9/10 rather than 9.5/10 according to one source.
In other words, don't rip yourself unless you really must:)
Eagle owl
06-07-2016, 06:13
Justin, when the LG OLED upscales 1080p or 1080i content what's the picture quality like ? is it a little better or a great deal better ?
Justin, when the LG OLED upscales 1080p or 1080i content what's the picture quality like ? is it a little better or a great deal better ?
There's no specific option to turn it on or off, as far as I can see. Sky Q always outputs at 1080p no matter what the source actually is.
Using Freeview Sky News and other HD channels are at 1080i. Almost indistinguishable from 1080p for the most part.
Freeview's SD is reported at 576i which must be by default be upscaled. It doesn't look good at 16 feet as a rule. You know you are watching it straight away, without exception, really.
1080p looks good, for the most part, at 16 feet. But the quality of the kit used to shoot it, the degree of Sky's compression and other factors like the scenes being shot and the lighting the camera is trying to capture all play a part.
Low lit scenes are better on this TV than any other tech I have seen.
Broadcast Sky Q 1080p upscaled does not look like 4K. No where near as good when close up.
These sets are way beyond the level of quality the Sky and Freeview are able to provide at the moment. Good 4K on YouTube just shows how far behind they really are. Even at 16 feet.
Hope that helps.
The biggest suck feature is it doesn't have a good ambient light compensator. The settings are remembered for each TV input type. So you have to use separate day and night time settings.
That means you are constantly changing the set's display mode, for evening and night time viewing, for each input type. This is an absolute pain in the arse TBH. The TV's worst feature. Since I don't give a monkey's arse as I am not a pro reviewer, and I have not seen a review mention this, I thought I'd point it out.
Owning one for a while now, and looking back at LED TVs, and with the caveat of the last paragraph, I'd still buy it. Morer betterer I think.
Eagle owl
06-07-2016, 19:35
Thanks Justin. :thumbsup:
Wallpaper TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imP4WlXq53Y
Jac Hawk
10-01-2017, 21:06
I work for an A/V firm in Warrington LG are at the cutting edge of display technology at the moment, probably a little bit ahead of the rest with their OLED technology, this video shows what they have in the pipeline
https://youtu.be/0_ADKSLU_x8
Covenant
11-01-2017, 08:04
Really interesting. I had made up my mind to buy an LG quantum dot tv in March but I might need to rethink that. I have read some comments about the life of OLED displays not being that good; wonder if that's sorted.
With regard to sound no mention of DTS, supposedly better than ATMOS.
The wallpaper displays are the dogs danglies though....
I spent Xmas at my sister's and she has latest offerings from Samsung and LG at 65 inches.
The LG is markedly ahead. Not by a bit, but by a lot.
I saw a 65 inch LG OLED television in John Lewis this Christmas and the picture quality was better than the Samsung and Panasonic television.
Shame that the price was so much more expensive though.
They have just dropped a lot post Xmas. I think the B series 55" flat panel is about £1700 at JL. Free Sky Q too for a year I think.
Strongly recommend you never buy the current line up, and they have dropped because April sees the next new batch as per the video I posted. I'd buy what is current now in about June to get a great deal.
Audio Al
11-01-2017, 13:27
I nearly purchased the 65" OLED LG TV
1st thoughts were WOW :eek:
2nd visit Hmmm :hmm:
3rd visit :scratch: the screen / picture quality looked false sort of over enhanced in a sort of chrome tint / edge . it didn't look real
Still considering my options , I only went into PC world to buy a kettle :lol:
Jac Hawk
11-01-2017, 18:11
As I work in the A/V business and the parent company sells to Joe public, i as an employee get a discount on TV's and the stuff the shop sells, any members in the north west that are wanting something are welcome to use my discount, just pm me
I need a new telly quite badly so might take you up on that Steve.
I nearly purchased the 65" OLED LG TV
1st thoughts were WOW :eek:
2nd visit Hmmm :hmm:
3rd visit :scratch: the screen / picture quality looked false sort of over enhanced in a sort of chrome tint / edge . it didn't look real
Still considering my options , I only went into PC world to buy a kettle :lol:
You need to be really careful about what mode the set was left in and what programme is playing. All I can say is when you have both Samsung and LG sets in one house over a number of days you become massively aware of which is better.
WRT looking real, when the LG sets are calibrated properly (you have to do it yourself none of the pre-supplied modes are spot on) the LG sets look far more real. Spookily so sometimes.
Interesting - displays now generating sound.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/04/lg-display-65-inch-oled-screen-crystal-sound/
BilliumB
27-01-2017, 00:46
I guess this uses a similar technique to the old NXT flat panel patents that were based on the helicopter acoustics research work done by the MoD at Farnborough.
Cheers. Bill
Something like that. The excursion must surely be minuscule so as not to affect the picture. However a 65 inch screen provides a large surface area to counteract that.
Mono you'd assume.
BilliumB
27-01-2017, 11:56
I guess it would make a good centre channel.
Cheers. Bill
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