LG is updating its fleet of OLED TVs at CES, and while the underlying technology remains mostly the same, the company’s 2022 lineup has gained some enticing enhancements.
Featuring OLED Evo, the latest generation of LG’s self-emissive pixel technology, the G2 and C2 TV series promises to take what is already the premier display technology and improve it by delivering higher brightness. This is achieved through better heat dissipation and more advanced algorithms, LG claims.
OLED panels deliver perfect black levels, vivid colors, and exceptional contrast ratios, but they aren’t as bright as their LCD counterparts. Panel makers have made great strides in recent years to make OLED TVs more visible in bright conditions, and now LG claims to have taken another big step forward.
Beyond the picture enhancements, LG’s flagship G2 series is now available in a massive 97-inch model to go along with a new 83-inch option. The more affordable C-series TVs go the opposite direction, adding the “world’s first” 42-inch OLED TV to a collection of six sizes scaling up to 83 inches. We haven’t seen the new TVs in person yet but LG says the C series has slimmer bezels than before.
Other updates are less visible. The TVs now run on an Alpha 9 Gen 5 processor that LG claims uses deep learning to enhance upscaling performance and gives images a more “3D” appearance, which is paired with improved virtual surround sound. This is the sort of thing that sounds great in a press release but needs to be seen in person to be believed.
Also receiving some attention is LG’s Smart TV platform. The latest version, webOS 22, adds personal profiles so you can see only the streaming services you tend to watch, not all the other crap your roommates are viewing. It’ll also give you more tailored recommendations, so you won’t see just about anything on Apple TV+ when you just want to endlessly rewatch Ted Lasso.
Some TVs conveniently have Chromecast built-in, but LG takes a different approach with what it calls NFC Magic Tap, a feature that lets you mirror your smartphone screen. This isn’t new, but now you can mirror cable or satellite content from one LG TV to another via wifi. Also new to the 2022 TVs is something called “Always Ready,” which lets you display artwork, a clock, or play music by pressing the power button on the LG remote.
Perhaps more important than any of these new features is support for Matter, the new smart home standard designed to make all your smart gadgets interoperable. Matter lets you control devices through one common interface, and major players Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Google are already onboard.
LG’s TVs are some of the best options for gamers playing on the latest consoles, and now the new models will come with the ability to switch between game-specific features and settings, like those for G-Sync, FreeSync, and VRR, from the TV’s Game Optimizer Menu. In this menu, you’ll find a new Dark Room Mode, which adjusts the screen brightness depending on the lighting in your environment.
LG is also expanding its lineup of QNED miniLED TVs, which use LG’s Quantum Dot NanoCell technology. You don’t get perfect blacks and infinite contrast ratios, but these panels get much brighter than OLED and don’t risk burn-in. Beware though, because not every QNED TV will use miniLED technology.
Pricing and specific release dates will be revealed as we get closer to the new TV’s launch this spring.