LG C1 OLED review: a game-changing TV

Almost all The best TV today It is produced by LG. This is because it is the only company in the world that produces organic LED (OLED) displays of such a large size. Visual OLED? It uses LG panel. Sony A8H? Yes, LG. Unlike traditional LED-backlit TVs, OLED provides perfect black and infinite contrast because each pixel generates its own light instead of using a separate backlight.

Therefore, in terms of its own TV, LG has a significant advantage, and this year’s LG C1 is undoubtedly the crown jewel of ten years of dominance. It eventually blurs the line between televisions and gaming monitors. With 4K playback at 120 frames per second, ultra-low input response, and Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, C1 is the first TV I often connect a gaming PC to to get a better experience than a traditional TV desktop monitor.

I can enjoy Ted Russo And a virtual tour around the Nürburgring F1 2020 One by one, I have never experienced a better experience.

OLED advantages

The reason OLED TVs are more suitable for gaming than LED-backlit TVs is that they do not have an extra step to deal with backlighting. This step in the processing chain amounts to a significant reduction in input delay-the time it takes for the TV to record your joystick movement.

After several years of improvement, LG’s team has reduced the input delay time of this new OLED to a level equal to or better than most gaming monitors. Don’t just trust LG’s words. RTINGS’ Practical test It also showed amazing and impressive results.

LG’s C1 also supports technologies from graphics card manufacturers such as Nvidia and AMD, which keep the frame rate of the game in sync with the refresh rate of the screen, so everything looks very smooth. It functions as good as or better than my 38-inch ultra-wide screen, and the deeper black on the OLED panel brings amazing depth to games I have never encountered before on a PC monitor.

The elephant in the room here is Hard to find graphics card It is now possible to play games on TVs like this one.You can buy one Xbox One X or Game console 5 For 4K 120-Hz games, but you can hardly find one of them.

If you do get the right card or the right console, your gaming experience will be almost unmatched by C1. 4K resolution looks much better on larger screens-on smaller displays, it is difficult for the human eye to see the pixel density.This experience is particularly evident in sports simulator games, such as FIFA 21 or Formula One 2020; The 65-inch size, resolution and perfect contrast of the TV really make you feel like you are doing real sports like a professional.

Cinema quality

When playing my PC and Nintendo Switch, I often use the game mode on C1, but my favorite thing to watch is the movie mode.It makes the image a little yellower and changes from Lord of the Rings Trilogy 2001: A Space Odyssey It looks great. The scene in space looks particularly great, because when there is a black background, you won’t experience “glowing” around brighter objects-this is a common problem with LED-backlit TVs.

One disadvantage of OLED TVs is the aging of the screen, which is a trace of static images on the screen. It is not as common as past plasma TVs, but if you use the same static window to play the same game or TV channel for thousands of hours, it may start to burn the screen. My opinion? If you often do this activity on TV, you may not notice the aging phenomenon.

The bigger problem I encountered was the interface. I like that LG uses Wiimote-like clickers (you can point and click on everything on the screen), but its smart TV platform is a bit clumsy. It is not easy for me to cast to it from Windows, and it still lacks streaming support (for example, there is no HBOMax app yet). The apps it does have (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Plex, and many others) work well, but it lacks a cast, so I have to plug in my PC to watch HBO. For high-end TV, this feels very strange.

Oh, and like most flat-panel TVs, the speakers sound flat and small.With such a good TV, you need Grab one Nice soundbar.

blurred lines

LG’s OLED dominance may soon be eclipsed. By 2030, Samsung, TCL, Vizio, Sony and other companies may produce amazing Micro-LED TVs. It mimics the darkness of OLED, but significantly improves the brightness. In terms of its value, C1 is not as bright as the best LED-backlit TVs, but I can easily see it in all viewing conditions. This means that in the foreseeable future, OLED TVs like C1 will provide gamers and movie fans with an absolute home viewing experience.

If you are a high gambler who likes both gaming and watching ultra-high-definition movies, then this is the best screen I have tested. You can spend a little more money on high-end models from Sony or even LG, but I will say save your money: C1 looks good, you can hardly see the difference.