LG has long wowed us with its OLED TVs, and its new C1 delivers some of the best performance we’ve seen to date. It has fantastic contrast, impressively wide and accurate colors, strong audio, and excellent gaming capabilities. The 65-inch OLED55C1PUB model we tested retails for $2,499.99, which is far from inexpensive, but reasonable for a high-end OLED TV. Vizio’s OLED65-H1 is significantly less pricey at $1,999.99, but it’s also much dimmer. The LG C1 is easily one of the best TVs you can buy, earning our Editors’ Choice award for OLED models, as well as a TechX award for its nearly perfect color performance.
Beautiful On and Off
As is typical with OLED TVs, the C1 is both gorgeous and understated in its design. The TV itself has no bezel at all, just a thin rim of gray metal along the edges of the screen. The metal-backed OLED panel is less than a quarter of an inch thick, though an inch-thick plastic casing swells out on the lower half of the back of the TV to hold all of the electronics. The panel sits on a very heavy stand, with a trapezoidal metal foot on the front and a smaller rectangular foot on the back; it can also be mounted on a wall.
Aside from the permanently attached power cable on the back right of the C1, all connections sit on the left. Three HDMI ports and a USB port face left, while a fourth HDMI port, two more USB ports, optical and coaxial audio outputs, an RS-232C coaxial connector, an Ethernet port, and an antenna/cable connector face directly back. The back foot of the stand features a channel for cable management.
The included Magic Remote is a long, thin, slightly curved black wand that features motion sensors to control an on-screen cursor like an air mouse. A large, circular navigation pad with a clickable scroll wheel sits just below the center of the remote. A number pad and volume and channel rockers sit above the navigation pad, while four color buttons, dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, LG Channels, and separate buttons for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant sit below the pad. A pinhole microphone is at the top of the remote for using voice controls.
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LG C1 Features and WebOS
LG continues to use its own webOS TV interface for connected features, and while it doesn’t have the widest selection of apps, most major streaming services are here, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Twitch, and YouTube. You can also stream content from your iOS device or Mac over Apple AirPlay, or from a compatible Android device with the LG ThinQ app (Google Cast isn't supported).
A full web browser is present on the TV, which is easy to use thanks to the remote’s air mouse functionality. A variety of voice control systems can also be used, including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and LG's own ThinQ voice platform for controlling the TV itself and compatible LG ThinQ devices on your network. WebOS features a full Home Dashboard for displaying any active sources on the TV, as well as any connected smart home devices. Several common apps need to be downloaded to the TV; doing so requires you to create a free LG account if you don't already have one.
While testing the TV, I found the webOS menu system to be slightly jerky, both in scrolling through the home screen and reacting to commands. It would snap back to the last active input or app seemingly at random, either from the home screen or the settings menu. I spoke with LG about this problem, and according to the company it appears to be an uncommon issue with the operating system's memory manager. After using the TV for a period of time, most of these kinks seemed to work themselves out.
Incredible Picture Performance
The LG C1 is a 4K OLED TV with a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports high dynamic range (HDR) content in HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG).
We test TVs with a Klein K-10A colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman software using methodology based on Imaging Science Foundation’s calibration techniques. OLED panels are capable of producing perfect blacks, but the flip side of the technology is that they tend not to get very bright across the entire panel, and become brighter when less area of the panel is lit up (much more so than LED array backlight systems with variable dimming zones).
Using an SDR signal of a full-screen white field, the C1 in Cinema mode reaches a peak brightness of only 132.689cd/m^2, and reducing that field to 18% of the screen only increases the brightness to 139.72cd/m^2. With an HDR signal, full-screen peak brightness only reaches 145.216cd/m^2, but dropping to an 18% field makes that number jump to a much better 565.692cd/m^2, and a 10% field shoots to 764.039cd/m^2. Of course, in all cases, black levels are 0cd/m^2, so technically the TV shows an “infinite” contrast ratio regardless of circumstances.
This is comparable, if slightly dimmer, than the Sony Master Series A90J’s brightness. The A90J, for context, is the brightest OLED TV we’ve tested. These highly variable peak brightness levels mean that a big, fully lit scene won’t be as bright on an OLED panel as it will be on a high-end LED-backlit LCD TV, but the well-lit parts of an otherwise dark scene will really pop out.
In terms of accuracy out of the box, the LG C1 shows the absolute best color performance we’ve seen yet—and we’ve seen most manufacturers make impressive strides over the last few years.
The above charts show color measurements taken with an SDR signal compared against Rec.709 broadcast standards, and with an HDR signal compared against DCI-P3 digital cinema standards, with the TV set to the Cinema picture mode in both cases. The C1 hits the color spaces nearly perfectly without any tweaks needed, covering both Rec.709 and DCI-P3 with spot-on whites and primary colors. The only flaw in color performance we could find was very slight drifting for cyan and magenta with an HDR signal, and even that was minor.
Color performance is so impressive that we double-checked the results with a second colorimeter (Klein K-80) to make sure they were right. Until we see a TV that can cover the full wider-than-DCI-P3 BT.2020 color space (and no consumer TV has come close), the current generation of LG’s OLED panels appear to be as good as you can possibly get. This remarkable accuracy earns the C1 a TechX award for showing the true potential of OLED technology.
BBC’s Planet Earth II looks fantastic on the C1. Colors are vivid and natural, from the greens of plants and bird feathers to the blues of water and skies. Fine details like fur and bark are clearly visible under both bright sun and shade, and the picture is consistently bright enough to watch comfortably and notice all of those details, even if the panel isn’t as bright as some high-end LED TVs.
Deadpool also looks excellent on the C1, with the red of Deadpool’s costume appearing properly saturated and balanced even under the overcast lighting of the opening scene. In the burning lab fight, shadow details can be seen clearly against the flickering flames, which show plenty of active yellows and oranges. The fire isn’t wildly bright on the screen, but it stands out well and the scene shows off the TV’s strong contrast.
The party scenes in The Great Gatsby further demonstrate the contrast the C1 can produce. The cuts and contours of black suits and textures of brown hair can be easily seen against the stark white lights and balloons, without ever looking blown out. Skin tones look warm and natural, and any splashes of color in the frame pop out nicely.
Strong Audio and Gaming
Speakers on TVs often feel like an afterthought, but the C1 uses a 40-watt speaker system consisting of two front-firing drivers and two downward-firing drivers, compatible with Dolby Atmos surround sound. It also features LG’s AI Sound Pro audio processing to produce a much larger sound field than most TVs, which we definitely noticed when switching the mode on and off during testing.
Along with strong audio, the C1 is utterly packed with features for gaming. In addition to the TV’s 120Hz refresh rate, it offers variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM), as well as both AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible technologies. All of these features are accessible through the Game Optimizer picture mode and a separate Game Optimizer menu.
A load of gaming technologies wouldn’t be very beneficial if the TV’s input lag (the time between when it receives a signal and the display updates) was high, but that isn’t the case here. Using an HDFury Diva HDMI matrix, we measured an input lag of just 4.7 milliseconds in Game Optimizer mode, less than a quarter of the 20ms threshold we use to consider a TV to be one of the best for gaming. Make sure you’re in this mode before you play anything; in Cinema mode the input lag is 89.1ms.
The Best OLED TV for Gamers—and Everyone Else
LG’s C1 OLED TV is a marvel of picture quality. Its color and contrast are among the best we’ve seen on any television, and it’s outfitted with features for gamers like ALLM and VRR. It’s pricier than Vizio’s significantly dimmer OLED model, but it’s much less expensive than the Sony Master Series A90J while offering better performance. For these reasons, the LG C1 earns our Editors’ Choice award, as well as a TechX award for its color accuracy. If you want to spend less on an excellent TV, you’ll need to look for an LED model rather than OLED, like the Hisense U8G or the TCL 6-Series. They’re much more affordable, but they’re thicker, their colors are less accurate, and while they have excellent black levels, they don’t offer the pitch blacks of OLED panels.
LG OLED65C1PUB
Editors' Choice
Pros
View MoreThe Bottom Line
The LG C1 OLED TV line offers one of the best pictures we've seen, with nearly perfect cinema color. It also features AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync, making it a terrific high-end option for gamers.
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June 15, 2021 at 08:59PM
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