LG is currently launching its new series of OLED screens, which comes in a larger variety of models and sizes, along with changes in the design and image processing side.
The field of AI is gaining increasing emphasis and allows our TVs to display images at a better level, with improvements in different areas in each image seen on the screen, and to understand the changes coming this year, we took a look at the OLED 65C2 model.
LG OLED C2 – Design and connections
The design of the TV was changed this year by LG in several places. First, it is the company’s lightest screen, which weighs about half of the previous model and comes in a weight that amounts to about 17 kg along with the leg, which makes moving it on the TV cabinet much more comfortable.
LG OLED C2 (Photo: Ronen Mendzicki)
LG OLED C2 (Photo: Ronen Mendzicki)
The screen comes in a very thin structure, but in the back we will continue to find a bulge in which the connections, speakers and more are combined, one that leads the thickness of the TV from 1.5 cm to about 4.5 cm along with the bulge (without the stand). As always, there is the more expensive G2 version, which is designed for hanging closer to the wall, with a thickness of only about 2.5 cm.
The leg is also changing this year. It comes in a narrower structure that takes up less space on the TV cabinet, presumably a change that comes in light of the significant weight loss of the OLED C2, one that does not require as large a surface area as before to hold it in place.
Another change that the company is making in the new model concerns the connections, these you can now find only on the side, in contrast to the combination of most of the connections on the back of the TV and only some on the side, as was the case with the OLED C1 model last year.
The connection set of the 65C2 OLED screen is quite rich and includes four HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which also supports ARC / eARC, three USB inputs, an optical optical port, two antenna inputs and a wired (LAN) connection. In addition, the screen supports Bluetooth 5.0 and WiFi 802.11ac.
One thing that does not change this year is the remote control, whose design was updated last year. This is the same remote, which also offers support for displaying the smart cursor on the screen, buttons for quick access to Netflix, video frames from Amazon and Disney Plus, while there is also support for voice activation in Hebrew using the remote.
The voice recognition works well (no need to shout commands on the TV out loud), but I was present to find that it is not very patient and requires you to complete the command relatively quickly, or it will not be well received.
User interface and operating system
We saw LG’s new interface last year, so the company abandoned the familiar app bar almost entirely in favor of displaying a new home screen, which includes not only the app bar, but also content recommendations and access to more information items, like tracking football teams, receiving alerts About games and more.
This year, LG is also adding the option of creating additional user profiles for the TV for the purpose of adapting content to each viewer. I say about this that even after connecting Netflix, Disney Plus, Cellcom TV, YouTube and Apple TV Plus, I was not shown content compatible with these services on TV (as is the case with Apple TV or even the Hisense TV I am currently testing), but only general recommended content.
The settings menus have received some new additions. There is still access to the quick menu that can be removed from the screen, but in the full settings you will find more options than before, with an emphasis on the AI field.
Picture and sound
The LG OLED C2 screens come in 4K resolution of 2160 × 3840 pixels, and as in previous years, this year too we can find support for Dolby Vision IQ image technology, along with the Cinema HDR standard that combines Dolby Vision, HDR10 Pro, and HLG standards. .
Along with upgrading the processor to the fifth generation Alpha 9 we find a greater variety of AI modes, these are designed to enhance the image and sound in a number of separate areas. You can choose a general picture enhancement, focusing on brightness or adjusting the enhancement according to the lighting in the room where the TV is located (Dolby Vision IQ).
The lighting on the new screen is very high and LG is even working to reduce it in particularly bright scenes, so that the viewing experience is not harmed. The high brightness also helps in reducing reflections in bright rooms, although in the attached image below you can see that there are still reflections on the screen (top right) when it comes to significant lighting sources.
Despite the sheer amount of updates LG has made in the last two years to its TV series, I can not say that these are significant changes. Last year I felt the changes the company made in improving content visibility, but this time I can not say that I felt a significant difference, although on paper the company has expanded its image enhancement capabilities through AI.
At the same time, deep learning technologies allow the screen to achieve a fairly large improvement in viewing experience for content that is not available at the highest resolutions.
The speaker array in the OLED C2 models continues for another year with the structure of 2.2 channels and a maximum power of 40W, but LG claims to improve the AI capabilities to the point of bringing the audio experience to 7.1.2 virtual channels. In practice, the audio experience felt less to me than I had in previous years. Audio volume is good, but audio quality has dropped slightly, and many of the benefits of advanced audio technologies will likely only come through the company’s sound projectors.
Support for Dolby Atmos audio technology adds a lot to the audio quality through the TV speakers, but keep in mind that many times its activation will require you to amplify the TV much more as well. It’s definitely worth it if you’re not using a sound projector, especially supportive content.
Bottom line – what we thought of the LG OLED C2
With the growing emphasis on AI and improved image and sound, LG continues to slightly improve its OLED series year after year. The 2022 models feature a wider spread of screen sizes, ranging from 42 to 83 inches in the case of the C2 series we tested, these also reach up to 97 inches in the corresponding G2 series designed for hanging on the wall.
The options for entering the field of OLED screens are expanding even further this year, even through cheaper series such as the OLED A2, whose price opens at about NIS 6,000.
The picture quality of OLED C2 TVs is among the highest that can be found on the market today, but the big improvements that have come in recent years with processors that are able to show improvement in picture and sound qualities through deep learning (AI) reduce the differences in these screens from year to year.
The support for gaming in the new TV is extensive and comes through 4 HDMI 2.1 ports, support for VRR, FreeSync and GSync, high refresh rate and low latency.
Price is also a big factor in buying a new screen and together with the addition of cheaper OLED series, entering this world with larger screens is more convenient. If last year the 48-inch C1 model cost about NIS 6,000, today you can find the 55-inch A2 series at a similar price, while the 65-inch OLED C2 screen that we tested in this review also gets A slight decrease in the launch price compared to the previous year – NIS 9,790 compared to NIS 9,990 last year.
Price (LG OLED 65C2): NIS 9,790 (Official importer warranty: HI)
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