The main difference this year is that a few buttons have been dropped, allowing for the addition of direct access to Rakuten TV and Disney Plus, along with activation buttons for built-in Alexa and Google assistants. There’s also a microphone for voice interaction and a newly added NFC tag. LG C1 OLED review: Smart TV platform the C1 is a superb gaming TV for those who want incredible contrast and dynamic range mixed with very good HDR Filmmaker Mode is the most accurate picture setting out of the box, although it uses a peak brightness of 100cd/m², which is meant to replicate a professional monitor in a dimly lit grading suite. For a normal living room, the brighter ISF settings may be preferable and are equally as accurate – just remember to turn the TruMotion setting off for movies. Moving to the video processing of the α9 Gen4 AI-enhanced processor, we found the upscaling was excellent with no issues seen at all from 576i, 1080i and 1080p content scaled to the panel resolution. Lines were straight and clean with no edge enhancement or ringing and there were no artefacts present. The LG produces clean and crisp upscaled images, but at the same time it can’t solve issues with really poor SD channels, but why would you have a 4K TV if you still watch channels like that? LG has partnered with NVIDIA and AMD to make LG OLED TVs the only G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync™ Premium certified TVs available to date. There is also a new Game Optimiser set up menu and there are four HDMI 2.1 (40 Gbps) inputs with support for 4K/120, HFR (High Frame Rate), VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and eARC. We also have HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) settings available for HDR gaming.

The C1 runs the latest version of LG’s webOS smart platform, and supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG – but not HDR10+. All the major content streaming platforms are present and correct, including Freeview Play, which was absent on LG’s TVs last year.AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro harness artificial intelligence to stunning effect. AI Picture Pro uses deep-learning algorithms to recognise content, remove noise and optimise the picture. AI Sound Pro leans from more than 17 million audio data points, identifying voices, effects and frequencies. From here, it optimises the sound by genre, giving a more natural sound quality. You can access your webOS TV profile via your smartphone with the NFC Magic Tap app. Even better, NFC Magic Tap lets you mirror content from your mobile to the TV – and not just a single TV. You can mirror content from one TV in your home, to another, using the Room To Room Share function. This lets you view cable or satellite content on multiple screens, without the need for additional set-top boxes. While the LG G1, Sony A90J and Panasonic JZ1500 can go that little bit brighter [...], in isolation the C1 gets very close to that level at a lower entry point.. The deep-learning algorithm analyses content, reduces noise, and optimises picture quality using a massive library of over one million visual data points. The LG C1 boasts a surprisingly effective sound system considering its slimline chassis. Hidden inside is a 2.2-channel sound system with 40W of power, and thanks to the sloped stand the audio from the downward-firing speakers is redirected towards the listener, creating a decent front soundstage that has width and a degree of stereo separation.

The LG C1, like previous C models, is the sweet spot in the 2021 OLED TV range from LG and offers a few small upgrades over last year’s CX. It is available in screen sizes ranging from 48-inch (OLED48C16LA), 55-inch (OLED55C16LA), 65-inch (OLED65C16LA), 77-inch (OLED77C16LA) and a whopping 83-inch (OLED83C14LA) and we are reviewing the 65-inch version. Moving to the Rec.709 colour gamut results and we can see that they are also very good out of the box in FMM. There are a few errors here, with red oversaturated slightly and magenta has a hue error towards red. Other points are there or thereabouts and, for an out of the box preset, the results are very good. With every TV out of the box there will be some slight differences due to panel and component variance but FMM has proven to be the most accurate and consistent preset we have seen in TVs to date. Calibrated Skin tones looked natural and scenes had an added depth thanks to nicely detailed shadows, mid-tones and peak highlights LG: “While the Alpha 9 Gen 4 processors are the same, the optimisation processes necessary to send the signal to the panel differ.” Confusingly, there are three versions of the LG C1 in the UK: the C16LA reviewed here, the C14LB and the C15LA. The latter is exclusive to Currys PC World, while the remaining two will be split between all the other retailers. The C14LB has a dark grey rear panel, with the other two using white, but otherwise, all three TVs are identical in terms of specifications, picture quality and features.WebOS: User-friendly platform makes finding your favourite content super-easy – with colour coded cards at the foot of the screen. Moving to the calibrated Rec.709 colour gamut results, we can also see superb accuracy here with no major errors at all. Once again, LG has made it very easy to dial in reference levels of accuracy to the industry standards. HDR Results The LG C1 is a stellar performer when it comes to high dynamic range, with the Filmmaker mode offering highly accurate images for HDR10 and HLG, while the Cinema mode does the same for Dolby Vision. The Cinema Home mode, which uses a built-in light sensor to adjust picture brightness based on dynamic content metadata, can prove particularly useful when watching during the day. Great service, unsure about the TV yet I bought my TV about a month ago hoping to enjoy a great display. Unfortunately, the TV had software issue and richer sounds agreed to swap it. Here goes the second try, but this one had no display at all and only audio. There is a new motion setting in the TruMotion menu called Cinematic Movement, which replaces Cinema Clear from last year. The purpose of this setting is to add interpolation smoothing in such a way that there is no obvious Soap Opera Effect (SOE), for those who don’t like or see 24fps judder. It aims to create a judder-free image by prioritising as many real frames as possible and blending these with created frames to improve the motion smoothness. I am susceptible to seeing interpolation at any strength, so it is not a setting I could live with day-to-day, but many users will like the smoothing without SOE or motion looking overly processed. With TruMotion switched off I also didn’t notice any frame skipping issues present with 50Hz broadcast material, even those programmes with fast-moving cuts looked smooth with no obvious issues. With the other settings which use more smoothing and SOE, there are obvious artefacts when motion gets fast, with edges breaking up or trailing behind fast-moving objects.

The C1 is a direct replacement for the outgoing CX model sharing the same design and stand. In terms of features, both models have the same major features of HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision with IQ present and correct, but the remote control and WebOS smart TV system have been updated on the C1 along with the full line-up for Freeview Play. The processor recognises voices, sounds, and frequencies by learning from more than 17 million audio data points, allowing it to adjust sound by genre for a more immersive experience. Q3. Does the panel used by the C1 have the same new compounds and materials that the G1 has for better colour and brightness? This is why when you read online people refer to the TVs as only C1, because the other differences are not important. The only important bit is the model range and model year. It's not possible to buy a TV with a different region from the UK, for instance...unless you're importing it from abroad.The C1 supports most of the HDR formats including HDR10, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision IQ and the excellent Filmmaker Mode that matches industry standards for content mastering. There is no HDR10+ support, but we don’t see an issue with that, given the small amount of content that uses the format. For ultimate detail, in all environments, this LG OLED features Dolby Vision IQ. Dolby Vision IQ version uses data within the signal and light sensors inside the TV to adjust the picture quality for the best contrast. This improves the picture’s brightness, without ‘washing out’ the depth. You get a consistent picture quality, however light or dark your room is. Whether you’re watching a brightly lit sports event or moody movie, Dolby Vision IQ adjusts to suit. LG: “LG OLED evo is a combination of a new panel and optimised processing, available exclusively in G1-series. No matter what panel is used in the C1, each TV uses processing to deliver a similar performance across the series. It is important to note that all OLED TVs of the same series are tuned to deliver the same qualities and picture characteristics, regardless of the parts they may use. New OLED tv I bought this TV only this week. When I first installed it and switched it on " out of the box" I was blown away with the different experience from my old led tv.

It's never been easier to stream. LG's webOS smart platform has all of your favourite apps, including Freeview Play, NOW TV, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and more. The C1 is, of course, a direct replacement for the outgoing CX model and it shares the same design and chassis layout, as well as the stand. In terms of features, both models are incredibly similar with the same major features of HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision with IQ present and correct, but the remote control and WebOS smart TV system have been updated on the C1 along with Freeview Play featuring in full this year. LG: “The C1 OLED is tuned to make sure that every model in the series has the same optical characteristics to the human eye, no matter what parts are included in them.The Rec.709 results took a little bit more care to balance out the errors we had without using too much processing power within the corrections. If you push the Colour Management System on any LG too hard, you can get lovely looking graphs, but major posterisation errors and artefacts with actual viewing material onscreen. So some care is required when making adjustments. However, we did manage to get a very accurate looking gamut result with most points at 75% and below where they should be and DeltaE errors well under three, which means there are no visible errors seen. HDR Results We are reviewing the 65-inch version of the LG C1, but the general performance should be the same for the other screen sizes. This year the G and C series models from LG are different in terms of picture quality, where in previous years it has just been cosmetic differences that has separated the series line-up. This year the G series has the OLED Evo panel and electronics which boasts higher peak brightness as well as a more relaxed ABL circuit. The C1 is not equipped with the same picture brightness, although some will share the Evo panel as the G1, they are not set up to take advantage of them. The full explanation is in the 65-inch C1 review if you are interested in finding out more.