Summary
There is no question in my mind that the LG G4 OLED TV is a contender for the title of greatest television of 2024, despite the fact that it is just the second television that I have extensively reviewed this year. Following the conclusion of all the comparisons and shootouts, it would not come as a surprise to me if the LG G4 were to emerge victorious. However, regardless of whether it works or does not, it is already a winner because to the fact that it symbolizes a significant accomplishment for LG.
After reading this review, you will have a complete comprehension of what I am referring about. The fact that the LG G4 is a stunning piece of technology, on the other hand, should not come as a surprise to many of you. It has a profile that is unbelievably thin and a metallic border that is almost nonexistent; everything about it is lovely and extremely well-built, including its new tabletop stand.
LG G4 OLED TV review
As a consequence of LG’s attentiveness to the comments provided by customers, the company has shifted its approach to include a tabletop stand in the packaging of the 55-inch and 65-inch models this year. You still get LG’s proprietary Slim Wall mount included in the package for a practically gapless installation of the 77-, 83-, and 97-inch versions, however.
The OLED M wireless series from LG is, in fact, a product with the same construction. However, I still have a tendency to consider the Gallery series (the G in the name, and the 4 in 2024) to be LG’s flagship product. And since it is LG’s flagship television, the G4 is equipped with the absolute finest features. Along with a Micro Lens Array screen, it is equipped with LG’s OLED evo technology, which is a combination of software and hardware that produces the most vivid and vividly colored OLED image that is currently available. It has four HDMI 2.1 inputs, and it supports input signals of up to 4K 120Hz with a configurable frame rate. Additionally, it has certifications for both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync. Under a millisecond of input lag time, there is LG’s gaming dashboard, which is referred to as HGIG (which stands for HDR Gaming Interest Group). The range of acronyms used in digital technology is endless. It is equipped with almost everything that you could possibly want, and even more. I simply can’t bring myself to dock it points for the fact that it does not have an ATSC 3.0 tuner, which is the only item that is lacking.
The Alpha 11 artificial intelligence processor from LG is the brains behind the functioning of the LG G4, and it is perhaps the most crucial feature. It won’t be long before we get to it.
LG G4 OLED TV review.. What are the few issues of contention?
When it comes to the LG G4, there are just two aspects that I am not only completely and utterly overcome with love for. There are two things. Or maybe three. Not only that, but they are a matter of opinion that is very subjective. So, let’s just get them out of the way so that we can go on to the champagne celebration, shall we?
LG’s webOS is one example of an operating system. It does not in any way constitute a poor user interface. I also like that the few adverts that do display on it are for material that you can view, which is something that I really enjoy. Display advertisements for other retail items are not what you would expect to see here. To me, it is a really significant point. However, I just do not have a strong connection to webOS as an operating system. The fact that the section on streaming applications is made up of the tiniest tiles on the website is an example of the idea that even the smallest details are important. It is my opinion that they need to be the most prominent item on the page since that is what I am most interested in seeing.
And although I am grateful for the very regular updates that ensure the operating system continues to function without any hiccups and that the applications continue to contain the most recent features, the app updates occur so often that it feels as if I cannot go two days without having to give my approval to an app update before I can begin viewing anything.
In addition, I am a fan of the Magic Remote. I am aware that it distinguishes LG and helps it stand out from the competition, and it is as near as it is possible to go to a genuine universal remote control in this day and age. But I simply don’t find it to be my cup of tea.
And then there is the sound coming from the television. There are various ways in which it may be amazing, yet I usually felt that it was annoying the majority of the time. Surprisingly, the greatest alternative that is currently available is to make use of LG’s AI Sound Pro function. However, I discovered that the volume of the dialogue was too low in comparison to the volume of other noises, and it was also difficult to comprehend at times. This was the case with all of the default audio settings. There is no denying that the audio may be rather amazing in terms of its expansiveness and the pseudo-surround effects it provides. And it has a good amount of bass. The rumbling of the ship’s engines was definitely audible in the Star Trek movies that I watched from time to time. I was able to feel it. However, the fundamental aspect of the sound, which is fidelity, is simply absent. To be honest, I’m a really fussy person. It is satisfactory, but if you can believe it, the Hisense U8N, which is much more affordable, seems more appealing to me. To put it another way, if you are going to spend this much money on a television, you want it to have a sound quality that is consistently high.
However, I am ready to overlook all of that and forgive the LG G4. The Apple TV box is the device that I like to use with my televisions. Furthermore, I nearly always have at least one soundbar connected to my system. And with regard to the remote, well, with regard to the visual quality, there is just no way that I would want to miss out on it. Are you saying that the LG Magic Remote is included with the excellent visual quality of the LG G4? As it may be. I am going to live, and I am going to have a good life.
Could it be that this is the greatest I’ve ever seen?
After considering all that has been said, the undeniable fact is that the LG G4 OLED TV more than justifies the money that you spend on it due to the visual quality that it has. In my opinion, the LG G4 is the greatest television that LG has ever produced, and I would even go so far as to claim that it has the highest visual quality that I have ever seen.
I am aware of this; I have previously expressed similar enthusiasm for the Sony A95L OLED TV. To add insult to injury, I have not yet made a definitive decision between the LG G4 and the A95L until I get the opportunity to compare and contrast the two.
To be more specific, the reason I am tempted to declare that the LG G4 has the highest image quality I have ever examined in a television is that, according to certain metrics, it is capable of doing things that the Sony A95L is just not capable of doing. Regarding the picture quality, there is a strong probability that you will like the G4 over the Sony A95L. This, however, is contingent upon the image quality preferences that you have.
There is a question of whether or not the peak brightness measurement values on the LG G4 are really meaningful.
I have an offer for those of you who are nit-nerds: There is a question of whether or not the peak brightness measurement values on the LG G4 are really meaningful. This is due to the fact that the Alpha 11 AI processor, which is responsible for making all of the choices on how the brightness is going to operate on this TV, has absolutely no interest in the test patterns that we are required to work with. Moreover, it is only effective when there is actual material shown on the screen. Your attention should thus be directed at the color accuracy, color gamut, and white balance, all of which you are already aware are going to be of the highest quality. However, the peak white readings that I am going to get will not provide any information on the overall brightness of this television.
In standard SDR Filmmaker Mode, the peak brightness from a 10% window was measured to be 361 nits. It is important to note that this does not imply anything. In addition, this is after the environmental setting has been turned off. This figure has the potential to reach 650 nits, depending on the manner in which you adjust the settings or if you choose a different image style.
Excellent results were achieved with the two-point white balance setting in the SDR stock filmmaker mode. When the stimulus was between 30% and 100%, Delta E was around 1. And even if you turn the brightness all the way up, it still maintains a high side brightness of less than two, which is quite impressive.
Out of the box, grayscale is the closest thing I’ve seen to perfection that I’ve seen. Incredible is the word. In addition, the main color accuracy is, once again, as excellent as I’ve seen it get without calibrating.
The long and short of it is that there were no mistakes that were higher than a Delta E of 2, if they were even that high, and anything that was lower than 3 is reportedly not detectable by the human eye anyhow. The color performance in low brightness is the aspect that has struck me the most. It looks like LG has found a solution to this problem, which was a problem in previous years. I have no idea how LG managed to do it, but it is without a doubt a noteworthy accomplishment.
Grayscale tracking was flawless in HDR, which is now the case. The electro-optical transfer function (EOTF) was adhered to in an almost flawless manner. The color temperature remained unadulterated even when it was at its brightest. Simply not genuine.
We don’t have a lot of information regarding how bright the G4 can go based on the brightness readings.
For the third time, I must emphasize that the peak brightness of this television was 1500 nits at a variety of window sizes up to 10%, and then it dropped to 235 nits when the screen was at its fullest. Nevertheless, it is not really relevant at all. You need to be aware of the fact that this OLED is the brightest one now available, and the difference is not small.
The color matching was completely flawless, and even if there was a brightness issue, it was still quite good. Already, it is very close to becoming a display of reference quality.
And then there is 97.5% DCI P3 and 73% BT.2020 UV; this is one area where we see the WRGB OLEDs coming in beneath the QD-OLED category. despite the fact that the color coverage of BT.2020 still offers a very limited amount of material from which viewers may benefit.
One last thing before we leave the Nit Nerds section: I would like to explain why the brightness measurements don’t tell us much about how bright the G4 can become. I will explain why this is the case.
Pixel-level visual analysis is a component of the new processor and processing that this television is equipped with. To put it another way, the processor of the television does not just examine the whole image; rather, it examines each and every pixel. In addition, a portion of the analysis consists of making some very particular selections about the manner in which the brightness is put into the image. Therefore, rather than dividing the picture into a number of zones and then basing choices about the brightness of the image on those zones, the Alpha 11 AI processor examines each pixel in the context of the whole image. As a result of this, it is possible to attain a greater average image level while still preserving the dazzling highlight detail.
Therefore, when you combine LG’s brightness booster max with the fact that you have the ability to manually alter how the TV applies tone mapping, you have the option of making HDR content brighter than it is designed to be. You also have the option of seeing it in the manner in which it was intended to appear. The problem that people often have, which is that HDR material seems to be overly dark, is resolved by this. Furthermore, it enables the television to attain a greater overall brightness, also known as an average image level, than any other OLED television that I have evaluated up to this point.
On the other hand, while we are seeing white boxes on the screen in a testing situation, such processing work is not performed. The only time it becomes active is when you are really viewing material.
Which sweeteners are
It is already the most competent and versatile OLED television that I have ever evaluated, and that is the LG G4 OLED. And I’ll add that it is a TV that is substantially more competent than the G3 OLED that was released the previous year. If you are asking whether or not it is worthwhile to spend a higher price for the G4, then the answer is yes. The G4 is a remarkable accomplishment that brings much more revolution than evolution to this year’s lineup.
Every single penny that you will spend on the LG G4 is money well spent since it is incredibly stunning.
As an additional incentive to make the G4 an even more appealing choice, LG is providing a guarantee on the G4 that is valid for five years and includes protection against burn-in. The worry that this television’s enormous brightness capabilities may wind up being a liability is substantially reduced as a result of the knowledge that, in the event that there is a burn-in problem (in spite of all the safeguards that LG has put in place), it will be covered during the first five years of ownership. This demonstrates a significant level of confidence on LG’s behalf, which I believe reasonably translates into confidence for the owner of the business.
The following are some of the reasons why LG should be given particular recognition for the accomplishment that the G4 OLED represents: The processing that LG uses, which is what gives a television its appearance, has been becoming closer and closer to the processing that Sony is known for, and I have been seeing this progression year after year. And every year, I’ve been forced to admit that LG is coming that much closer, but Sony has managed to stay on top.
But this year is not like the others. In spite of the fact that LG’s finest processing and Sony’s top processing both provide distinct variations of perfection, I feel compelled to place LG in the same category as Sony at present. Motion, clarity, color, and detail—ooh, my, that detail—LLG has each and every one of these aspects covered with the G4. It certainly is a significant matter.
The reason for this is because now that LG is hammering just as hard as Sony in the processing sector, I believe that we are going to see each manufacturer attempting to outdo one another, and competition of this nature tends to create innovation.
As a result, LG deserves praise for developing one of the most impressive consumer TVs ever produced. Every single penny that you will spend on the LG G4 is money well spent since it is incredibly stunning. Every single item that you watch or play will seem at its absolute finest as a result of this. It is so much better than what many of you probably imagined was even possible. Furthermore, due to the fact that it is an OLED, it seems to be attractive from practically any vantage point, regardless of where you are seated in the home.
When it comes to television engineering, the LG G4 is nothing short of a marvel.
- Outstanding brightness
- Astounding accuracy
- Unprecedented flexibility
- Awesome gaming performance
- Five-year warranty
- Hit-or-miss sound
- Frustrating remote