If you have stayed at home just as much as I have this year, you will know how important and essential a good television has become. With little to do during quarantine, a favorite program or movie on one of the many streaming services out there became a nightly ritual, which then became a comforting routine. But saddled with a cheaper TV, and well, sometimes you can have a clear and delay-free experience, it can be as risky as an underdeveloped chess The Queen’s Gambit.
So we decided to upgrade our TV viewing experience in 2021, starting with the look at LG’s 8K OLED TV.
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There are many words in the official name of LG’s 8K TV set – officially titled the “LG SIGNATURE ZX 77-inch Class 8K Smart OLED TV with AI ThinQ®.” Part of the wave of 8K TVs unveiled at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show, the only thing you really need to know is that it’s an animal of a television set that views – and experiences – the way you view content. will change.
While 4K technology is basically the new standard, there are also a number of studios that are starting to create 8K content as it streams programs and movies to your TV. As the name suggests, 8K offers four times the detail than traditional 4K and 16 times higher resolution (7680 x 4,320 pixels) than HD. In short, the best 8K TV sets promise more vivid, more lifelike images, across larger screens and a wider color palette.
We tested the 77-inch LG SIGNATURE 8K OLED TV, which incorporates LG’s well-known OLED technology with the ability to display 8K resolution over a smooth, end-to-end screen. The TV (which technically measures 76.7 inches diagonally) uses more than 33 million self-illuminated pixels that offer more than a billion color combinations, with perfect blacks and incredible contrasts. What it means: all 76.7 inches of the screen are bright, detailed and color-corrected, without fading or fading. While cheaper TVs focus the action on the center of the screen (and often blur around the edges), LG’s OLED TV creates sharp, intense images, even at large angles.
It can be hard to find 8K content out there, so LG gave me a link to a special video they co-produced with the American Ballet Theater in New York, which captures The Nutcracker in stunning 8K quality . That’s not to say a bit that the famous ballet really appeared on the 8K set, with even the fine details (i.e. the texture on the dancers ’costumes) coming through the exhibition. What was most impressive, however, was how realistic and immersive the on-screen action seemed, as if – and this is no hyperbole – you were just there, watching every Arabesque and pliers from the front row. LG says this is thanks to the television’s α9 Gen 3 AI processor, which is specifically designed to deliver 8K performance. The advanced processor also eliminates stuttering or delay, creating a virtually seamless viewing experience from step to step, jump to jump. The movement was impeccably clear and precise, and it was easy to depict everything on the screen, even in faster rows and turns.
After watching The Nutcracker in 8K, I watched 8K videos on YouTube (one of the few streaming sites with real 8K content). LG SIGNATURE ZX supports HEVC, AV1 and VP9 codec, so it’s easy to watch 8K YouTube videos or say 8K videos from a USB stick. Even content that is not in 8K is automatically set up as close to 8K as possible. For me, it means a night to watch nature documents on YouTube and then switch to favorite action sequences and scenes from movies like joker and Christopher Nolan’s latest, Tenet.
The 8K upscaling coupled with LG’s OLED technology means smooth action and well-defined images created from a wide color palette. While watching a nature documentary on the Pacific Islands, each ripple of the ocean is displayed in a different shade of blue, making it incredibly vibrant. That opening scene of joker? LG’s OLED Motion technology made it whistle and swing without any stutter on the screen, while the 8K resolution added an intensity and brightness to the scene that I had never experienced with previous movie visits. The same bold colors and striking images sprang from the screen as they watched an NFL game, where the action was smooth and without stuttering. One note: I have the infamous “Long Night” episode of Game of Thrones and it was still dark, so I got it all the way to the GoT cinematographer and not my TV.
The reality is that there is not much 8K content out there yet, but that should not stop you from considering this TV. Even on ‘regular’ content, LG’s intuitive 8K technology still enhances everything you see. In fact, LG says its SIGNATURE OLED 8K TVs exceed the industry’s official 8K Ultra HD definition, as stated by the Consumer Technology Association. From the moment you turn on the television, you see an immediate difference in the quality of what you are watching.
It’s all packaged in a super-thin design with a minimalist edge that’s thinner than most non-8K put on the market today. The 77-inch set was definitely a conversation starter for anyone who walked into my family room, and it’s an impressive exhibit for both movie lovers and designers.
If you are looking for a very impressive TV set for 2021 and want to equip your home entertainment system with the latest technology on the market, this is the TV you can pick up. Priced at $ 19,999 (easy financing is available via Best Buy), it’s not cheap, but considering all the time we spend watching TV at home these days, it’s an investment to not only your streaming quality, but also yours. improve quality of life during quarantine.
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