LG’s 2021 OLED TVs are modest upgrades, but computer monitors are coming

Today is the first day of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, and while 2021 is obviously an irregular year, it has not stopped the routine unveiling of new product updates from Big Tech companies. These include LG, which at this point is best known for the OLED TVs and OLED panels it offers to other companies for their own devices.

LG’s updates of its OLED range are going to be modest for most buyers this year. The company offers brighter HDR on its best TVs, but most people will not use these devices, so we mostly look at slightly extended gameplay features and improved response time, as well as new or seemingly improved AI-driven picture optimizations . Overall, no one who bought an LG OLED last year is going to feel like they jumped the gun here too soon.

The bigger story could therefore be OLED starting in smaller and smaller screen sizes. Last year, LG introduced its first 48-inch OLED TVs, which was a significant drop from the previous 55-inch floor. But it looks like the company will get even smaller in the late 2021, and we can even see that LG’s panels will finally go into the desktop monitor area in the near future.

But before we get into that, let’s take a look at what we can expect from LG’s larger OLED TVs in 2021.

LG’s 2021 OLED Series

Let us first explain the naming convention here to avoid confusion. The LG TVs in 2019 had the number nine – so C9, B9, and so on – and LG pulled an iPhone in 2020 by going to BX or CX. The company has now managed an overflow and wrapped up to 1.

As in 2020, the C-Series (LG C1) is essentially the flagship; there are cheaper and more expensive sets, but the C1 is probably the one that attracts the most interest in terms of price-to-function ratio.

Unlike the C1, the higher-end G1 that LG says is the big story for its OLED TVs this year is: higher HDR brightness. The new brand “OLED evo” designed by LG, and the company says that it offers a higher brightness. The brightness of the peak is about the only major image quality rating that rival non-OLED televisions have ever beaten LG, but we do not know exactly how high the new brightness ceiling is and whether it matches the peak brightness of Samsung’s LED screens. And we probably won’t know it until judges get their hands on the new sets – probably sometime in the summer, if recent years are an indication.

The 4K G1 comes in 55-, 65- and 77-inch sizes, while the C1 (which is also 4K) will add 48- and 83-inch options. In addition, LG offers 8K variants, with basically the C1 feature at 77 and 88 inches. The 8K TVs are called the Z1.

Finally, some of LG’s marketing materials refer to a B1 model. Over the past few years, the B-Series has offered the same panel as the C-Series and most of the same features, but with a weaker processor. This affects, among other things, AI-based image quality features and the funnyness of the user interface. LG also mentions an A1 model. We do not know what it is, but it could be an even cheaper entry-level alternative.

With the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles on the market (though quite difficult to get in stock), gaming is a clear emphasis on this version of LG’s TVs. LG has already added support for HDMI 2.1, 4K @ 120Hz and VRR (variable refresh rate) in previous models, although VRR is still halfway through 2020 LG TVs. The most important blocks were therefore already marked off. This time, LG has introduced a “Game Optimization” menu to all its TVs, so you can more easily access features like VRR in one place. The TVs also have multiple game mode profiles tailored to specific genres, such as a first-person shooter or a role-playing game, rather than a uniform approach.

LG further claims that the new OLEDs will be the first TVs to be built into Google’s Stadia game streaming service. Users will only need a Stadia controller and a subscription to play games without a connected console. Nvidia’s competitive GeForce Now service is also coming later in 2021.

LG has not yet announced prices or release dates for any of these TVs, but it will definitely come in the next few months.

The start of the OLED computer monitor raid

TVs that are getting bigger are getting hits regularly, but for OLED this is the slower march to get smaller. LG’s OLED panel manufacturing feature has so far focused on smartphone sizes or large lounge TV sizes. In between, you have smaller TVs that are more suitable for bedrooms or offices (or just people with smaller lounges or who do not want a TV to dominate their space) and computer monitors.

Even the most beautiful computer monitors are notorious … well, frankly, compared to the most beautiful TVs or smartphones in terms of image quality, by many standards like contrast. Monitors have rather emphasized response time at the expense of image quality, which is true in many use cases. On top of that, it’s hard to impossible to cram thousands of local blackout zones into a 27-inch LCD screen. All that LG offers is the opportunity to take the space with OLED by storm, assuming consumers are not too worried about image retention.

LG has indicated at CES this year that it is ready to do so. The company says it will launch its first 42-inch OLED screens later this year, but it also plans to offer panels between 20 and 30 inches, both for itself and for other companies that use their panels in their own . devices.

We’re not quite up to 30 inches yet, but LG has announced its first 31.5-inch OLED computer monitor – the 4K 32EP950, or ‘UltraFine OLED Pro’, which offers 99% coverage of both DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB. Ports will include one HDMI, two DisplayPort and three USB, of which at least one of the USB ports is USB-C. There is no information yet on the price or release date (expensive, sure), but things are improving: Samsung is the world’s other major OLED panel manufacturer, and it also plans to start rolling out OLED monitors in similar sizes.

LG also makes LED TVs, we suppose

Although LG makes non-OLED TVs, the company’s OLED range gets the most attention every year – and with good reason, because LG’s LED TVs are usually not much to write home about. It is not that they are bad; they just do not do much to distinguish themselves from similar TVs manufactured by other companies.

The biggest news on LG’s non-OLED front this year is the launch of the new “QNED” series of TVs. It does not differ significantly from other LCD TVs, but they have Mini LED backlights like competing LCD / LED TVs from Samsung and others this year. The ‘QNED’ brand is just marketing talk, as it indicates that these TVs combine Mini LED technology with the existing and essentially meaningless “Quantum NanoCell” label from LG.

Mini-LED screens have taillights that consist of multiple light points to help better isolate dark parts of the picture from bright screens – something that LCD screens are notorious for compared to increasingly popular OLED alternatives. According to all reports, the improvement may be noticeable, but it is still no match with OLED, which can isolate blacks or bright whites per pixel.

LG will also ship modestly updated versions of its lower-end NanoCell branded LED TVs this year, but again there is not much to distinguish the models of numerous similar TVs from other companies. As mentioned above models, the NanoCell TVs will include the new Game Optimizer feature.

List photo by LG

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