"LG's most beautiful OLED television so far."
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Breathtaking design
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Excellent picture quality
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First class HDR / contrast
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Improved user experience
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Excellent for playing
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Expensive premium for design
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Stand sold separately (only mounted on the wall)
LG made his bed. Now it has to be there.
After years as the only OLED TV manufacturer in the US, other manufacturers have collapsed. The first problem was Sony. And now Vizio is on board, Philips is sending an OLED to the USA and the budget brand Konka is getting involved.
Now that LG has so many roommates moving into the house it built, it has to struggle to secure the master suite. That means making the best and most sought after OLED TVs on the market. It is likely that LG will never be the cheapest option, so it has to rely heavily on premium options to seduce customers.
Enter the 2020 LG Gallery Series GX OLED. Its characteristic design elements are a so-called "No-Gap-No-Shadow" wall mounting system and an extremely thin profile. LG is an obvious answer to Samsung's approach to seamless wall mounting (available for select Samsung Q-Series TVs from 2017) and has created its own piece of art that somehow keeps the inherently ultra-thin properties of an OLED panel combined with sophisticated technology all electronics in a flat chassis.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
This stunning design comes at a price, albeit a lower premium than I expected. In fact, LG's OLED TV prices are lower across the board. However, a 65-inch GX costs $ 3,500, while the 65-inch CX step-down model, which offers the same excellent image quality, costs $ 2,800. Neither is affordable, but does the Gallery series deserve the $ 700 premium?
If looks could kill, the LG GX OLED would be a serial killer.
I'm not sure. I think the answer will depend on how much value aesthetics has for you. However, one thing is pretty certain. If looks could kill, the LG GX OLED would be a serial killer.
Out of the box
Entertaining story: I hadn't expected the GX-OLED television (pronounced G 10) for this test. I was expecting the CX model and when I took a very carefully orchestrated, socially distant delivery of this TV, I didn't look closely at the box.
To make an unboxing video during a global pandemic, I asked my video producer Dan Baker to unpack the TV himself while he was documenting B-Roll for our video. Then came the message: "There is no stand. No legs. I think we are missing some parts."
A quick phone call to LG revealed that I had deliberately been lined up with a GX-OLED and that the TV doesn't come with legs, but with the gapless wall bracket – an accessory that Samsung charges an additional $ 150 . The fact that I could not get my legs was an unfortunate consequence of closing offices due to coronavirus lock orders.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Three days later I got the legs and decorative plastic plates – accessories, extra for the LG.
Bottom line? This TV is designed for wall mounting. It makes no sense to put it on a sideboard or an entertainment booth, except maybe to enjoy its extra thin profile. If you are not planning a wall mounting, I will guide you to the CX series.
Made to assemble
I'm a fan of LG's wall mount for the GX OLED. The intelligent, one-piece design is compact, robustly built and easy to install. Thanks to the articulated arms, the TV can be pulled out of the wall. This is not so much for adjusting the horizontal viewing angle (which is not necessary with an OLED television with extremely wide visibility), but for easy access to the inputs of the television.
I was surprised at the weight of this GX OLED, which tips the scales at 65.7 pounds. It's not bulky and you can still mount the TV using the included drywall anchors, but I would recommend drilling in bolts if possible.
picture quality
I was impressed with the mini LED and micro LED TV technologies that other manufacturers are starting to mess around with, but at the end of the day my heart still belongs to the OLED and the GX is one of the nicest examples I have seen.
Despite brave efforts to alleviate the problems of LCD televisions and the LED backlights they rely on, there is nothing better than a self-emissive display for black levels, screen uniformity and breathtaking contrast. OLED is currently the best there is. And the 2020 OLEDs from LG look better than ever, even if the improvements are small compared to the previous year.
Currently the only real competition from LG comes from Sony. As mentioned earlier, this will change later this year. However, if I had to choose between a 2020 LG OLED and a 2020 Sony OLED, I would only have to choose the LG based on its features. The Sony A8H is coming, and I can compare LG directly to the Sony competition, but I have to imagine that a significant difference in picture quality that goes in Sony's favor is likely to be overridden by the better package offer of LG's OLED TVs is set.
How for the GX series? I don't see it as the best choice for everyone based on the cost. However, the aesthetics of the TV are undeniably sexy, and LG has the right to ask for a little more. The only reason prevents me from giving this TV a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. Otherwise, this TV is a big win for LG and its customers.
User experience
The GX OLED may be an eye-catcher from the outside, but almost all other improvements for 2020 are hidden inside.
WebOS, LG's smart TV platform and operating system, has been redesigned and the improvement is noticeable. While I have always believed that webOS is accessible and easy to use, it has felt a bit outdated lately.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
The new version of webOS looks and feels much more professional. There are fewer dabs of color and more transparent backgrounds, and the menus are simply easier to read.
The home screen shows multiple apps at the same time, making access to Disney +, Apple TV +, or ESPN as easy as Netflix or Hulu. You could always order the apps to your liking, but now you can see more of them at the same time.
The home screen also takes up less space, closer to a third of the bottom than half.
There are a few fun functions within webOS, one of which is unfortunately useless for the time being – again due to the corona virus. Sports alerts let users select their favorite teams and get on-screen alerts for game times, updates to game results and highlights highlighted at a glance.
Another new feature called "Who. Where. What? "Try to make Live TV more interactive by answering voice queries, who the actors are, where a scene is, and what products are displayed on the screen. It's a fun idea. But I still have to put it into practice implement.
In terms of voice interactions, LG's own voice assistant is more intelligent and powerful, recognizes natural language better and provides more personal answers. Interactions feel more like talking to a person than a robot. When the capabilities of the LG Assistant deteriorate, Google Assistant takes control. For example, LG's assistant can help you find content or change the channel, while Google Assistant intervenes to give you news and weather information, or to order a pizza.
The GX also offers far-field voice control if you want to use it. As with all LG OLEDs, the Magic Motion remote control from LG has a microphone and a microphone button. In the GX series, however, a microphone is now built into the TV and the wake-up words "Hi LG" trigger the wizard.
Improved processing
The heart of the 2020 OLED TV from LG (except for the entry-level BX) is the Alpha 9 Gen 3 processor. There are some valuable improvements associated with this. My favorite is a new A.I. Image mode that helps optimize image performance by analyzing ambient light in the room and correcting image settings on the fly.
This may sound familiar, but the function goes beyond the basic “eco modes” by adjusting the TV's electro-optic transmission function (EOTF) to maintain bright details and HDR highlights for the best picture, no matter how bright or a room may be dark. I found the feature to work well and I encourage owners to turn it on when they first set up the TV.
Dan Baker / Digital Trends
Other improvements are somewhat technical, but do lead to improvements in image quality. I noticed that the decontouring filter on the Alpha 9 Gen 3 better minimizes banding in wide color ranges, especially for low bit rate content where banding is often a problem. The result is a much smoother picture with fewer distractions.
LG's dynamic tone mapping has also been improved. For the viewer, this means a better HDR experience, in which bright highlights are retained, the brightest objects of interest have the best highlights, and areas with poor lighting retain details without blacks getting a hit.
LG has also added a feature to increase the peak brightness for SDR content, which allows it to look a little more vivid – like HDR – without juicing the entire image in a flashy way.
Speaking of picture mode: users will find that Filmmaker mode is installed on LG's OLEDs this year, including the GX. This image mode deactivates the hatred of all postprocessors, eliminates the soap opera effect, keeps the colors accurate and maintains the aspect ratio and the original frame rate.
To be honest, Filmmaker mode looks very similar to ISF Calibrated Dark. If I watch more content, I will definitely update my comment here. For ready-to-use image settings, I still recommend ISF Calibrated Bright or ISF Calibrated Dark as a starting point.
Gaming performance
Equipped with HDMI 2.1 connections with all technical data and all available player-friendly functions, the 2020 OLEDs from LG are a convincing argument for gamers who are looking for a large-format display to play with. So far, LG's OLED televisions are the only models that support variable refresh rate (VRR) in addition to Freesync and G-Sync. They also support Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) with delay times of just 13 milliseconds.
LG's OLEDs are also the first to add an HGiG mode that should greatly improve the HDR gaming experience. HGiG stands for HDR Gaming Interest Group, which was founded to provide guidelines for TVs, consoles and game developers.
Simply put, this TV kicks your gaming monitor in the ass.
In short, HGiG supports televisions that behave in a predictable manner so that game rendering engines take over the entire HDR tone mapping and allow the TV to easily cut highlights at any peak brightness of the TV. This should help eliminate some of the poor picture quality we've seen recently in some HDR games.
While branding continues to be a problem for some applications, LG OLEDs are very useful for gamers this year. Simply put, this TV kicks your gaming monitor in the ass.
Our opinion
LG's Gallery series GX OLED offers a premium, but the additional investment pays off in beautiful design, an elegant wall-mounting system, and an improved user experience. If you take advantage of LG's excellent OLED picture quality, you have an amazing TV.
Is there a better alternative?
I think the LG CX OLED will make more sense for most people. It's not that slim and doesn't look that sexy on the wall. However, it is cheaper and offers the same image quality and features for the user as the GX, except for the aforementioned hands-free voice control.
For a non-OLED option, the Samsung Q90T could be considered for an equally high quality LCD / LED display.
If Vizio and Philips ship OLEDs in the United States, I will update this section of the review.
How long it will take?
Due to the support of HDMI 2.1 and all related functions, this television is positioned in such a way that it will continue to exist in the future.
guarantee
LG offers a 1-year limited warranty on parts and labor. This guarantee does not apply to image storage, also known as branding.
Should you buy it
Yes. If you appreciate the GX's slim profile and unique gap-free wall bracket and can afford the premium, then go for it. I can confidently say that I would buy the LG GX OLED immediately if the cost didn't matter. It is the most convincing television set that I have ever tested.
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