After years of mostly small, evolutionary steps, OLED TV technology has suddenly gone nuts. Last year saw two relatively new OLED innovations, Quantum Dot OLED panels and Micro Lens Array technology, achieve improvements in a single bound that would previously have taken years to achieve. But it seems these two rival technologies have no intention of stopping there.
Samsung has already started 2024 with a bang with its stellar S95D range, and now LG is on a mission to at least keep up with its biggest rival by delivering a similarly large leap with its new flagship G4 4K OLED series, as represented here by the 65in OLED65G4.
Picture quality
To set the scene for the OLED65G4’s sublime picture quality, I first need to explain a couple of things about the technologies that make it LG’s flagship 65in 4K TV for 2024. Starting with the ‘Brightness Booster Max’ system.
This includes a return, following its 2023 debut, of the Micro Lens Array (MLA), where lenses positioned just behind the screen improve the focus of the OLED panel’s light as it passes into your room. This greatly improves the TV’s brightness without putting any more strain on the organic elements that produce the OLED65G4’s light.
The other part of the ‘Brightness Booster Max’ system is a software/processing element, which is now handled by a new Alpha 11 AI processor that’s apparently so powerful versus its Alpha 9 predecessor that LG felt compelled to skip the expected Alpha 10 step! “But this one goes to 11” indeed…
LG claims that the Alpha 11 processor has helped it find more brightness than 2023’s G3 model, and my own measurements reveal an increase of between 100 and 150 nits (depending on picture preset). That’s not as much extra light as Samsung has found for its recently reviewed S95D OLED TVs, but that doesn’t give the Samsung model as much of an advantage as you might think (for reasons I’ll get into later).
Other key elements of the new picture processor include better upscaling of sub-4K sources, significantly richer colours from the panel’s WRGB OLED configuration, and even (in a first for LG) the ability to apply the brand’s potent ‘AI Picture Pro’ image enhancement system to copy-protected content - including video streams and 4K Blu-rays.
Don’t worry, purists - the ‘AI Picture Pro’ system is strictly optional, and isn’t even applied by default. But I for one welcome its expansion as a potential option for AV fans to try, since among other things it can amplify colour-based emotions surprisingly effectively, as well as mildly enhancing the sense of depth that images portray.
Whether you stick with the ‘AI Picture Pro’ mode or not, the OLED65G4 produces spectacular and beautiful pictures with unprecedented consistency.
The mild measurable uptick in brightness, for starters, in fact seems more noticeable during subjective viewing. This is especially true using the ‘Standard’ picture preset, where LG’s aggressive approach to how it tone-maps HDR content to its screen actually has it looking brighter at times than Samsung’s S95D TVs (despite the latter sets enjoying a significantly higher measured brightness). But the more accurate ‘Cinema’, ‘Cinema Home’ and even ‘Filmmaker’ modes also look more dynamic than they did on the G3 - without, crucially, losing any of the naturalism and balance that are these settings’ trademark.
Even more striking is how the OLED65G4 delivers much richer colour saturation than its predecessor. Again, this is apparently all down to the improved processor, rather than any major hardware changes. I’m far too thick to comprehend how processing alone can make so much difference to colour saturation - especially during relatively dark scenes - but I’m very much there for it. It also helps the G4 WRGB push back against the idea that rival Quantum Dot OLED screens can deliver substantially greater colour volumes.
The OLED65G4’s extra brightness is achieved without in any way compromising the deep, natural black colours that OLED TVs are renowned for. In fact (presumably thanks again to the new processor), dark scenes enjoy levels of subtlety and detail beyond anything I’ve seen on an LG OLED TV before. All without any sign of compression or near-black instability.
The new processor slightly improves the subtlety of the OLED65G4’s colour rendering too, helping objects in the image look more three-dimensional and improving the sense of sharpness and detail over previous LG OLEDs.
The OLED65G4 delivers yet another processing-induced improvement with its upscaling of sub-4K sources, which look substantially sharper and more detailed - but simultaneously less prone to noise or any sort of over-sharpening artefacts.
Add to all of these picture glories an almost infinite viewing angle without colour or contrast dropping off, and issues with the OLED65G4’s pictures become seriously hard to find. Judder, I guess, can feel a little strong with 24fps movies, perhaps because of the screen’s brightness. But the ‘Cinematic Movement’ motion-processing option does a great job of taking the edge off this without making the image look processed.
There’s a hint of banding noise in colours during some fade-to-blacks with HDR footage, and in the ‘Standard’ picture preset there can be a little clipping of detail in the brightest HDR areas. This latter issue is easily fixed, though, by simply switching to the TV’s beautifully sensitive and balanced ‘Cinema Home’ and ‘Cinema’ presets.
I occasionally find myself noticing the silvery frame around the image, too, as it is prone to reflecting light sources in the room and even light from the on-screen images if they happen to be particularly bright. I wouldn’t say I find this a regular distraction, but it might be better if LG reverted to a black frame next time around.
None of the OLED65G4’s small, often avoidable picture niggles amount to even the proverbial hill of beans against everything LG’s new flagship 4K TV does right, though. Home cinema fans have never had it so good.
Sound quality
LG’s OLED TVs have struggled on the audio front for a few generations now. So it’s good to find the OLED65G4 delivering a clear step in the right direction - provided you activate its latest ‘AI Sound Pro’ mode.
For starters, thanks to a new 11.1.2 virtual surround-sound upscaling system in the new Alpha 11 AI processor, the soundstage the OLED65G4 creates is impressively large. Specific and ambient sound mix effects are cast an impressive distance from the left, right and even top edges, as well as being placed with surprising accuracy and control within the large audio stage.
Dialogue remains clean and locked at the heart of the mix - and (provided you’re not sitting too close to the TV) voices also feel helpfully elevated so they don't seem to be coming from below the screen.
Bass has more impact and pressure behind it than I’ve heard from any LG OLED TV for an age. But that hasn’t stopped low frequencies from also sounding subtle when required, gently rolling in to underpin relatively mild scenes without becoming too dominant, even though they can jump in quite hard when required. Particularly extreme bass drops can cause slight distortions in the low frequency drivers, and the sound can fall away rather than continuing to grow as action or horror set pieces approach their climaxes. So, I’d still recommend adding a soundbar to the OLED65G4 if you can.
This doesn’t change the fact, though, that LG has delivered a promisingly substantial step in the right audio direction.
Living with
The OLED65G4 is a very good-looking TV. If you’re wall-hanging it, the ‘One Wall’ design, with recessed mounting fixture, means it can be positioned pretty much flush with your wall. The TV’s rear is strikingly slender, too, and the screen bezel is extremely thin - which all contributes to the sensation that the TV feels more like a window than a screen.
Despite being specifically built for wall hanging, LG has included a centrally mounted desktop stand with the TV this year, rather than you having to buy some feet as an optional extra. This desktop stand is (like the screen) seriously well-built and attractive, and handily lets you choose from a couple of different screen heights in case you want to fit a soundbar beneath the screen.
LG has actually designed soundbars especially for the G4 range: the currently available GX and its upcoming SG10T replacement. Both of these sport unusually flat profiles allowing them to be wall-hung beneath G Series TVs without jutting out significantly. They even support wireless Dolby Atmos reception from the TV, so you don’t have to run a wire between the two.
The teething problems experienced with LG’s initial full-screen version of its near-legendary webOS smart TV interface a couple of years ago continue to be smoothed out with the G4 range - and LG has added some useful new features too. Support for user profiles has been improved, for instance, so that various members of your household can more easily set up and access their own personal accounts, complete with their own home-screen, personalised recommendations and even individual picture quality preferences.
The interface also feeds you impromptu user tips and, best of all, introduces a brilliant new built-in ‘help desk’. It essentially works as an AI-bolstered built-in customer service bot capable of answering pretty much any question you might have about the TV, and offering solutions for picture or sound issues.
The 65G4 is controlled using one of LG’s ‘Magic’ remotes, which boasts a combination of standard button controls, an innovative ‘spinning wheel’ menu navigator, and point-and-click option selection.
The OLED65G4’s connections are as good as it gets, with all four of its HDMIs providing enough bandwidth to support every current key gaming feature, including 4K at 120Hz (in fact, 144Hz is supported this year), variable refresh rates (including official support for both the AMD Freesync and NVidia G-Sync VRR formats), auto low latency mode switching, and Dolby Vision gaming support. The Dolby Vision HDR support is joined by support for HDR10 and HLG but not HDR10+, with all the supported HDR options being available across a wide array of streaming apps, including Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV+ and all the UK catch-up services - including Freeview Play.
Conclusion
While LG’s 2024 flagship 4K OLED TVs might not advance the tech dial all that much from a hardware perspective, its new processing system delivers such substantial improvements across almost every picture and sound area that the OLED65G4 still ends up feeling like yet another beautiful OLED game-changer for home cinema fans and gamers alike.
Test Samples
Knives Out 4K Blu-ray
Rian Johnson’s first outing for charismatic detective Benoit Blanc features some beautiful-but-challenging images that only the best TVs can do justice to. The OLED65G4 proves itself very much one of those TVs by retaining subtleties of detail, light and, best of all, colour in even the film’s very darkest scenes.
Mad Max: Fury Road 4K Blu-ray
A TV as fiercely bright as the OLED65G4 deserves to be fed some seriously bright content with which to unlock its full capabilities. And movies don’t get more seriously bright than Fury Road, with its flame thrower-fuelled, chrome-plated and explosion-riddled battles between gleaming cars and motorbikes beneath the endless blue skies and baking sun of Earth’s perpetual desert landscapes.
2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray
A movie from the 1960s might seem like an unlikely showcase for what one of 2024’s most cutting-edge TVs can do. Actually, the gorgeous HDR remaster of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece features some of the most extreme contrast - as sun-reflecting white ships and space stations stand against the inky blackness of space - I’ve seen. And to say the OLED65G4 handles it all spectacularly well would be an understatement.
The OLED65G4 builds on the ‘Brightness Booster Max’ technology LG introduced last year to beautiful effect, combining an even more dynamic picture with much more of the subtleties of colour and light that home cinema fans just can’t get enough of.
The most obvious partner for the OLED65G4 is one that’s literally made for it: LG’s GX soundbar. This enjoys the same wall hanging-friendly flat profile as the TV, and can receive sound from the TV wirelessly. An update on the GX soundbar, the SG10T, is also due to be launched soon.
And a TV as good as the OLED65G4 demands to be partnered with the best picture source around - which at the moment is 4K Blu-ray. And given how good the 65G4’s pictures are, I’d suggest that the 4K Blu-ray player you attach to it is a premium model as well. Panasonic’s UB9000, perhaps, or if you can’t quite stretch to that, Panasonic’s UB820.
