The LG C2 42-inch OLED TV is now available to buy, but a major bug means you shouldn't buy it just yet. That's because the South Korean brand's custom panel type, OLED EX, didn't ship with the first batch of the 2-inch LG C42 model.
While it may be tempting to buy the new LG C2 out of the box, especially if you're looking for a smaller model, HDTVTest found that some TVs in the initial batch of LG C2s come with the latest WBC OLED panel type, as used by TVs. LG's older OLEDs.
The difference between WBC and OLED EX is quite significant. LG claims that its new OLED EX panels are 30% brighter on average. OLED EX is also less prone to dead pixels, features much slimmer bezels, and improved power efficiency compared to WBC panels.
Considering the 2-inch LG C42 OLED costs £1399 / £1399 / around AU$1833 (the TV is now available in the UK, while US buyers have to wait until May and we're waiting for official Australian prices). ), far more so than many of the best LG TVs you can buy, we'd definitely suggest waiting until the company can guarantee its new TVs feature the OLED EX panel.
As a step?
It seems that LG uses a more standard WBC panel technology in its custom OLED EX panels is not a mistake, at least not according to the brand itself. LG had this to say to the South Korean site KBench:
"LG explained that it is true that WBC and WBE are mixed in the 42-inch Evo OLED TV and it is an unavoidable situation based on LG Display's panel supply situation. WBE panels will be applied sequentially after QXNUMX."
Referring to the LG C2 here, the brand explains that WBC panels were mixed in with its latest OLED EX panel technology not by mistake, but because of supply issues that might have prevented LG from producing the desired number of panels. .
"After Q2" suggests that OLED EX panels will no longer be available for some time. This also suggests that we should expect more 42-inch LG CXNUMX models to come out around the third quarter. In that case, OLED EX panels may become more widely available between July and September of this year.
Still, we're a bit concerned that LG hasn't been more open on the subject. If you bought yourself an LG C2 42-inch OLED TV, you may have no idea that you might have a TV with an older WBC panel. The only way to know for sure is to check the service menu on your TV and locate the 'OLED Cell Information' section which should tell you what kind of panel the TV has (thanks, WhatHiFi).
We've reached out to LG for further comment on the issue and will update this article when we learn more.