Thirty second exam
LG Gallery Series GX OLED is a home theater lover's dream come true: an exemplary flat panel display using the latest specifications and standards, from Dolby Vision and Atmos to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, from Chromecast built-in to AirPlay twenty. While the outside is an engineering marvel, inside you've got the new LG Alpha a9 Gen.3 processor that adds better facial recognition and multi-stage noise reduction to the already great HD upscaling. To LG's 4K and considerably more. Enhanced motion processing technology. It's not completely perfect, as it still can't achieve the brightness levels of some LED-LCD TVs and has audio balance issues, but for the rest it's still a very stylish flat screen for people who don't like it. mind spending a little more money on your next TV. acquire.
- LG Gallery OLED TV (fifty-five-inch) at Walmart for $ 1896.99
UPDATE: The LG GX OLED continues to be a fabulous television, but it will be replaced by the LG G1 OLED, which is due out at the end of March. The new G1 OLED is expected to cost € two hundred and ninety-nine for the fifty-five-inch version or € two nine hundred and ninety-nine for the sixty-five-inch version. If that's a bit more than you want to spend, the LG C1 OLED will start at € 1 and the entry-level OLED AXNUMX will lower the bar to just € XNUMX. It's another great year for LG OLED TVs.
Price and launch date
The LG GX Gallery Series OLED TV is new for 9. It's a successor to the older G-series OLED TVs we saw in 2, 9 and 55 with a new design similar to what we saw on the LG Signature W139 series OLED. The big difference between the two series is that the W series still includes a Dolby Atmos soundbar that acts as an input/output hub, while the Gallery series has its connections on the back of the TV. The W65 is also considerably cheaper now. Due to its impeccable design, the LG Gallery series is more expensive: the 499-inch LG OLED199GX is €999 / €77 / AU€999; the 999-inch LG OLEDXNUMXGX is £XNUMX / £XNUMX / AU$XNUMX and the large XNUMX-inch LG OLEDXNUMXGX is £XNUMX / £XNUMX / AU$XNUMX ninety nine. If you want to save money, you can essentially buy the same OLED panel in a different chassis with the LG CX OLED, which often sells for $XNUMX / $XNUMX less than the LG GX OLED.
(Image credit: LG)
Integrated
The comparison to the old W-OLED series makes sense not only because it shares a similar design, but also because it also shares other key similarities with the new Gallery GX series: both need to be wall-mounted. The cables in the wall must also be installed by professionals. Luckily, LG includes the Gapless Wall Mount in the box, so there's no need to purchase it separately, and you can supposedly purchase optional feet as well if you want. The good news is, by the time you set it up, you'll have a TV that sticks out just 4mm from the wall and looks stunning. Since each and every input has been moved to the back of the screen, there is literally nothing to distract you from the TV. Speaking of inputs, you'll find 4 four HDMI inputs, each capable of handling 120K up to 4Hz in 4-bit HDR with 0:XNUMX:XNUMX chroma sampling and one with eARC/ARC support, along with three USB ports. To power devices or host USB flash drives, such as optical audio output and assist. audio port. Lastly, you'll find the ATSC XNUMX compatible RF tuner, making it partially future-proof in terms of TV broadcast support. This is great news for people who like the minimalist look, but even better for audiophiles as they can now hook up their AV systems without needing to use LG's built-in sound bar, letting you connect to any audiovisual system of your choice. . A new microphone and an always-on virtual assistant are also built into the TV that uses ``Hello LG'' as its opening sentence. This can be disabled through settings, but it's a software implementation rather than a switch that can be turned on and off.
(Image credit: LG)
Smart TV (webOS with ThinQ AI)
Although certain smart TV platforms are starting to feel a bit bogged down, LG's webOS continues to find new ways to keep things fresh. This year, it expands the capabilities of your personal assistant in addition to progressive support for Alexa and Google Assistant. The branded feature that was added is the ability of LG's ThinQ AI to advise shows, follow specific sports teams, and remind you when they're playing... which sounded better at CES when we still thought it did. We would have sports this year. . None of this contradicts or steps on the toes of Alexa or the Google Assistant, as ThinQ AI really wants to be your preferred entertainment concierge rather than a full-on personal assistant. Now, having multiple attendees might seem like a huge mess, it really is a lot of fun having them all on the same device working side by side. Being able to monitor my Google Home-connected devices while asking Alexa on my shopping list feels like the promised land for smart homes. Understandably, LG's assistant is hit or miss with its recommendations and doesn't always respond when called upon, but the trio of assistants are still very enjoyable to play. Logically, intelligent assistants are just part of an efficient intelligent platform. The other part is having a huge variety of streaming services, a drawback that webOS simply doesn't have. On board you'll find all the basic streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Vudu, plus new ones like Disney Plus, Apple TV, and Peacock. Really, the only service that you could say should be here, but isn't, is HBO Max, but that wasn't a definitive factor for us. LG also offers a ThinQ app that handles most of what you'll find on the Magic Remote that comes with the TV, but as always, LG's Magic Remote is a fun alternative option.
(Image credit: LG)
As expected, the content in each and every field is amazing on the GX OLED. HD/SDR content looks better than ever thanks to the new Alpha a9 Gen 4 image processor and 10K/HDR content delivers the pixel-perfect black levels and color accuracy you expect from an OLED. But by far our favorite improvement is the significant increase in motion handling on more picture settings this year. It's still a bit too aggressive in the perfect active mode, but we didn't have to tweak a single setting in the rare Expert ISF setting (Bright Room) which is perfect right out of the box. There was no soap opera effect to any of the content we watched, while the action sequences were easy to follow. That said, the only thing that can really hurt this TV's performance is its limited brightness and overly reflective glass screen, especially if you plan to put this TV in an already bright living room with lots of windows. We tested it in this environment in our tests and saw significant glare and struggled to make out detail that would otherwise have been easy to see on a brighter screen. Now, it is not that LG has not done anything to calm these inconveniences. Indeed, this year it added Dolby Vision IQ to television through a partnership with Dolby that increases and decreases screen brightness and gamma levels depending on the amount of ambient light picked up. Perfect mode should turn on automatically no matter what picture settings you choose; just make sure Dolby Vision Cinema Home perfect mode and LG's AI Brightness feature are turned on. Speaking of Dolby Vision, when it comes to other HDR media, you'll find HDR10 and HLG for HDR broadcasts on Sky in the UK. Logically, there is not much content in HLG yet, but it is better to have it and not need it than not to have it and want it. The only HDR format missing here is HDRXNUMX+, which is a bit underwhelming, but LG's Active HDR mode works in exactly the same way by adding dynamic metadata via a proprietary algorithm to content that doesn't otherwise have it. .
(Image credit: LG)
Ring
If you're looking for perfect sound, you won't find it in the LG Gallery series; The built-in speakers are something of a weak point in an excellent design - unfortunately, due to design constraints, the TV only has speakers. - Thin, low-power speakers that just don't match the high-end performance of the OLED panel. It's not that the Gallery series has the worst sound quality we've heard from a TV this year, it sure isn't, but the lower midrange is simply dominated by overcompensated bass and treble. The result is not unplayable and can be improved by turning up the volume level, but for a TV that costs so much, it's disappointing. The good news here is that the LG Gallery series supports Dolby Atmos, as well as an HDMI eARC port that can be used to pass the Atmos signal to a soundbar or receiver. Of course, if you want an OLED with the Gallery series design and sound quality to match, there's always the LG WX series priced at $4,499.99 / £4,499.
The Samsung frame is a cheaper alternative that has many of the same features and design features. (Image credit: Samsung)
Other panels to ponder...
Unless you're married to a perfectly clean aesthetic or absolutely averse to buying an entertainment center for your living room, you could save hundreds by buying the LG CX OLED over the Gallery series. They use the same panel and processor, and all have the same specs; the only two differences are price and design, both of which are relatively important. That said, if a clean wall picture design is absolutely paramount but you don't have a home theater for a Gallery Series TV, consider the Samsung Frame (2020). While Samsung's design-focused display may not offer pixel-perfect black levels or exactly the same color accuracy as LG's Gallery-series OLED, The Frame does have a customizable bezel that can be replaced to match. with your interior decoration and artistically design your television in a rotation. ..