LG - 42" Class C3 Series OLED evo 4K UHD Smart webOS TV (2023)

Purchased as an open-box excellent and couldn't be happier. Mine had just 38 hours on it, and there wasn't so much as a scratch on it. If you ignore the horrendous mess made from moving to a new desk and monitor, the difference in image quality is stunning. The left monitor is a 27" 1080p IPS from Phillips (model 276E), and on the right is the 42" LG C3. I got my C3 + a five year warranty (for burn-in protection) together for just under $1,100 after tax, and I'd highly recommend it at that price or lower. I use mine as a TV and monitor replacement and sit about 40" away if measured from eye to screen, and that is plenty for me to be comfortable, I also can't discern any individual pixels from that distance, so text clarity is not an issue either. I don't notice any text fringing, and I'm relatively sensitive to that. When used as a monitor, I'd say it's about a 80/20 split for work and gaming/tv/movies, and it works perfectly for me with both. However, If you only care about entertainment, I'd go to 55"+. But 42" is, to me, perfect for a main productivity monitor. The only complaint I have, if I'm nitpicking, is that the built-in speakers are only just serviceable, I guess. However, I exclusively user tower speakers at my desk, so that's not a con to me, but could be to you.

My review is principally centered on the picture quality. I upgraded from a 13 year old 3D capable 1080p Vizio television. I'm not a gamer and I can't speak to its performance in that regard. I watch a lot of television and movies, so I spend a lot of time looking at screens. The picture is great. I recommend going to rtngs.com for their recommended calibration, that's what i used and it improved the picture. I like a warmer color temperature, so I have the blue light reduction option selected. The blacks are inky black, as everyone says. It's pretty amazing. I looked at a lot of televisions in store, they all seemed kinda crappy to be honest, even at expensive price points. I paid 900 for the 42" which was the right size for my room. I prefer pixel density over screen size, plus I needed a specific mounting solution that required the smaller screen size. I used a Mount-It! fully articulating wall mount and so far it seems sturdy holding the television a full 22.5" from the wall. I have the tv mounted perpendicular to the wall. I'm pretty sensitive to certain things in a tv that others seem not to care so much about. From here on out, I'm going to nit pick, but I really like the TV. First, the remote and the user interface is pretty terrible. I also bought a 65" Sony x90l that has a much simpler remote and a much simpler user interface. Second, and this is pretty bad, if you read the terms and conditions as I did, this television is straight up spying on you. If you want to use the native apps, you have to sign away the rights for this tv to listen to you and pretty much do whatever it wants with that information, as well as this tv is going to take freaking screenshots of your tv to determine what you are watching. What if you are sharing your screen from a tablet or watching a bluray? Doesn't matter, this tv is going to capture the image with its "automatic content recognition." It's pretty scummy, but it's moot because i only used the internet to update my firmware then i removed it from my network. I use a streaming box, apple tv 4k gen 5. I used a native streaming app briefly and it worked fine, but im not going to rate that functionality because a dedicated streaming box is always going to do a better job. When the software outgrows the box, you can always buy another box. People review televisions negatively for a bad streaming app experience and i don't think people should be judging televisions for this because TVs just suck at it in general, especially over time. I also think you'd be crazy to trust the television with access to your home network. I prefer the division of labor. I could dock the review for these things, but I've just come to accept that corporations are scummy, and when i read a review about a tv I'm concerned with its picture quality. I had no dead or malfunctioning pixels that i could see when running through the tests for that. The TV does emit a faint buzzing sound from the hdmi port area. I can only hear it when within 12" of the television. I do not believe it is coil whine, but I'm no expert there. On Reddit, many have asked if this is normal. I honestly don't know. I reached out to LG and I was told someone would call me back. I did not receive that call. The 42" does not have a fan, and it's on the side furthest from the power supply, the sound is faint, so I'm choosing to believe it's normal without other evidence. The sound is only produced when the screen is "off" or in standby mode. I bought the geek squad 5 year warranty because in the hopefully unlikely case this craps the bed, I want the warranty. I honestly prefer a little bezel, this tv basically has none. It's very sleek and attractive, but i would prefer some plastic bezel that affords some ability to accept an accidental jostle from the side. I have no plans to be rough with it. Just saying. The screen has a lot of stutter due to the pixel's instantaneous response time, but I'm already used to it. I can't stand motion smoothing and turned all that off. Honestly, even with it turned off there appears to still be some smoothing (frame interpolation, synthetic frames), but maybe I'm imagining it? The screen gets plenty bright for me, but I'm in a dimly lit room. I've not owned enough televisions to be able to comment on brightness. One thing you should note is that this television doesn't support the latest version of digital broadcasting due to a patent dispute, but it will be years before they roll out the newer broadcasting technology anyway. It's still good for whatever you can pick up with an antenna right now. If anyone still uses that. I've seen some other reviews saying that it doesn't default to the previous input source, but i haven't had this experience. Further, there's a menu that lets you toggle this if you want to. Good luck with the menus lol. The sound isn't the best. That seems to be an issue with most modern TVs. The cinema sound setting is more flat which i prefer because i can't have wild swings in volume in the bedroom. In all, i have some gripes but the picture is fantastic. It's a decent OLED. If you also want it to make you toast, not sure what to say. I think smart tvs just should stop offering smart features because the negative reviews pollute the thing I'm actually interested in which is the picture. TV native streaming just can't compete with a roku ultra 4k or an apple tv 4k.

We have had less than a week but so far very happy with purchase. Great picture quality works with our Apple TV 4K device and works great with my son’s PS5 for gaming using the 2.1 HDMI connections and 120 hz. Also connected to our Sony Sound bar we used on old tv. This 42 inch LG OLED EVO packs a punch better than expected

Im using this as a PC monitor since i cant imagine spending $1500 on a Oled PC monitor. I am a die hard sony monitor and TV user but I got this at a price below $1000 and its been life changing. My wife looks at me differently now and I have strangers always smiling and saying hi. Thank you LG for making a life changing Oled that performs as good as my A90K in color depth. Not as bright but im using in a office with controlled lighting so its perfect. All jokes aside this in a 48” size is wondeful for multi-window 4k desktop setups. Color is on point as well just choose the righr gamma for your work (i use 2.4)

At first i was thinking the c2 but never having had a lg before i figure i nose dive in and very happy with this.its perfect for my needs as a pc and console gamer.the tv has a quality build to it.only downside is trying to find an inexpensive desk mount for it.the vesa 300x200 makes it difficult to find one but other than that its perfect for my desk.i rarely use the stock speakers i have a headset for gaming.

6 month review, post honeymoon: Realistic colors and shadows, fluid motion; life-like images! Excellent detail for football, cityscapes, nature. Smooth panning shots. Even b&w movies look sharper and smooth motion [best ever] Gaming grade response times Quality speakers a bonus. Remote is intuitive to navigate and comfortable; includes gyro controlled cursor. Great value without cutting corners. Hard to improve at double the price!

I have another oled c1 tv look gorgeous but this C3 for gaming is another level love it

I bought this as a secondary monitor for work and to also use for gaming. For gaming, it’s incredible. For work, I was expecting significant text fringing due to it being an OLED panel but issues with clarity has not been a problem for me. A couple years ago I had tried using a 48” LG CX for work monitor and fringing was too significant for me to use. This is not the case on this model and size. On PC, the monitor was pretty much plug and play. On Mac, I used an app called “Better Display” to adjust the sizing of the text a bit. I would compare the quality of text sharpness similar to a 32” 1440p monitor in my opinion.