LG - 55" Class - OLED - C8 Series - 2160p - Smart - 4K UHD TV with HDR

I have a 2017 LG B7 OLED and was wanting to replace it with this 2018 C8 OLED due to poor motion handling and minor vertical banding on the B7. The motion on the new model is definitely improved. I still found I needed to use TruMotion dejudder 3 but the alpha 9 chip in the 2018 C8 is noticeably smoother with this than the same setting on the B7. This is mainly why I'm giving the unit I got a 2 star rating instead of just a 1. It improves on something that could not be helped with the settings in the 2017 B7. And I'll save the worst for last, unless you can guess from the title and the picture I uploaded. Another real + on this year's model OLEDs (using the alpha 9 processor... the B8 will use last years processor) from LG is the HDR and Dolby Vision color handling out of the box. The one I'm playing with is much more natural and pleasing in this respect. The 2017 OLEDS need a lot of adjustment in HDR and Dolby VISION settings to make content (skin tones, bright colors) look accurate rather than super saturated. Vibrant doesn't necessarily mean "good". The 2018 C8 looks good on this type of content with very minor tweaking needed. I.e. take it off "standard" mode and into "cinema" and not much else really required. So on to the reason for the bad rating. As the caption on the photo states, the black monster crawling across the left side of the TV is not a shadow, all the lights in the room were off. It's a "clouding" defect at 5% gray. The screen is supposed to be solid dark gray. This anomaly was obvious on virtually any content with dark colors on that side of the screen, and especially solid colors like the dark gray background on the amazon prime app setup page... so I knew it was there within 10 minutes of setting up the unit. That is a very severe defect. It also has vertical banding showing a dark line on the right and, oddly, a horizontal banding line top left extending almost halfway towards the middle of the screen, which my camera could not capture. The corner of the 2017 B7 is just to the upper right of the C8 in the photo, and you could see the "5%" tag/label in the bottom left of the screen. On the C8 you could not see the 5% label because the screen fades to almost absolute black on the left side. On a white screen, this was not noticeable. I have never seen a display of any type with this kind of severe gray uniformity issues. And to see it on a TV that LG is suggesting retailers charge nearly 3,000$ US for, is disappointing. They will of course not all have this clouding issue, though most will have minor to moderate vertical banding which may or may not be visible in normal content. The commitment to product quality is not there from LG with these panels. You can be sure that Sony and Panasonic are contracted for batches of OLED panels from LG Display with much lower error % in panel uniformity tests from unit samples. In this way they don't have to test every panel before building a unit with it, but can get a good idea of how good a large shipment of them will be. LG Electronics however, seems to be taking whatever is left. Check a 5% OLED banding test off YouTube app out of the box. If the banding is minor and there's no clouding, you're lucky and you will never really be able to see any issues in normal content. You will have the best possible cinema and gaming large screen display currently available at retail. If you have a cloud like in the photo I submitted, it should be a total deal breaker. Nothing is ever going to look like it's supposed to on that portion of the screen.

Setup: Unboxing was easy with the slip-off box. Setting the TV down to attach the base and lifting it onto the console table was definitely a two-person job. The pictographic instructions for base assembly were not very helpful. There are two pieces to the base. You need to slip the foot of the small (back) piece into the slot in the long (front) piece. Assembly after that point was simple. Don’t forget to install the two screws at either end of the front base. Connections to video sources is straightforward. Input ports include 4 HDMI (HDCP 2.2 with 1 port supporting audio return), 3 USB (v2.0), 1 AV (with supplied R, L, V RCA to 3.5mm TRRS adapter), 1 F-type RF (coaxial antenna/cable), 1 RJ45 (Ethernet), and 1 RS-232C (for service only). Be sure to get high-speed HDMI cables, even if you are not connecting with a 4K source. The lower impedance and higher transmission speed will make even HD sources work better. If you connect to a wireless network, you will also see all of your wireless devices as potential input sources. Once on your home network you can connect to any steaming A/V devices in your system. Unless you want to give LG access to the photos on your phone and display them on your TV, don’t bother with the LG TV Plus app on your smart phone. The remote control functionality with the app is limited and didn’t work for me. You need to be thorough when reading the on-screen first-time setup instructions. When you get to the point of identifying the brand of cable box, don’t forget to scroll through the entire list. Mine was not on the first page. The “magic remote” is a bit small for me. The navigation wheel with select button are in an awkward position for my large hand. The on-screen cursor is handy, but takes some getting used to. There is a PDF version of the Owner’s Manual on the LG web site, but there is no PDF version of the User’s Guide. You must either use the on-screen or online HTML version of the User’s Guide. I tried downloading the HTML version, but it would not work properly on my laptop. The online HTML version required my browser to be in full screen mode, but did not allow the F11 key to toggle. Video: UHD (4K) source: UHD video can be hard to find. HDR (high dynamic range) sources are even harder. UHD is currently limited to streaming content providers (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Acorn, DirecTV Now, and Sling TV, etc.). The LG OLED55C8PUA comes with all sorts of “free” offers from streaming content providers. Every one that I checked required signup for an account with the “free” part only lasting a very short time. You will need a source for 4K content to get the most out of this TV. This was my first experience with a 4K TV and I signed up for a premium streaming service. The color and resolution of this TV are amazing! High speed action tracks flawlessly with no streaking or ghosting. I used the “Planet Earth II” series streaming wirelessly to test the systems 4K display. The video was stunning! The lack of 4K content in cable TV systems is a disappointment. The good news is this TV will be ready when the cable companies finally agree on a 4K transmission protocol. HD source: If you still have cable, the HD signal works very well with this TV. Primary colors can be a bit overpowering at first with the OLED display. The HD (1080p) resolution is up-sampled to UHD (2160p) in order to fill the screen. The missing pixels are generated by the TV. The dithering required to impute the color of the missing pixels works pretty well, but you may notice some odd pixilation at the edges of areas of high contrast (e.g. boxes, banners, and text) when viewed from short distance. This is much less noticeable from a reasonable viewing distance. Because of the extra resolution, you may want to view a 4K TV from a shorter distance than with an HD TV. We were replacing a 55” HD TV and found we could have gone a bit larger with the 4K display if we had the room on our console table top. The point is… if you are watching mostly HD content (with dithering), the best viewing distance may be a bit farther away than if you are watching mostly UHD content (without dithering). If you are replacing an HD TV, consider a larger screen for your UHD TV. Computer source: Setting up the TV as a wireless screen-share device was easy. In Windows 10, click on the Notification icon in the lower-right corner and select “Project”. If your TV is on, it will appear in the list of possible projection devices. You will need to confirm the connection on the TV, but that’s it! My 4K laptop display synchs perfectly with the LG OLED55C8PUA with 4K resolution. You can, of course, use an HDMI connection, but wireless works well. My only disappointment was that the TV remote cannot be used as an input device on the computer. I have not checked to verify that I can calibrate my TV display with the Spyder 5, but it should be possible if the USB cable on the sensor is long enough. I don’t plan to use my computer as a streaming source and chose not to give my TV (and possibly LG) access to the files on my computer. Sound: There are 4 10W speakers and 2 10W woofers in the LG OLED55C8PUA and the sound quality is quite good. While it is no match for a good sound bar or surround speakers, HD and UHD content with surround audio is surprisingly well rendered. Speaker ports in the back reflect off the wall while speaker ports at the bottom of the unit are reflected off the curved base providing a broad sound stage. If you don’t have a separate sound system and are mounting the TV on the wall, you may want to consider some way to redirect sound from the bottom-facing speakers. The LG OLED55C8PUA comes with Bluetooth 4.2. Pairing of headphones is relatively straightforward. Once paired, all you have to do is turn the Bluetooth device on and the TV will prompt you as to whether you want to use the device for audio. The TV reverts to its internal speakers when the Bluetooth device is turned off. This is a nice feature when you want to watch TV without disturbing others. Overall: If you are in the market for a 4K TV, this is a great choice. The picture quality is astounding and the OLED display can be viewed from almost any angle. The built-in speakers are well above the norm and provide an immersive sound stage. For such a great TV, the documentation is a real disappointment.

So I had one of the original Samsung curved 55in 4K TV's. I had nothing, but problems with it. The OS was terrible, it was super slow, and had major backlight issues. The TV should have lasted much longer. I called Samsung to see if they would give me a discount on a new one and they blew me off. Sad especially since all my electronics are Samsung. Surprised me how they blew a loyal customer off like that. So I decided to try a Sony X900F 65in first. I wanted a bigger TV and didnt want to pay the 2500 for a OLED 65in. I saw many good reviews on it and the BestBuy staff said they are awesome TV's with the new processors and full array backlight. However, I think I got a lemon the picture was terrible especially on upscaling content from DirecTV. Heck my Samsung with backlight issues had way better upscaling. I tried every setting combo along with the preset settings and it was all terrible. Even with HDR content I was not impressed. I also had issues with the digital optical audio and screen mirroring audio as well. So I went through the terrible process of reboxing it and driving an hour back to BestBuy to return it. Which BestBuy made painless and easy why I always go with them. They always take care of their customers IMO. Anyways, I Decided to go back down to a 55in so i could afford the OLED. Still super expensive, but if you have the money there is no other way to go. I cannot say enough about this TV. The picture quality in HDR content will blow your mind away. I ran a digital optical out to my Yamaha surround sound system and the sound quality is amazing. The TV is also super bright for an OLED. They say the A9 processor and this new panel really brings brightness to the OLED. I have a big window that faces the sun in my TV room and this TV has no problems with keeping up with the bright room. So if you are thinking on going QLED for brightness I think this TV has more than enough for most people. The picture I swear is better than real life. The OS, Menus, and Remote are simply awesome as well. The magic remote feels solid and is a pleasure to use. The voice control is spot on and easily recognizes what you say with accuracy on the remote as well. I'm also impressed with the TVs speed you can switch between inputs and apps super fast with near to zero lag. So, in conclusion if you are on the fence of spending that extra 300 to 400 dollars to go OLED over the top end LCD TVs and you have the extra money. Pull the trigger you will not regret it. No buyers remorse here despite the overtime I'll have to work to pay for it lol. Another thing I love about BestBuy the 0% financing makes items like this more attainable for the general population. Thanks again LG and BestBuy.

I have read and watched every review and comparisons on this TV. I have filtered through all the negative reviews and came to my conclusion that most of these 1 star reviews are people who damaged their TV during install and are salty that they just wasted their money. The 5 star reviews and all the professional reviews are all spot on, this is an amazing TV whos picture right out of the box looks like nothing I have ever seen before. - Picture Quality- All the hype around this TV is not like mainly everything else where its just fluff, its real. The blacks are like a black hole, the colors are so vivid and their edges are so sharp. The motion is fantastic, even with no motion interpolation activated. Put it this way, the first thing I watched on this was the Thor vs Hulk fight scene from Thor Ragnarok. I forgot to activate the deep color in the menu and I was blown away by the picture, I then realized my mistake and turned deep color on, and the picture that I though could not get any better got so much better! The colors were so bright, the edges were so crisp, the blacks were so black, and I swear there was actual depth to the picture, mind you I still haven't calibrated the picture yet. The SDR 1080P content was very good, youtube TV through Xbox one X was crisp and not too much grain in the picture. I watched avatar on blu ray (I still dont know why they havent released this on 4k blu ray yet, it would be the most visually beautiful movie ever created) and it was absolutely stunning, I saw this in IMAX when it fist came out and I know it was 10 years ago, but this IMO looked so much better. The colors for SDR were so vibrant, and the blacks were so rich, if I didnt know any better I'd think it was in HDR. The C8 handles shadow detail very well, no grainy transitions between varying shadow darkness, very clean transition from dark to light. There is alot of forums and video comparisons between the Sony A8F and the LG C8, I looked at these TV's side by side at best buy and I was struggling to see any difference so I guess if you want to spend $300 more for brand loyalty, go for it, but if you go with the LG C8 you will not be disappointed. -Sound- I am not using this TV for sound so no review for this -WebOS- I use my Xbox one X for all my streaming apps so I will not be reviewing this -Magic Remote- I use Harmony hub for my devices, I will not be using the remote, so I will not review it. -Mounting- If there is any negative aspects about this tv it is the mounting. And its not that it is poorly designed or anything that is LG's fault at all, its just the nature of how thin and fragile the OLED screens are. Handling LED tvs is pretty straight forward, pick it up by the bottom and grab the sides for more support. But with OLED screens this is not the case, the screen is so thin, and so fragile that if you handle a OLED the same way you would handle a LED tv your going to end up with a broken screen like I feel most of the 1 star reviewers have. So naturally mounting this on my wall was especially stressful, I knew 1 wrong slip of the hand from either me or the person on the other side of the TV could end with a broken screen, after about 5 very long minutes we finally inched it in place to where we could lower the tv down on the wall mount. I have to say the relief I felt after it was finally on the wall and the screen turned on with no problems was as great as this TV's picture quality. My words of advice, this is a very expensive TV, accidental user inflicted damage is not covered by LG and best buys warranty will try to replace the screen before they replace the whole set, so you could be without a new TV for quite some time if anything happens. If you have any kind of doubts to your ability to successfully mount this TV just pay the extra money for BB to come out and install it for you. I have alot of experience wall mounting TV's, and I was almost 2nd guessing myself on this. Other than the stresses of wall mounting this tV, your going to really enjoy this TV, and it is worth every cent.

The reviews here and elsewhere, from owners and from industry critics alike, for the LG OLED C7 & C8 models describe TV's that produce a picture quality that has to be seen to be believed. I believe that would be very fair statement. For me, picture quality and the viewing experience are everything. So when my Samsung UN6300 series TV (an outstanding TV in its day) died suddenly and very unexpectedly at the ripe old age of 7 years, I was forced to research a suitable replacement. I'm not going to recite specifications here or review all of the features of this TV as you can find that information fairly easily. Instead, I'd like to talk about why I bought this LG OLED TV, and what went into my decision process. After spending hours viewing content on countless TV's from Sony, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, and many others, I realized that I kept comparing the picture quality of all the other brands to the LG OLED models. Long story short, I shopped around, found a brand new 55" LG C7 OLED model for under $1400, and bought it. Unpacking it is easy, but assembling it/moving it takes two people. Picture quality out of the box is good, but you'll definitely want to spend some time tweaking the multitude of adjustments to refine the picture quality. And once you're done, you'll have a picture that's drop-dead gorgeous. Upscaling of DVD's and blu-rays is good, although some cable TV content may not look stellar. As with everything, source content will impact picture quality. A few words about sound quality. LG definitely put some effort into the sound system design as the sound quality of the C7 model is light-years ahead of your average TV sound system. A very noticeable (and surprising) improvement. Some reviewers say that this TV's speaker system isn't as good as a really good sound bar. OK, then, but, sound bars are no match for a good home theater system. My point is, this is one TV which has a sound system that really gives you a much better than average sound experience, and you may find that you don't need to spend the extra money on a sound bar. That was one feature which helped in my decision process. In the end, the decision came down to LG, Sony, and Samsung. Samsung tries hard to sell their QLED as the ultimate viewing experience. As good as that design may be, when I compared that design in a side by side comparision to the LG OLED, I came away with a very different conclusion. The QLED design may offer some very slight advantage but, once you see the infinite black contrast of an OLED screen, and how that translates to improved picture quality, you really don't want to look at anything less. And that's something Samsung simply can't match. Added to that, my previous Samsung TV lasted only 7 years before it died, so that didn't inspire any confidence in that brand. The Sony OLED had excellent picture quality but, feature for feature, it cost more than the LG OLED. Reviews by owners and industry critics factored into my decision as well and, overwhemingly, the reviews gave some of the highest scores I've seen for TV's. Besides my own viewing experience, one thing that truly impressed me were the reviews from industry critics which simply said, the LG OLED TV's had the best picture quality they'd ever seen. That pretty much sums up my take on this outstanding TV line. If picture quality is important to you, don't buy a new TV until you've seen the picture quality on an LG OLED.

** Setup ** Setting up the TV was extremely quick and simple. While I was able to put everything together myself, I would recommend having someone help you (the TV isn't that heavy, but its size makes it awkward). The included remote is similar to a motion controller (think Nintendo Wii controller), so you can quickly navigate through menus. Some of the included apps that I frequently use are: Netflix, Hulu, and Google Play Movies (updating and logging into each app was very quick), so there's very little need for a streaming stick/device. The built-in WiFi is very fast and is capable of connecting to 5GHz networks. ** 4K Content ** Our 4K movies looks incredible on the new LG TV. Since our internet is fast enough to support it, even 4K content from Netflix and Google Play Movies looks just as amazing. I would HIGHLY recommend going to your local Best Buy to see the TV in person (they usually have a nice demo running so you can see how well the colors look). ** Non-4K Content ** Even viewing non-4K content through our cable box, HD channels still look great. Animated movies (such as Coco or Finding Dory) look fantastic. Even games on my PS4 (I haven't traded in my old PS4 for a PS4 Pro yet) look really good. ** Supported Apps ** Some of the popular apps that I'm sure many people will use are available on the TV right out of the box (or available from the LG app store): Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Starz, Showtime, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube (and YouTube Kids), Vudu, and MLB.TV. There is also a built-in web browser, but it's a little slow to load content, so I would just stick to your phone/tablet/laptop. ** Speakers ** I'm really impressed with the quality of the built-in speakers, they can get pretty loud and still sound pretty clear. I still prefer to use my sound bar and subwoofer, but if you don't currently have a theater system or sound bar, the built-in speakers will do a decent job until (or if) you buy a new theater system. ** BOTTOM LINE ** When compared to the other manufacturers, I prefer LG displays, and the new C8PUA Series are outstanding and seriously worth looking at in your local Best Buy.

I just can’t believe how good this tv looks . I was doing my research and this one always poped up as the #1 & constantly the people at magnolia will tell me. Months passed I bought a Samsung for living room and bought one for brother. Now it was time for my room! It was coming down to the Sony 900e or Samsung q9. I went to Best Buy and I ran into the lg c8 & I was just like “my god” !!!! I had the Best Buy guy go on YouTube n stuff. So I just told myself 200$ more I can own the best looking tv in the market . So I did it! Brought it home easy to set hooked it up turned on Netflix blue planet just freaking amazing how the oled just pops!!!! Especially in blacks with colors. I put on guardians of the galaxy... blown out this world! I just never seen a tv produce such colors and clarity . Turned on my ps4 started red dead and the tv detects it . Goes into hdr deep colors automatically!!!! Like the tv is super smart and controls my comcast plus menus. I just can’t explain how amazing it is. I love the menu how you can use the remote like a mouse and zoom into the screen what ever Area you want . It’s just destroys Samsung in my opinion . I’m a Sony guy I almost went with the Sony oled cause I just love Sony but this year tv’s look like they didn't try. LG JUST super surprised me. You don’t hear that much about LG??? It almost feel like a pc tv lol. And I read that Sony and Samsung Buy their panels from LG. The menus & apps and just the smartness of the tv is so good. This replaced my old Sony Bravia I had for 11 years . The only thing that worries me is the burn ins I hear about . I haven’t experience anything but I also bought 2 year warranty . But that only happens if you leave it on for super long on static still images. But I took the risk this Beuty is just out of this world. The sound is good has a lot of options to enhance it, all 4 inputs support full bandwidth . All we need now is are tv providers to start broadcasting 4K content live tv!!! And I also lower the brightness and backlight on my tv because that’s just how I am I think about my eyes lol and the LG IS STILL AMAZINGLY crazy looking & I believe that also expands tv life. Maybe these burn ins are all from people having them on super brightnesss and leaving them on with their game systems on????? OLED IS the future. Each tv will have its flaws . If I ever do experience a burn in I’ll live.

I bought this TV about five weeks ago. This TV has a beautiful picture which is what the rep showed me convincingly. However, the picture quality is not worth the sound issues. I have a two-year old Bose Soundbar 130 and this TV will not keep the HDMI-ARC settings with any reliability. There is no way to turn off the internal speakers--a huge design flaw in my opinion, and the first TV I've owned this century without that ability. The TV has multiple settings for sound out, which can avoid the internal speakers but will not necessarily remember your choice. What keeps happening is that the TV resets the sound out to internal speakers, which is an annoyance to have to reset. If I turn on the soundbar first, then the TV is supposed to remember, but this is not entirely accurate because it also has problems if the soundbar was turned off first the last time the TV was on. I invested in a Harmony Hub to structure the order and timing of turning on the two devices to circumvent the LG issue. It helped but did not solve LG's memory problem. The on/off controls for HDMI-ARC are nonsense requiring soundbar to be turned on first for HDMI-ARC, but the TV is supposed to be turned off first. If you want to use the internal speakers only, then you will be fine. If you want to use a sound bar only, then turning the volume all the way down and connecting the soundbar to another HDMI input might be a solution, but the Magic remote cannot control the external volume then. Moreover, on several occasions, I have had to unplug the TV (in an inconvenience location unfortunately for me) to get the HDMI-ARC to work at all. Today after a major software update, I had to unplug the TV to get Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to work again. Maybe LG will fix the sound connections and reliability with a future update. Right now, I would trade the LG picture quality for a TV that is actually smart when it comes to sound, and keeps the HDMI-ARC setting once it is set. The TV is not so smart with Alexa either for turning on the TV; Alexa can only turn off the LG. What good is that? The hub helped in that regard.