A:Answer TL;DR
The 42" (and for that matter the 48") LG C2 will keep all the SOC benefits of the 55" and larger sizes but will NOT be capable of the same brightness and will also have worse speakers/stand. The 42" and potentially also the 48" may have the older generation WBC panels depending on what time of year you purchase (later in the year, LG is supposed to switch to WBE panels for all sizes).
This TV, while advertised as Evo and still containing the same SOC (all the HDMI and upscaling and performance features will remain the same), the panel itself--due to its lower pixel aperture--both the 42" and 48" will not be capable of the same brightness as the 55" and larger sets. Besides this, it is also known now that at least some 42" C2 models will still be using the older WBC panels instead of the newer (what most people think of as 'Evo') WBE panels. This may have longevity ramifications down the line, but for now LG is confident that these 42" sets meet their criteria to be called Evo. The speakers and stand designs also differ model to model with the 42" receiving the worst of both (the stand is subjective so you may not feel the same).
