LG's 2023 OLED TVs claim to boost brightness by up to 70%

Enlarge LG

January means new tech product announcements from the CES show in Las Vegas. LG, a regular CES attendee, announced this year's lineup of OLED TVs at the show. Similar to LG's 2022 OLED TVs, this year's focus is on upping the brightness. But in 2023, LG's OLED TVs will also face tougher competition, including from Samsung Display's QD-OLED technology, which is also expected to get brighter.

Today LG announced updates to its 8K Z series (77- and 88-inch), high-end 4K G-series (55-97-inch) and flagship 4K C-series OLED TVs (42 to 93 inches). The company hasn't detailed any new additions to its less advanced B-series, but Forbes has reported that LG will eventually release B3 OLED TVs with an A7 Gen 6 processor and sizes of 55, 65 and 77 inches this year. LG would no longer sell the entry-level A-series in North America.

In addition to using OLED.EX panels (which LG calls "OLED Evo" in its consumer TVs), LG Display announced in late 2021 that OLED.EX panels were up to 30% brighter than OLED.EX panels. traditional OLED panels; LG also claims the 55-, 65-, and 75-inch G3s are up to 70 percent brighter when using a feature called Brightness Booster Max. The feature is not available on the 83 or 97 inch G3 or any other LG OLED TV series.

According to LG's announcement on Monday, the new TVs squeeze out more nits by using a new "light control architecture and light amplification algorithms." He also said TVs map and control brightness "on a pixel-by-pixel basis" for sharper picture quality.

Enlarge / LG's 2023 OLED TVs also support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. LG

LG doesn't typically provide specific brightness specifications on its product pages, but FlatPanelsHD reported that an LG spokesperson quoted a peak brightness of 1800 nits for the G3, the mode Vivid being "perhaps slightly brighter". Forbes, meanwhile, reported that the 2023 G3 could exceed 1500 nits in a 10% window with HDR.

FlatPanelsHD also cited a document claiming up to 2,100 nits with the G3, which it says could refer to the G3's Vivid mode and 235 nits for full screen brightness. The publication previously recorded a peak brightness of 930 nits with the 2022 G2 and 166 nits for full screen brightness.

FlatPanelsHD and Forbes have reported that LG's new G3 TVs could claim a 70% improvement in brightness thanks to Micro Lens Array (MLA). As Forbes explained, these TVs have an extra layer of small lenses used to better focus the light towards the viewer without increasing power consumption or risk of burn-in compared to other OLED TVs.

Growing competition

OLED is known for its really dark blacks and amazing contrast, but can't compete with LCD panels because of its brightness potential. The expected brightness performance of LG's G3 TVs looks impressive on paper, but the OLED TV landscape is also more competitive than it has been in years past, thanks in part to quantum dot OLED. from Samsung Display (Q...