First Impressions: LG OLED65C4
A first look at LG's mid-range C-series OLED for 2024
First Impressions
There’s not much to go on in terms of the LG C4’s performance, but it’s shaping up to be another reliable workhorse of an OLED from the Korean electronics giant but perhaps not quite the explosive upgrade its model name implies
Key Features
- User interfacewebOS 24 user experience
- α9 AI processorUpgraded picture/sound processor
- Audio9.1.2-channel virtual sound
Introduction
LG’s C-series OLEDs is its most popular and biggest driver of sales, hitting the sweet spot for sizes, price, and performance for many.
The hope is that the C4 is explosive upgrade for the C-series, but what exactly is LG bringing with the C4 OLED, and will it be enough for those with older TVs to upgrade?
Design
- No change in looks
As far as I can tell, there’s no difference between the C4 and C3 in terms of aesthetics/design. You get the central pedestal stand across most of the sizes, with the smallest size using feet instead.
Sizes range from 42- to 83-inch screens. I’m not expecting the Vanta Black polarizer that guards against reflections to be available on this screen (it will be on the G4 and M4).
Features
- Supports refresh rates up to 144Hz
- webOS 24 interface
- Two screens for Multi View
The focus in the presentation I got for the C4 was mainly on webOS. You can read my Sound & Vision column that focuses on how important TV interfaces are becoming for TV manufacturers, and LG is expanding features and accessibility for 2024.
You can have up to 10 profiles on any webOS TV, and LG has responded to customers’ wants by adding a new trending row of suggested content (although off the top my head, wasn’t it there in 2023?). There’s also a new ‘Accessibility’ tab designed to explain features of the TV.
In the demo I was privy to, there was a Chatbot feature where I could scroll through the options and choose to optimise the screen’s brightness. The TV could make use the light sensor and change the brightness, or it might give you more questions to help you decided on what brightness level to change it to.
In the US/Korea, customers will be able to train webOS to learn their voices. So I could potentially use the remote, and it’ll switch to my profile with all more personalised content intact. Each profile is protected by a pin, to avoid people from messing up your curated content.
The Multi View feature where you can have multiple screens showing is limited to two for the C4 (it’s four screens for the G4 and M4 OLEDs), although it does support refresh rates up to 144Hz for PC gaming.
Picture Quality
- Expected to be slightly brighter than the C3
What’s the state of play regards the C4’s picture quality? It’s unlikely to be as dynamite as either G4 or M4 OLED as it has the upgraded α9 AI processor not the α11 AI processor, so some features are off the board such as the DRM-beating processing and the AI Director Processing.
The processor is a little more powerful than it was in the C3 with its new deep learning database that it can call upon to improve picture quality.
LG says they’ve eked out slightly more brightness from the C4 over the C3, though how much they weren’t willing to confirm. And this brightness extends to all sizes, even the smaller 42- and 48-inch, which have pretty much hit the same level of brightness since they were released due to limitations with their size.
Sound Quality
- Dolby Atmos 9.1.2-channel virtual sound
The C-series was also rather weak in the audio department so here’s hoping that LG’s Dynamic Sound Booster performs as the name implies. To be truthful, LG is pinning its hopes on you buying one of its soundbars to boost the sound, with the SC9S (USC9S in the UK) the leading candidate for that role.
First impressions
As you can see, there’s not much to write home about the OLED65C4 at this moment in time, with LG putting more of an emphasis on the G- and M-series OLEDs.
Does that mean the C4 won’t be another popular entry in LG’s OLED line-up? Of course not, although it’ll be a slight concern if the price for this series continues its upward trend. The C-series has benefitted from incremental increases, but the C3 OLED was the first in a while that felt it could have benefitted from a bigger leap in performance.
The C4 won’t have the MLA tech inside, which widens the difference between it and the G4. For most the C4’s picture is likely to be absolutely fine, and though it’s understandable that LG would rather push customers to its premium G4 OLEDs, for the time being it feels as if more performance could be extracted from the C4.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
