LG has been flirting with flexible OLED panels for quite some time, but this did not stop us all from gaping when, in the last edition of the CES, which was held in Las Vegas (United States) in early January, it presented its Signature OLED TV 65R9, its first TV with OLED 4K UHD roll-up panel. This model corroborates that the flexible panels have already left the laboratory and are ready to land in our homes.
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Even so, this is not at all the only novelty that this South Korean brand has prepared for 2019. It has also presented two televisions with 8K resolution, one with OLED panel and the other with LCD, as well as a fairly wide range of OLED and LCD solutions in those that have introduced interesting improvements, such as compatibility with Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant; with Apple’s AirPlay 2 technology, and also with the HomeKit home automation service from the Apple firm. We still do not know all the details about the new LG TVs, but we have enough information to know what this brand proposes this year and how it will be measured against its competitors.
These are the new OLED models from LG, from B to Z
LG’s new OLED TV range is made up of six different television families – the R9, to which only the model with a 65-inch roll-up panel belongs; the Z9, which is only available in 88 inches and integrates a panel with 8K resolution; and, finally, the W9, E9, C9 and B9, which agglutinate OLED models with 4K UHD panel and extend between 55 and 77 inches.
One of the most interesting innovations introduced by LG in its latest OLED TVs is the second generation Alpha 9 image processor. As we can deduce by its name is based on the microarchitecture of Alpha 9 processor last year, but LG has revealed that its engineers have implemented in this processor new learning algorithms that improve their processing quality compared to the processor of the processor. last year. This is what LG defends, so as soon as we can thoroughly analyze in our laboratory one of the new televisions we will confirm if this improvement is really palpable or not.
Another improvement that we will also find in the new televisions, and that some users were waiting with impatience, is the introduction of HDMI ports capable of satisfying the 2.1 standards. All 2019 OLED TVs from LG will have these types of ports, and, therefore, will be able to receive 8K signals at 60 FPS (an interesting capacity for the Z9 model, which is the one with 8K resolution) and 4K at 120 FPS . But this is not all. The implementation of the HDMI 2.1 standard also entails the integration of the eARC technology (enhanced Audio Return Channel), which allows us to send Dolby Atmos and DTS- X sound from our television to an external audio device. Two more features of these TVs that will be interesting for gamers- they can lock with signals with variable refresh frequency and activate the game mode of low input latency automatically.
The artificial intelligence of LG that we can find in many of its products, such as its smartphones or its previous televisions, is also present in the new models with an OLED panel. However, the South Korean brand has surprised us with unexpected news- all the models with this panel technology that this brand will place on the market throughout 2019 will be compatible with Apple’s AirPlay 2 technology and the HomeKit home automation service. , so they can live with the ecosystem of products of the Cupertino brand.
A direct consequence of the compatibility of these TVs with AirPlay 2 is the ability to play videos from iTunes, as well as from other video apps, or music, photographs and other content directly from other Apple devices. A final feature that we can not ignore is its compatibility with Alexa, the intelligent assistant of Amazon, which adds to the integration of Assistant, the assistant of Google, which already had the models of last year.
| OLED R9 | OLED Z9 | OLED W9 | OLED E9 | OLED C9 | OLED B9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PANEL TECHNOLOGY | Rollable OLED | OLED | OLED | OLED | OLED | OLED |
| AVAILABLE SIZES | 65 “ | 88 “ | 65 and 77 “ | 55 and 65 “ | 55, 65 and 75 “ | 55 and 65 “ |
| RESOLUTION | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) | 8K (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) |
| IMAGE PROCESSOR | Alpha 9 second generation | Alpha 9 second generation | Alpha 9 second generation | Alpha 9 second generation | Alpha 9 second generation | Alpha 7 second generation |
| HDR | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor |
| HDMI CONNECTIVITY | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| VOICE ASSISTANTS | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant |
| OS | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 |
| SOUND DOLBY ATMOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
This is the range of LG LCD models in 2024
It is clear that LG believes blindly in the capabilities of OLED technology. In fact, LG Display, the subsidiary of the South Korean company that is responsible for the design and manufacture of these panels, is the world’s largest producer of large-format OLED panels. Even so, this brand does not abandon LCD technology, especially since OLED TVs still can not reach the market at a price as competitive as that of many LCD models.
Among the novelties with LCD panel stands out the model SM99 of 75 inches because it has a panel with 8K resolution and a second generation Alpha 9 processor identical to the one equipped with the OLED TVs that we just talked about. The SM98 and SM90 families are also interesting because, like the SM99, they have Full Array LED backlighting, although the SM90 models have a slightly less sophisticated version than their older brothers. The processing of the images in these last two series is handled by a second generation Alpha 7 chip.
LCD models of LG’s high and medium ranges also have, like 2019 OLED TVs, HDMI 2.1 connectivity, Alexa and Assistant support, and can also deal with most of the HDR content that we can use. find thanks to its compatibility with Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, and HDR Technicolor.
| SM99 | SM98 | SM90 | SK86 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PANEL TECHNOLOGY | LCD with LED backlight Full Array | LCD with LED backlight Full Array | LCD with LED backlight Full Array | LCD with peripheral LED backlight |
| AVAILABLE SIZES | 75 “ | 55 and 65 “ | 49, 65, 75 and 86 “ | 49 and 55 “ |
| RESOLUTION | 8K (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) | 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) |
| IMAGE PROCESSOR | Alpha 9 second generation | Alpha 7 second generation | Alpha 7 second generation | Alpha 7 second generation |
| HDR | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and HDR Technicolor |
| HDMI CONNECTIVITY | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | Nd |
| VOICE ASSISTANTS | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant | Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant |
| OS | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 | webOS 4.5 |
| SOUND DOLBY ATMOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Nd |
New LG TVs for 2019- price and availability
LG has confirmed that its new OLED and LCD panel televisions will begin arriving in stores during next April. He has not yet revealed the price that will have the new models in Europe, but we know the cost that some of them will have in the United States, so they can help us get a rough idea of the price they will have in euros.
Here are the ones we know at the moment- OLED 55C9 (2,499 dollars / 2,200 euros approx.), OLED 65C9 (3,499 dollars / 3,086 euros approx.), OLED 77C9 (6,999 dollars / 6,173 euros approx.), OLED 55E9 (3,299 dollars) / 2,909 euros), OLED 65E9 (4,299 dollars / 3,791 euros approx.), OLED 65W9 (6,999 dollars / 6,173 euros approx.) And OLED W77W9 (12,999 dollars / 11,465 euros approx.).
More information | LG
