The LG C3 OLED has finally been announced, and while it doesn’t come with a ton of new features, LG says it improves on last year’s excellent LG C2 OLED by adding a new Alpha a9 Gen 6 processor and an updated WebOS 23 smart system.
These improvements, based on our short hands in time with the screen, help make the TV look a little brighter than previous years, even if there’s no substantive improvement made to the basic OLED panel itself.
At the top of the wizard, you can expect to see some additional features of WebOS 23, including a new custom picture mode that you’ll program yourself.
Will these minor changes be enough to catapult the LG C3 OLED to the top of our best TV list for the second year in a row? We’ll just have to wait until later this year when the LG C3 OLED is released to find out.
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Possible LG C3 OLED TV price and release date
When we see the LG C3 OLED and how much it costs are still major question marks, but based on previous LG C-Series OLEDs, we can speculate that it will likely be available in the spring (April or May) around the same price as the C2 OLED when it launched in 2022.
We don’t know the exact details about the screen sizes, but we can definitely confirm 55 and 65 inches. There will likely be 77-inch, 83-inch, and 48-inch models at launch as well, but those weren’t available for preview at LG’s event.
LG C3 OLED TV design
The LG C3 OLED is still the middle model in LG’s lineup, and so it doesn’t look as cheap as the LG B2, nor does it look as cheap as the LG G2. It’s incredibly thin, with only a small section in the middle of the TV that sticks out at the back.
The space in the back, for those of you wondering, is for inputs and outputs. Like last year, the LG C3 will have four full-featured HDMI 2.1 ports with ALLM, one of which will be eARC compatible. The bad news here is that LG won’t include the ATSC 3.0 tuner inside the C3 – only in the LG G3 OLED TV and LG Z3 OLED TV.
To enhance the on-board TV’s sound, LG sells separate speakers that are designed to fit into the wall. The soundbar is a 3.1.3-channel solution that helps make dialogue clearer via a rising center channel—a problem you might run into if you only stick to your TV’s 40-watt 2.2-channel speakers.
LG C3 OLED TV performance
It’s always hard to get a sense of how well a TV will perform based on a few minutes in a press kit, but we can say with certainty that the LG C3 OLED looks no worse than last year’s LG C2 OLED — in fact, it just looks brighter.
The science behind the C3’s noticeable increase in brightness is due to a new lighting algorithm that Alpha a9 Gen 6 used. With it, the TV can separate the foreground and background of the image and strategically boost brightness in the areas where your eyes focus first.
This isn’t to say that every scene will receive a boost and that the panel itself is still limited in its peak brightness — but there is a “perceived brightness boost” you might notice if you look at the LG C2 OLED and LG C3 OLED side-by-side.
On the audio side of things, LG is talking about its AI Sound Pro technology which enables virtual 9.1.2 surround sound out of the box. After hearing it compared to the Soundbar, we weren’t impressed with the default upgrade. Admittedly, there’s only so much that can be done with a 2.2 40W system, so this is no small feat against the C3.
LG C3 OLED Smart TV Features
As of now, only 2023 LG TVs will receive WebOS 23 when it launches later this year. This probably isn’t much of an issue considering the changes are relatively minor, but there are a few notable features worth mentioning.
The first and most interesting of these features is the new dedicated photo mode. When enabled, the C3 OLED will guide you through a series of different images and ask you which one you like best. Depending on your answers, the TV can make all of the videos you watch appear brighter, darker, sharper, more or less saturated, higher or lower contrast. Basically, it allows you to find an image that’s comfortable for you to view if you find Vivid mode too bright (and who doesn’t) but still want some bump in brightness and saturation.
Other new features of WebOS include an improved user interface that brings recommended content to the middle row, and improved user profiles. Again, you’re not missing out on much if you can’t get to those.
LG C3 OLED TV overview
Personally, I’m not sure if there’s enough new with the LG C3 OLED to warrant an upgrade from the LG C1 or LG C2 OLED. These TVs remain strong contenders for the best TVs of the year and will only drop in price once the C3 hits the shelves.
However, new OLED TV buyers will find a lot to love here. The boost in brightness from LG’s OLED Evo on the C2 carries over to the C3 and the upgrade feels first-rate. A dedicated picture setting should make calibrating your new TV a little easier, especially for people who don’t want to spend a lot of time digging through settings, though the new WebOS doesn’t offer much in terms of other new features.
Ultimately, how we feel about the C3 OLED will depend largely on what other TVs are available at launch and the TV’s MSRP. Until then, however, the jury is still out.
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