There are few if any AV-related announcements each year more eagerly anticipated than LG’s annual revelation of its new OLED TV range. So I’m pleased to say that day has come early this year, ahead of the start of the 2024 CES in Las Vegas next week. And while LG’s new OLED range perhaps looks set to be more of an iterative improvement over 2023 rather than the revolutionary leap we got with last year’s G3 series, there’s still lots of exciting-sounding stuff for serious AV fans to look forward to.
Given the leap forward for WRGB technology last year’s LG G3 models gave us with their use of of Micro Lens Array technology (as part of what LG calls its Brightness Booster Max technology, to reflect the fact that the MLA hardware is just a part of what makes LG’s premium OLED picture quality tick), let’s look first at LG’s new G4 range.
The main picture improvement here is set to come from a new processor that LG claims is so big a leap over its predecessor that they’ve named it Alpha 11 AI instead of the Alpha 10 engine we’d expected to follow from 2023’s Alpha 9 processor. If you want some numbers to go with the Alpha 11 AI hype, LG claims the new chip will offer four times the AI performance of its predecessor, 1.7x the graphics performance, and 1.3x the general processing power – all partnered with 2.5GB of RAM.
The biggest single bit of news regarding Alpha 11 is that LG’s AI Picture Pro deep learning-powered image enhancement system can now work across all sources, including those connected to the TV via HDMI, rather than only working with broadcasts and some streaming services as it did before.
The new AI Picture Pro system carries the latest versions of the genre and scene analysis, AI Super Resolution, Noise Reduction and OLED Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro engine features (the latter of which breaks the image into thousands of analysis blocks to make its tone mapping more effective) we’ve seen in AI Picture Pro before. But Alpha 11 also introduces two potentially key new AI Picture Pro features: Object Enhancing By Visual Perception, and AI Director Processing.
The Object Enhancing By Visual Perception feature is claimed to analyze each and every pixel in the picture to better detect and more effective treat different objects in an image to help make it in more life-like (so key objects gain more emphasis, for instance). The AI Director Processing attempts to apply to whatever you’re watching the colour theory (where colour is used to enhance emotions) used during content mastering and grading to give images more power.
These two new features might sound problematic for AV purists who would rather their TV just show as accurately as possible the images it’s receiving. However, given the power and extent of the AI deep learning that’s behind these features, I suspect they’re probably going to be worth at least experimenting with, even for die-hard cinephiles.
The Alpha 11 processor introduces a couple of potentially critical new elements to the G4’s AI Sound Pro system, too: A virtual 11.1.2-channel upmixer that can even be applied to stereo sources, and a new Voice Remastering system that’s able to use AI to extract voices from audio mixes so that their clarity can be enhanced without affecting the rest of the mix. These new features join previous AI Sound Pro features of Adaptive Sound Control (which optimizes sound playback in real time based on analysis of the content), AI Acoustic Tuning to optimise the sound for your room set up, and a Dynamic Sound Booster for making the sound more dynamic and powerful.
While it’s not clear if LG has implemented any significant improvements to the hardware side of the Micro Lens Array system that helped the G3s deliver such a game-changing increase in brightness last year, LG does state that its latest Brightness Booster Max technology, which also incorporates a light boosting algorithm along with the better ‘light control architecture’, will make the G4s even brighter than the G3s. It’s not absolutely clear by how much; LG just states that the G4s will be up to 70% brighter than ‘conventional’ (which is to say, basic entry level models such as LG’sB series) OLED screens.
One other great bit of progress for the G4 range finds the Brightness Booster Max system extending to the 83-inch model; it’s no longer restricted to the 55, 65 and 77-inch sizes in the range. The only G4 model that won’t benefit from Brightness Booster Max technology is the new king-sized 97 incher.
Gamers have a new feature to look forward to, meanwhile, in the shape of support for 144Hz games if you have a PC capable of delivering such refresh rates. LG claims that this feature makes its new ‘Evo’ OLED models (which include new C4 and M4 models as well as the G4s) the first TVs to officially support both Nvidia G-Sync and 144Hz. They also support AMD FreeSync, of course.
The M4 models mentioned back there will actually represent LG’s flagship OLED TVs for 2024. As anyone familiar with the M3 TVs LG introduced relatively late on in 2023 might expect, the new M4 range will continue to be built around LG’s Zero Connect system, where an external connection box sends pictures up to 4K/144Hz HDR (making them the first TVs to do this without compression) wirelessly to their gorgeously minimalistic partner OLED screens. The M4s will improve on their M3 predecessors by sporting the latest Alpha 11 AI processor, and again all screen sizes bar the 97-inch one will benefit from Brightness Booster Max technology.
The M4 and G4 screens will both feature so-called ‘One Wall Designs’ ideally suited to wall mounting, and five-year warranties as a sign of LG’s confidence in their longevity.
One other new feature exclusive to LG’s M4 and G4 OLED screens will be a new 4-screen multi-view system unlocked by the power of the Alpha 11 processor. This lets you divide the screen into four smaller screens showing different sources, with the power of the new processor increasing the range of source combinations you can set up (including live TV, HDMI, YouTube, CAM, Browser, Miracast, Spotify and Airplay) and improving the interface you use for selecting your Multiview sources.
The new C4 range
Rounding out LG’s so-called evo range of premium OLED panels will be the C4 range. As with the C series in 2023’s LG OLED range, the C4s won’t benefit from the full Brightness Booster Max technology, with some C4 screen sizes instead falling back to regular Brightness Booster technology. This reflects a specific combination of a slightly improved version of the Alpha 9 processor deployed on last year’s C3 models, and LG ‘evo’ panels that deliver more brightness than the basic OLED panels used in LG’s entry-level OLED range without getting the extra brightness boost made possible by MLA technology. Again, LG suggests there should be a small brightness enhancement for the C4s over the C3s, but can’t provide any exact figures for this.
As with previous years, the 42 and 48-inch C4s won’t get the Brightness Booster technology – though LG does confirm that they will definitely be brighter than their 2023 counterparts.
The C4s lose the 5 year warranty of the G4 and M4 series, drop the multiview support to two screens from four, and switch away from a One Wall design to an Ultra Slim Design. They do, though, retain both the 144Hz gaming and far-field voice control (where you can talk to the TV without needing to press a button on your remote handset) features delivered by the M4s and G4s.
The LG C4 range in 2024 will be available in 42, 48, 55, 65, 77 and 83-inch screen sizes.
Wrapping up LG’s OLED offering for 2024 will be the entry-level B4 series. Available in 77, 65, 55 and 48-inch screen sizes, these models top out at 120Hz support rather than 144Hz, and step down to a new Alpha 8 AI 4K processor, which LG rather vaguely describes as ‘inherited’ from last year’s Alpha 9 AI 4K system.
There’s no far-field voice recognition on the B4s either, and they lose all of the Brightness Booster technologies available from the C4 up, meaning they’ll be significantly less bright than their siblings. They do, though, still get the Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support enjoyed by all of LG’s more premium 2024 models, as well as the latest much-improved webOS platform including the two-screen Multiview system carried by the C4s.
LG has yet to provide launch date or pricing information for its 2024 OLED range, but rest assured I’ll bring you this information on my Forbes channel as soon as LG reveals it.
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