The Design and Features of the C2 TV: A High-Performance Comparison with the CX, TCL, LG, and Google Assistants
Elsewhere, the C2 takes after its sleek predecessors in overall design, but there are still noticeable upgrades. When a TV is powered on, it keeps you fully immersed in what’s on the screen, even if it’s just a movie, a game, or those gorgeous Apple TV screensavers. The glossy glass panel can be prone to distracting reflections depending on the time of day or where the TV is positioned in a room; I missed the anti-glare coating of the TCL 6-Series and other TVs at times. When viewing conditions are good, the materials chosen for the TV only increase the richness and punch of its image.
The C2 won’t be obvious before you power it on, but one of its main improvements has been made. The design of the TV is light, it is the most notable thing. By switching to composite fiber materials, LG has reduced the heft in a big way. The 65-inch model I’ve been testing weighs 40.8 pounds with the stand or 36.6 pounds without. Stack that up against last year’s version, which came in at 71.9 pounds with the stand attached or 52.9 pounds without, and the difference is substantial. You will still want a helping hand when setting up a larger-sized C2s but the weight has been reduced thanks to the screen’s width. The bigger stand is lighter, narrower and taller than before, so it doesn’t affect the picture at all, but I partially obscured the screen with my old CX because of the bigger stand.
The ports are capable of 4K gaming and all have the same array of features. It’s nice not having to be so precious about which device gets plugged into what port. You have to make sure that your soundbar is running through the eARC port, but other than that, the rest gives plenty of flexibility. While some TV makers are finally getting full-bandwidth on every port, others, like Hisense and TCL, limit some of the most essential features to a few ports instead of the whole lot.
webOS has become so busy, bloated, and random that it is very unfortunate. There are a lot of features. Yes. The C2 supports Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and LG’s own voice assistant, as just one example. HomeKit is in there as well. However, it all feels messy because of LG’s excessive effort. The top of the homescreen has seen some iteration and experimentation over the last few months, none of which has resulted in much progress. Initially, it was a hodgepodge of weather, tips for using the TV’s features, and ads.
Defying Agreements for TVs and Speakers at a Telecommunications Conference: The Corsair Xeneon Flex
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. We cannot read and analyze every single one of these agreements. We will begin to count how many times you have to agree to use a device when we review them since they are agreements people don’t read and can’t negotiate.
I don’t know many people who want a full-screen TV only to depend on their built-in speakers, but if you don’t have a surround system for long, the C2’s audio output is better than nothing. The company uses artificial intelligence to maintain good balance, but not much in the way of bass. If you want to get the best audio experience, you have to pair the C2 with a better sound system.
We know that there are several displays that are not in the regular standard size at the conference. The Corsair Xeneon Flex is a 45 inch display with a price tag of $1,999. By squeezing the screen together, you can switch between flat and 800R curved display modes, making it ideal for both work and play.
I like the 27-inch version for a number of reasons. It is novel to see a tv of this size that is still a tall desk hog with terrible stand. The 27 inch screen is enough to fit in my studio apartment, but it isn’t 4K, which is the reason why most people won’t mind. Not to mention, QHD doesn’t require the latest GPUs to pull off, and the latest games consoles support 1440p just fine.
I also like that the 27-inch model can pivot 90 degrees if you want your OLED in portrait mode (the 45-inch model can’t, though both can swivel 10 degrees to the left or right). If you don’t like using the included stand, you can wall-mount it or attach it to the arm of the monitor. Two of the monitors have a pair of HDMI and one has a DisplayPort port.
Samsung claims that both of these monitors support HDR True Black 400, a VESA spec that means they can reach 400 nits of peak brightness. Depending on what you view on them, they may deliver a lower brightness in reality. When reviewing the Alienware QD-OLED monitor, HDTVTest was impressed with the ability to deliver close to 300 nits, while displaying an all-white screen.
Pre-release Corsair Flex: Getting Your Hands on a New High-Resolution QD-OLED TV and Connecting to the Smart Hub
We managed to get our hands on a pre-release version of the Corsair Xeneon Flex for an early review, and even that left a great impression. You’re getting that all-important 240Hz variable refresh rate and a 1440p resolution, alongside AMD FreeSync Premium, Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and a zippy 0.03-millisecond response time.
Dough will also be using a glossy version of the above-mentioned LG Display OLED panel in its own 27-inch Spectrum OLED monitor running at 240Hz with a 1440p resolution, though we haven’t heard anything about it being showcased at CES 2023. It is possible to take the plunge even if you want to, but you will need to pay for it in order for it to fulfillment around July 2023.
If you think about it, a powerful gaming PC would be needed to run most titles at the 4K resolution and you wouldn’t need to refresh them as often, if at all. A current console won’t live up to its potential. Generally, 1440p is thesweet spot that has great image quality and doesn’t sacrifice refresh rate.
We went bigger only a year later. Samsung’s just-announced S95C QD-OLED TV will add a larger 77-inch model in addition to the previous sizes. This was the obvious thing to do as every TV maker says consumers are more likely to buy larger and larger sets.
Last year’s S95B QD-OLED (quantum dot) TVs from Samsung were an exciting shakeup for the consumer market and gave LG and Sony some long overdue competition. But the S95B series was limited to just 55-inch and 65-inch models — because those are the only TV sizes that Samsung Display manufactured QD-OLED panels for. It’s brand new technology, after all.
These monitors are meant to connect to powerful consoles and PCs, however, they are compatible with the Samsung Gaming Hub which lets you connect a controller to play on cloud streaming services. They have a Smart Hub which lets them access smart TV apps. Both of them feature mini DisplayPort, MicroHDMI 2.1, andusb-c charging of up to 65W.
The 2023 LG Alpha Series: A Bright, Noisy OLED with QMS-VRR Embedded in Deep Learning?
The latest Alpha series processor uses the most sophisticated Deep Learning technology fromLG to ensure outstanding picture and sound quality. Improved upscaling for clarity and enhanced dynamic tone mapping are some of the improvements offered by the AI Picture Pro. AI Picture Pro also integrates a picture processing technology that detects and refines important objects, such as people’s faces, to give them a more lifelike HDR quality. In addition to fine-tuning image reproduction, the α9 AI Processor Gen6 powers LG’s AI Sound Pro; a feature that helps viewers get swept up in the onscreen action by delivering virtual 9.1.2 surround sound from the TV’s built-in speaker system.
LG has made similar claims about subject detection and AI-powered scene enhancement in past models, but I think it’s more than mere PR speak. When watching high-quality video sources on the 2022 C2, there was an appreciable depth to the image. If it’s better here, that’s great, though at some point you start to wonder if LG is overriding creator intent. So far it’s stuck an excellent balance, so I’m not worried.
And like we learned upon the release of Apple’s latest Apple TV 4K, the 2023 LG OLEDs will support QMS-VRR. The QMS stands for quick media switching, and this feature eliminates the brief black screen when changing between different video frame rates. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop the dark when you switch between the two high Dynamic range modes. You can expect a lot of the software features that are in recent years to be offered by the new lineup. There is no need to worry for video game players:
I haven’t been to see this one in person yet, but its display makes me feel like a joy to look at. Digital artists and other creators may be able to use it because it covers 99 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Like other OLEDs, this one offers a virtually infinite contrast ratio with per-pixel control of brightness and color for the best possible picture.
Screen tech aside, this monitor’s design might be what sets it apart from those other similar models. The stand looks sturdy, as it has a slick cluster of glow-in-the-dark tiles on its back. You can either love or hate that it projects a ROG logo onto your desk. This monitor has something fused to the back of it. It has a heatsink that Asus says allows it — along with an air vent — to pull heat away from the panel, lowering the temperature by up to five degrees compared to similar models.
OLEDs aren’t known for overheating to the point of shutting off, but a heatsink could help to mitigate the risk of OLED burn-in over time. That’s an ever-present concern with OLED, but it’s one that has become less of a concern as most monitors and panels already have multiple features to dim, shift, or switch off pixels. The HP Pavilion 27AQDM has a peak brightness of 1000 nits while displaying an image that takes up 3 percent of the screen. That’s the same figure that LG’s 27-inch UltraGear OLED is shooting for without a heatsink, so perhaps it’s best to expect long-term benefits from the heatsink instead of any short-term upgrades.
Asus claims to have designed a display algorithm focused on delivering a uniform brightness, giving no pixel more power than it needs to be displayed. It wants to make the luminance the same across the board because of efficiency. We’ll have to see how this works during testing. The price hasn’t been shared and it’s not known what the ports are included in.
It sounds like the S95C will get even brighter than the S95B; the next-generation panel will also come with other benefits like improved overall durability, and it will use less power. HDTVTest’s supremely knowledgeable Vincent Teoh put the new 77-inch display through some tests and came away impressed by the panel’s potential.
Samsung always highlights the gaming chops of its TVs, and the S95C is no exception. The response time is the same, but this time it is for Microsoft’s cloud gaming app on its Tizen OS. The software hasn’t made it to other TVs.
The S95C is an excellent choice for sound. It’s outfitted with a 70-watt 4.2.2-channel Dolby Atmos speaker setup. Pricing and availability info should follow over the coming weeks and months. Samsung undercut Sony’s QD-OLED TV last year, and I’d expect the company to maintain similar prices this time out. I’m curious as to what that 77-inch model ends up selling for.