For individuals who need one of the best image they’ll afford, stretching the funds to get LG’s B8 OLED is fairly tempting. It has picture high quality that is mainly pretty much as good as some other OLED TV, for much less. And that image remains to be higher than any non-OLED TV we have ever reviewed.
In early October 2018, the B8 prices $1,800 for the 55-inch dimension and $2,800 for the 65 inches. Sure, that may seem to be fairly a stretch, however reduction might be on the way in which quickly. For the final couple of years LG has dropped its OLED TV prices for Black Friday in mid-November. This 12 months I would not be stunned if the 65-inch B8 obtained right down to $2,200… or perhaps even much less.
When you’ve been eyeing a brand new OLED TV just lately, perhaps you are questioning concerning the C8, which prices barely extra and has a more recent video processor than the B8. Lemme lower to the chase: in my side-by-side comparisons, that processor does assist the picture a tiny bit, making the C8 ever-so-slightly higher than the B8 for picture high quality, nevertheless it’s not value the additional cash for my part. Each TVs deserve a 10 in picture high quality, and the B8 is the superior worth, so it will get the upper CNET ranking total.
When you’re not conversant in OLED TVs, perhaps you are questioning why the heck they value a lot greater than LCD-based TVs. My favourite LCD thus far, the TCL 6 series, prices lower than half as a lot and has a superb image, whereas higher-end units just like the Vizio P series Quantum and Sony X900F are nonetheless a whole lot lower than the B8. The quick reply is that if you would like one of the best image, OLED is value it.
Deja vu design nonetheless feels futuristic
The B8 is an exquisite examine in minimalism. There’s lower than a half-inch of black body across the image itself to the highest and sides, a bit extra beneath.
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Seen in profile, the highest portion is razor-thin, only a quarter-inch deep, however has the everyday bulge on the backside that juts out one other 1.75 inches. That bulge homes the inputs, energy provide, audio system and different depth-eating TV elements.
I wrote these actual phrases in my evaluate of the C7 OLED TV from 2017. That is as a result of the B8, eighteen months older, seems to be precisely the identical as that TV. The most important distinction between 2018’s B8 and the C8 is within the design of their stands. The stand is narrower on the B8, with a modern, angled look (similar to the C7’s). The stand of the C8, then again, is curved barely and extends nearly the whole size of the panel.
Tastes differ, however I truly just like the cheaper B8’s stand higher. When you’re wall-mounting and ditch the stand, the B8 and C8 look precisely the identical.
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The stand of the B8 (foreground) in comparison with the C8.
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Movement distant, full with Google
LG’s Net OS menu system feels good and snappy, nevertheless it’s mainly unchanged from final 12 months. It nonetheless lacks the modern extras and app-based setup of Samsung’s 2018 Tizen system and falls effectively in need of the app protection of Roku TV or Sony’s Android TV — though it is a lot snappier than the latter. If you’d like extra apps, your greatest guess is to get an external streamer, nevertheless it’s value mentioning that just one, the Apple TV 4K, can assist Dolby Vision.
The distant is similar because the 2017 mannequin’s. I like utilizing its movement management to whip across the display screen, one thing that is notably useful when signing into apps or looking utilizing an on-screen keyboard. The scroll wheel can also be nice for transferring by apps, like these seemingly infinite thumbnail rows on Netflix and Amazon.
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The B8 builds in Google Assistant, permitting you to talk into the clicker to seek for TV reveals and films, management suitable smart-home units, get the climate, order pizza and far more. You may as well management some stuff on the TV utilizing Google Home or Amazon Alexa good audio system.
Options and connections
Key options
| Show know-how | OLED |
|---|---|
| LED backlight | N/A |
| Decision | 4K |
| HDR suitable | HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient |
| Sensible TV: | Net OS |
| Distant: | Movement |
OLED’s fundamental tech is nearer to late, lamented plasma than to the LED LCD (QLED, quantum dot or in any other case) know-how used within the overwhelming majority of in the present day’s TVs. LCD depends on a backlight shining by a liquid crystal panel to create the image, whereas every particular person sub-pixel is answerable for creating illumination on OLED and plasma screens. That is why OLED and plasma are referred to as “emissive” and LED LCD are referred to as “transmissive” shows — and an enormous purpose why OLED’s picture quality is so good.
LG’s 2018 OLED TVs have the identical mild output and shade gamut capabilities as 2017 fashions, so the most important image high quality distinction is that the 2018 TVs get LG’s new Alpha 9 processor. The exception is the B8 reviewed right here; it is the one 2018 LG OLED to make use of LG’s older processor as a substitute. LG additionally added black frame insertion to all of its 2018 OLED TVs, together with the B8. See the image high quality part beneath for extra particulars.
Not like Samsung, LG TVs just like the C8 assist each main present sorts of HDR video: Dolby Vision and HDR10. The set additionally helps HLG HDR in addition to Technicolor and Philips‘ HDR format. However it’s best to consider them as future-proofing options, as there is no content material you’ll be able to watch in these codecs but. A Technicolor-approved image mode can also be out there.
New for 2018, LG’s TVs are additionally compatible with HFR (excessive body price) video, though solely by built-in streaming apps, not on exterior units related by HDMI. The presentation of upper body charges in a handful of flicks — for instance, The Hobbit and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk — is controversial. Many viewers merely do not just like the impact, which can provide movies an identical look to the much-maligned soap opera effect. That mentioned, it would turn out to be extra extensively accepted in sports activities and gaming content material. Once more there is no HFR content material out there but.
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Along with its standard burn-in prevention measures, LG’s added one referred to as “Brand Luminance Adjustment.” It is designed to mechanically detect a static on-screen brand and, after two minutes, begin reducing its brightness over a couple of minute and a half, after which the brand ought to be 20 p.c dimmer. Our assessments of the function discovered it does cut back brand brightness a bit, however we do not count on it to be a cure-all given the comparatively gentle share lower.
The collection of connections is top-notch. Not like lots of Samsung’s units, this one truly has an analog video enter for legacy (non-HDMI) units, though it not helps analog part video.
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- 4 HDMI inputs with HDMI 2.0a, HDCP 2.2
- Three USB ports
- One composite video enter
- Optical digital audio output
- One RF (antenna) enter
- RS-232 port (minijack, for service solely)
- Ethernet (LAN) port
Image high quality
Click on the picture above for fundamental image settings
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In a side-by-side comparability lineup in opposition to one of the best LCD TVs I had available in CNET’s lab, together with the Samsung Q9 and the Vizio P Collection Quantum, the B8 regarded higher. Sure, these units delivered brighter highlights with some HDR materials, however OLED’s good black ranges and superior distinction lent its picture extra affect and realism total with each SDR and HDR.