It is a new year, and that means today is the announcement of the latest series of TVs from the company. The company is adding new screen sizes, increasing the brightness on the G series, and bringing some additional features to the webOS software that runs on its TVs.
The fifth generation of the A9 processor will include better 4K upscaling, improved tone mapping, and a greater sense of depth through foreground object enhancement.
This year, the G2 and more mainstream C2 will feature the new higher-brightness panel on the G1, called the "Evo" panel. The G2 will deliver higher peak brightness numbers than the C2 through a combination of brightness booster algorithms and better heat dissipation from the TV's components. The C2 should still beat the CX from two years ago.
The C series is the bestselling premium TV series in the United States, and it makes sense to expand it. The 65-inch C2 is nearly half the weight of the C1, and the G2 is using a new fiber material that makes it significantly lighter. That will result in a less difficult mounting experience for these very thin displays.
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The comparison between the G2 and the C1 is not the right one.
The new G2 side by side with the C1 was shown off at the press conference. It would have been helpful to compare it to the G1's display, but no such luck. The G2 looked better than the C1, but this was a staged demo, so take the stark difference with a grain of salt.
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The C2 TVs will have the company's brighter "Evo" panel.
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They will still have the perfect blacks.
New screen sizes are added at both extremes. The company thinks the new 42 inch screen will be a perfect fit for small bedrooms, offices, or gaming in tight spaces. Previously, the smallest display was 48 inches. There is a 97-inch 4K model joining the G series. There is a new giantOLED in town, but there are still 83-inch 4K and 88-inch 8K TVs offered by the company.
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The 42-inch model in the 2022 lineup is perfect for a gaming monitor.
Every HDMI port on the G and C series will have full HDMI 2.1 capabilities, and this time it's from LG. The company has limited its TVs to about 40Gbps of HDMI bandwidth in recent years, but for the next four years it will use the whole 48Gbps. You will still be getting the usual 120Hz 4K gaming, variable refresh rate, auto low latency mode, and so on. It is worth noting that some of the TVs that are coming out in the next few years will support up to 144Hz for PC gaming.
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The 97-inch G2 will have a price to match, and is a true mammoth.
That doesn't mean that the company isn't making improvements The game dashboard will give you more information at the top layer so you can adjust key settings without jumping into the full game optimizer menu. There is a new fifth preset for sports games and a dark room gaming mode. In recent months, the company has supported cloud gaming services.
The A series is intended for movie and TV watching and lacks the features of a gaming console.
The G2 is available in 97-, 83-. There are 77-, 65-, and 55-inch sizes.
The C2 is available in a number of sizes.
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In the year of 2021, the company joined the Mini LED bandwagon, and this year it is rolling out another wave of its terribly named "QNED" TVs that use the technology for vastly better contrast and black levels than the company's older LCD sets. It isn't perfect black and infinite contrast like anOLED, but you can't get much closer, and MiniLED TVs can crank higher thanOLED when it comes to overall brightness.
Since not all of the TVs that carry the QNED branding in 2022 will include Mini LEDs, the company is muddying up what the branding means. The entry-level QNED80 model will have less precise local dimming without the mini-LED backlighting.
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The QNED TVs are closer to the contrast ofOLED with better brightness.
The webOS software is being tinkered with this year. The latest version will be called webOS 22 and will match the year of its release. That is a little more straightforward now. The company is adding support for multiple user profiles, with each person getting their own personalized recommendations and the freedom to personalize the homescreen to their liking. I asked if TV picture settings could be saved for each user, but they didn't say anything about profiles.
A feature called "room to room share" will allow you to send the feed from one TV to another in a different room. You will be able to change channels and do other things in this mode. There aren't a lot of details right now because room to room share won't be available until after the TVs ship. When the TV is off, the screen becomes a digital canvas for showcasing artwork, keeping track of time, or playing music, and it's called the Last mode.
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Different user profiles are supported by webOS.
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It is the same experience as last year.
As they come closer to shipping this spring, full pricing and release times should be available. It seems like the company is playing it safe this year, in light of rumors of QD-OLED TVs being on the horizon. Maybe that is enough for the company to maintain its status as the go-to recommendation for anOLED TV that doesn't demand the premium of Sony's pricier models.
Chris Welch is a photographer.
