Word has overlooked that OLED TVs usually deliver a good picture. The technology in which each pixel shines or not has several advantages over LCDs. Above all, black is really black here because the corresponding LEDs are turned off when they are not supposed to light up. As a result, the points that light up appear brighter and more detail can be seen in the dark areas.
All this also applies to the LG OLED 65GX9LA, which I tested for two weeks and which the commercial press considers among the best OLED TVs currently on the market. However, the display of his image is not that good automatically. If you turn it on after unpacking and installing it, it feels a little weak for such an expensive TV – it should cost 4,000 euros when it launches on the market. It’s easy to change that. By choosing Cinema Mode, for example, which I like among the many picture modes, not only for blockbuster movies, but also for regular TV shows.
I had better enjoy cinema content in cinema mode
Photo: Matthias Crimp / Der Spiegel
For moviegoers, as for other LG TVs, there is also a “movie maker” mode, where movies are reproduced “as the filmmakers wanted them”. It’s really like a cinema, but it only works if you darken your living room like a cinema. Once a little bit of ambient light falls into the room, you have to reset the brightness. Or, you can just switch to cinema mode.
It can take some time to find the settings that suit your taste, simply because there are so many of them on LG TV’s menus. A very useful “True Motion” experience, which ensures that transitions appear smooth and organic when quickly moving through the image. Action films and sports programs especially benefit from this.
To get the perfect photo, you have to work your way through the many menu items
Photo: Matthias Crimp / Der Spiegel
It is also recommended that you activate HDR mode to display more dynamic colors in movies that support this. The “HDR effect”, which should create a picture-like impression in movies without HDR data, should be avoided, rather it makes news look like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
If you then activate “AI brightness control”, the display of the image is almost perfect. Because instead of making everything a little lighter or a little darker, this system regulates the brightness of the dark, medium, and illuminated areas independently of each other and thus more accurately than a normal brightness controller.
High-quality nature documents are great for assessing image quality. Here, for example, the darker parts of a fly’s body are also well produced
Photo: Matthias Crimp / Der Spiegel
looks good
The real surprise only came after I prepared the picture for myself and watched the first movie: The sound scene that LG TV set up in my living room was completely different from what I was used to. Since flatbeds like this one – the tested 65-inch version with just 2.5 cm thick – they suffer from a flat, clumsy, plastic-wrap-like sound. That’s why I connected my TV to a 5.1 surround speaker system.
It did without it with the LG Tester, because its down-radiant tweeters produce round, warm, and surprisingly powerful sound even without external speakers. They can’t record it with my surround system or good speakers, but they lack space and deep bass. But if you don’t have such additional devices at home, you don’t necessarily need them here either.
The attached wall bracket can be fixed under the top cover at the back, allowing the TV to be hung smoothly on the wall
Photo: Matthias Crimp / Der Spiegel
Note: The TV can adapt its sound to the room it is in. To do this, after selecting the menu item “AI audio tuning”, the test tones recorded by a microphone are played in the remote control and used to calculate an individual sound curve.
The remote control is not very magic
For control purposes, LG includes the remote control, known from other TVs, known as “Magic Remote”, which is not magic as it is called. But on the one hand, it has a built-in microphone, not only for calibrating the speakers, but also for voice control. On the other hand, it is a kind of mouse control with which you can move the cursor on the screen from the sofa.
Whether you like it is a matter of taste, it took a few days for her to get used to. The TV’s webOS, which was developed by Palm as a smartphone operating system, can be controlled well with it.
All important applications are on the board
Photo: Matthias Crimp / Der Spiegel
This also applies to apps pre-installed on the device and can be reloaded via the App Store. I hardly miss anything here besides Netflix and Prime Video, Disney +, Apple TV, Joyn and a number of other providers are also available. Apple users can also cast videos and photos to the screen via AirPlay 2.
conclusion
The OLED GX, which is not only available in the 65-inch version but also in the 55 and 77-inch versions, offers great picture and sound quality if you think about its capabilities a little. Its only real weakness is the high price, even if it has decreased significantly in recent months.
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