LG G4 (OLED65G4) 4k OLED TV review

LG is looking to deliver serious improvements to its OLED models this year, but increasingly it seems you’ll need to invest in the brand’s top of the line G4 flagship to fully benefit.

At an early hands-on, held recently at LG’s UK HQ, Inside CI was offered the opportunity to get up close and personal with the new model, and it’s clearly a significant step up on the brand’s 2023 G3.

The G Series is undergoing a bit of a reposition this year. For one thing, it ships with a pedestal stand. The message is clear - anyone can use this out of the box, with no on-wall installation required.

It’s also getting all the toys, including the latest iteration of Brightness Booster Max, which comprises a cutting edge MLA (Micro Lens Array) panel and Light Control Architecture, coupled with new light boosting algorithms able to maximise peak brightness and near shadow detail.

At the event, LG declared this latest Brightness Booster Max cocktail to be 150 per cent brighter than a conventional OLED panel, when measured with a 3 per cent HDR window. This brightness bump applies to the 55-, 65- 77- and 83-inch G4 models (and their wireless M4 equivalents).

LG says that it really doesn’t want to major on the term ‘MLA’ as it’s more of an image facilitator than anyhting else. You could read that to mean there’s something even more dramatic than MLA on the cards, which will underpin the next generation of Brightness Booster Max in a year or two’s time.

Regardless, this 2024 glass is allied to the brand’s most powerful silicon yet, the Alpha 11 AI processor - and it's a potent combo.

To demonstrate the advances, an OLED65G4 was pitched against last year’s G3, with a variety of commercial material used to illustrate the differences.

The most obvious improvement, is indeed, brightness. The G4 had noticeably improved dynamics, with specular highlights punching upwards.

But there’s another big win, and that’s colour vibrancy. The 2024 G4 offers a lushness of hue which is remarkable, all without overt over saturation. The panel offers what might be described as a heightened sense of reality, akin to how bright sunlight might lift an early morning stroll. Dazzling, but still utterly believable.

'The most obvious improvement, is indeed, brightness. The G4 had noticeably improved dynamics, with specular highlights punching upwards...'

The set was shown in both Filmmaker mode, effectively the ‘detuned’ preset, where it again had more dynamic snap than the G3, and in a new AI Picture Pro mode, and it’s this that I think is the most interesting. The set is able to dynamically manage picture characteristics based on content analysis, without any recourse to menu diving.

This AI Picture Pro mode comprises a whole suite of image management wizardry, some new, some familiar. There’s AI Super Upscaling, with its genre and scene analysis, as well as Dynamic HDR Tone Mapping Pro which constantly maps thousands of blocks to enhance HDR performance in real time - this rather cleverly allows multiple areas of the screen to be tone mapped differently, and so elevates detail in both the bright and dark areas of the screen.

What’s new is Object Enhancing by Visual Perception, and AI Director Processing. Object Enhancing uses AI to identify elements of a picture, reference them to a database, and apply appropriate picture processing. For example, a face or body may receive more detail enhancement than the background of a scene, thereby creating more visual depth. Similarly, AI Director processing actually makes assumptions on the colour tones of scenes, effectively second guessing the creative intent, making the colour palette more pronounced.

There’s also some welcome refinement to be had when it comes to HDR handling. In the Professional submenu, users can now set the screen’s HDR tone mapping roll-off for 1,000, 4,000 and 10,000-nit mastering.

Interestingly, a Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode option has appeared in the picture menus, so you no longer have to choose one or the other. It’ll be interesting to see just how persuasive this team-up is with real world content

Usability looks to be exceptional. All four HDMI inputs support 4k 120Hz, but there’s also the option of a 144Hz mode for PC gaming, to combat stutter and blurring of onscreen action. This 144Hz compliance is also going to be available on the C4 (and M4) models, with the exception of the 97-inch screen variants.

This effectively makes the G4 the world’s first NVIDIA G-Sync 144Hz validate TV. Incidentally, G-Sync 144Hz support is also coming to the C4 and B4 OLEDS, as well as the QNED99, QNED90, and QNED85 Mini LED screens, making it somewhat universal in the LG fleet.

The G4 is also promising enhancements to audio, again powered by the new Alpha 11 AI processor. There’s virtual 11.1.2 channel audio from any source, as well as Voice Remastering. This uses AI techniques to isolate and enhance the dialogue in movies and TV dramas. Not for purists, but I suspect many users will appreciate the feature.

The G4 will also support far field voice recognition for the latest iteration of webOS.

On this early showing, the LG OLED65G4 is looking like a hugely impressive display. It’s picture performance is jaw-dropping. Gamers and home cinema fans are in for a treat.