LG has been quietly demoing the LG C5 OLED TV at CES 2025 – it announced the LG G5 and LG M5 flagship TVs in flashy fashion, but the LG C5 flew more under the radar. However, I was able to see it in person in LG's demo suite, with the LG G5 nearby for comparison, and was able to ask LG for more information.
The headlines are that the LG C5 will look a lot like the LG C4, but with improved processing, a slightly brighter screen, and new webOS features.
The brightness increase is obviously the juiciest part, but LG didn't want to go into details, unlike the G5, which says it's up to 40% brighter compared to last year's LG G4 and is three times brighter than the LG B5. LG just said the C5 would be a little brighter.
There doesn't appear to be a new OLED panel on the C5; There was no mention that it will get the microlens panel that was used on the LG G4, and its refresh rate hasn't increased to 165Hz, unlike the G5, so I suspect the brightness boost will come only from better image management. screen power by processing. This could make a significant difference, but my best guess is that it will be a very small increase.
This is partly due to LG's reluctance to talk about it, and partly due to what I could see: the LG C5 looked beautiful and shiny, but not much different from the LG C4. Last year when I saw the LG C4 at CES, I could instantly see that there was a significant jump in brightness over the C3. This time it didn't seem the same.
LG also didn't offer many details about what would be different about the processing, but focused on new webOS features, including voice recognition and custom profiles, including changing profiles based on your voice and custom image settings and the screen layout. per person.
Another great looking set.
Well, it doesn't look like we'll be getting many changes to the LG C5. It will also be available in the same sizes: 42, 48, 55, 65, 77 and 83 inches.
But that means it's still an attractive TV. LG was demonstrating the changing Apple TV Plus trailer wolveswhich has many dark scenes with occasional neo-noir highlights. The C5 handled it all great, with deep, spacious blacks where they should be, and subtly lit elements peeking out if they should.
Any bright reflections or white blocks that appear have a strong, clear shine, and colors appear natural and convincing, even when stylized.
It will clearly be another very high-quality LG set, but the Samsung S90F, Samsung's equivalent model, will increase its brightness again (and offer some nice image processing improvements), the question is whether the LG C5 will take over. LG's C4 as the best OLED TV for mid-range buyers will come down to price.
If LG can be aggressive on price (especially considering it's cutting the cheapest LG B5 range down to just two sizes), then the fact that the C5 hasn't changed much year-on-year won't matter. If it has a great value, it is a great value.
But there's no price yet for the LG C5, so we'll probably have to wait until closer to spring to find out how well LG is breaking even. I'm looking forward to receiving this in our testing room to find out.
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