LG prices new flat OLED TVs sky-high, same as curved
Available in September, the new flat LG EF9500 series promises the same world-beating picture quality and HDR of its curved OLED brothers. Flat or curved, they both cost the same amount of money, and it's a lot.
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Video geeks with extra cash who don't like curved TVs, this is the moment you've been waiting for.
LG has officially announced the price and availability of its flat OLED TVs with 4K resolution. The 65-inch 65EF9500 costs $6,999 US, while the 55-inch 55EF9600 goes for $5,499. They're due to hit US shelves in mid-September. The TV made its first appearance at CES 2015 last January, and we just had our second chance to see it at IFA 2015 in Berlin.
Details for the UK and Australia versions of the new sets weren't immediately available, but last January at CES 2015 LG said that the UK model numbers would be 65EF950V for the 65-inch and 55EF950V for the 55-inch.
Crucially, the pricing of the new, flat OLED TVs is the same as for the current curved EG9600 series. Meanwhile those TVs, along with the 1080p-resolution 55EC9300, just experienced a pretty significant price drop in the US. The 65-inch 65EG9600 now sells for $1,000 less, at $5,999, while the 55EC9300 was reduced $500, to $1,999. LG says the price reduction is temporary, but nonetheless it could indicate what prices to expect for the 2015 holiday season.
Aside from the curve, and support for HDR sources (see below), the EF9500 and EG9600 are basically the same. That's a marked difference from how Samsung markets its flagship TVs--these days it reserves its best features, and its highest prices, for curved models like the JS9500.
In our tests, OLED delivers significantly better images than other display technologies, namely LED LCD (overwhelmingly dominant among TVs today) and plasma (which is no longer being manufactured). Its main strength is the ability to produce a both perfectly dark shade of black and a very bright white on the same screen simultaneously, leading to truly infinite contrast. It's also fiendishly difficult to manufacture, which is why it's so expensive, and why only LG (so far) has managed to sell it on a large scale.
The best TV yet?
CNET has yet to review the EF9500, but on paper it looks even better than LG's curved EG9600, which I called "the best-performing television I've ever tested" in my full review from June.
For one thing, it's flat and thus free of the slight geometric distortions and other issues inherent in curved TVs. Perhaps the lack of curve will also fix some of the uniformity problems I saw on the EG9600, including darker edges in some material.
The other notable difference between the two is how they support HDR (high dynamic range). HDR video, not to be confused with HDR for photography, promises better picture quality thanks to brighter, more realistic highlights and other improvements. It's widely viewed as the next step beyond 4K, which addresses only resolution, or picture sharpness, and not contrast or color. In our tests of 4K TVs and video, we've found it difficult to appreciate any difference compared to high-definition TV. With the HDR demos we've seen, the improvement is more evident.
One of my few complaints about the LG EG9600 series was lack of full support for HDR. A software update (still unreleased) will allow it to play back streaming HDR sources, namely Amazon today and presumably Netflix, due to launch later this year. On the other hand, the EG9600 will not work with HDR content delivered over an HDMI cable. The first and perhaps most important such source is expected to be 4K Blu-ray, with the first players supposedly arriving sometime during the 2015 holiday season coming early in 2016.
The EF9500 does include full support for HDR sources at launch, both via streaming and via HDMI. It will ship with HDMI inputs that are compatible with the new HDMI 2.0a standard, which is designed to handle HDR. That capability will also be offered (via future firmware upgrades) on HDR LED LCD TVs from Samsung, Sony and Panasonic.
But not the brightest
Brighter highlights are one of the hallmarks of HDR TVs and video. The ability to show the brightest glints of sunlight, flashes of lightning and other searing highlights, right next to dark shadows, can lead to improved realism and pop compared to non-HDR TVs. The perfect black of OLED should also be a major asset in making HDR content look its best.
LG tells me the EF9500 has the same light output capabilities as EG9600. Competing HDR-capable LED LCDs can get significantly brighter. Samsung's JS9500 claims a brightness in highlights of 1,000 nits (a measure of light intensity) for example, more than double anything I measured on the 65EG9600 OLED TV.
At CES 2015, LG Display showed a prototype HDR OLED TV with a claimed light output of 800 nits, a 60 percent improvement over the current generation's 500. The EF9500 does not use that brighter OLED panel; at CES LGD said it was at least a year away from hitting the market.
In the meantime, LG's press release actually describes its lower light output as an advantage: "OLED TVs are able to render the required HDR light range at lower peak brightness, resulting in an exceptional and more comfortable viewing experience."
In my tests of the EG9600, dimness was never an issue, but I have yet to compare the latest HDR displays using real HDR content. The lone HDR test I have performed was a underwhelming at best, but I blame the television (a less-expensive Samsung) and not HDR itself.
Like LG's other OLED sets, the EF9500 offers passive 3D, Harman Kardon sound, quad-core processing and the company's improved WebOS Smart TV suite, controlled by a motion remote.
More new OLED TVs coming soon
In addition to the EF9500 series, LG also announced two new 55-inch models, the 55EG9200 with 4K resolution and the same level of HDR compatibility as the EF9500; and the 55EG9100, with 1080p resolution and no HDR.
Both are curved and feature thinner designs than previous OLED TVs -- just 4.8mm (0.18 inch) at its thinnest point, compared to a downright chunky 0.25 inch for models like the 65EG9600.
Pricing on the two other new OLED TVs was not announced. Availability will start in Korea in August and roll out to other markets afterward. I was told the US retail launch of the EG9100 is slated for "later this year," but wasn't given any other details. Perhaps it will replace the current 1080p model, the 55EC9300 that debuted in 2014.
I look forward to reviewing the new models as soon as possible. Stay tuned.
For more of the best of IFA 2015, see CNET's complete coverage.
A version of this article was originally published January 5, 2015 when the EF9500 series was first announced at CES. It has been updated extensively.