Our Verdict
Great TV overall. The LG C7 has great picture quality with almost every usage. Its blacks and motion blur are as good as it gets. Movie performance is exceptional, and gaming is as good as it gets.
- Perfect blacks produce an infinite contrast ratio
- Virtually no motion blur, fast moving content is very clear
- Picture quality is retained, even at steep angles
- Temporary retention can happen when static images stay on screen too long
- Brightness levels vary depending on content being played (ABL)
Outstanding Movie performance. The LG C7 has an infinite contrast ratio thanks to its pure and uniform blacks. It is a thing to behold in a pitch black room.
The C7 is great for TV shows. It gets sufficiently bright and deals with reflections well. It can also be enjoyed from every side, so wider living rooms aren't a problem. News or weather broadcast might see icons retained for a few minutes, but nothing major.
Sports look very good on the LG C7, mostly thanks to its great motion. Fast moving objects and players show no trail, so they appear very fluid. The uniformity is also quite good, but it can show some minor banding in specific areas.
Superb gaming TV. It handles very fast motion exceptionally well, and input lag is amongst the lowest available making games feel fluid and responsive.
Superb HDR movies performance. The C7 has excellent picture quality and can cover a fairly large color volume. It's also capable of lighting up small highlights quite bright, which is important for HDR.
Impressive HDR gaming capability. The standard gaming experience translates well to HDR, and using that feature only brings benefits.
Great TV to use as a PC monitor. It has low input lag and motion blur, and an excellent viewing angle. It also supports a 120hz input, which is an excellent feature for PC gaming.
Changelog
- Updated Mar 12, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Sep 20, 2017: Tested 1080p @ 120 Hz input lag using our new input lag tool.
- Updated Aug 14, 2017: webOS update 3.6 fixed the PC mode HDR issue, so 4:4:4 color is now properly displayed as 4:4:4. The other issues with HDR in PC mode have not been fixed.
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (OLED55C7P). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65" (OLED65C7P).
The B7 (OLED55B7P, OLED65B7P) is a warehouse exclusive model in the USA and is also available in Canada but we expect it to have the same performance, with a slightly different design.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their LG OLED 55C7P doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | US Model | EU Model |
| 55" | OLED55C7P | OLED55C7V |
| 65" | OLED65C7P | OLED65C7V |
Popular TV Comparisons
The LG OLED C7 is one of the best TVs available today and its picture quality cannot be matched, but it's a very minor improvement over last year's models. See our recommendations for the best TVs.
The LG C2 OLED is much better than the older LG C7 OLED. There's not much difference in picture quality: they both display deep, uniform blacks in a dark room with no blooming around bright objects. The C2 is a lot brighter, especially in HDR, so bright highlights stand out much better. The C2 also has more advanced gaming features, including variable refresh rate support to reduce screen-tearing.
If you are a movie fan, then go with the LG C7 OLED, whereas if you use your TV as a PC monitor or watch the news with static banners for prolonged periods of time, go with the Sony X930E. The LG C7 has perfect blacks that are great for movies and HDR content in dark rooms. The LG C7 also has a slightly better response time and somewhat better input lag, so you can enjoy playing video games. Finally, the LG C7 has better viewing angles for those sitting on the side and better gray uniformity for those sports fans. The Sony X930E is a better choice if you worry too much about the permanent burn-in.
The LG C8 OLED is a bit better than the LG C7 OLED. While the overall performance of the two is very similar, the LG C8 has an optional Black Frame Insertion feature that the C7 lacks. This feature can improve the perceived clarity of motion on the C8 at the expense of some brightness.
The performance of the LG B7/B7A OLED and LG C7 OLED is nearly identical. There are no major differences other than the design. The LG C7 and the B7P variant have a 2.2 speaker setup, which can internally decode Dolby Atmos sound. The B7A variant only has a 2.0 speaker setup and can't decode Dolby Atmos internally, although the C7 and all B7 models can output Atmos to an external receiver.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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