The LG C4 OLED is the 2024 iteration in LG's popular C Series lineup and replaces last year's LG C3 OLED. It sits above the LG B4 OLED and below the LG G4 OLED. It uses LG's new α9 AI Processor Gen7, designed to provide better overall image processing than its predecessors. New to the C4 is the ability to game up to 144Hz, an upgrade from the maximum 120Hz on the models from the past few years. It also adds 'Filmmaker Mode' as a picture setting for Dolby Vision, designed to provide an accurate image without needing to tweak any settings. The TV uses the 2024 version of LG's webOS, and it has 40W 2.2 channel speakers built-in that can be virtually up-mixed to 9.1.2 using the α9 AI Sound Pro feature. It's available in six sizes: 42-inch, 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, and 83-inch.
The LG C4 is amazing for mixed usage. If you're a console or PC gamer, this TV is a fantastic choice due to its advanced gaming features. It has a nearly instantaneous response time for clear motion, which also makes it fantastic for playing video games, but also makes it excellent for watching sports or for use as a PC monitor. The TV is suitable for use in a bright room due to its very good SDR brightness and outstanding reflection handling. However, it also looks remarkable in a dark room thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, with highlights that stand out in HDR content due to its great HDR brightness. Its wide viewing angle makes it suitable for watching TV with a group, but there's a noticeable green tint when viewed from an angle.
The LG C4 is excellent for watching TV shows. It has very good SDR brightness and outstanding reflection handling, so it overcomes glare in a bright room. If you regularly watch shows on DVD or from low-quality streams, this TV does an excellent job of smoothing out low-quality content and is very good at upscaling low-resolution content. The built-in webOS is loaded with streaming apps, so finding the newest show you want to check out is easy. The TV is suitable for watching shows with friends due to its wide viewing angle, but unfortunately, there's a noticeable green tint the more you move off-center.
The LG C4 is excellent for watching sports. There's no noticeable blur behind quick-moving players and objects due to the TV's nearly instantaneous response time. If you watch sports like hockey and football that have large areas of uniform colors, you won't be distracted by the dirty screen effect due to the TV's excellent uniformity. It overcomes glare thanks to its outstanding reflection handling and very good SDR brightness, so it's well-suited for a bright room. The TV is suitable for watching the game with friends due to its wide viewing angle, but unfortunately, there's a noticeable green tint the more you move off-center.
The LG C4 is outstanding for playing video games. The TV has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four of its ports and supports up to 4k @ 144Hz with VRR, so it's a fantastic choice to pair with modern consoles or modern gaming PCs. The TV's exceptionally low input lag delivers a responsive gaming experience with no noticeable delay between your controller inputs and the action on screen, and there's no noticeable blur behind fast motion due to the TV's nearly instantaneous response time. The TV is suitable for use in a bright room due to its outstanding reflection handling and very good SDR brightness. It looks exceptional in a dark room due to its nearly infinite contrast ratio that delivers deep and inky blacks. Enabling Game Optimizer doesn't noticeably affect image quality, so you don't have to worry about trading picture quality for performance while gaming in SDR.
The LG C4 is incredible for watching movies in a dark room. The TV's remarkable contrast and incredible black uniformity deliver deep, inky blacks with no blooming when bright highlights are on screen, so it looks exceptional in a dark room. It removes 24p judder from any source, so movies are judder-free regardless of how you watch them. If you care about accuracy in SDR, its very good pre-calibration accuracy delivers an image that is mostly accurate, although it can be made better with calibration. This TV has an excellent wide color gamut and very good color volume, displaying lifelike, vibrant, and fairly bright colors in HDR. Finally, highlights in HDR content stand out due to the TV's great HDR brightness, so HDR content has impact.
The LG C4 is fantastic for playing video games in HDR. It has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four of its ports for up to 4k @ 144Hz, and it supports VRR for a nearly tear-free gaming experience, so it's a fantastic option to pair with modern gaming consoles or PCs. It displays fast motion with no noticeable blur due to its nearly instantaneous response time, and its exceptionally low input lag delivers a responsive gaming experience with no noticeable delay between your controller inputs and what happens on screen. The TV looks remarkable in a dark room due to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, with deep, inky blacks. Unfortunately, the TV's HDR brightness is lower in Game Optimizer than in other picture modes, although highlights are still bright enough to deliver an impactful HDR gaming experience.
The LG C4 is superb for use as a PC monitor. Its excellent uniformity means you won't be distracted by the dirty screen effect when looking at large areas of uniform color, like browsing the web. The TV has very good SDR brightness and outstanding reflection handling, so it overcomes glare in a bright room, and its nearly instantaneous response time means there's no noticeable blur behind quick cursor movements or when scrolling through pages. You also get a very responsive desktop experience due to its exceptionally low input lag. Its incredibly wide viewing angle means you can sit close to the screen and the sides remain consistent with the center. The TV properly displays chroma 4:4:4 from a PC, which is essential for clear text. Unfortunately, due to its RWBG subpixel layout, there are still minor clarity issues with text, although most people won't be bothered by it. If you're considering the C4 as a monitor, check out our LG 42 C4 OLED monitor review.
Text visibility issues due to the TV's RWBG subpixel layout.
We bought and tested the 65-inch LG C4 (OLED65C4); these results are also valid for the 55, 77, and 83-inch sizes. The 42-inch and 48-inch sizes don't have LG's Brightness Booster technology, so they don't get as bright as the bigger models do. Note that the last three letters in the model number (PUA in this case) vary between retailers and individual regions, but there's no difference in performance. The Costco/Sam's Club variant carries the suffix 'AUA,' supports Wi-Fi 6E (the PUA variant has Wi-fi 5), and comes with store-specific perks, like extended warranties.
Size | US Model (Wi-Fi 5) | Costco Variant (Wi-Fi 6E) | Brightness Booster |
---|---|---|---|
42" | OLED42C4PUA | OLED42C4AUA | - |
48" | OLED48C4PUA | OLED48C4AUA | - |
55" | OLED55C4PUA | OLED55C4AUA | Yes |
65" | OLED65C4PUA | OLED65C4AUA | Yes |
77" | OLED77C4PUA | OLED77C4AUA | Yes |
83" | OLED83C4PUA | OLED83C4AUA | Yes |
Our unit was manufactured in March 2024; you can see the label here.
The LG C4 OLED is an amazing TV that further cements the C Series lineup as some of the best WOLEDs on the market. It's a bit brighter than the LG C3 OLED in HDR, has slightly better PQ EOTF tracking and color volume, and ups the maximum refresh rate to 144Hz. Unfortunately, like the C3, it doesn't maintain its HDR peak brightness while in Game Optimizer. It also has a worse overall viewing angle, with a noticeable green tint that worsens as you move more off-center. Unless you need the 144Hz refresh rate or its other small upgrades, you're better off getting the cheaper LG C3 OLED while it's still available and regularly on sale. You can even find last year's better and higher-end LG G3 OLED on sale for less than the C4 currently is.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best OLED TVs, the best gaming TVs, and the best TVs for watching movies.
The LG C4 OLED is slightly better than the LG C3 OLED. The C4 gets brighter in HDR, so highlights pop a little bit more on it. The C4 also has slightly better PQ EOTF tracking, so it's a bit more accurate when it comes to the content creator's intent, and its better color volume delivers slightly brighter colors. If you're a PC gamer looking to take full advantage of your high-end graphics card, the C4 supports up to 144Hz versus 120Hz on the C3, so it's the better option for that. However, when viewed from an angle, the C4 has a noticeable green tint, so the C3 is the better choice for wide seating arrangements.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG B4 OLED for the most part. The C4 has better reflection handling and slightly better SDR peak brightness, so it handles a bit more glare in a bright room, and it has better low-quality content smoothing. The C4 also gets brighter in HDR in most picture modes, making highlights pop more in HDR content. However, the two TVs have very similar HDR brightness while using the Game Optimizer picture mode.
The LG G4 OLED is better than the LG C4 OLED. The G4 gets brighter overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room while watching SDR content, and highlights pop more in HDR content. The G4 also maintains its HDR brightness much better while in 'Game Optimizer.' On top of that, the G4 is more accurate before calibration, has less banding in colors, and doesn't have a green tint when viewed from an angle.
The Samsung S90D/S90DD OLED is mostly better than the LG C4 OLED. The Samsung gets brighter in HDR, so bright highlights stand out more on it, and it maintains its HDR brightness better while in 'Game Mode.' The Samsung TV also has a wider color gamut, better color volume, and better HDR gradient handling, so colors in HDR are more vibrant, lifelike, brighter, and have less banding. The Samsung has a wider viewing angle, and the image doesn't have a green tint that worsens as you move off-center, so it's the better choice for watching TV in a group setting. However, the LG supports Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats, so it's the better option for those looking to get the most out of their physical media.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED and the LG C4 OLED are very similar TVs, but the LG is better overall. The LG gets brighter in HDR, so highlights pop out more in HDR content. The LG also has better SDR pre-calibration accuracy and PQ EOTF tracking, so it's more accurate in both SDR and HDR. Finally, the LG supports up to 4k @ 144Hz, whereas the Sony only supports up to 4k @ 120Hz, so it's a bit better for PC gamers with high-end graphics cards.
The LG G3 OLED is better than the LG C4 OLED. The G3 is the brighter TV overall, so highlights stand out more in HDR content, and it handles more glare in a bright room when watching SDR content. The G3 also has better color volume for brighter colors, and the image barely degrades from an angle and doesn't have a noticeable green tint as the C4 does. However, the C4 supports 144Hz, so it's better for those looking to get the most out of their powerful gaming PCs.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG C2 OLED. The C4 gets a lot brighter in HDR, so highlights stand out more than they do on the relatively dim C2, leading to a more impactful HDR experience. The C4 also has better color volume for brighter colors, better HDR gradient handling for less banding, and better upscaling with low-resolution content for a sharper image. On top of that, the C4 supports 144Hz, so it's the better option for gamers with powerful PCs.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG C1 OLED. It gets brighter overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room while watching SDR content, and highlights pop way more while watching HDR content. The C4 has significantly better pre-calibration accuracy, so colors are displayed much more accurately, and it displays colors brighter in HDR due to its better color volume. The C4 also has a sharper and cleaner image when watching low-resolution or low-quality content due to its better image processing and has less banding due to its better HDR gradient handling. On top of that, the C4 supports 144Hz, which is great for PC gamers with high-end rigs.
The Samsung S90C OLED and the LG C4 OLED are similar TVs with only a few key differences. They're very similar in peak brightness, although the LG is noticeably dimmer in Game Mode while the Samsung isn't, making the Samsung the better choice for gamers. The LG is the better choice for movie fans, as it supports Dolby Vision HDR and passes through advanced DTS audio formats. The LG also has slightly better image processing than the Samsung, especially when watching low-bitrate content from streaming services due to its superior low-quality content smoothing.
The LG C4 OLED and Sony A80L/A80CL OLED perform very similarly, although the LG has a small edge in all areas. They both use WOLED panels, so they're about equally as colorful. The LG is, however, noticeably brighter in HDR and SDR than the Sony, so all content pops more on the LG. They're about as good when it comes to processing, but the LG is more accurate in SDR before any calibration. Finally, the LG TV is better for gamers because it has 4k @ 144Hz support on all four HDMI ports, lower input lag, and higher HDR brightness in Game Mode.
The LG C4 OLED is a good upgrade from the LG CX OLED if you're looking for a brighter OLED. The C4 is brighter in SDR and, combined with its slightly better reflection handling, fights more glare in a room with the lights on. Highlights in HDR content also pop more on the C4 due to its higher HDR peak brightness. Additionally, the C4 supports a 144Hz refresh rate, which is great if you're a PC gamer.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U8/U8N in most ways. The LG has better contrast thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, so it displays deeper and inkier blacks, but the U8N is no slouch in that regard. The LG has a nearly instantaneous response time, so there is almost no blur behind fast motion, whereas the Hisense still has minimal blur. The LG also has much better accuracy in both SDR and HDR. However, the Hisense is the better TV for very bright rooms due to its remarkable brightness that makes it easily overcome glare.
The Samsung S95C OLED and LG C4 OLED are evenly matched. The Samsung is slightly brighter in HDR and is the more colorful of the two, leading to a slightly punchier HDR presentation. However, the LG does support Dolby Vision and passes through DTS audio formats, so movie purists who still prefer to watch content from physical media might prefer it over the Samsung TV. The LG is also superior for watching content from streaming apps due to its far superior low-quality content smoothing, so low-bitrate content is mostly free from compression artifacts. For gamers, however, the Samsung doesn't lose any HDR brightness in Game Mode, while the LG is significantly dimmer, so the Samsung is the superior gaming TV. Finally, the Samsung is the better choice for a wide seating arrangement due to its superior viewing angle.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony BRAVIA 7 QLED. The LG's OLED panel delivers much deeper, inkier blacks in a dark room with no distracting blooming or haloing around bright objects. The LG also has a wider viewing angle and much better reflection handling, so even though the Sony is a lot brighter, the LG looks better in a bright room. Finally, both offer a great selection of gaming features, but the LG supports up to 4k @ 144Hz gaming on all four of its HDMI inputs compared to Sony's support for 4k @ 120Hz on just two inputs, so the LG is a more versatile choice.
The Samsung S95D OLED is a bit better than the LG C4 OLED, even though the LG has generally better image processing, although the Samsung has a clear edge regarding HDR color gradients. Ultimately, the Samsung model is a higher-end product and is the brighter of the two TVs, especially in Game Mode, where it's much brighter than the LG. The Samsung has a QD-OLED panel versus the LG's WOLED, so it's also more colorful than the LG. The one thing that will dictate whether you prefer one TV over the other is the Samsung TV's divisive matte screen coating; it often eliminates reflections entirely, but it impacts the TV's contrast, changing how the TV looks in bright rooms. The LG is the safer bet for most people, as it uses a fantastic and more widespread glossy coating.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony X90L/X90CL, making the LG the better choice for almost anyone. The Sony does have the edge in a few ways; it's brighter than the LG in SDR, and while both TVs perform similarly in HDR when watching actual content, the Sony maintains its HDR brightness in Game Mode, while the LG is noticeably dimmer. Still, the LG has vastly better contrast, leading to a much more impact viewing experience in dark rooms. Plus, its far superior reflection handling means it compensates for its lower brightness numbers in Game Mode and SDR content by handling reflections better than Sony. Finally, the LG has a better viewing angle, making it better for hosting large viewing parties.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL QM8/QM851G QLED. The LG has perfect contrast, so it displays inky blacks with no blooming at all. When it comes to accuracy, the LG displays an image that is much closer to the content creator’s intent in SDR and HDR. The LG also has a much wider viewing angle, so it’s the better option for watching TV with a group, and it has better image processing. Additionally, the LG has a faster response time for less blur behind quick motion. However, the TCL is the much brighter TV, so if you need a TV for use in a very bright room, it’s the better option.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN90D/QN90DD QLED. The LG displays deeper blacks thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, so it looks better in a dark room and has a much wider viewing angle, making it much more suitable for watching TV with a group. The LG also has a nearly instantaneous response time, so there is even less blur behind quick motion. On top of that, the LG is more accurate in both SDR and HDR. However, the QN90D is much brighter overall, so it overcomes more glare in very bright rooms.
The Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED and the LG C4 OLED are better than each other in different ways. As good as the contrast is on the Sony, the LG has it beat, so it looks a bit better in a dark room. The LG edges the Sony out regarding SDR accuracy, so it's better if you want the most accurate TV without needing calibration. The LG has a faster response time for less blur behind quick motion. It also has a wider viewing angle, so it's the better option if you regularly watch TV with a group. However, the Sony is the brighter TV overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room, and highlights pop out more in HDR content.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG B3 OLED. While they're very similar with nearly identical features, the C4 has the edge in almost every facet. It is visibly brighter in HDR and SDR, so all content pops noticeably more on the C4 than on the B3. Furthermore, the C4 is the better TV for those who own multiple HDMI 2.1 devices, as it has four full HDMI 2.1 ports with up to 4k @ 144Hz support, while the B3 is limited to two 4k @ 120Hz HDMI 2.1 ports. The B3's HDMI 2.1 ports are back-facing, meaning they're almost impossible to use when the TV is mounted flush against a wall. Finally, one of these ports is also the TV's eARC port, so you lose one of your high bandwidth ports if you have a soundbar connected to the TV.
The LG C4 OLED is a bit better than the older LG G2 OLED. They're about equally bright, although when pushed, the G2 is capable of just a tad more brightness than the C4, but it's not noticeable to the naked eye. Ultimately, the C4 benefits from LG's latest features and optimizations; its four HDMI 2.1 ports are capable of up to 4k @ 144Hz, while the G2 is limited to 4k @ 120Hz. The C4 has better upscaling than its predecessor, and it can pass through advanced DTS audio formats, while the G2 can't.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung S85D OLED. The LG supports up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it’s better suited for PC gamers looking to get the most out of their graphics cards. The LG supports Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats, so it’s better for those who want to take advantage of streaming services that use Dolby Vision or those who collect physical media. When it comes to HDR brightness, the LG is much better, delivering more impactful highlights in HDR content. The LG also has much better pre-calibration SDR accuracy.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U7N. While the Hisense is a bit brighter in HDR and noticeably brighter in SDR, the LG's vastly superior contrast leads to a much more impactful viewing experience overall, especially in HDR content. The LG is also much more accurate in SDR out-of-the-box, has a much wider viewing angle, and is a superior product for gamers with its nearly instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports. Finally, the LG also has better image processing.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED, but they excel in different contexts. The LG has better contrast and image processing, so it's the better choice if you like to watch movies in a dark room. It's also the better gaming TV due to its near-instantaneous response time and 4k @ 144Hz capabilities on all four HDMI 2.1 ports; the QN90C is limited to 4k @ 120Hz on all of its ports, although the smaller 43 and 50-inch models do have 4k @ 144Hz. The Samsung is the better option for bright rooms; however, it gets brighter in HDR and SDR, and its reflection handling is just as fantastic as that of the LG, so the Samsung stays bright and vibrant even under heavy glare.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL QM7/QM751G QLED. The TCL gets a bit brighter in HDR and is especially brighter in SDR, but the LG has far better reflection handling, so you don't get the full impact of the TCL's brightness if you're using it in a room with a lot of glare. While the TCL has outstanding contrast, it just can't match the perfect blacks of OLEDs, which look amazing in darker rooms. The LG is a better choice if you care about accuracy, as it's more accurate in HDR and SDR out-of-the-box. Finally, if you're a gamer, the LG is also a better choice due to its nearly instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports, while the TCL has one 144Hz port and one 120Hz port.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN85D/QN85DD QLED, but they use different panel technologies. The LG is an OLED, so it has perfect contrast, making it far superior to the Samsung when viewed in a dark room. The Samsung TV's QLED panel is brighter than the C4 in SDR content and in Game Mode when playing games, although the LG isn't far behind. Ultimately, the LG is the better product, except perhaps for those who almost exclusively watch SDR content in very bright rooms.
The Sony A95L OLED is better than the LG C4 OLED. The Sony is brighter in HDR and SDR and is more colorful than the LG, so all content pops more on it. While the LG is a bit better for gaming, especially for competitive gamers, due to its 4k @ 144hz support on four HDMI ports and its lower input lag, the Sony TV's brightness and color advantage means all games will look better on it. The Sony is just as accurate as the LG, has slightly better image processing, and has a wider viewing angle, so it's the better option in almost any context.
The LG C4 OLED is significantly better than the Samsung Q70D QLED. The LG displays perfect blacks, has better HDR brightness, and displays a wider range of colors, so it looks much better in a dark room with SDR and HDR content. The LG has a much wider viewing angle, so it's more suitable for watching TV with a group, and its better accuracy means it sticks closer to the content creator's intent. Additionally, the LG has a much quicker response time with less blur behind fast motion.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense 75U8N in almost every way. The LG has significantly better contrast, so it displays much deeper blacks in a dark room. The LG also has a much faster response time for less blur behind quick motion. In addition to that, the LG is the more accurate TV in both SDR and HDR, has better image processing, and has a much wider viewing angle. However, the Hisense is the much brighter TV overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL Q6/Q651G QLED. The LG has perfect black levels, so it displays deep and inky blacks with no blooming. The LG also gets brighter in SDR and has much better reflection handling, so it’s better suited for a room with the lights on. Additionally, the LG has much better HDR brightness and displays more vibrant colors, leading to a more impactful HDR experience. Regarding gaming, the LG has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and 4k @ 144Hz support, making it fully compatible with modern consoles.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony BRAVIA 3. The LG displays significantly deeper blacks, so it looks much better in a dark room. The LG also gets brighter in HDR and has a wider color gamut, so highlights stand out a lot more, and colors are more vibrant in HDR content. The LG also has modern gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, VRR, and up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it's a better option for modern gaming consoles or PCs. Additionally, the LG's much faster response time delivers fast motion with almost no blur.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL QM8/QM850G QLED, but they excel in different ways. The LG is a dark room standout due to its nearly infinite contrast with no blooming or lighting zone transitions. It's also better for gaming due to its near-instant response time, lower input lag, and four full HDMI 2.1 ports with up to 4k @ 144Hz support; the TCL is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI 2.1 ports. The LG is also better for a wide seating arrangement due to its vastly wider viewing angle. However, the TCL is much brighter than the LG; it pops even in the brightest of rooms, while you'll want to turn off the lights to get the most out of the OLED.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the LG QNED85T. The C4 displays significantly deeper blacks and more vibrant colors, so it delivers a more pleasing image. The C4 fights more glare in a well-lit room due to its better reflection handling, and it gets brighter in HDR, so highlights stand out more in HDR content. The C4 also has a much faster response time and supports 144Hz, making it better overall for gaming.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U8/U8K, but they excel in different ways. Being an OLED, the LG TV is amazing in dark rooms due to its nearly infinite contrast without blooming or zone transitions. The Hisense, however, is far brighter than the LG and looks far more impressive in brighter rooms. Otherwise, the LG is the better option for gamers due to its near-instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI 2.1 ports; the Hisense is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports. Another area where the LG has the edge is its viewing angle; it's far wider than the Hisense's, making the LG a far better choice for a wide seating arrangement.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U7K in almost every way, although the Hisense is a bit brighter than the LG in SDR content, and while the LG is a bit brighter in most HDR content, the Hisense does maintain its HDR brightness much better than the LG does when in their respective Game Modes. The Hisense also supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, while the C4 only supports Dolby Vision. Still, these are slight advantages, as otherwise, the LG is much better than the Hisense in everything else: much better contrast, vastly superior viewing angle, better image processing, and is much better for gamers due to its near-instant response time and four full HDMI 2.1 ports with up to 4k @ 144Hz support, while the Hisense is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG QNED90T. The C4 is an OLED, so it displays deeper blacks with no blooming at all. The C4 follows the PQ EOTF curve closer and has better SDR pre-calibration accuracy, so it's the more accurate TV overall. The C4 also has a faster response time for less blur behind fast motion, a wider viewing angle, and better image processing. However, the QNED90T is the brighter TV, so it overcomes more glare in a well-lit room.
The Panasonic Z95A OLED is slightly better than the LG C4 OLED, mainly due to its higher peak brightness. The Z95 gets brighter in HDR, especially in Game Mode, since the C4 dims considerably in its low-latency mode. On the other hand, the LG is a bit more versatile, as it offers full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four HDMI inputs.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Sony X95L, but they excel in different ways. The LG is an OLED, so it looks at its best in dark rooms due to its near-infinite contrast ratio with no blooming or lighting zone transitions. The Sony, however, is a high-end LED TV, so while it looks amazing in dark rooms, it looks far more vibrant than the OLED in bright rooms due to its superior brightness, especially in SDR and in HDR Game Mode. Still, the LG has other advantages inherent to OLED TVs: it has a much wider viewing angle, and it's amazing for gamers due to its nearly instantaneous response time, four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI 2.1 ports, and lower input lag. Ultimately, it comes down to whether you'll watch content in brighter or darker rooms.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Panasonic Z85A OLED in some ways. The LG is the brighter TV overall and has better reflection handling, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room and delivers a more impactful HDR experience. The LG also does a better job smoothing out artifacts in low bitrate content, and it supports 144Hz, which is great for PC gamers. On the other hand, the Panasonic has slightly better upscaling capabilities.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Panasonic W95A in most ways. The LG displays deep and inky blacks with no blooming at all due to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, making it look better in a dark room. The LG has better accuracy in SDR without calibration and follows the PQ EOTF curve closer, making it the more accurate TV overall. Additionally, the LG displays clearer motion due to its nearly instantaneous response time, has lower input lag, and is more suitable for wide seating arrangements because of its wider viewing angle. However, the Panasonic is slightly better for bright rooms due to its better SDR brightness, and it has the edge when it comes to upscaling capabilities.
In most ways, the LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN900D 8k QLED. While the Samsung is an 8k TV, there is almost no 8k content available, so it doesn't provide it with an advantage over the 4k LG C4. The LG is an OLED, so it has even better contrast than the otherwise fantastic contrast of the Samsung, with no blooming or lighting zone transitions. While the Samsung can get brighter in HDR, the LG is close in real content, although the Samsung does have the edge in SDR brightness. Otherwise, LG is the far better gaming TV due to its faster response time, although Samsung is interesting for those with extremely fast computers because of its 4k @ 240Hz or 8k @ 60Hz support with VRR. Finally, the LG has a far better viewing angle, making it far superior for a wide seating arrangements.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Roku Pro Series QLED. The Roku has fantastic contrast, but the LG is an OLED, so it has even better contrast for a more immersive dark room experience. The Roku is a bit brighter in HDR and much brighter in SDR, but the LG has vastly better reflection handling, so it looks better than the Roku in most lighting configurations. Otherwise, the LG offers better image quality across the board, is more accurate, and is overall the far better option for almost anyone.
The LG C4 has a very sleek and modern design. It's very similar to last year's LG C3 OLED, but the back has a unique stone-like finish. The TV's bezels are incredibly thin, so you barely see them while watching.
The included stand on the 65-inch LG C4 is identical to the stand on last year's LG C3 OLED. The TV wobbles a bit when pushed on, but it quickly recovers, so this doesn't cause any issues. The stand lifts the screen about 2.7 inches above the table, so most soundbars fit underneath without blocking the screen. The 83-inch model uses a bigger stand, and the 42-inch model uses two wide-spread feet instead of a stand.
Footprint of the 65-inch stand: 18.5" x 9.0"
The back of the TV is made from plastic that is grainy to the touch and has a unique stone-like finish that really separates it from other TVs. Outside of that, the back is the same as the LG C3 OLED, with a large plastic central panel that houses the inputs. The inputs face the right which makes them easy to access if you have the TV on the stand, but they're still hard to reach when the TV is wall-mounted.
The back of the TV has clips that you can funnel cables through, and then they can be put through the clip on the stand to help with cable management.
The LG C4 is an OLED and has no backlight, so its self-lit pixels give it the same performance as a TV with perfect local dimming and no zone transitions. We still film the zone transition video on the TV so you can see how it compares to a TV with local dimming.
The LG C4 has great HDR brightness. It gets bright enough for most highlights to pop, but it's not bright enough to properly display very bright highlights. Still, it delivers an impactful HDR experience. Unfortunately, large bright scenes are significantly dimmer than smaller, specular highlights due to its aggressive Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL).
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
Note that the 42-inch and 48-inch models don't have LG's Brightness Booster technology, so they don't get as bright as the bigger models do.
The LG C4 is noticeably dimmer while in Game Optimizer. It's still bright enough to provide an impactful HDR gaming experience, but you notice the drop in brightness compared to the TV's other picture modes.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
The LG C4 has fantastic PQ EOTF tracking. Some darker shadows and mid-tones are a bit brighter than intended, but the TV tracks the curve very closely. With content mastered at 600 or 1000 nits, there's a very small roll-off to preserve some detail in highlights. With content mastered at 4000 nits, there's a much more gradual roll-off to preserve detail in very bright highlights.
The LG C4 has very good SDR brightness. It gets bright enough to handle glare in a bright room, and the TV's Automatic Brightness Limiter isn't aggressive in SDR, so you don't have to deal with the screen dimming considerably when large areas of brightness are present.
These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:
The LG C4 has an excellent color gamut. It has outstanding coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used in most HDR content. Colors are mapped well in the DCI-P3 color space, but all colors are undersaturated and off the mark to some degree. These results are with an aggressive 75% stimulus level. With a more realistic 50% stimulus, color accuracy is much better.
The TV has good coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 space, which is increasing in popularity. Colors are more off in the Rec. 2020 color space, with cyans and greens being the most off, and all colors are undersaturated.
The LG C4 has very good color volume. It displays dark, saturated colors very well, and its ability to display bright whites is outstanding. It doesn't display other colors as brightly as it does whites, but it's still enough to display bright and vibrant colors.
With the TV set to Game Optimizer, there's a visible decrease in color luminance, and you can see the measurements below.
The LG C4 has fantastic pre-calibration accuracy. Its white balance is excellent, with just a bit too much red in all shades of gray. Gamma is very close to our target of 2.2, but bright scenes are a bit too bright. Color temperature is superb, but it's warmer than our target of 6500K, and color accuracy is outstanding, with only very minor inaccuracies in whites, lighter yellows, and lighter cyans.
The TV has exceptional accuracy after calibration to the D65 white point. The white balance and gamma are now essentially perfect. Color accuracy is even better than before, with no noticeable inaccuracies, and color temperature is incredibly close to our target of 6500K.
You can see our full calibration settings here.
Like all OLED TVs, the LG C4 has a fantastic wide viewing angle. This makes it a great choice for a wide seating arrangement, as the image doesn't wash out or degrade when viewed at an angle.
There's a noticeable green tint on the C4 we bought and tested. It's a widespread issue that impacts almost all LG OLED panels but varies widely from unit to unit. LG Electronics has confirmed to us that our unit is about as bad as it gets, and anything worse wouldn't pass LG's quality control checks. Although it varies between units, most people won't see this issue on their TV. This issue also isn't new or exclusive to the C4, as it's been an issue on LG TVs for a few years now.
The TV has outstanding reflection handling. Its glossy screen finish significantly reduces the intensity of indirect reflections and does a fantastic job of reducing the intensity of direct reflections.
The TV has very good HDR native gradient handling. There's some noticeable banding in bright grays, dark grays, and bright greens, but all other colors have minimal banding or no banding at all.
The LG C4 does a very good job at upscaling low-resolution content like DVDs or lower-resolution streams. Details are clear enough, but very fine details are hard to make out.
Sharpness processing was calibrated with no over-sharpening for low-resolution content, with the following settings:
The LG C4 uses a WOLED panel with a RWBG pixel structure where all four pixels are never lit at the same time. Due to its subpixel layout, it has minor issues with displaying text on Windows since ClearType isn't well optimized to non-RGB subpixel layouts, but most users won't be bothered by this.
The LG C4 has a nearly instantaneous response time, resulting in incredibly clear motion with almost no blur behind fast-moving objects. Due to the sample-and-hold nature of OLED technology, there's still some persistence blur when gaming at 60Hz, but it's not noticeable at higher refresh rates.
The LG C4 doesn't have a traditional backlight and doesn't use pulse-width modulation (PWM) to dim each pixel, but it's not completely flicker-free. There's a slight dip in brightness that corresponds to the TV's refresh rate. This differs from the PWM flicker on TVs with LED backlights and occurs on every OLED we've tested. It's not noticeable, and most people won't be bothered by this, but it can still bother people who are extra sensitive to flicker.
The TV has an optional black frame insertion (BFI) feature that reduces the appearance of persistence blur caused by the TV's nearly instantaneous response time. It can only insert black frames at a 60Hz refresh rate.
The TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to help improve the appearance of motion. It works well with slower scenes but struggles with fast-moving action, so there's noticeable haloing and artifacts present in busier scenes, especially if you use the settings too aggressively.
Unfortunately, due to the TV's nearly instantaneous pixel response time, there's stutter with low frame rate content, which is most noticeable during slow panning shots.
The TV removes judder when watching 24p movies or TV shows when the Real Cinema setting is enabled, even from sources that can only send a 60Hz signal, like a cable box. Unfortunately, movies and TV shows aren't judder-free when BFI is enabled because the BFI feature only flickers at 60Hz.
The TV supports FreeSync and HDMI Forum VRR and is certified as G-SYNC compatible, ensuring a nearly tear-free gaming experience from any VRR-enabled source.
The LG C4 has exceptionally low input lag when set to Game Optimizer with 'Prevent Input Delay' set to 'Boost,' resulting in a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between the actions on your controller and what happens on screen. For chroma 4:4:4 to work properly, you must set the input label to 'PC,' or the '4:4:4 Passthrough' setting must be enabled.
If you're a retro gamer, you can see the input lag results in 4:3 @ 60Hz below.
The LG C4 supports all common formats. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, which is important for clear text from a PC.
There are two settings you can use to passthrough proper chroma 4:4:4. The first is to change the input label to 'PC.' The second is to enable the '4:4:4 Passthrough' setting in the 'HDMI Settings' menu. Both of these options work the same and lock you out from using the 'Peak Brightness,' 'Noise Reduction,' 'MPEG Noise Reduction,' 'Smooth Gradation,' and 'Real Cinema' settings.
The TV is fully compatible with everything the PS5 offers, like 1440p @ 120Hz and 4k @ 120Hz, as well as HDMI Forum VRR. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to Game Optimizer to get the lowest input lag.
The TV is fully compatible with everything the Xbox Series X|S offers, including 1440p @ 120Hz, 4k @ 120Hz, HDMI Forum VRR, FreeSync Premium Pro, and Dolby Vision gaming. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to Game Optimizer to get the lowest input lag.
The LG C4 supports the full 48Gbps bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 on all four HDMI ports. This allows you to take full advantage of multiple high-bandwidth devices, like if you own both current-gen consoles and a high-end gaming PC.
The TV supports many audio formats, including DTS audio formats, which is great if you like to watch DVDs or Blu-rays, as they often use DTS for their main audio tracks.
The LG C4 has an alright frequency response. The TV speakers produce a small amount of bass, but it's not enough to have much impact on the viewer. The sound profile is well-balanced enough that the dialogue is clear, but the TV doesn't get very loud, and there are compression and pumping artifacts at maximum volume.
The TV's distortion handling is good. There's no audible distortion at moderate listening levels, but there's noticeable distortion at max volume.
The TV runs the 2024 version of LG's proprietary smart interface, webOS. The interface is fast and easy to use, and it supports user profiles, so you can customize the home page for different users.
The TV has a bug that causes the occasional black screen when changing resolutions and refresh rates frequently in a short period. The only fix for this is to unplug and re-plug the TV, but this is unlikely to happen with real-world usage.
There are two settings in the 'Home Settings' menu, namely the 'Home Promotion' and 'Content Recommendation' settings. These settings remove the top banner ads and suggested content from the home screen. This gives your home screen a clean look, but there's no way to remove ads from the apps page.
The LG C4 has a great selection of apps, so it's easy to find your favorite content. You can also cast content from your phone onto the TV or play videos from a USB stick.
The LG C4 has the same Magic Remote as the LG C3 OLED. You can use the remote as a pointer or use the traditional buttons to control the TV. The TV also supports hands-free voice control through microphones on the unit itself. You can use your voice to change inputs, open apps, search for content, and ask for the weather and time.