At the 2018 CES we saw for the first time a prototype OLED television with a roll-up screen at LG Display, the business unit of LG that makes display panels. At CES last year, at LG Electronics, the business unit that uses the OLED panels to make televisions, we were shown the first product version in the form of the R9. As far as we are concerned, this was the most innovative product announcement of the CES and, moreover, the most revolutionary television in many years. Unfortunately, the R9 has never been for sale, despite the fact that LG had promised that the roll-up TV would be in stores somewhere in 2019.
This year, in the same suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, we were again shown a roll-up OLED TV that will be sold this year. Of course we asked why last year’s R9 did not actually go on sale, but all employees had clearly been instructed not to answer this question. So we can only guess why; we think that LG was enormously shocked by the negative publicity that Samsung had taken on last year by launching the foldable Galaxy Fold while this phone clearly was not tested enough before production started.
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The new rollable television is now called RX, whereby the X was pronounced ten by the LG employees. So it’s a new model, but there’s no difference on the outside with the R9 from last year. It is again a 65 “model. In fact, we would not be surprised if LG showed exactly the same models as those shown at CES and IFA last year, but with new software. Anyway, the models will that are going to be sold are subcutaneous, because all new OLED televisions that have been announced use the third generation of LG’s Alpha 9. Image processor.When the RX is available and what the roll-up TV will cost, is not yet known.
GX
As far as we are concerned, the most striking really new OLED TV that LG showed was the GX. This TV has an 8k-oled panel and will be available in sizes 77 and 88 inches. The new design, what LG’s name Gallery Design is the thinnest OLED TV ever, at least if you include all electronics. The picture panel of OLED TVs has always been thin; around five millimeters, but because space is also needed for the electronics, connections and speakers, the housings at the bottom were about four centimeters thicker. The W-series wallpaper models were flatter, but a large soundbar was needed that had to stand on a piece of furniture, or shelf, under the screen and with a flat cable connected to the screen.
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The GX has everything in the same housing and is only 20 mm thick. The connections are made in recesses at the rear, so that the TV can be mounted tightly against a wall. You will receive the wall bracket required for this with the TV as a gift. The bracket fits into another recess on the back and is equipped with smart clips that prevent the TV from falling off the bracket. The TV can be moved a little bit to be able to hang it level without having to drill holes in the wall again. The TV can also be pulled a little bit off the wall and rotated a few degrees.
A super flat design looks super clean, but of course has consequences for the sound quality. After all, there is little space available in the 2 cm thick housing that can act as a sound box. The speakers are mounted on the bottom and face down. We were able to listen to the speakers for a short time and although it certainly did not sound bad, we were not very impressed with the layer reproduction.
CX
The RX and GX are beautiful televisions, but for most of us these models will not be reserved. Fortunately, a successor has also been announced for the very popular C9. The CX will, and for the first time since the introduction of OLED televisions, also be available in 48 “. early models not counting) there are only OLED TVs available in sizes 55, 65 and 77 “. Last year 88” was added with the introduction of 8k OLEDs, but they were never smaller than 55 “.
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That means not only that more people can place an OLED TV in their viewing room, but that more people will be able to pay for it. LG has not announced prices yet, but we think the 48 “CX will be sold under a thousand euros. At the introduction, the price will be a little higher, but we would be surprised if it does not fall below magic border of a thousand euros, the smallest oled so far could also become the best-selling so far.
In terms of design, not much has changed compared to the C9; the metal of the foot looks a bit darker. The specifications are also almost the same; the color range and brightness have remained the same, just like last year and the year before. According to LG, the upscaling of the Alpha 9 image processor has been improved because it would now recognize the played image material. In a short film we were shown that the TV could make the distinction between film, sports and animation. All television manufacturers give high up on their upscalers, especially when it comes to 8k and the lack of content, but in general we are not that impressed with upscaling. There are certainly very good algorithms for scaling up photos, but the required computing power in a TV is simply limited and moreover at least 60 images must be processed per second.
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The CX was demonstrated with a game PC. Not only because the 48 “screen size makes this TV more interesting as a gaming monitor, but also because it cooperated with Nvidia to make 4k playback at 120fps possible. Last year’s models were able to do that thanks to HDMI 2.1 support, but there are still no video cards and game consoles available with HDMI 2.1, so last year’s models could only display 120fps at 1440p and lower.Using 8bits color depth with 4: 2: 0 chroma subsampling, 4k with 120fps is now also possible with the current Nvidia RTX cards that still have HDMI 2.0.
LG demonstrated last year black frame insertion, but despite the fact that this technique to sharpen movement during the demos worked well, it was withdrawn at the last minute. The 2020 models will have this. Moreover, we saw that there are now several positions on it, but unfortunately we could see the image blinking clearly; that is because the TV can display a maximum of 120fps that delivers a 60Hz blinker by adding black images.
LG releases its new OLED TVs around March or April. The suggested retail prices have not yet been announced. When the rollable RX comes out is not yet known, but we hope that LG will continue this time and will actually release the TV.
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