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Consumer Reports: LG 55EC9300 "Isn't the Best TV We've Ever Tested."

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#1 · (Edited)
Consumer Reports: LG 55EC9300 "Isn't the Best TV We've Ever Tested"



LG's second-generation 55-inch 1080p OLED HDTV offers a glimpse of the near future, when OLEDs will be the best TVs available—but that's not quite yet.


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Consumer Reports reviewed the $3500 LG 55EC9300 and found much to like. Deep black levels and the resulting high contrast beat anything offered by LED-LCD or plasma panels. However, issues with color accuracy and gamma tracking kept it from earning the top spot for all-around best TV.

"LG’s 55EC9300 OLED TV is a top-performing 1080p set, and certainly ranks among the best TVs we’ve ever tested. It's worth noting that under normal viewing, many people won't notice the flaws we point out in this review. But even with some of the noted shortcomings of this set, it's clear to us that OLED will quickly emerge as the top display technology for those who care about top-notch television picture quality." —James K. Willcox and Claudio Ciacci, Consumer Reports



Claudio Ciacci compares black levels on LG's OLED (left) and an LED-LCD (right) - Photo from Consumer Reports

The review mirrors my observations and experience with the EC9300; it can look very impressive, but it also suffers from some visible flaws. I'm looking forward to Consumer Report's review of the soon-to-ship LG 65EC9700 OLED UHDTV. It's about time a TV definitively pushes the state of the art in flat (and curved) panel displays forward; the EC9300 came close to pulling it off.


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#2 ·
Non-defeatable DNR at work?
Although our resolution tests, as shown above, indicated that the OLED TV was capable of full 1080p resolution, on Blu-ray movies we noted that finest detail and texture were not as crisp as we expect from a full 1080p TV. We attributed this to some slight noise reduction processing that we could not turn off.
The more sites report about it the better.
 
#20 ·
Non-defeatable DNR at work?
The more sites report about it the better.
I was about time, David Mackenzie wouldn't be the only one anymore, who reports this flaw!!!

Aaaand-> "(...) Finally, while the TV can deliver the deepest black levels we’ve seen from a set in our Ratings, our grayscale test revealed that as the bars get progressively darker they do not fade gracefully to black; instead, they drop off suddenly right before reaching the blackest level. On darker scenes, this issue reveals itself in the darker shadows, where instead of smooth transitions we saw coarse, edgy contours. You can avoid this by raising the brightness level, but you then lose that deep black. (...)"
 
#9 ·
No surprise. OLED is still in its infancy,
I keep seeing people fall for this misconception. It's the video processing that's the problem, not the display technology.

The OLED panel itself is very, very good. It's the video processing LG have put behind it that isn't. With the EC9300, they made a great panel but not a great TV.

Now that a site as widely read as CR have commented on it, I very much doubt we'll see this done again (consciously).
 
#5 · (Edited)
Let's keep in mind that CR also said 'many people won't notice the flaws we point out in the review'. I agree.

I'm trying to understand what I feel is a contradiction in their review. Why, on one hand, do they measured a FULL 1080p resolution and then, OTOH, claim the finest details on Blu Ray were not as good as they'd expect from 1080p? Hmm. Either you are capable of full 1080p or you're not. Which is it CR?

As far as the '9300 coming close to pulling it off' regarding pushing the state of the art, let's just say they 'have' pushed the state of the art in the two most important aspects of PQ, black levels and CR. Pretty damn good if you ask me and, IMO, still a better picture than any display I've ever seen...certainly any LCD.

I also think that many here on AVS don't necessarily run to CR for the definitive word on high end displays. I have a great deal of respect for them in many areas of product testing (although I've bought some top CR appliance picks over the years that have been real dogs), but as with many other reviews, they are just another data point to be considered.
 
#6 · (Edited)
It's not a contradiction. The display is 1080p which means it should be able to display a full 1080p image. As you probably know, noise reduction sacrifices finer detail in a picture in an effort to filter out noise. With a less than pristine source the trade off can be well worth it but when feeding the display a Blu-ray Disc LG ought to allow you to defeat the feature as the noise reduction can do nothing but harm the image at that point.

What's really curious about this and has been since the beginning is why LG won't just allow the user to shut the NR off?
 
#29 ·
It can take a little while to get used to, but pretty soon you actually learn to prefer the abbreviations. At least I do; it speeds up my reading of all this. In case there are some you don't know well, here's a quick run-down of the common stuff you'll likely see in these parts (not in any order):

NR - Noise Reduction
DNR - Digital Noise Reduction (among my least favorite of acronyms here because I see do not resusitate every time)
SOE - Soap Opera Effect
SDE - Screen Door Effect
DSE - Dirty Screen Effect
IR - Image Retention
BI - Burn In

I'll leave the actual definitions to the reader to google, because it's not the place for that here.
 
#12 ·
While I give a big kudos to LG for getting high yields and advancing OLED production and availability, their crux has always been less than stellar image processing/engineering. I think when (if?) we see Sony and Panasonic buying panels from LG, we can expect a truly reference-level OLED.
 
#16 ·
I hope the LG OLED UHDTVs are better at image processing. Admittedly, at CEDIA I noticed a rough transition to pure blacks on the EC9700, not unlike what's described with the EC9300. Since the EC9700 is not shipping yet, I'm not going to judge anything based on that experience.
 
#14 ·
First, I don't take everything Consumer Reports says as gospel nor should anyone else.

I think someone made a good point about the screen itself vs the video hardware behind it as well as the fact this type of technology is in its infancy.

Now for that wishful thinking - it would be nice if all Blue Rays and greater built into their discs a data set that could be interpreted by TV/processors to know how to best optimize for that given disc. Since no two movies are alike, the data set could include various averages, expected biases, something measurable for "graininess" etc. Instead we continue on this one size fits all notion. Oh well can't have everything sigh
 
#19 ·
HDTVREVIEW got yet again a very detailed review:
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/lg-55ec9300-201410203929.htm

most of the issue are based on the bad software from LG. like denoise, sharpening issue and general calibration issue ouch.

a real panel issue is the pink tint in white, but I heard that about the f8500 too so this is maybe just an bad 1/1000 display.

the bad motion handling from the 9700 is still there but this is more of an software issue than an OLED issue. Samsung showed us it can be done a lot better without interpolation.

most issue can be fixed with a 3d lut calibration in wide color range mode to get proper bt 709.

I hope LG puts a lot of work in there new software for the next OLED screens and may think about BFI for better motion. this in combination with the very very low response time from OLED should look superb.
 
#22 ·
I laughed out loud when I saw the picture of the OLED and an LCD next to it displaying the Star Wars space scene. Why-oh-why does LG want these sets under the bright lights of Best Buys main showroom floor? They should be in the darker Magnolia rooms.
 
#27 ·
I can only guess, but I'm pretty sure it's because relative to the floor, no one goes into the magnolia rooms. I've seen this even during holidays with high traffic. Likely the vast vast majority of folks just assume it's for the over priced items. I myself used to believe that it was for the high pressure sales tactics. A/V salesmen don't exactly have a wonderful track record in not confusing customers into over purchasing, nor in not putting the customer armpit deep in utter bull@#$%.

I've said before that the solution here is to put the OLED's in both places (BB main floor and in the magnolia room). And in the Magnolia room to place it next to a midlevel LCD.

The reason they're likely to not do that however is that they might believe it would hurt the sales of their $5000+ sets. Not that they're selling a ton of them anyway.
 
#23 ·
I would wager that CR gets a lot more people reading it and relying on it than here at AVS. LG really needs to improve their processing. I posted awhile back in another thread that I want an OLED but would be a lot more confident in one from Panasonic with their superior processing and was told by some here that LG was great, the picture beyond reproach, the best ever, don't worry about the DNR as you can't see it. Unless LG raises their game on their processing, I will contionue to pass on tjier offerings in OLED. Hopefully Panasonic will announce an OLED at CES in January.
 
#25 ·
I can't speak to the 9300 as I have never seen it, but I thought that my 9800 does a fantastic job of showing detail
I know it also has dnr, but there's something about the cr that makes details pop, much more than my 65vt30
For instance, while watching lost, john lockes whiskers against a black scene. You can see every whisker on the guys face(in addition to all the skin detail and makeup that comes through)

Maybe it's because I don't have another set right next to it to compare the effects of DNr, but I don't see how the 9800 lacks detail
 
#28 · (Edited)
Chad and I new that a year ago when the 55EA9800 was out, this technology will not be surpassed for some time ! They where just to high at release, $7800 delivered. We did sell a few though.

Even next year I can pretty much say that no LED type TV, local dimming or not, will be any where near OLED quality. The LED's of today are just coming to tie plasma technology. OLED is just to darn good ;)
 
#59 · (Edited)
Hmm, which LED sets? The majority on UK review sites I've seen are usually no lower than 0.042cdm2/2000-2800:1. Which is £1000 and up. Even with very good greyscale/gamma/cms tracking. Then the ones with the backlight dimming that came down to 0.011cdm2 but that wasn't the case with real content.

Let alone the viewing angle that then completely falls apart. Plus before I forget yet again… I've seen numerous owners after purchasing their new Samsung 55 - 65" £2,000 - £2,700 set complaining about ghosting/motion blur with football games. It's drove them nuts. Thats still with all processing gimmicks off. Or also complaining about ghost trails on low light content. Last year and this year.

It can take a little while to get used to, but pretty soon you actually learn to prefer the abbreviations. At least I do; it speeds up my reading of all this. In case there are some you don't know well, here's a quick run-down of the common stuff you'll likely see in these parts (not in any order):

NR - Noise Reduction
DNR - Digital Noise Reduction (among my least favorite of acronyms here because I see do not resusitate every time)
SOE - Soap Opera Effect
SDE - Screen Door Effect
DSE - Dirty Screen Effect
IR - Image Retention
BI - Burn In

I'll leave the actual definitions to the reader to google, because it's not the place for that here.
Yeah, I knew what they were. :) However I still prefer reading things properly.

DNR - Digital Noise Reduction (among my least favorite of acronyms here because I see do not resusitate every time)
Heh, thats the problem. So many peoples abbreviations can lead to so many different terms. It's still no excuse for unlimited characters and full size keyboards. Unless everyone is from the phone generation thats developed laziness from quick and easy.

God help us if this becomes normal for website articles and magazines. As it's been slowly creeping in for TV programme/sports update information panels/tickers. It never used to be but I think it's destined to happen. :/
 
#31 ·
Realistically, there's only one OLED out there and it is a premium product. There are too many LCDs out there to count.

With rare exceptions, LCDs are at their worst when rendering starfields and similar imagery where a pure black background has an even distribution of light spots in front of it. That necessitates the use of full backlighting, which in turn results in very poor black levels when compared to emmissive displays. Even an otherwise "good" LCD will both the opening credits to Star Wars. That said, there is a tremendous amount of variation between LCDs.

That said, the picture clearly illustrates why LCDs have such a bad reputation among videophiles who prize image quality, and especially so with optimum dark room viewing.

You can see it's the same TV that's on the right in the bright photo (thanks to the post-it notes) so what you are seeing is an LG LED-LCD.
 
#37 ·
I checked resolution patterns on both LG oled sets and they fully resolve 1080p, pixel perfect.
NR circuits tend to soften moving images with random detail more than static ones.


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#38 ·
I checked resolution patterns on both LG oled sets and they fully resolve 1080p, pixel perfect.
NR circuits tend to soften moving images with random detail more than static ones.
That's right. I've always regarded it as a function of what happens when you involve the time domain.

I really am beginning to think that they're trying to mask out some inconsistency in their technology (perahaps down to their IGZO to OLED connection) that they just couldn't get rid of yet. Can someone verify that NR is truly truly gone when driving it in PC mode at 4:4:4 (from a blu-ray player that can do that, etc., etc.)
 
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#40 ·
Yeah, I'd rather have the OLED too. I, like most people, have an LED/LCD TV and while the picture is fine when I'm watching during the day (sports, mostly) when I want to watch in a dimmed room the bugaboo of poor contrast and black levels pops up. When I replace it in a few years OLEDS will have most of the bugs worked out and the prices will be even lower than for the LG set (and maybe they won't have curved screens!).
 
#41 ·
I'm trying to understand what I feel is a contradiction in their review. Why, on one hand, do they measured a FULL 1080p resolution and then, OTOH, claim the finest details on Blu Ray were not as good as they'd expect from 1080p? Hmm. Either you are capable of full 1080p or you're not. Which is it CR?
It's the latter. We know it doesn't pass full resolution. However, the filtering is adaptive. It'll leave high contrast black and white line pairs alone on a test chart. And it'll leave high contrast edges in content alone. But as you can see in the photos I took, it's areas that contain similarly colored pixels that are subject to the median filtering.
 
#57 · (Edited)
The near-black noise and lack of gradation reported by CR might be more OLED specific. That's probably caused by the variable threshold voltage needed to turn on neighboring pixels. This also causes the dark uniformity issues.
I don't feel that it is. I've heard reports (from Robert @ VE) that the LG OLED has a 10-bit panel. If you look at very dark shades you can see there is no static dither like there is on the Samsung OLED. (Of course the only advantage there really is test patterns and CG, since all content has noise or grain (or noise AND grain) in dark areas anyway.)

It's a perfect example of one part of a company undermining the work of another. We have a 10-bit panel that should be able to show us contour-free video but it's saddled with a video processor that leads to posterization if you don't caress it the right way during calibration.
 
#66 · (Edited)
So we've heard. Still waiting to hear from some unhappy owners about the dreaded DNR personally...
That's a shaky argument. There are people who would be owners, but are not, because of issues like this.

Assuming you're after more than just purchase validation (which is way too common on even scientific forums) I would ask to hear the opinions of would-be owners who decided not to go through. I'm one of those.
 
#72 ·
Of course of those would be buyers that shied away from a purchase because of DNR, I'd love to see how many of them actually observed the issue as opposed to just reading about it. ;)

Sometimes the reality of the issue is much less than one might have suspecited by just reading about it.
 
#67 ·
I definitely don't disagree with the review but my 9300 still amazes me

The gains in picture quality I get from the tv far out weigh its weaknesses.

I can't wait for the future of OLED.

I have not second guessed the purchase at all and have been doing some gaming on it. So awesome.
 
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