The LG C5 OLED is a great, if niche TV.
Let’s get this out of the way now. OLED does not lose at all when it comes to viewing angle comparison. If I had the budget to build a dedicated home theater in my home, and money was no object, I would put the biggest OLED TV I could get my hands on in that space. Something like LG’s 98-inch G5 OLED, which I used to run for a cool $25,000.
Alas, most of us don’t have that kind of pocket change, and most homes don’t have purpose-built theaters. For many of us who have common living rooms in our houses or apartments, we are opposed to windows, lamps and overhead lights in the area that serves as the living area of our home. It’s where our kids watch cartoons, where we host the big game and where we have family movie nights. I’m growing skeptical that OLED is the best choice for most families. MiniLED TVs are cheap, bright and almost amazing.
OLED is brighter than ever, but the goalposts keep moving
The LG C5 is very bright on the OLED panel and is enough to cover the indirect glare. The photo above was captured during the scene in Dolby Vision, with my living room windows open. If you look really closely, you can see them, but they are not overly distracting. Year after year, LG’s OLED lineup and OLED TVs in general continue to shine. Models like Samsung’s S95F and LG G5 are the best this year, putting out more than 2,000 nits in high contrast HDR and more than 700 nits when viewing SDR content.
OLED lighting has come a long way in a short time. The highest brightness in HDR on the LG C5 is more than a 50 percent improvement over the LG C1 from just four years ago. But in the meantime, television manufacturers have been using MiniLED to push the limits of TV brightness to crazy figures like the TCL QM9K’s 5,500+ nits of peak brightness in HDR. As the poles continue to move, OLED remains in the rear view.
The high cost of OLED remains a critical factor
Remember the dream TV I talked about putting in my imaginary media room? If you thought $25,000 sounded like a lot to pay for only 98 inches, that’s because it is. You can pick up a nice 98-inch MiniLED for less than $4,000 these days. The problem is that OLED panels are getting more expensive as they get bigger. Gamers are already familiar with this concept when comparing a 27-inch OLED monitor to a 32-inch or larger one.
OLED TVs like the LG C5 are premium products, and at least in the case of the C5, they are evident in the TV’s build quality and design choices. There may be some savings to be had by not trying to make the smallest, best-looking product possible, but I doubt a thick or plastic housing would close the gap much.
TVs like the LG C5 OLED will continue to attract buyers
The LG C5 OLED was a joy to live with for someone like me. At night, with the sun setting and the lights off, I enjoyed cinematic content with rich contrast and beautiful blacks that only OLED can deliver. Everything from space scenes to darkly lit rooms was great with zero light bleed, zero halo effect and good black uniformity. For anyone who spends most of their time watching content in this type of setting, the LG C5 and other OLED TVs like it are always a solid choice. But in terms of brightness, price and performance, I’m afraid OLED keeps falling behind.
