TV as a monitor for 4K gaming at 120Hz refresh, which is the best for gaming, LG C1 or Samsung QN90a?

[TimLongson]

In October 2020 Linus pronounced the LG CX OLED TV to be the best there is for gaming, better then even PC monitors! I was all set to go out and buy the LG C1 OLED (the 55 inch updated version of the same TV, although I am tempted by the G1 which is the same but 20% brighter) as my main monitor for 4K 120Hz gaming based on that, because I trust Linus.

 

BUT I have just seen a side-by-side YouTube video comparison between the new "Samsung QN90a" TV and the "LG C1", and the colours and vividness of the picture on the SAMSUNG TV blows the LG OLED TV out of the water for gaming.... I am now very confused - was that fake? Was it just because he used a PS5 rather than a PC? Can you PLEASE do a new gaming TV review - does LG still hold the crown or has Samsung taken the new lead with their new QN90a? Please do this so we know which to buy in April 2021!

[WereCat]

You saw the comparison on your screen? So you were blown away by the quality of the image on your screen when it showed the Samsung TV? 

[Chris Pratt]

Well, that was 2020. Mini LED is new. It's still same LCD display tech, which means you get better color accuracy and overall brighter picture. The difference from regular LED displays is simply more lighting zones. That means greater control of local dimming. It's still not perfect. Mini LED sets might have around 3000 or so dimming zones, while OLED has effectively millions, because each pixel is controllable individually.

 

In short, how good one looks next to the other is going to be based on a lot of factors, like room lighting and the content being displayed. If it's something like white text on a black background, you'll still have the halo effect with Mini LED, for example, whereas OLED is pristine.

 

Still, Mini LED is finally good enough to give OLED a real run for it's money, and in most cases, either display is going to look great.

 

[dilpickle]

7 hours ago, TimLongson said:

In October 2020 Linus pronounced the LG CX OLED TV to be the best there is for gaming, better then even PC monitors! I was all set to go out and buy the LG C1 OLED (the 55 inch updated version of the same TV, although I am tempted by the G1 which is the same but 20% brighter) as my main monitor for 4K 120Hz gaming based on that, because I trust Linus.

 

BUT I have just seen a side-by-side YouTube video comparison between the new "Samsung QN90a" TV and the "LG C1", and the colours and vividness of the picture on the SAMSUNG TV blows the LG OLED TV out of the water for gaming.... I am now very confused - was that fake? Was it just because he used a PS5 rather than a PC? Can you PLEASE do a new gaming TV review - does LG still hold the crown or has Samsung taken the new lead with their new QN90a? Please do this so we know which to buy in April 2021!

Link the video you saw.

[jones177]

The Samsung QN90a only has 1 HDMI 2.1port. Even my cheap 49" Nano85 has 2.

It has Free-sync but not G-sync. Like my Nano85.

It is a VA panel. My Nano85 is IPS.

 

The LG C1 has 4 HDMI 2.1 ports.

It is G-sync compatible.

It will burn in eventually.

 

I like the G-sync compatibility on the OLEDS. I would not buy a TV without it at a premium price.  At a budget price it is fine.

 

I have been using OLEDs for games for about a year and half now. They can't be used for browsing or editing since the will burn in so only good for gaming.

I bought the Nano85 for browsing since one of my OLEDs have already burnt in doing that. 

 

The OLEDs color in games looks about the same as my 38" LG IPS monitor. What makes it look better than the monitor is how it scales. Even my Dos Box games look great on them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SolarNova]

There should be no 'blowing out the water' when comparing vividness of properly calibrated OLED TVs as current panels are very similar. If you see that, you can safely assume one is over saturated.

 

For gaming the only real thing to compare is input lag, VRR, and motion handling. Color reproduction between OLEDs is near identical.

 

As for the 20% increased brightness. Thats on the G series. The C1 is roughly the same as CX ofc accounting for panel variance and differences in BIOS version. ~750nits is the highest peak brightness u can expect, and ~145nits for a full screen white.

[xg32]

14 hours ago, TimLongson said:

.

qled has always looked worse when it's side by side vs oled (check it out at a costco), can't really compare side by sides on a youtube video.

 

Until we see it in person, historically it's been a battle of contrast and colors, no haloing for oled vs brightness and no burn-in for qled. 

[Vangeli]

For a little while now I’ve been trying out a 55” QN90A as a monitor. It’s pretty much reference quality in movie modes but the game mode FALD algorithm is less precise; the “zones” are much larger so it can keep up with fast objects. I’ve yet to be distracted by blooming in games though and 4K HDR 120Hz gaming looks breathtaking regardless.

 

One thing that I’ve seen many people despise is that this display does have a layer over the screen that near perfectly fixes the viewing angle issue VA panels have but it causes any reflections on the display to stretch out in a rainbow pattern. It’s not an issue to me but it’s something to keep in mind.

 

It’s not perfect but if you’re mainly doing HDR entertainment like games but especially movies and prefer the display being able to get insanely bright, then it’ll blow anything else away at this moment. At least, until we have Micro LED.

[faceleg]

On 4/26/2021 at 9:28 AM, Vangeli said:

For a little while now I’ve been trying out a 55” QN90A as a monitor. It’s pretty much reference quality in movie modes but the game mode FALD algorithm is less precise; the “zones” are much larger so it can keep up with fast objects. I’ve yet to be distracted by blooming in games though and 4K HDR 120Hz gaming looks breathtaking regardless.

 

One thing that I’ve seen many people despise is that this display does have a layer over the screen that near perfectly fixes the viewing angle issue VA panels have but it causes any reflections on the display to stretch out in a rainbow pattern. It’s not an issue to me but it’s something to keep in mind.

 

It’s not perfect but if you’re mainly doing HDR entertainment like games but especially movies and prefer the display being able to get insanely bright, then it’ll blow anything else away at this moment. At least, until we have Micro LED.

Have you continued using it? How well does GSync work?

 

I want a large gaming monitor but don’t want curved and would like better blacks than IPS, OLED are expensive here. 
 

Interested in whether you’re still enjoying the QN90A as a gaming monitor?

[Vangeli]

On 6/5/2021 at 8:01 AM, faceleg said:

Have you continued using it? How well does GSync work?

 

I want a large gaming monitor but don’t want curved and would like better blacks than IPS, OLED are expensive here. 
 

Interested in whether you’re still enjoying the QN90A as a gaming monitor?

Oh I love it and still very much use it. Haven’t tried it with G-Sync yet seeing as I still don’t have a GPU (so only integrated graphics when I’m doing PC stuffs) but I do use it with the Xbox Series X and it’s been lovely.

[Ravendarat]

I personally am using the LG C1 48 as a monitor and after getting it set up have zero complaints or issues with it besides the set up being a bit confusing as I had to turn on certain settings in a certain order to get everything set the way I wanted but after getting the settings where I wanted it has been a fantastic experience. As for it not being good for browsing and the like, I have had zero issues with it, I think the main thing is not walking away from it while leaving a still picture on it for a long time but there is a built in screen saver on it to help avoid that as well.

[Daethz]

LG oled ftw.

My samsung Q80T has odd dark lines in really light scenes, has since i got it, like the sky on a golf game is where its noticeable.

[Stahlmann]

On 4/24/2021 at 5:19 PM, SolarNova said:

There should be no 'blowing out the water' when comparing vividness of properly calibrated OLED TVs as current panels are very similar. If you see that, you can safely assume one is over saturated.

No, it's because the QLED is much brighter. OLED loses a lot of color volume at the top of the brightness range because they then need to utilize their white subpixel to boost brightness. That means QLED can display properly saturated colors at high brighness, while OLED simply cannot. That's a technical limitation.

 

9 hours ago, Daethz said:

My samsung Q80T has odd dark lines in really light scenes, has since i got it, like the sky on a golf game is where its noticeable.

This thread is talking about the QN90A, which doesn't have this problem anymore.

 

 

@OP

If you even remotely thing about HDR, then get the QLED TV. It's just a much better HDR TV. Period. OLED has it's own benefits, but it has to be used with a lot of care to prevent burn-in as good as possible. So as a main monitor, i would not use one.

 

I'm not bashing on OLED with the response above. I have a C9 myself and are quite happy with it. But i also have a Asus PG35VQ, which basically is a QLED HDR monitor. The PG35VQ delivers a much more impressive HDR experience, leaving the OLED in the dust. My next TV will likely be a QLED TV instead of another OLED.