Got an LG G3 and I can't tell the difference between it and my old C9

[Tanquen]

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I just got the G3 yesterday and side by side with my C9, I can't tell the difference. Some of the GUI text seems to be a little brighter, but that's about it so far. I've tried streaming some 4K Dolby Vision stuff on Netflix and Disney Plus. I know it's compressed and everything but I thought I would be able to see some kind of difference. So far I've paid $4,000 for slightly brighter text and some vertical lines on the right side of the screen.

 

Is there a particular demo I can run off a USB drive or something that really shows the difference?

 

[Blqckqut]

the right one looks a tad bit more color accurate if you look at the guys cheecks

[GuiltySpark_]

I think you're realizing that LG's OLED are just so good in general that the new model isn't going to give you much. Those lines are concerning though. 

[dilpickle]

Not sure why you were expecting a difference. Oled is oled.

[johnt]

That's been the main advertising tagline for a while now: brighter, brighter, brighter. There have been no other improvements. I mean I am not trying to judge you but you probably don't need to buy televisions that close together (for the same purpose, that is). The technology doesn't change that fast. And frankly, the other folks just caught up to OLED so it's going to be a while lol

 

Those lines on the right side are a tangible reason to return it.

[dalekphalm]

The brighter OLED will benefit HDR content the most, but in regular every day viewing, you're not going to notice much difference.

 

BTW, are those lines present on everything? Or just that one video? Do the lines show up on your old C9 too? Seems like the panel might have a defect.

 

And yeah... the C9 is already a kickass TV that's far better than most other TV's. The only thing likely to look even better would be QD-OLED. Almost all traditional 4K HDR OLED TV's look pretty much the same or very similar.

[saintlouisbagels]

On 5/31/2023 at 9:34 AM, Tanquen said:

I know it's compressed and everything but I thought I would be able to see some kind of difference. So far I've paid $4,000 for slightly brighter text

Literally yes, that is essentially the difference between generations of OLED televisions.

These past couple of iterations of OLED have been about producing more-accurate colors when the brightness is cranked up while improving heat dissipation for the sake of OLED longvity. So you're not going to notice a difference unless you watch decent HDR content. Even then, you'd have to have a keen eye and memory to even notice the difference.

SDR content is rec709 color space, and most decent televisions nowadays can easily display that perfectly.
For HDR and rec2020, there's only marginal performance gains. For example, these are the RTINGS values between the C9 and G3
 

 

On 5/31/2023 at 9:34 AM, Tanquen said:

Is there a particular demo I can run off a USB drive or something that really shows the difference?

Maybe try Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse or RRR ?

 

[Tanquen]

Follow topic is set but not getting notifications?

 

On 5/31/2023 at 6:38 AM, Blqckqut said:

the right one looks a tad bit more color accurate if you look at the guys cheecks

That is the 4 year old C9. Yes, watching the same thing side by side they will shift. Sometimes one is more red than the other and so on.

On 5/31/2023 at 6:48 AM, GuiltySpark_ said:

I think you're realizing that LG's OLED are just so good in general that the new model isn't going to give you much. Those lines are concerning though. 

The lines are still there but the next day they are almost gone. I'm guessing it ran a pixel refresh but I can still see them on 5-10% gray backgrounds. Still bugs me but nothing like the first day when you could see them on just about everything.

On 5/31/2023 at 7:10 AM, dilpickle said:

Not sure why you were expecting a difference. Oled is oled.

Because it's been 4 years and from the beginning most every review talked about how OLEDs are not bright enough and the C9 is around 800nits and the G3 is said to be around 1400nits. So I thought I'd like, see a difference. 

On 5/31/2023 at 7:22 AM, johnt said:

That's been the main advertising tagline for a while now: brighter, brighter, brighter. There have been no other improvements. I mean I am not trying to judge you but you probably don't need to buy televisions that close together (for the same purpose, that is). The technology doesn't change that fast. And frankly, the other folks just caught up to OLED so it's going to be a while lol

 

Those lines on the right side are a tangible reason to return it.

It had been 4 years and every year all the TV makers talk up how processing it better this year. Also the G3 has the MLA layer and is about twice as bright. 

On 5/31/2023 at 11:52 AM, dalekphalm said:

The brighter OLED will benefit HDR content the most, but in regular every day viewing, you're not going to notice much difference.

 

BTW, are those lines present on everything? Or just that one video? Do the lines show up on your old C9 too? Seems like the panel might have a defect.

 

And yeah... the C9 is already a kickass TV that's far better than most other TV's. The only thing likely to look even better would be QD-OLED. Almost all traditional 4K HDR OLED TV's look pretty much the same or very similar.

That is almost what I found out after messing around a lot. Most all the 4k HDR and DV Blu-Rays I have, you will see little to no difference. I thought I'd see something as from the beginning it was said OLEDs were not bright enough and not good for bright rooms, so I thought I was missing something.

 

Regular SDR video can look brighter. I was mostly using a new Apple TV 4k for SDR and it had Dolby Vision always on. So looking at any videos or shows looked the same on the C9 and G3. Once I set the Apple TV 4k to default settings the TVs would use the three different picture profiles for Dolby Vision, HDR and SDR.

 

Still most everything looks the same and sometimes the C9 even looked brighter. The pixel light is different in some profiles but even if set to 100 the two look the same. With HDR and Dolby Vision there needs to be something really bright for the G3 to show it can get brighter. If the brightness level asked for in HDR or DV title is doable by both TVs and 90% of the time it is, then they will look the same.

 

With all settings in all profiles the same both the C9 and G3 look the same most of the time. Cinema is the darkest by a bit on both TVs than Cinema home, Standard looks almost the same as Cinema home, with just the color tone changing. Then there is Vivid mode, the colors are a bit off but in every profile the G3 is brighter than the C9. The C9 from Standard to Vivid is just a small step up. Then in all the profiles that have it, dynamic tone mapping also makes the G3 a little brighter than enabling it on the C9.

 

The only UHD 4k Blu-rays that I've found so far that show the G3s brightness is PAN in part with the flying ship with large globs of water, and the new Dream Works intro on the new Puss In Boots the Last Wish move when the boy in the crescent moon logo is flying around, it's a good bit brighter on the G3 but in the movie nothing really stands out like that did. 

[Blqckqut]

5 hours ago, Tanquen said:

Follow topic is set but not getting notifications?

 

That is the 4 year old C9. Yes, watching the same thing side by side they will shift. Sometimes one is more red than the other and so on.

The lines are still there but the next day they are almost gone. I'm guessing it ran a pixel refresh but I can still see them on 5-10% gray backgrounds. Still bugs me but nothing like the first day when you could see them on just about everything.

Because it's been 4 years and from the beginning most every review talked about how OLEDs are not bright enough and the C9 is around 800nits and the G3 is said to be around 1400nits. So I thought I'd like, see a difference. 

It had been 4 years and every year all the TV makers talk up how processing it better this year. Also the G3 has the MLA layer and is about twice as bright. 

That is almost what I found out after messing around a lot. Most all the 4k HDR and DV Blu-Rays I have, you will see little to no difference. I thought I'd see something as from the beginning it was said OLEDs were not bright enough and not good for bright rooms, so I thought I was missing something.

 

Regular SDR video can look brighter. I was mostly using a new Apple TV 4k for SDR and it had Dolby Vision always on. So looking at any videos or shows looked the same on the C9 and G3. Once I set the Apple TV 4k to default settings the TVs would use the three different picture profiles for Dolby Vision, HDR and SDR.

 

Still most everything looks the same and sometimes the C9 even looked brighter. The pixel light is different in some profiles but even if set to 100 the two look the same. With HDR and Dolby Vision there needs to be something really bright for the G3 to show it can get brighter. If the brightness level asked for in HDR or DV title is doable by both TVs and 90% of the time it is, then they will look the same.

 

With all settings in all profiles the same both the C9 and G3 look the same most of the time. Cinema is the darkest by a bit on both TVs than Cinema home, Standard looks almost the same as Cinema home, with just the color tone changing. Then there is Vivid mode, the colors are a bit off but in every profile the G3 is brighter than the C9. The C9 from Standard to Vivid is just a small step up. Then in all the profiles that have it, dynamic tone mapping also makes the G3 a little brighter than enabling it on the C9.

 

The only UHD 4k Blu-rays that I've found so far that show the G3s brightness is PAN in part with the flying ship with large globs of water, and the new Dream Works intro on the new Puss In Boots the Last Wish move when the boy in the crescent moon logo is flying around, it's a good bit brighter on the G3 but in the movie nothing really stands out like that did. 

sorry but, why do you believe marketing? ur exactly the target audience, hoping theyd see a difference in image and color quality because of specs and marketing, but in realit it doent warant an upgrade at all

[saintlouisbagels]

18 hours ago, Tanquen said:

Follow topic is set but not getting notifications?

 

That is the 4 year old C9. Yes, watching the same thing side by side they will shift. Sometimes one is more red than the other and so on.

The lines are still there but the next day they are almost gone. I'm guessing it ran a pixel refresh but I can still see them on 5-10% gray backgrounds. Still bugs me but nothing like the first day when you could see them on just about everything.

Because it's been 4 years and from the beginning most every review talked about how OLEDs are not bright enough and the C9 is around 800nits and the G3 is said to be around 1400nits. So I thought I'd like, see a difference. 

It had been 4 years and every year all the TV makers talk up how processing it better this year. Also the G3 has the MLA layer and is about twice as bright. 

That is almost what I found out after messing around a lot. Most all the 4k HDR and DV Blu-Rays I have, you will see little to no difference. I thought I'd see something as from the beginning it was said OLEDs were not bright enough and not good for bright rooms, so I thought I was missing something.

 

Regular SDR video can look brighter. I was mostly using a new Apple TV 4k for SDR and it had Dolby Vision always on. So looking at any videos or shows looked the same on the C9 and G3. Once I set the Apple TV 4k to default settings the TVs would use the three different picture profiles for Dolby Vision, HDR and SDR.

 

Still most everything looks the same and sometimes the C9 even looked brighter. The pixel light is different in some profiles but even if set to 100 the two look the same. With HDR and Dolby Vision there needs to be something really bright for the G3 to show it can get brighter. If the brightness level asked for in HDR or DV title is doable by both TVs and 90% of the time it is, then they will look the same.

 

With all settings in all profiles the same both the C9 and G3 look the same most of the time. Cinema is the darkest by a bit on both TVs than Cinema home, Standard looks almost the same as Cinema home, with just the color tone changing. Then there is Vivid mode, the colors are a bit off but in every profile the G3 is brighter than the C9. The C9 from Standard to Vivid is just a small step up. Then in all the profiles that have it, dynamic tone mapping also makes the G3 a little brighter than enabling it on the C9.

 

The only UHD 4k Blu-rays that I've found so far that show the G3s brightness is PAN in part with the flying ship with large globs of water, and the new Dream Works intro on the new Puss In Boots the Last Wish move when the boy in the crescent moon logo is flying around, it's a good bit brighter on the G3 but in the movie nothing really stands out like that did. 

This is a pretty large post to say the same thing everyone here has already said;

The LG G3 is brighter.

[Tanquen]

14 hours ago, Blqckqut said:

sorry but, why do you believe marketing? ur exactly the target audience, hoping theyd see a difference in image and color quality because of specs and marketing, but in realit it doent warant an upgrade at all

And the reviews and others in other forums (oh man its so much brighter) and so on, not just marketing. It is brighter but with a big but, for most anyone there is no reason to upgrade the C9 or CX or C1 or C2 will look the same 90% of the time.

1 hour ago, saintlouisbagels said:

This is a pretty large post to say the same thing everyone here has already said;

The LG G3 is brighter.

If you did not read the post then maybe but it's not at all straight forward. It's only brighter in certain parts of certain scenes with certain modes.  Or maybe if you like Vivid mode.

[saintlouisbagels]

4 minutes ago, Tanquen said:

If you did not read the post then maybe but it's not at all straight forward. It's only brighter in certain parts of certain scenes with certain modes.  Or maybe if you like Vivid mode.

Why are you changing modes? When watching Dolby Vision content, the streaming box typically engages a HDR picture mode on the TV automatically and does dynamic lighting. At least that's how it is for my Apple TV 4K (gen 2) and LG C1.

 

And yes, that would make sense. The TV is only going to be as bright as whatever the scene demands. If you're watching a completely overblown scene with clipped highlights, yeah the G3 brightness will be noticeable because it essentially has to display white. If you're watching some normal scene with soft lighting... of course both TV are going to display the scene exactly the same.

[saintlouisbagels]

9 minutes ago, Tanquen said:

If you did not read the post then maybe but it's not at all straight forward. It's only brighter in certain parts of certain scenes with certain modes.  Or maybe if you like Vivid mode.

I mean, you also ignored my lengthy post with the RTINGS screenshots and recommendations to watch Spider-Verse and RRR.

Both of them are extremely vibrant, colorful films and available in Dolby Vision.

 

But anyways, idk what else you want from this thread. It's a simple fact you purchased a television that's marginally better than a TV from several years ago.
We can't convince you, and you can't convince yourself that it was a good purchase (because it wasn't a good purchase).

[Tanquen]

1 minute ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Why are you changing modes? When watching Dolby Vision content, the streaming box typically engages a HDR picture mode on the TV automatically and does dynamic lighting. At least that's how it is for my Apple TV 4K (gen 2) and LG C1.

 

And yes, that would make sense. The TV is only going to be as bright as whatever the scene demands. If you're watching a completely overblown scene, yeah the G3 brightness will be noticeable. If you're watching some normal scene with soft lighting... of course both TV are going to display the scene exactly the same.

Because there are options and some folks like to use different ones. Vivid and Standard and Cinema Home and Cinema are the different modes in the different profiles. When there is an HDR title the TV changes to the HDR profile but you can then change many settings while in HDR or DV or SDR. The only thing that made the G3 look brighter in SDR or HDR or Dolby Vision was Vivid mode or enabling dynamic tome mapping. 

 

For me it was not "of course both TV are going to display the scene exactly the same" most don't get a side by side setup to see that their TV is bright enough for most all HDR content. Just years of reviewers and folks in forums saying that OLEDs are not bright enough. Like the image as a whole not one part of one scene in that one movie.

[saintlouisbagels]

2 minutes ago, Tanquen said:

For me it was not "of course both TV are going to display the scene exactly the same" most don't get a side by side setup to see that their TV is bright enough for most all HDR content. Just years of reviewers and folks in forums saying that OLEDs are not bright enough. Like the image as a whole not one part of one scene in that one movie.

You may have completely missed the reason why every review says OLED televisions are not bright enough.
Relative to LED backlighting, OLED televisions does not get as bright. So relatively speaking to LED-backlit televisions, they are worse for brightly lit rooms or unfortunate window placements.

 

If we're talking about a light controlled room, then the brightness difference LED and OLED, and old-OLED and new-OLED is very small.

If you're in a light controlled environment, then you're not trying to display an image bright enough for comfortable viewing, you're just displaying an image bright enough for what the scene demands. And it looks like the scenes that you're watching do not demand a brighter OLED.

[Tanquen]

23 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

I mean, you also ignored my lengthy post with the RTINGS screenshots and recommendations to watch Spider-Verse and RRR.

Both of them are extremely vibrant, colorful films and available in Dolby Vision.

 

But anyways, idk what else you want from this thread. It's a simple fact you purchased a television that's marginally better than a TV from several years ago.
We can't convince you, and you can't convince yourself that it was a good purchase (because it wasn't a good purchase).

Did not ignore your post. Not asking for/about any of that. It's hard enough to see the brightness difference I can't imagine seeing the color difference. Getting a random TV with a red or green push is way more noticeable or likely than a few percent in color gamut or volume.

 

Just read my posts again maybe? I just posted what I found, you don't have to do anything with that and not asking for you to convince me of anything. I could have returned it. You just sound more interested in saying you told someone so and they are dumb for buying something. I was just asking for good examples for seeing the extra brightness of the G3 like 1400(?)nits vs the C9 800(?)nits.

[Tanquen]

9 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

You may have completely missed the reason why every review says OLED televisions are not bright enough.
Relative to LED backlighting, OLED televisions does not get as bright. So relatively speaking to LED-backlit televisions, they are worse for brightly lit rooms or unfortunate window placements.

 

If we're talking about a light controlled room, then the brightness difference LED and OLED, and old-OLED and new-OLED is very small.

If you're in a light controlled environment, then you're not trying to display an image bright enough for comfortable viewing, you're just displaying an image bright enough for what the scene demands. And it looks like the scenes that you're watching do not demand a brighter OLED.

Again, if it's only in one small part of one scene in that one movie what good is the LED going to do in a brightly light room. That made it sound like it was the image as a whole was not bright enough. I don't recall them ever going into detail and saying if you have a bright room get an LCD and use vivid mode or dynamic tone mapping. 

[saintlouisbagels]

4 minutes ago, Tanquen said:

Again, if it's only in one small part of one scene in that one movie what good is the LED going to do in a brightly light room. That made it sound like it was the image as a whole was not bright enough. I don't recall them ever going into detail and saying if you have a bright room get an LCD and use vivid mode or dynamic tone mapping. 

Stand outside during a bright, sunny day. Use your phone on medium brightness. Now use your phone on maximum brightness.

That is the importance of a really bright screen in a room with really bad lighting.

[Tanquen]

2 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Stand outside during a bright, sunny day. Use your phone on medium brightness. Now use your phone on maximum brightness.

That is the importance of a really bright screen in a room with really bad lighting.

Yes but if the backlight is already at 100% and the HDR content is only asking for something at a certain brightness, how can you make the overall screen brighter for a bright room? Maybe the really bright LCDs are set up differently. Going back to the G3 and the C9 the pixel brightness and the contrast are already maxed out in most profiles and the HDR info is not asking for anything brighter but some of the reviewers say you don't need to worry as much because the G3 is noticeably brighter now but the only way I currently see to make the G3 brighter in all content all the time is to use vivid mode and that don’t look great. That is why it's more complicated than just saying a TV is brighter and why I was having issues seeing how the G3 was brighter. Having the G3 and the C9 side by side and them both having their pixel brightness and contrast the same, the overall picture looks the same and I can't see how the G3 is going to help you in a bright room. Thinking it’s the combo of the G3 overall screen brightness still being limited because of the full screen automatic brightness limiter and HDR info almost never asking for any small part of the screen to be really bright. So LCDs being lots brighter was not the thing that helped as much as them being able to have the full screen at their max brightness. If so I’d say the G3 is still not bright enough for a bright room. Unless maybe you like vivid mode.