You don’t have to question LG very closely to find out that the company has been the planet’s dominant OLED TV brand for a decade. It’s never been short of competition — but the fact that LG remains the only company to actually produce raw OLED panels for TVs hasn’t hurt its prospects (or its sales) any.
For this 2023 Midrange OLED Series, LG has made a few adjustments here, a few tweaks there… and, on paper at least, the LG OLED65C3 looks well-positioned to continue that remarkable run of form. But, as we all know, ‘on paper’ is not where the real battles are won…
Design and Build: Your Flexible Friend
First things first: There’s an LG TV for everyone. We’re testing the 65in LG OLED65C3 here (‘C’ sits between ‘B’ and ‘G’ in the brand’s line-up), with the range starting at 42in, moving through to 48in and 55in , and on the 77in and 83in models.
At its heaviest point, the 65in C3 is just 45mm deep, much less that heaviness than some rival TVs. The fairly attractive OLED thinness is visible when the screen is viewed in profile. With its central pedestal stand, nicely faced in aluminum and carrying the Screen’s sole branding, it weighs a reasonable 16.6kg.
Some of the relatively light weight can be explained by the LG’s composite fiber construction. Mind you, this also explains the amount of flex displayed by the panel. However, once the screen is installed on its stand or on a wall, this should no longer be a concern.
Despite all that, there’s a certain amount of movement in the panel, though, and there’s no problem with the way the 65C3 is put together. As is standard LG practice, the build quality is actually very acceptable.
Features: Pure HDMI Power
Of course, it’s a 4K TV – and there’s Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10, and HLG HDR standards. Its overall specifications are equally targeted at gamers as it is movie-lovers or TV addicts.
No matter how you put it, though, the entire picture quality show is driven by the 6th generation of LG’s Alpha 9 picture processing engine. Unsurprisingly, LG has been vocal about the power of this latest version, specifically the Light Boosting algorithm and Light Control architecture designed to extract maximum peak- and full-screen brightness from the panel. Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro and Expression Enhancer are other HDR-related features in the Alpha 9 Gen 6’s arsenal – though presumably even a typical Expression Enhancer won’t be able to do anything about Ryan Gosling’s expression.
Physical inputs include four HDMI 2.1a sockets: one is eARC-capable, and all four are covered [email protected], ALM, VRR, HGIG, G-Sync, FreeSync Premium Pro and everything else that makes up a reasonably powerful console gaming experience. LG has also included a new HDMI 2.1a feature for 2023: Quick Media Switching. Sources that support QMS (Apple TV 4K, most prominently) can quickly match their frame-rates when switching programs, eliminating the dreaded HDMI ‘bunks’ (those inexplicably annoying, fleeting screen blackouts). ) are avoided.
There’s also an Ethernet input, three USB-A slots, and aerial posts for the C3’s integrated TV tuner. A digital optical output allows the LG to work with soundbars of a certain vintage. Of course, dual-band Wi-Fi is available for wireless connectivity along with Bluetooth 5.0. There’s also Apple AirPlay 2 compatibility.
For sound, the OLED65C3 has the ability to accept Dolby Atmos soundtracks, and is fitted with a 2.2-channel down-firing speaker array powered by a total of 40 watts to deliver. LG claims rather optimistically that its AI Sound Pro feature can replicate the effect of a 9.1.2-channel set-up – but its Wow Orchestra feature seems a better bet for those who want to make the most of the C3’s audio system. like to use more. This allows the TV’s sound system to be linked to, rather than overridden by, a suitable LG Dolby Atmos soundbar – some of which are supplied with brackets to allow the ‘bar’ to be attached directly to the screen.
Interface: Make Your Point(er)
LG’s webOS interface was already one of the calmer and more navigable examples of its type — but for its 2023 OLED TVs, the company has refined it even further.
The app line-up at the bottom of the home screen is easily customized. The introduction of Quick Cards means you can store related apps in groups (Home, Games, Sports, etc.). Comprehensive controls covering picture, sound and what have you are also easily and quickly accessible without obstructing your view.
Naturally, advanced settings are also available. Here you can be sure that you will never have to put up with the travesty of filmmaker mode, for example. This is where you’ll discover Expression Enhancer, which simply boosts lighting or detail rather than trying to animate some of the more wooden casts you see.
Navigating the menu and interface is done using LG’s fanciful Magic Remote, which combines more generic remote control functionality with an on-screen cursor. It takes some getting used to, but it’s an extremely effective and worthwhile feature. The handset has direct access buttons for Netflix, Disney+ and a few other services, as well as an integrated mic for use with voice assistants. It works with Google Assistant and Siri, and has Amazon Alexa built in.
Performance: Compare and Contrast
We are all familiar with the concept of marginal benefit, aren’t we? Well, so is LG. While the OLED65C3 isn’t a radical upgrade over the C2 model by any means, its improvements are enough to make this TV a pretty compelling proposition where picture quality and gaming experience are concerned.
There are of course many picture processing options to be explored. But for our money, at least, the best balance can be found by deploying the Dolby Vision Cinema Home setting with the OLED pixel brightness turned down a few points from its maximum setting. With the C3 set this way, both 4K UHD Blu-ray dune and a Netflix stream of dog power Behold an ultimate treat.
In every worthwhile respect, the LG OLED65C3 is a convincing and entertaining watch. Its color balance is natural, well-saturated, but not too stark or vivid, and the breadth and subtlety of tones it produces is remarkable. Black tones are predictably deep, but they’re also varied and carry lots of detail—even in scenes of nearly uniform darkness. And because the C3 produces clean, bright and evenly detailed white tones, contrasts are strong and wide. It’s not the brightest OLED TV we’ve ever seen, even when it’s on the most vivid picture preset. But unless you like watching TV with maximum brightness, it’s more than sufficient on this score.
Edge-definition is smooth when it needs to be and crisp when it needs to be. Picture noise is suppressed with authority, and even the tightest, most complex patterns are delivered with assurance. Motion control is similarly strong, so even when there’s a lot of fast movement happening on-screen alongside slow camera pans – even if the camera is moving in opposition to the on-screen action – the LG keeps it steady and smooth.
Detail levels are high in any and all conditions, but they’re most impressive when it comes to skin-tones and textures. There is a plethora of information provided, and as a result the variation in color is basically limitless.
The LG is also a very capable upscaler of sub-4K content. It remains an impressive and vibrant watch, keeping detail levels high and picture noise low, and managing to stay on top of even the most tested on-screen motion. Appropriately complex patterns or textures will look how hard it’s working to fill all those pixels, but unless you’re watching authentically low-resolution content, it’s never less than viewable . if you Are Looking at really low-res images, it can be a bit soft and a bit grainy – but we’re tempted to ask why you’re spending so much money on a TV to watch old-school content.
switching input with copy key playstation 5 gran turismo 7 Loaded allows the OLED65C3 to enhance LG’s already excellent reputation for gaming-friendly screens. It covers every current-gen console base via any of its HDMI inputs, of course — and with the Game Optimizer mode switched on, a transparent game dashboard overlay gives you picture presets, VRR, and black stabilizer as well. Provides access to some pretty fascinating information. Regarding fps and what have you. An input lag time of less than 10ms tells its own story with respect to LG’s effectiveness, and where color fidelity, contrast, motion and especially lighting effects are concerned, the OLED65C3 is an excellent gaming monitor. If you grow weary of your physical console’s titles, the C3 features some cloud gaming, courtesy of Nvidia GeForce.
When it comes to sound, though, the OLED65C3 is a far less compelling proposition. The 40-watt and 2.2-channel arrangement isn’t mayhem as a proposition, but in practice the LG sounds topsy-turvy, wheezy, and boneless. The Wow Orchestra feature will undoubtedly help for those who prefer the LG Dolby Atmos soundbar, but as it stands the LG’s audio quality is related to its picture quality in the same way that a pedalo is related to a speedboat.
LG OLED65C3 Verdict
Like we said, marginal benefit. The LG OLED65C3 has some definite advantages over the C2, not least its HDR picture processing enhancements and revisions to its webOS interface – but in themselves they won’t seem like enough to entice C2 owners into a quick upgrade.
The rest of us, though, can go ahead and be genuinely impressed by the latest in a long line of high-end LG OLED TVs.
LG OLED65C3 Technical Specifications
| screen size | 42, 48, 55, 65 (version tested), 77, 83 inches |
| Resolution | 3840×2160 |
| HDR | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG |
| Input | 4x HDMI 2.1, 3x USB, 2x RF, Digital Optical, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| smart tv os | webOS 2.3 |
| weight | 16.6 (with stand) 14.1 kg (panel only) |
| DIMENSIONS | 1222x757x230mm (with stand) 1222x703x45mm (Panel only) |
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