Question New OLED Owner (LG CX) - Some questions!

[Pat schnack]

Hey all, so my LG CX 55' arrived and I'm delighted with it. First time purchasing a TV over 400 euro let alone one worth 1399.

I just have a few (alot of) questions and make sure I'm getting the most out of it. So my viewing is mainly done through the Xbox (Sky Go, Netflix, Amazon Prime) all on the Xbox. I currently don't have an aerial in the house so no normal antenna type TV or Satellite Dish. Do any of the above apps provide 4k content without having to pay extra?

I've seen multiple places such as Vincent Teoh and Rtings do best settings etc but I'm a bit confused.

If I am on the Xbox, does it automatically switch into Game Mode, making the picture look worse when viewing normal TV? Or should it only go into Game Mode when I launch a game?

Also with these "best settings" they suggest doing X, Y, Z for different scenarios, is there a way of having these premade or is it a case of you'd have to manually do them every time? I assume you can save picture settings for each source, but not each type of content? eg Watching sport to putting on a film will keep the same setting?

I'm also wondering, with these best settings videos, do they factor in Screen Burn? Eg Oled light at 100, etc? Id rather dim the screen a little than go kill the TV!

Another question, LG CX doesn't seem to recognise the Xbox Series X and its just called HDMI2, when compared to my older Xbox in HDMI3 it comes up as "XboxOne" and my friends PS5 is recognised at "PS5" in HDMI1.

Lastly, and I suppose to cover some of the above too, is there any recommended videos, guides ,people to watch on getting the most out of the LG CX?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the number of questions, just excited to play around with the different features. The TV it replaced was a 42inch HD Ready Samsung I got 6.5 years ago so big upgrade.

 

[mikej]

viewing is mainly done through the Xbox (Sky Go, Netflix, Amazon Prime) all on the Xbox. I currently don't have an aerial in the house so no normal antenna type TV or Satellite Dish. Do any of the above apps provide 4k content without having to pay extra?

The Sky app on the PS4 streams at a maximum of 720p - not sure about other consoles. 4K content is included with a standard Prime subscription, but for 4K on Netflix you'll need their top package, which is rising to £13.99 next month.

Edit : You haven't mentioned which model XBox you have so I don't know whether it's own apps will support 4K, but the TV's apps definitely should.

 

[Farleyfeatures]

Hi, I have the LG OLED65c9MLB which is the previous years model to your CX. I find the best way to watch streaming apps is via the smart aspect of the TV itself - all the apps support 4K/UHD including the various flavours of HDR(Dolby Vision, HLG10, etc) with the exception of Samsungs HDR10+ which isn't a great loss as not much content uses it anyway. You also get all the audio options(Dolby Atmos, DTS-X etc) which I'm not sure you would get via the X-Box. I also find it quick and responsive, so you should find it even more so as you have a faster processor.

 

[next010]

If I am on the Xbox, does it automatically switch into Game Mode, making the picture look worse when viewing normal TV? Or should it only go into Game Mode when I launch a game?

ALLM (which LG brands as instant game response) will auto activate a form of game mode over your existing picture preset when you launch a game, when not playing a game such as in the xbox dash it should be using the regular picture preset.

If your only using the console for games then I would recommend turning off ALLM in the Xbox video settings then change the TV picture mode to game for SDR and HDR.

Have a look at this guys suggested SDR settings for xbox (emphasis is on accuracy not what looks good to your eyes). Feel free to ignore the white point and white balance settings, for HDR it should be on warm 2 and enable HGIG under dynamic tone mapping, that's about it.

Also with these "best settings" they suggest doing X, Y, Z for different scenarios, is there a way of having these premade or is it a case of you'd have to manually do them every time? I assume you can save picture settings for each source, but not each type of content? eg Watching sport to putting on a film will keep the same setting?

Settings are custom to each input but not the type of content with the exception of ALLM and Filmmaker mode but devices must support those.

I'm also wondering, with these best settings videos, do they factor in Screen Burn? Eg Oled light at 100, etc? Id rather dim the screen a little than go kill the TV!

For SDR keep your OLED light around 50 or lower, but for HDR10 OLED 100 is correct, be sure to disable any auto HDR which forces everything into HDR. These auto HDR modes are not good for OLED in the long run, bad design decisions.

Another question, LG CX doesn't seem to recognise the Xbox Series X and its just called HDMI2, when compared to my older Xbox in HDMI3 it comes up as "XboxOne" and my friends PS5 is recognised at "PS5" in HDMI1.

Xbox does not support HDMI-CEC so LG must manually add support for Xbox Series X to its firmware, that's why its there for older Xbox One, LG have not updated their firmware yet.

 

[mikej]

Also with these "best settings" they suggest doing X, Y, Z for different scenarios, is there a way of having these premade or is it a case of you'd have to manually do them every time? I assume you can save picture settings for each source, but not each type of content? eg Watching sport to putting on a film will keep the same setting?

I'm not sure about LG, but Panasonic settings are usually saved on a 'per input' basis, so switching over from the news to sport in Freeview (for example) won't change the picture mode.

If you want a good, natural picture then the best advice is normally to choose one of the Cinema picture modes which should then be suitable for the majority of your viewing. While in Cinema mode, check that all other unnecessary picture processing is turned off, although you may need to keep motion interpolation (TruMotion ?) on a low setting if you have any motion (eg. juddering) issues. Try with it off to start with, though.

I use the 'Pro 2' picture mode (similar to Cinema mode) on my Panasonic OLED for 95% of my TV viewing, with an occasional switch to a brighter mode when watching during the day.

I'm also wondering, with these best settings videos, do they factor in Screen Burn? Eg Oled light at 100, etc? Id rather dim the screen a little than go kill the TV!

If you're concerned about 'screen burn' (which is essentially pixel wear), then my advice would be to use the lowest Luminance setting you can get away with (for SDR viewing) without it spoiling your viewing experience. This is particularly important when watching anything with static elements on screen (eg. news channels, sport, GMB, gaming etc) You can lower the luminance within your chosen picture preset if you need to and the TV should remember your new setting. If you make too many changes and want to start over, there should be an option to return the preset to it's defaults.

In my Panasonic OLED's Pro 2 mode, luminance defaults to around 30 (IIRC) which is suitable for the majority of my viewing as this is usually in the late evenings in a dimly-lit room. If you watch TV in a brighter room or have come from LCD and prefer a brighter picture, then you may find you need a higher luminance setting. It's all about personal preference, but it's widely thought that the higher the luminance and brightness, the higher the chances of 'screen burn' when watching certain problematic content.

You'll probably find that luminance defaults to 100 when viewing 4K HDR, so lowering this will lessen the HDR impact and may spoil the experience. Running at this high default level shouldn't be a problem for movies or TV shows because extra bright scenes are usually fairly fleeting, but more care needs to be taken when gaming in HDR, especially if there are static elements on the screen for long periods of time.

The other important things to do to minimise the risk of 'screen burn' are to leave the TV in standby after use (so the regular and occasional 'full' pixel maintenance cycles can run) and ensure that any other relevant options are turned on (do LG OLEDs have a pixel orbiter, for example ?)

Lastly, and I suppose to cover some of the above too, is there any recommended videos, guides ,people to watch on getting the most out of the LG CX?

I would head over to the CX Owner's thread in the LG TV Forum for specific advice for your model

 

[Pat schnack]

Great stuff, thanks so much all for the advice. Much appreciated!