LG's new OLED TVs

[Y2JDMBFAN]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

Thanks, Robert. I'm still within the return period. I hate exchanging multiple times for the same model for fear of getting something even worse, so I'm trying my hand at the more costly G6 lottery (hope it's less of one). If my troubles persist, I guess LG VIP will be next. The local technician with whom they contract is not very attuned to PQ problems, so I'm reluctant to ask for their help.

I used the Clear Panel Noise feature once around 20 hours, but it didn't improve the set's condition markedly.

As for pixel mortality, their first generation of OLED 1080p panels could have upwards of dozens (I think my first had about 12). The EF9500 was a flawless product pixel-wise, but the near-black uniformity was in shambles. I unfortunately can see the fully dead pixel on the E6 from 6 feet out on brightly lit uniform backgrounds, and there are times when I like to sit this close to take in the extra detail afforded by 4K.

So you are swapping for the G6 now?

[Robert Zohn]

OK, this is unusual and unexpected, but I was just told this afternoon that we're actually getting an allocation of 65" B6s and they are scheduled to arrive the week of June 6th.

-Robert

[Mr. Joshua]

Sold my Sony 65XBR850B last night... I need a new TV now. I wonder what to get... LG G6!

[PRO-630HD]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

OK, this is unusual and unexpected, but I was just told this afternoon that we're actually getting an allocation of 65" B6s and they are scheduled to arrive the week of June 6th.

-Robert

Robert I know you have had a 55c6p for about a month now. Did David McKenzie look at it and what was the brightness in nits and DCI-P3 coverage?

[Robert Zohn]

Correct we have LG's 55" C6 in stock and on display for a few weeks. David has only looked at it with some nice 4K content a few times. We have not put a meter on it yet. If time permits we'll spend some time on our store demo C6 on one of his next visits.

If all goes as scheduled we'll also begin q/c'ing and breaking-in for calibration the B6s this Friday.

[Mr. Joshua]

Will there be a Memorial Day price drop on the G6?

[Robert Zohn]

No price drop officially from LG, but they do have a finance offer for 18 months interest free that all authorized dealers can offer. The finance offer ends 6/6/16.

-Robert

[Mavrick]

Does anyone know a timeframe for the C6 hitting the UK? Can't seem to find it listed anywhere at all.

[vinnie97]

So the G6 that replaced my E6 was delivered recently, both April builds.

Unfortunately, the G6 also developed 3 dead subpixels around the 27-hour mark (I was able to revive one back to life with an 8-hour pixel flipper run). Too bad because it was perfect OOTB. This is an improvement over the E6 it replaced (so far) whereas the latter suffered an entirely dead pixel, and the G6 only has 1 white, 1 red, and 1 green failure, 2 of which are near the top edge of the screen (aka out of sight and mind). The green is more centrally located, but it shouldn't be an issue from the typical seating distance. If you were to use one of these as a monitor, the problem would no doubt be more of a concern.

Also, there is still more room for improvement with near black uniformity. The G6 still has a vertical banding presence in the low IRE ranges (occasionally visible in content, like when panning over dark green walls, a sampling of which can be seen in Bloodline on Netflix; a banding torture test on Netflix due to the combination of panning/low luminance is the Dolby Vision encoded stream of Marco Polo in episode 3 from 14 to 16 minutes), albeit possibly slightly less than the E6 it replaced but still not quite to the level of the best flagship plasmas of our time (i.e. the final products from Pioneer, Panasonic, and Samsung). The PQ is certainly mindblowing and provides a viewing experience that can't be matched by any of those dinosaurs, but there remains room for further refinement.

I'm not blown away by the sound quality of the soundbar, though I like the option of something sufficient to use when I'd just rather not turn on the hifi. The aesthetics are pretty nice, I guess, for those interested in that type of thing.

All in all, I'm on the fence as to if the upgrade was worth it (it amounted to an additional $1600 + tax). For full SRP of the G6, I would be leaning in the negative direction.

[vinnie97]

Update: Thankfully, all 3 of the subpixel failures in the first 50 hours are near the uppermost edge of the screen, well above the letterbox AR margin. The green one more centrally located has revived. Unfortunately, one of the deads is white so bright skies bring it to the fore, even visible around 6 feet out. With a little willpower and brain training, you can turn it into a nonissue.

Remember when buying this is deemed within specs.

[Hobbun]

That’s one of the reasons I went with the break-in and QC check through VE. If they find any dead pixels during the break-in and after it completes (before it ships), it will ‘fail’ the QC check. They also check for other aspects that can go wrong, like more than acceptable banding, 3D crosstalk, if there is that small chance of your TV being a bit warped or anything else that can go wrong that you won’t know about until you open it up at your house. It prevents those ‘lemon’ units.

But going back to pixels, there is obviously a chance you could get dead pixels after you get the TV, but the likelihood is much less after it’s been broken in. And of course I’m talking soon after you receive it, any TV is eventually going to get dead pixels over it’s lifetime.

[RockyIII]

My question is regarding the LG EG9600. From what I understand there are two different models on the market labeled as UA and UB. The UA accepts HDR content both through UHD streaming and UHD bluray whereas the UB only accepts HDR through streaming.
How can we tell apart, before we purchase? Is there anywhere on the unit itself or on the specs listings that would indicate whether we are dealing with a UA or a UB?

[vinnie97]

Originally Posted by Hobbun

That’s one of the reasons I went with the break-in and QC check through VE. If they find any dead pixels during the break-in and after it completes (before it ships), it will ‘fail’ the QC check. They also check for other aspects that can go wrong, like more than acceptable banding, 3D crosstalk, if there is that small chance of your TV being a bit warped or anything else that can go wrong that you won’t know about until you open it up at your house. It prevents those ‘lemon’ units.

But going back to pixels, there is obviously a chance you could get dead pixels after you get the TV, but the likelihood is much less after it’s been broken in. And of course I’m talking soon after you receive it, any TV is eventually going to get dead pixels over it’s lifetime.

Fortunately (in owing to my chronic pain issues due to tendinitis and soft tissue injuries), I didn't have to open the box and set up the TV with Best Buy Geek Squad delivery and installation service who ensure you don't get an obvious lemon. Other kinds of defects require more scrutiny.

Anyhow, I was using my credit through BB after the debacle with the EF9500, so there was no option of a separate retailer. I wonder how one defines "more than acceptable banding." Also, how many hours are the TVs typically run? I would presume about 200 hours? That should do it and will probably be the direction I go in the future. These "black dots" didn't show until 25 hours. The convenience of local deliveries/returns begins to lose its luster after so many exchanges (and then you run the risk of landing on some list as a serial returner).

After having both an E6 and G6, I have seen pixel mortality in the first 50 hours akin to my experience with LG's first 1080p OLED. It stabilized after 1000 hours and suffered no more failures through the 5000 hours of usage it has now.

The EF9500 was fine in this regard (no pixel defects) at 1600 hours (when I gave it up for the E6). It's always something.

As a reminder of what's in the manual and why I think this will be a common occurrence (from the Safety and Reference pamphlet, and I quote):

*Dot Defect
- This panel is an advanced product that contains millions of pixels. In a very few cases, you could see fine dots on the screen while you're viewing the TV. Those dots are deactivated pixels and do not affect the performance and reliability of the TV.

The red and the green are not even noticeable with typical viewing, forgivable even. The white on the other hand is quite visible from 6 feet out. Both sets have suffered white failures, and it's quite annoying in a TV at this price point.

[Hobbun]

Robert may be able to answer the question more on the limit of acceptable banding for them. It’s just the impression I received when speaking to him is there is just banding known with these televisions and they have to have ‘some’ tolerance towards it as you won’t find any of them with absolutely none (banding).

As for the break-in, they do so for 200 hours. Sorry, should have clarified that in my first post. After 200 hours, you should be past any immediate issues popping up with the TV (like it sounds you’ve been experiencing). Anything else that happens is most likely going to be something much further down the road.

[vinnie97]

Thanks for your clarification. I figured it was something in the 200-hour vicinity. I edited the post above about 100 times, lol. Please refresh to see the latest. Like I had stated, these TVs behave more like their first 1080p models in terms of pixel failure (with more or all occurring within the first 100 hours of use and hopefully no more thereafter). After my experience, if one cares about pixel perfection, VE is probably the only way to go.

I also like your realistic approach to the presence of banding. I am to the point where I don't believe anyone who says they have none.

[Yappa]

What is happening with the sets not deemed acceptable by VE? Does LG take them back?

[Robert Zohn]

No, but so far it's not been a problem. We sold a few locally by showing the issue and we included the break-in and professional calibration to make the offer attractive.

So whenever we have a TV that does not pass q/c our local clients get the option of a factory sealed unit or inspecting the one we are breaking in with the free calibration for the same price. I did take one G6 home that we are loving in our dining room. And of course, we never planned on a TV in the dining room, but now we're loving it. We leave it on with beautiful 4K images and it's like having moving art while we're enjoying a nice dinner.

Here's our G6 in the dining room:

[punisher]

what's for dinner??..I'll bring the wine!!!!

[Robert Zohn]

When we first saw the failed G6, Wendy and I said at the same moment, we'll take it home and give it tender loving care. And it's true we LOVE this baby more than we could have even imagined.

It's got a high-end 2.2-channel audio system attached to it for when we want to use high-performance audio, but the G6 built-in audio is great for most of our video content listening. Sometimes we put up 4K Youtube eye candy with Hi-Res 2-channel audio from our Sony integrated amp and Def Tech Mythos STL Super Towers.

-Robert

[Hobbun]

Originally Posted by vinnie97

Thanks for your clarification. I figured it was something in the 200-hour vicinity. I edited the post above about 100 times, lol. Please refresh to see the latest. Like I had stated, these TVs behave more like their first 1080p models in terms of pixel failure (with more or all occurring within the first 100 hours of use and hopefully no more thereafter). After my experience, if one cares about pixel perfection, VE is probably the only way to go.

I also like your realistic approach to the presence of banding. I am to the point where I don't believe anyone who says they have none.

You have far more experience with the newer televisions than myself. The TV I am replacing is an old Sony SXRD, model year 2006. I’ve just been doing a ‘lot’ of reading online. Here, AVS, as well as reviews and articles. Been a long time coming deciding on my TV (E6). I almost purchased the 9500 last year, but with the plethora of issues that kept popping up in the owners threads I decided to hold off.

In regards to banding, that is again more from what I’ve been following online and there is just no way, at least at this time, to ‘fix’ it. You just hope for a TV that has very minimal, and maybe you won’t even notice it. Again, this may be a question better suited for Robert, but when speaking with him, where they do allow some tolerance for the banding in their QC, it is very minimal.

Maybe I should wait until after I get my TV before I make this next comment, but that’s one of the reasons I went through VE, as it would even be a pain if I bought a TV from a local retailer and found out it had heavy banding, or I went through what you are doing with the noticeable dying pixels, as well as any other issues. Then I still have to go through the hassle of exchange, even if the store is local. This is why I like the offer VE has in the break-in, QC and calibration. Of course it isn’t free, but it’s money well spent, IMO. Now if the TV comes unacceptable, then I will be retracting my statement. Although I don’t anticipate that happening. Right now it is scheduled to arrive next Tuesday.