Whereas different TV producers are touting 8K upscaling and MicroLED displays, LG’s highest and brightest consumer-prepared panel at CES 2018 is the LG Signature OLED W8 – a continuation of Closing Year’s W7 OLED that we beloved, now with a new ‘Alpha 9′ processor and Google Assistant. (LG Display, a sister firm to LG Electronics, has a brand new prototype Sixty Five-inch foldable OLED monitor – however that is a story for another article.)
Beyond the new additions of the processor and Google Assistant, the W8 comes geared up with a 4.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar hooked up via a flat cable that runs into the TV itself – the latter of which still measures in at an unbelievably skinny 2.57mm from entrance to again.
We noticed the TELEVISION ahead of the exhibit right through a in the back of-closed-doors demo and While LG’s newest flagship OLED doesn’t reinvent the wheel find it irresistible did in 2017, the Signature W8 OLED will seem to be to make minor enhancements on LG’s prime TELEVISION tech when it comes out later this Year.

Design

It Is laborious to stroll away unimpressed after spending time with the LG Signature OLED W8. It’s slim, fits seamlessly onto the wall and it comes with a Dolby Atmos soundbar. LG calls the design aesthetic ‘picture-on-wall’ and, put in front of a non-techy, it might undoubtedly supply the appearance of a beautiful artwork Display.
Last Yr, we had problems with the TELEVISION’s exclusive use of the soundbar as its major supply to route cables in and out of the TV. And While that’s a problem that persists this Yr, It Is one thing that now we have slowly warmed as much as. The soundbar – Whereas nonetheless now not being a real 5.1.2 resolution – has enough oomph to ship the proper sound to match the beautiful photography.
As Far As we know, like Last Yr’s TELEVISION, the W8 OLED won’t come with a stand. It Can Be wall-mount or bust. And While that might sound slightly scary to the non-AV enthusiasts out there, the W8 will rent the same mounting mechanism that it had Closing Year to permit supremely straightforward setup.
Finally, While many people bought serious about the HDMI 2.1 spec that was once solidified close to the top of Ultimate Yr, LG representatives advised us that it got here out a little bit too late to be integrated on any of this 12 Months’s fashions. We have been told that it might be that you can think of that one of the vital enhancements promised by way of the spec – like broadcast metadata interpretation and high frame charge (HFR) – might make their way into this Year’s models in the future via a device update, but 4K120 is not going to be going down on this Year’s models by the use of HDMI.

Sensible TELEVISION (webOS with Google Assistant)

Of Course, it wouldn’t be an OLED demo with out seeing the latest in webOS, the running system used on the vast majority of LG TVs.
This Yr’s flavor – referred to as webOS with Google Assistant – is identical in quite a few the way to Ultimate Yr’s webOS Three.5. Much of the format and content material highlighting options remain exactly the identical as they have been Final 12 Months.
The Difference between the two, however, is the addition of Google Assistant – which promises to deliver the identical experience you might be used to having in your telephone on the biggest monitor in the house.
The Benefits of Google Assistant embody the power to makes use of voice commands to keep watch over TV capabilities, search for content material over-the-air or on quite a lot of streaming partners, or keep watch over other connected IoT devices in the network. It Can Be like having a Google Dwelling constructed into your TELEVISION – and can be an especially useful feature for these of us with burgeoning Good homes.

Performance

Here’s the part where we usually espouse the goodness that is OLED panel know-how. We gush about the inky black ranges and, now, even more colorful images. Shall We discuss those issues advert nauseum, however you know all that already.
Instead of drowning you in yet every other rationalization of OLED’s many perks, let’s Instead talk concerning the improvements made from Last Year.
The Most outstanding development is LG’s use of the Alpha 9 processor for higher contouring between areas of vivid gentle and darkness (like, say an image of a moon on a dark evening) and movement processing. In a demo of the E8 OLED, we have been able to peer simply how smartly the new Alpha 9 processor stood up towards every other major OLED panel. Briefly, the OLED E8 was once now not handiest brighter, nevertheless it held up with the action higher, too, to ensure that pictures stayed clear because the digital camera panned from shot to shot of a cityscape.
The Alpha 9 processor will also let a huge leap within the seem to be-up table – a term you’ll be able to be listening to a lot from LG within the New Year. A Look-up desk is a approach to shade correct source enter. The Use Of what’s referred to as a 3D reference desk, colours may also be corrected on an individual foundation – if a blue is too blue, as an instance, it can be made less blue with out impacting the green or purple tones in the identical image. For this example, LG used a video of a parrot to indicate how readability and colour processing coalesced to create a extra refined, vibrant image.
And While image processing appears to have acquired a tremendous overhaul this time around, an LG consultant advised us the panels are more or less the same as the ones used Remaining Yr. That Suggests no change to the overall brightness of the panels – because of this HDR content material could seem to be more or less the identical as it did Remaining 12 Months, barring just a few minor tweaks.
Talking of HDR, the entire 8-Sequence OLEDs (the W8, G8, E8, C8 and B8) will all toughen 4 sorts of HDR codecs – HDR10, Dolby Vision, Advanced HDR via Technicolor and HLG. This May Occasionally work in tandem with LG’s proprietary HDR Professional and HLG Professional technology that works on a scene-via-scene basis to search out the correct steadiness between low-points and highlights.

Early verdict

Even Supposing It’s not an immense growth on Ultimate Year’s near-good W7 OLED, the W8 has plenty of promise. It’s Kind Of smarter and better taking a look with its new Alpha 9 processor powering Advanced clarity and shade processing, and While HDR Efficiency hasn’t bought a major increase in energy, it nonetheless seems to be wonderful in comparison with different competitor’s OLED screens.
We’re now not solely offered on the idea that the W8 will spin circles around the competition this Year – especially given the truth that no tangible improvements have been made to the panel itself – but we’re confident in announcing that the W8 is frequently important of a spot on your wall when it releases later this Year around the spring.