Page 39 - 2022-08-01 Sound & Vision

bu ons or voice commands via switched on, so I le TruMotion off
Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa,
or the voice control system built
into the remote. The remote has
never been one of my favorites
because it isn’t backlit, making it
too easy to hit the wrong bu on
in the dark, though I’ve become
accustomed to it over time. I’m also
not a big fan of LG’s WebOS Smart
TV platform but it’s serviceable
and, like the remote, I’ve become
used to it even if I’ve never grown
to love it.
SETUP
A variety of picture modes are
available on the G2, including ISF
Expert Bright, ISF Expert Dark, and
Filmmaker, which I used for viewing
standard dynamic range (SDR) and
HDR10 content. The Filmmaker
and ISF modes are not selectable
for Dolby Vision sources, so I used
the default Cinema Home: Dolby
Vision Select for those.
Like its G1 predecessor, the G2
includes LG’s TruMotion feature,
which offers several se ings
through a sub-menu that’s easy to
miss (you have to scroll down to at
the bo om of the Clarity menu to
get to it). There you’ll find se ings
for De-Judder and De-Blur, both
individually adjustable, and
Cinema Movement, which is
said to reduce motion blur while
minimizing the infamous Soap
Opera Effect that makes 24fps film-
based content look like video. I’m
sensitive to the effect, which was
still visible with Cinema Movement
finally released later this year).
for all of my calibrating and critical
viewing. Filmmaker mode boots
up with TruMotion turned off, but
you’ll need to turn it off manually in
Dolby Vision.
All of the G2’s Picture Modes
offer 2-, 10-, and 22-point White
Balance adjustments plus LG’s
Fine Tune color-management
se ings. Out of the box, the LG
G2 measured so close to ideal that
no active calibration was required
for either SDR or HDR10. That was
totally unexpected—a first for us,
in fact—but I wouldn’t assume that
every sample will test as well. See
Test Bench for more on this. The
program material referenced below
was on either standard Blu-ray or
Ultra HD Blu-ray.
HD/SDR PERFORMANCE
I was never a big fan of Avatar
(it’s basically Dances with Wolves
with a bit of FernGully: The Last
Rainforest thrown in), but no one
has ever said it’s a visually boring
film—it popped beautifully on the
LG. The fun starts with a bright
spaceship travelling against a dark
a star field. Star fields have always
been eye grabbers on OLED TVs
and this one was no different.
The exceptional resolution of the
G2 occasionally underscored
the film’s 2009 CGI origins, but
never enough to be off-pu ing.
The planet Pandora was brilliantly
captured on the LG. The dark night
scenes, in particular, were rich,
deep, and clear, with brilliantly
glowing foliage suggesting that
Pandora was at its visual best a er
dark—apart from the occasional
pack of snarling, toothy wolves.
The LG never shortchanged any of
this. (Why has this film never been
released in 4K/HDR? I suspect
we will find out when the sequel is
now vintage, LG E7. And as with
One of my favorite films is Anony- OLEDs in general, the G2 continues
mous, a visit to the Tudor England to offer dark-scene detail and abso-
that gave us Shakespeare. Visually, lute blacks that no other affordable
it’s mostly a very dark film, heavily type of display can currently match.
overlaid with the sepia tones As officer K and Deckard face off in
common to period movies. It was a the showroom of a gone-to-seed
difficult film to optimize on the LG. Las Vegas hotel, the bright lights
I had to do a li le post-calibration of holographic performers flash
juggling with some of the G2’s intermi ently around them. And
various Brightness adjustments when K confronts a replicant in the
to minimize crushed blacks. This la er’s shack, I was able to follow
included increasing the gamma the action even in the scene’s near
se ing to 2.2 from the usually darkness.
recommended standard, BT.1886. But no disc I watched showed
I eventually arrived at se ings that off the HDR capabilities of the
made the film’s extensive shadow G2 quite as strikingly as Encanto.
detail and many candlelit scenes Packed with vivid color and
believable. sparkling highlights, it would take
Moving to A Knight’s Tale, a very a review far longer than this to
different medieval film, brought a describe how impressive this film
major leap in video performance. looks when viewed on a display
A story of jousting matches and as accomplished as the G2. It can
finding your way, the film makes no do justice to the bright highlights
pretense to period accuracy but without compromising deep blacks
nonetheless is brilliantly photo- and shadow details. The gloom
graphed and in some ways supe- of Bruno’s “room” was dark and
rior to Avatar, which was saddled foreboding, while the sparkling
with having to mix live action with gold of the casita’s magic doors
2009 CGI (no ma er how bril- shone brilliantly.
liantly it was done). I experienced
gorgeous imagery from begin- CONCLUSION
ning to end without having to futz
around with controls. The picture As I commented in last year’s
was bright, crisp, naturally colorful, review of LG’s G1, it’s ge ing harder
and detailed throughout. And the to discriminate between today’s
colors were dead accurate, particu- flagship Ultra HD OLED TVs. But
larly green foliage and skin tones, with the G2’s increase in available
where it’s easy to spot errors. brightness, particularly in HDR,
OLED has reached another level.
UHD/HDR10 PERFORMANCE Yes, there will always be new
advances. I had an uncle, back in
Blade Runner 2049 is a favorite the day, who put off buying a color
for evaluations and was ideal for TV “until they perfected it!” I’m not
showing off the LG G2’s capabili- sure he ever bought one. There are
ties. I’m normally averse to features competing technologies today that
such as the Auto Dynamic Contrast can exceed the G2’s higher bright-
control in the G2’s Advanced ness, but not its black levels and
Se ings > Brightness menu. But off-center viewing. No display is
as with last year’s G1, the HDR10 perfect, but the LG G2 comes pre y
images on the G2 looked a li le darn close.
crushed at first, a problem I was
able to correct by turning the
Auto Dynamic Contrast to Low The Verdict
(and sometimes Medium, though
the la er looked only marginally With its upgraded evo technology
different than Low). and new heat sink, the G2 Gallery
With that done, Blade Runner Edition punches through the bright-
2049 was a treat on the G2. The ness limitations associated with
movie is full of bright highlights OLED displays while retaining the
that really pop with the higher peak vivid color, stunning blacks, and
brightness the set offers over most off-center viewing that have long
earlier OLEDs, including my own, been the prime appeals of OLED.
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