Philips OLED950 vs LG OLED G6 (G64LW, G66LS)

OLED950 is a phenomenal TV for consuming content in HDR format, primarily thanks to the use of innovative Tandem OLED technology. With this technology, the screen can generate astronomical brightness levels, reaching over 2000 nits in movie scenes (on test patterns). This is an outstanding result that places the OLED950 model among the elite displays available on the market. However, it is worth noting a specific aspect of this solution – at moments when full-screen flashes of light appear, brightness can drop by as much as half. Nonetheless, it is important to highlight that levels above 1000 nits on a full screen are still an outstanding result. This allows HDR content to be displayed exactly as filmmakers intended, maintaining the dynamics and impact of bright scenes.

The use of Tandem OLED technology also brought tangible benefits in terms of colour reproduction, improving elements that traditional WOLED panels had issues with compared to QD-OLED competition. In the case of the OLED950, the colour gamut coverage is wider than in classic WOLED panels, reaching nearly 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space and a solid 82% of the demanding BT.2020 palette. While these results still do not match the highly refined achievements of QD-OLED panels, the difference becomes less noticeable during real-world use. We cannot deny that in the vast majority of films, colours look simply fantastic on this model – they are saturated, vibrant, and full of depth.

The LG G6 is currently one of the brightest OLEDs on the market. Its peak brightness reaches nearly 2500 nits and, best of all, this translates directly to real movie scenes. The TV flawlessly extracts details in the bright areas of the image. And this is regardless of whether we are talking about very small points in the form of stars in the sky or slightly larger elements on the screen. Naturally, with full-screen, uniformly white scenes, the brightness of the G6 drops due to the panel protection system (ABL). However, in real, varied movie shots, this value still hovers around an impressive 2000 nits, which can be considered a remarkable result. The coverage of the color palette also deserves praise. The new 2nd generation Tandem OLED panel has brought about only a cosmetic change, but still an improvement. The coverage of the DCI-P3 color space reaches nearly 99.5%, while the ultra-wide BT.2020 is around 84%. These are very good results, although it's important to remember one thing: at extremely high brightness levels, the volume of colors will be lower than in QD-OLED panels from Samsung Display due to the use of white sub-pixels (WOLED). However, in everyday content and most films, capturing this difference will be very difficult.

We tested the OLED950 model in Film mode. Although it is intended to be the best and most accurate preset on this television, in practice, it proved to be not without flaws. Interestingly, in the specimen we tested, the biggest challenge was not the white balance itself – although it did show a slight tendency to give the image a pinkish tint. The main issue lay in the way the television managed brightness, both in everyday SDR content and in demanding HDR scenes. Analysis of the gamma chart and the EOTF curve leads to one key conclusion: the television excessively exposes brightness in the lower registers. This results in the image appearing less contrasty than what the panel technology allows. Details in dark areas, which should remain perfectly dimmed (the characteristic "OLED black"), are simply unnecessarily highlighted and brightened. Fortunately, these errors can be corrected using the appropriate tools, so – as always – we proceeded with professional calibration.

We tested the LG G6 in the best factory mode for colour fidelity, which is FILMMAKER MODE. In the case of our test unit, this mode was reasonably well tuned straight out of the box. In SDR content, the only issue we noticed was the white balance, which leaned towards warmer tones. This made the image occasionally appear slightly yellowish, but overall, it wasn't a significant problem. The G6 performed a bit worse in HDR content. There, the white balance showed too much blue component. This caused the image to veer towards cooler shades, resulting in quite noticeable errors. As can be seen on our ColorChecker chart, the colours shifted towards these cooler registers. Nevertheless, considering the factory settings, the television presented a perfectly decent level. However, we know that OLED screens – particularly those from LG – respond exceptionally well to professional calibration, so we immediately proceeded to do just that.

As you can see, the OLED950, after a professional calibration process, becomes an absolutely phenomenal display that, without a shadow of a doubt, can be placed alongside the best televisions currently available in the world. This equipment needed only a professional touch to showcase its full potential and eliminate factory shortcomings. The residual errors in the Color Checker tests and the fidelity of the colour palette speak for themselves. We are dealing with an almost perfect device here. A true window to the world, offering image quality of the highest order.

After completing a professional calibration, we gained complete control over the panel, and we managed to align all parameters to nearly zero. We were able to tune the white balance perfectly, which removed the factory's cool and warm tints from the screen. The effects are visibly clear in the ColorChecker test – the average colour reproduction errors dropped below the critical value of 1-2. And what does this mean? PERFECT colours, without any distortion! However, as a reviewer’s duty, we must point out how the LG G6 arbitrarily manipulates brightness, which is due to the EOTF curve's behavior. When we look at the standard synthetic graph, it might seem that the line is quite straight. However, the situation changes when we turn on the measurement filter, which shows how the television interprets brightness in actual, moving film scenes (EOTF in MOVIES). Then, it is clear as day that some of the smallest fragments on the screen are slightly overly brightened by the algorithm. Of course, for the average viewer, such a deviation will practically go unnoticed, but in the test of such an expensive screen, it’s worth noting – especially since we are talking about a model that has huge aspirations for the title of the best television of the year.

Upscaling

In terms of the scaling of the image, the proprietary P5 processor performs just as well as in most of the manufacturer's models. Lower resolution content gains a very soft and plastic character. This presentation will certainly appeal to many people. However, if you prefer sharper contours, you can gently enhance them using the appropriate slider in the TV menu. In this aspect, it's really hard to nitpick. The image simply looks very good and additionally, there are no issues with overscan.

Smoothing and Distortion Reduction

The smoothing of tonal transitions performs somewhat worse. In the settings, we find an option called "Distortion Reduction." This allows for a three-level adjustment of the processor's intervention. Unfortunately, the Minimum setting works poorly and the smoothing effects are minimal. The Medium level gives a decent result, but it also begins to smooth out the details of the actors' skin. On the other hand, the Maximum setting works too aggressively. It removes far too many details from the face and background elements or can even eliminate film grain. To achieve the optimal effect, it's worth playing around with these settings at home and adjusting them to your liking. It might seem that the Medium option represents the best compromise here.

No matter what one might say about the G6's issues with near-black signal, it must be fairly acknowledged that it handles heavily compressed material and lower resolution content extremely well. All unwanted, ugly tonal transitions are effectively reduced here by the "Smooth Gradation" feature. At the "Low" setting, the algorithm works flawlessly – effectively masking the artifacts resulting from strong compression without destroying the sharpness and details in the frame. Higher levels of this feature do further smooth the image, but they start to blur the real texture elements of the objects, so we recommend keeping this slider at a low level. As for the actual upscaling to 4K, the processor does an excellent job – edge sharpness and detail reconstruction are at the highest level, and in this respect, the G6 is on par with the global leaders.

The motion reproduction on the OLED950 model is simply perfect. This is typical for screens of this kind (OLED 120Hz+), as the panel shows no motion blur at all. This allows us to enjoy perfect sharpness in practically any conditions. A significant part of this is due not only to the nature of organic technology itself. Equally important work is done here by the smoothing systems employed by the manufacturer.

The LG G6 is an OLED television, so in the category of motion fluidity, it traditionally deserves the highest marks. The TV supports very high refresh rates of up to 165 Hz in 4K resolution, but most importantly – there are absolutely no signs of blurring on the screen. The response time of the matrix is virtually instant, ensuring that dynamic images remain perfectly sharp.

OLED950 is almost the perfect television for gamers. This is due not only to the unique atmosphere created by the Ambilight system during gameplay. The most important aspect here is the solid hardware support. We literally have everything you would expect from a modern gaming display. The manufacturer has implemented two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. This gives us access to gaming in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. There is, of course, support for VRR technology and the automatic game mode ALLM. The device handles any HDR signal with ease, whether we’re using Dolby Vision or the HGiG standard.

We have access to all settings from one place thanks to the special Game Bar overlay. While this interface may not be the most graphically attractive on the market, it fully accomplishes its task. It displays all the important signal parameters and offers useful additions. Gamers can take advantage of the minimap zoom function or add a fixed crosshair on the screen, which can be seen as a small aid in online competition. The adjustment of contrast range also proves to be useful. It allows you to brighten shadows and achieve better visibility of enemies hiding in dark corners of the map.

The LG G6 is a true beast for gamers and one of the best-equipped TVs on the market in this regard. The manufacturer didn't compromise and equipped this model with four full HDMI 2.1 ports with a maximum bandwidth of 48 Gbps. This means that no matter which port you plug in your PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or powerful PC, you'll get the absolute maximum performance out of them.

The TV supports a full suite of gaming technologies: from VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), to AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. Let's add to that a remarkably low, almost imperceptible input lag and an excellently functioning game panel (Game Optimizer), which allows you to constantly monitor signal parameters. Gaming on this screen, with the perfect black of OLED and powerful refresh rates, is pure pleasure.