Redakcja Choose TV
We have seen and conducted the first tests for you of probably the most popular OLED television of the year (2026) – LG OLED C6. We measured the brightness for you, will take a deeper look at changes related to image processing, and we also have other treats. Ready for the first impressions? Then we invite you to our mini-review.
LG OLED C6 Appearance. Copy-paste from last year
Let’s start with what’s visible at first glance, which is... nothing new. In terms of appearance, LG has practically changed nothing here. The C6 looks exactly the same as it has for the past two years – just like the C4 and C5 models. We apologise to some, but we are running out of words for all these new shades of black and grey on the backs of the C series. Nevertheless, it must still be said that the look of the C6 is timeless and it's hard to have any objections here. You simply can’t reinvent the wheel. 😉
LG C6: Significant brightness upgrade vs C5
Standard sizes, namely 55 and 65 inches, will be brighter attention... by approximately 400 nits in movie scenes! This is over 50% more than the previous C5 series. Our colleagues from the lab checked this on test panels and although they conducted the measurements somewhat "on the fly" in demonstration conditions, the results are unequivocal. This is no longer just a light cosmetic change; it's a huge leap in brightness that makes the C series start to challenge the flagship models from previous years. Of course, this takes into account that these tests are preliminary results of what we (hopefully) can expect. For full-fledged tests, some will have to wait a bit longer.
Synthetic tests: SDR is also on the rise
For the sake of order, we also checked the synthetic tests and here as well, a clear improvement can be seen. You know well that we are not fans of conducting "white tile" tests and using this as the main argument for or against a television. Moreover, our test results on film materials vs the results of other foreign editorial offices (which measure only black and white patterns) best demonstrate why we have such an approach.
Nevertheless, we carry out such measurements for reference to assess the overall brightness in the SDR test. So for those interested – in the panel L20 (which is a white square occupying 10% of the screen area) the brightness reached over 700 nits. This is about 100 nits more in SDR content than in the C5 model. This is a great sign, as the new C series will therefore handle daytime viewing even better, making it a typical "everyday" television for a bright living room.
C6H: Tandem OLED lands in showrooms
The real bombshell, however, is the C6 Hyper, that is the C6 variant available in 77 and 83 inches. We have received confirmation (unfortunately it was not present at the presentation 😞) that these powerful screens in Poland will utilise a Tandem OLED panel. This technology has been directly carried over from last year’s flagship G5. It seems that the C6H might be the most cost-effective large television of 2026. When purchasing a large C-series, you get premium quality picture without having to pay extra for the G or W series. We just hope that LG does not dull the strength of this model.
Alpha 11 Processor and Improved Tone Mapping
The biggest novelty in the upcoming W6, G6 but also C6 is not the brightness itself, but the new Alpha 11 processor with native 13-bit colour processing. For the uninitiated: WOLED televisions have always had a problem with so-called posterisation. These are the ugly, jagged bands in the sky during sunsets. Thanks to the new processor, the issue with banding has been significantly improved. The difference is enormous! Additionally, there is better tone mapping, which allows the television to manage white details in HDR10 without the aid of Dynamic Tone Mapping or Dolby Vision.
Is it worth waiting for the LG OLED C6 and C6H
The LG C6 and C6H are shaping up to be devices that in 2026 could undermine the value of purchasing more expensive models. The jump of 500 nits in HDR is an argument that is hard to refute for the classic version C, and the announcement of the Hyper version with even greater brightness only fuels the desire to pre-order it. So is it worth doing? We would advise waiting for a display of strength from the competition, which is also not resting. However, everything indicates that the C6 could be a developmental driver for mid-range OLEDs. And we have been waiting for such progress for years.
