Ignacy Giżyński
The LG G5 was supposed to be a technological bomb. But right after its premiere, something went wrong. However, everything now indicates that the manufacturer has come to their senses and listened to users and reviewers!
At the turn of March/April, Phil Hinton – editor of AVForums and one of the most experienced television testers in the world – published his review of the LG G5, and it was not pleasant. The new OLED with a Tandem RGB panel was supposed to take the market by storm. However, it turned out that the Filmmaker mode, which was meant to be the most reference-grade and aligned with the creators' intentions, behaved... "strangely".
For bright blacks, issues with the smoothness of tonal transitions, errors in Dolby Vision and HDR10 – all of this led Hinton to reduce the score, and the internet agreed with the opinion about the LG G5. Something was amiss.
LG in mode: "we will fix everything"
Fortunately, LG did not ignore the criticism. On the contrary – the technical team got to work, and by April, the first beta versions of the new software appeared. Now, in June, after several updates, it can officially be stated: the LG G5 has been fixed.
The updated firmware (version 33.10.75) improves what hurt viewers the most:
Dolby Vision finally works as it should. Scenes from films shown in the AVForums video: A Quiet Place: Day One and Kung Fu Panda – previously full of artefacts: now look much better.
HDR10 also looks significantly better, although... not perfectly. In absolute darkness and during very demanding scenes (e.g. the tunnel in the film Pan), one can still spot slightly elevated blacks. But we are talking about details that 95% of users will not notice – especially in normal conditions, with a little light in the room.
And what about the gaming mode?
Phil Hinton in his entry doesn't mention a word about the gaming mode. This means that we still don't know if the errors with Dolby Vision and HDR10 have been fixed in games. For gamers, this is essential information, as many of them use consoles that support these HDR formats. For now, we have to wait for further tests.
Is this the end of the G5 problems?
Not quite. You can still detect subtle signs of dithering if you sit with your nose pressed against the screen in total darkness. But does anyone watch television like that? The most important thing is that the Filmmaker mode – the most purist one (designed for watching films) – finally works as it should. LG took on the criticism, improved what needed to be improved, and provided an update to everyone who purchased the G5.
The final version of the update is expected to be available for all G5 owners this June. And then... perhaps the reviews will improve? Soon, a copy of the LG G5 will arrive at our editorial office. We will examine it thoroughly – also in gaming mode – and assess whether the new firmware actually resolves all the issues!
Source: AVForums (Phil Hinton)
