Compare: LG OLED G4 vs TCL A300W NXTVision

LG G4 is a strong contender for being the best television of 2024. With the combination of OLED black and MLA technology, we obtain an incredibly dynamic and vivid image, which will certainly captivate us completely. LG G4 is also proof that televisions equipped with an OLED panel supported by MLA technology are indeed suitable for viewing in a sunny room. The operating system, while not as open as the competition, offers many possibilities. Its greatest advantage is the well-known remote control with a pointer, which makes controlling the unit (in our opinion) one of the most convenient on the market. The factory colour reproduction, although not at a high level, after the calibration process, can be referred to as a reference screen, delivering a truly cinematic image. It is no coincidence that post-production studios choose televisions from this manufacturer. They alone offer such deep intervention possibilities in the image, thanks to 3D LUT calibration. It seems that the biggest (and perhaps only) disadvantage of this television is tonal transitions, which, although far from ideal, cannot be said to take away the pleasure of viewing. The remedy is provided by the manufacturer itself, and enabling the "Smooth Gradation" function will eliminate the vast majority of the stuttering. LG G4 also performs very well when watching various sports or other dynamic scenes. The motion smoother is extremely advanced and allows for tailoring the smoothing to one's needs. Thanks to HDMI 2.1 ports with their full functionality and the manufacturer's attention to detail, the tested television will find its place in the homes of many avid gamers. Every essential feature works flawlessly, and the low input lag in every mode is very pleasing. In summary, LG G4 is an extremely versatile television, allowing for entertainment in excellent quality both at night and during the day.

At first glance, it is clear that the TCL A300 NXTVision aims to be more than just an ordinary television. It offers an image display mode that – unlike its competitors from Korea, Samsung The Frame – is completely free. Additionally, just like its rivals, it comes with freebies. In the packaging, besides the television, we find extra frames mimicking light wood and a flat wall mount, allowing the television to actually resemble a gallery piece. In terms of everyday use, the standout feature is the Google TV system – extensive, quick, and offering access to a vast number of applications. And if we feel like stepping out of the digital museum and jumping straight into the world of gaming, the A300 can surprise us. Two HDMI 2.1 ports, 144 Hz, VRR, ALLM, and very low input lag ensure that even demanding gamers can feel at home here. Well... perhaps except for those who are sensitive to motion blur – as this remains one of the major issues with this model. There are also downsides. Although the image mode is free – and that is worth appreciating – the quality of the available graphics is clearly lacking compared to what Samsung offers in its paid ART Store. The displayed images resemble photos rather than realistic reproductions of artworks. Unfortunately, the A300 – like the rival Hisense S7NQ – performs poorly here and additionally has certain software issues. The brightness of the television itself also leaves much to be desired – it is the darkest television of the entire "frame trio," which translates to average experiences during the day and limited HDR effect. Nevertheless, the TCL A300 NXTVision is quite a reasonable alternative to Samsung The Frame or S7NQ – especially if we are looking for a cheaper solution without additional fees for access to the "gallery" mode and with an operating system that does not limit us in terms of the number of applications. However, it is essential to remember that this is a proposition with a significant amount of compromises. If we want to save a bit and do not expect top-notch picture quality, then the A300 could be a hit in the picture stakes. Otherwise, it is worth taking a look at its competition.

LG G4, thanks to its OLED panels produced for over 10 years, delivers perfect results in contrast, black levels, and detail reproduction in the darkest scenes. It is worth noting that the panel itself is equipped with MLA (Micro Lens Array) technology, which LG showcased just a year ago during the launch of its predecessor. The use of organic matrix allows not only for achieving pitch-black levels but also for an extraordinary immersion and three-dimensional effect of the image, which is hard to find even in the best Mini LED televisions. Such image quality is closely correlated with OLED matrix technology, as each pixel is controlled by an electric impulse rather than by blocking filters on the panel. Therefore, if we want to achieve true black, the pixel is not turned on at all. This is clearly visible in test images, where the spotlight provides high brightness while being perfectly separated from each other. The situation does not change in the demanding scene from "Sicario 2," where no imperfections are visible in the form of dimming zone issues that we may encounter in LCD televisions.

The TCL A300, also known as NXTVision, uses a VA panel, so right from the start, one could expect decent contrast. On our test charts, the television indeed showed typical results for this type of panel – in the best case, the contrast reached around 5000:1, which is not a bad result for this segment.

However, it should be noted that the model is not equipped with any local dimming technology, which unfortunately is noticeable in practice. The black levels, though quite deep at times, often lean towards navy blue or grey – especially in darker scenes. In short: for a television without local dimming, it's not bad, but it cannot be compared to models that already have this feature on board.

LG G4 guarantees an incredibly vivid HDR effect, placing the television among the very best. The equipment of the highest model in the producer's 2024 portfolio with the second generation of micro-lens technology (MLA) has achieved a maximum brightness level of 1474 nits in real scenes. The only area where the product from the Korean manufacturer may lag behind LCD televisions with Mini LED backlighting is during the full-screen scenes featuring a lot of white. If we disregard the latter type of scene, the average result would be even higher. It is also worth mentioning scenes with very fine details, where each one shines at full intensity, which is not as evident in non-OLED televisions. The combination of such brightness and wide coverage of the DCI-P3 palette makes HDR materials more engaging than ever before.

When it comes to brightness, the TCL A300W is definitely the darkest television among all frame-style models, such as Samsung The Frame or Hisense CanvasTV – and unfortunately, this is immediately noticeable. In our measurements, the peak luminance reached a mere 400 nits, and on test film patterns, this value dropped to 350 nits. This is definitely too little to experience the true “magic” of bright HDR effects. As a consolation – the television is equipped with a PFS LED coating (which is something like QLED), providing very good coverage of a wide colour gamut, both DCI-P3 and BT.2020. In addition, it has full support for all popular HDR formats – HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision – which somewhat compensates for the lack of brightness and helps improve the overall perception of content in this quality.

The best factory mode in terms of colour reproduction was "Filmmaker". This was the one we used during our tests. Let's check how its characteristics looked before the calibration process. Looking closely at the white balance first, we can notice a significant dominance of red and green. As a result, the image had a warm yellowish hue. Such characteristics are typically observed in "Cinema", "Filmmaker" or similarly named modes. The effect of this colour balance was clearly visible in both SDR and HDR content, which after switching from "Standard" mode appeared distinctly yellow. Now, let's move on to two graphs that are responsible for the brightness characteristics and consequently the contrast of the image. The first one (Gamma), representing materials with a standard colour palette, performed decently. For most of the time, midtones and bright whites were reproduced very accurately; however, it noticeably lost the darkest details, which merged into a black blob. Conversely, HDR materials, represented by the EOTF curve graph, exhibited a significant drop in contrast due to a strong boost in brightness. The colours themselves also posed a problem, as can be seen on the "ColorChecker" graph, since they were noticeably under-saturated.

TCL A300 offers several picture modes, but without a doubt, the best is the movie mode. Unfortunately, although it is the best option available, it is not free from errors. In both HD and HDR content, the image has a noticeably too warm hue - it leans slightly towards pink, which is particularly noticeable in scenes with snow. Instead of pure white, we get a pinkish tint that spoils the natural perception of colours.

The management of brightness is also not very good. In the case of older HD material, the image often seems too dark - which is confirmed by the inflated gamma value. Conversely, with HDR content, the effect is the opposite - the image is overly bright, which we observed in scenes from the film Pan. Such a lack of consistency also affects the accuracy of colour reproduction - a test with the ColorChecker showed that many samples clearly deviate from the reference values.

Fortunately, TCL allows for manual adjustment of settings, so we decided to check how the television would perform after our professional calibration. The effects of this adjustment are described below.

The manufacturer has implemented extensive support for the calibration process in its LG televisions for many years. We therefore used 2- and 20-point greyscale adjustments, as well as an advanced CMS (Colour Management System), and got to work. As you can see, thanks to the procedure carried out, each parameter has significantly improved. The use of tools allowed for the achievement of extremely beneficial effects, which include: studio colour reproduction, recovery of details in dark areas of the image, appropriate brightness characteristics, and suitable colour saturation. This brings us as close as possible to the reference image, which is what the film director saw on the preview monitor. It is worth noting that the LG G4 televisions alone allow for even deeper intervention in image quality thanks to the ability to calibrate with 3D LUTs. However, this is a solution recommended only for post-production or graphic studios.

After our professional calibration, the TCL A300 has literally received a new lease of life. The image has stopped being too warm, and the colours finally look as they should – which was confirmed by the ColorChecker test, where the colour samples finally started to hit their marks, at least to some reasonable extent. It was also possible to partially correct the brightness management – the image is now more balanced and less "wobbly" between different types of content. Of course, certain limitations cannot be overcome – a slightly noticeable blooming effect is still present, but that is a characteristic of the technology and not something that can be eliminated even after professional settings.

Generally speaking: after calibration, the A300 performs significantly better and gains a completely new quality.

The tonal transitions presented on LG G4 are not among the best. Each scene played from a BluRay disc with 10-bit HDR exhibited clear inconsistencies in colour transitions. This is particularly noticeable in the case of the film "The Green Knight", where issues related to posterisation were especially evident. This effect could also be observed in films of moderate and high brightness, such as "The Martian" and "Kingsman", which is rarely seen in televisions (especially of this class), which surprised us. Such results suggest that in scenes of low luminance with a large amount of black, this issue will be bothersome, even for a layperson.

TCL A300 NXTVision is another frame-style television that handles transitions of tones really well. It's hard to find distinct bands or sharp transitions between shades of the same colour – the overall appearance is natural and smooth.

However, it must be admitted that among the three tested models (The Frame and S7NQ), TCL performs the worst in this category. In darker and lighter scenes, slight imperfections can be noticed. Nonetheless, looking at it as a whole, for a television in this price range – it presents itself really solidly. It may not be the best of the bunch, but it maintains a very good level.

The tested television did not perform particularly well with materials rich in tonal transitions, as a result of which we could observe a strong posterisation effect. However, there is a partial remedy for this issue. The manufacturer has equipped the LG G4 with a smoothing system called "Gentle Gradation," which we can apply at three levels: Low, Medium, and High. Each of these options guarantees quite a high effectiveness of smoothing on light colours, although it is low on darker ones. We recommend primarily using the first one, as the other two interfere with the director's intentions by removing film grain.

When watching lower-quality materials, the efficiency of the television during upscaling is extremely important. The image from the tested television is sharp and clear. However, one should pay attention to the jagged edges of fine details and minor issues around characters, such as the creation of halo effects, which occurs due to the sharpening imposed by LG G4 even when the lowest value on the slider, that is 0, is set. It is worth noting that this represents a certain change compared to the LG G3, which did not impose such strong image sharpening, even when the appropriate slider was set to position 0.

TCL A300 handles tonal transitions in high-quality films very well, but the question arises – how does it perform with weaker material? The television is equipped with a tonal transition smoothing function, but its effectiveness can be described in one word: "random." In one scene it could work and improve the gradation, but when turned off… the effect remains the same. There is a lack of consistency and predictability.

Image scaling is also not one of A300's strong points. On the test chart, the main character actually looked better than on the raw signal, but with thin lines – such as fonts or background details – there was noticeable jaggedness and aliasing. On the positive side, the television does not crop the image and has no problems with overscan, but the overall quality of scaling is rather average.

The maximum refresh rate that we can set on the LG G4 is 144 Hz. Naturally, this is only possible when the LG G4 is connected to a very powerful PC. Otherwise, we will operate at a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz, which is recommended if we primarily want to watch sports or content with high motion dynamics. For those requiring high image fluidity, the manufacturer has implemented a multi-level motion smoother called "TrueMotion". This has been divided into two separate sliders that adjust the sharpness of moving images (De-Blur) and judder (De-Judder). Both sliders can be set in the range from 0 to 10, with each level affecting the degree of smoothness, allowing everyone to find their golden mean.

The LG OLED G4 panel features an average response time of 0.78 ms (as directly derived from our measurements), enabling an incredibly clear image, unattainable by LCD televisions, which can have response times of several milliseconds. This is perfectly illustrated by the images from the "UFO Test", which show no trailing blur behind the object. Moreover, the LG OLED G4 test revealed that the television offers the ability to precisely adjust the motion smoothing function, allowing users to select the ideal level of image interpolation. We particularly appreciated this during fast-paced actions in video games, where the LG G4 performed exceptionally well, minimising any blurring. Thanks to OLED technology, this model eliminates so-called ghosting, ensuring that the image remains sharp even in the most dynamic sporting or cinematic scenes.

The TCL A300 is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, which should immediately satisfy practically everyone – both gamers and sports fans. The motion is smooth and the image is clear even during fast-paced scenes. Additionally, the television offers motion enhancement functionality called "Motion," where we find two sliders on a 10-point scale. These allow you to adjust the effect to your own preferences – from a classic, cinematic look with visible frames to a very smooth (though somewhat unnatural) image reminiscent of soap opera effects. This way, everyone can find a setting that suits them.

The LG G4 television supports all the features that make up the HDMI 2.1 standard. During testing, each of them activated without the slightest problem, which allows us to consider the television as designed for gaming. Their functionality will surely be appreciated by both console users and those connecting the LG G4 to a computer. It is also worth mentioning the correct implementation of the HGIG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) mode, which ensures that games mastered to brightness levels exceeding the maximum luminance of the LG G4 will correctly map tones, and the game's visuals will remain true to the original.

A nice touch is the existence of a special GameBar, which we can call up at any moment to check game parameters, but most importantly, to change them quickly. More importantly, enabling VRR technology does not degrade contrast, which is very common in televisions that feature local dimming or Mini LED backlighting. Of course, this is thanks to the OLED panel itself, characterised by pixel self-emission. As a matter of editorial obligation, we will only mention a slight grey flicker, which is somewhat normal after enabling VRR.

In summary, the LG G4, like practically all OLED televisions, is an ideal product for all kinds of games and online competitions. With fully-fledged HDMI 2.1 connections with a full bandwidth of 48 Gbit, features such as VRR, ALLM, G-Sync, FreeSync, or gaming in HDR Dolby Vision will bring much joy.

TCL A300 is a television designed not only to transport us to a digital art museum but also to a full-fledged gaming world. Here, we find practically everything one could expect from gaming equipment: two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, 144 Hz refresh rate, VRR support, and ALLM.

The proper implementation of the HGIG mode also deserves praise – something that competitor Hisense sometimes struggles with. The television easily handles lower resolutions (e.g., Full HD) while maintaining high refresh rates, which older console or PC owners will appreciate.

In addition, there is an attractive and clear GameBar that facilitates quick access to settings for gamers. The A300 is really well-prepared for top-level gaming – it's just a shame that issues with smearing slightly tarnish its overall image as a gaming device.

The input lag of the LG G4 is at an incredibly low level in every scenario. Even the most passionate gamers will undoubtedly appreciate the very low input lag at demanding 4K 120 Hz settings with HDR, measuring just 5 ms. It is also worth noting that the lag at the same settings but with Dolby Vision HDR enabled remains unchanged, which is not as obvious in the competition. Therefore, it deserves the highest score and recommendation.

In terms of input lag, the TCL A300 performs really well. Values below 10 ms at a refresh rate of 120 Hz are something many gamers dream of – such low lag is practically unnoticeable, both during everyday gaming and in more demanding e-sports titles. One might criticise the result of 23 ms in Dolby Vision mode at 60 frames, but it is still a sufficiently low value that it's hard to have serious objections. In this category, the A300 really excels.

LG G4 combined with a PC performs excellently, thanks to its very low latency of just 5 ms, which is practically an instantaneous response between the mouse, the eye, and the screen. A crucial aspect when working on a screen is the readability of text, which in the case of the tested television is very good.

The RWBG pixel layout does not significantly impact the display of fonts or letters, which is a significant advantage over Samsung's QD-OLED panels. Users of both Windows and macOS equipped computers will certainly be pleased with the performance on the tested television LG G4.

If we plan to use the TCL A300 as a monitor for a computer, we may be pleasantly surprised. The television performs really well in this role. It is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, supports G-Sync, and, as we have already mentioned, offers very low input lag, so gaming on it with a connected PC is a pure pleasure.

Working with text is also possible, though with some limitations. The TCL A300 has slight issues displaying dark fonts and thin lines – this stems from the subpixel structure, which in everyday use can be somewhat bothersome, although it looks better in photos than in reality.

The television supports chroma 4:4:4, but only up to 120 Hz. Therefore, we have indicated that this feature is available, but with a limitation – if we care about perfectly readable fonts, it is advisable to stick to a refresh rate of 120 Hz. At 144 Hz, the sharpness of the text may suffer slightly.

The undeniable advantage of OLED screens equipped with MLA technology is their efficiency when viewed from different angles. There are no noticeable changes to the eye, regardless of where we are viewing from. This type of screen maintains consistent brightness, saturation, and white tone, in contrast to LCD matrices or OLEDs without micro-lens array (MLA) technology. The only matrices that can rival them are those produced by Samsung Displays, using quantum dot technology, namely QD-OLED.

The viewing angles on the TCL A300 NXTVision are – let's be honest – mediocre. The television is equipped with a VA panel, which inherently has rather limited angles and unfortunately this is evident here. The video below speaks for itself – even a slight deviation from the axis results in a noticeable drop in contrast and colour saturation. It's a shame that this is yet another frame-style television that has done absolutely nothing about it. After all, we don't always have the opportunity to sit perfectly straight on – especially if the device is also intended to serve a decorative function in the living room.

The glossy coating of the panel in LG G4, although it sounds like a negative, is in fact the opposite. Thanks to it, the LG G4 television maintains very high efficiency and effectively suppresses all reflections, "holding" them only at their source. It is also worth mentioning the quality of black during the day, which in the case of WRGB panels produced by LG Displays is outstanding. OLED MLA panels, despite a large number of advantages, are somewhat worse in this case, but still better in the context of competition from Samsung, whose QD-OLED panels grey out when triggered by light. The combination of brightness at around 500 nits and a glossy coating allows for daytime use of the television, unless the user has a living room with large glazing.

The TCL A300 NXTVision is equipped with a matte panel very similar to the one found in one of its Chinese competitors – the Hisense S7NQ model. Such a surface handles reflections fairly well, although it must be said that it performs worse than Samsung's The Frame, which offers a significantly higher level in this regard. As is often the case with matte displays, blacks lose their depth during the day and appear more gray than black – and this is no different here. Unfortunately, the fact that the A300 is the darkest television of the three tested does not help either. As a result, it has a real problem standing out in brightly lit rooms.

LG uses the well-known proprietary WebOS system, which has been around for many years. The system itself offers practically all the most important applications, and those that are missing can be counted on one hand, such as CDA and KODI.

WebOS also boasts a highly regarded feature that allows users to perform operations using a cursor that appears when the remote is moved. The convenience provided by this function is invaluable when typing queries or passwords for portals. WebOS, like most systems, also supports functions such as screen mirroring, AirPlay, voice search in Polish, and the ability to connect headphones via Bluetooth. On a more practical note, WebOS allows us to use both headphones and the LG G4 television speaker simultaneously, which will certainly be a great convenience for those with hearing impairments. Among the more interesting features, particularly appreciated by sports fans, is the ability to set an alert for upcoming matches, ensuring that we never miss a broadcast. The home panel also deserves praise, allowing control of all smart devices connected to the home network. For example, the end of a washing cycle will be signalled by a notification in the top right corner.

In summary, the WebOS system, although less known and having certain limitations compared to Android TV, offers stable and fast performance and supports most functions that may be needed by users. It is a solid solution for those looking for a simple and effective operating system in their television.

The TCL A300 is a television styled to resemble a painting, which can successfully masquerade as a work of art during everyday use, hanging on the wall. It is equipped with a special image display mode, additional frames in a light wood tone, and a flat wall mount that allows the television to be hung like a true picture – flush against the wall.

A significant advantage of the image mode is that it is completely free. We have access to dozens of works from which we can choose the one to be displayed in standby mode – instead of a black screen, the picture we selected remains on the wall. The quality of the graphic reproductions is decent, but it must be admitted that it clearly falls short of that from the Samsung ART Store. Although access to images there is paid, the quality of the scans is significantly better – you can see the texture of the paint, the canvas, and the details. In the TCL A300, it resembles high-quality photographs more than realistic reproductions of artworks. Additionally, the implementation of the image mode in the system leaves much to be desired. For example – if we set the brightness in image mode to 10%, that same value automatically transfers to the normal viewing mode, where we could comfortably set the brightness to 50% or even 100%. This works in the opposite direction too – when we set the brightness to 100% in normal mode, switching to gallery mode displays the images with that same maximum brightness, shining too intensely and losing the entire effect of a “picture on the wall.” These are minor but annoying errors that can ruin the experience of what was intended to be visually subtle and elegant.

Moving on to more classic features – the A300 runs on the Google TV system, which currently offers by far the largest selection of applications (the full list available below). The well-functioning voice assistant with support for the Polish language is also a major plus. As standard – as in most TCL televisions – the USB recording function or picture-in-picture (PiP) mode is missing.

The default media player on the LG G4 performs well with most image types, although the absence of a few equally popular ones is surprising. It successfully plays videos recorded in practically all the most popular formats, including Dolby Vision. The only codec that the G4 cannot play is H.266 VVC, although this is currently rather unused. However, attention should be paid to the supported image formats, of which there are only two: JPEG and PNG. Users of Apple devices may feel disappointed by the lack of support for the HEIC format, which is the default format for photos taken. A remedy for this is to use the built-in AirPlay feature. We will also mention the lack of support for TXT subtitles.

The built-in player in the TCL A300 works as it should – most popular video and photo files play without any issues. There is a lack of support for the HEIC format from Apple (which is quite common in many televisions), but most users still use AirPlay, so this shouldn't be a major problem. If someone is not satisfied with the default player, the Google TV system offers considerable options – it's easy to install an alternative app that better suits our tastes. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that the factory solution is entirely sufficient for everyday use.

The assessment of sound quality remains always subjective. However, we must give LG G4 credit for maintaining a fairly good level of sound clarity. The biggest drawback of the built-in audio system in the television is the low bass range. However, this must be viewed from a different perspective — anyone choosing this television will likely have a home cinema system. In this case, broad support for audio codecs, including DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Atmos, will prove crucial.

When it comes to sound, the TCL A300W – like its competitors – plays quite... flat, after all, we are talking about a super flat television. For everyday watching of news or series, this level is entirely sufficient, but during film screenings, we may clearly miss depth and space. On the plus side, it is worth noting that the television supports both Dolby Atmos and the increasingly rare DTS:X – which offers more options when connecting an external audio system. It is also worth mentioning that the A300 PRO model has been equipped with a dedicated, flat soundbar. And not just any soundbar – it performs better than most of the televisions we have tested.

LG OLED G4 vs TCL A300W NXTVision

Advantages

Disadvantages

Our verdict

TV appearance

Where to buy

Contrast and black detail

HDR effect quality

Factory color reproduction

Color reproduction after calibration

Smoothness of tonal transitions

Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions

Blur and motion smoothness

Console compatibility and gaming features

Input lag

Compatibility with PC

Viewing angles

TV efficiency during daytime

Details about the matrix

TV features

Playing files from USB

Apps

Sound