Katarzyna Petru
The LG G5 was supposed to be a technological sensation. But right after its premiere, something went wrong. Now, however, everything indicates that the manufacturer has come to its senses and listened to users and reviewers!
At the turn of March/April, Phil Hinton – editor of AVForums and one of the most experienced TV testers in the world – published his review of the LG G5, and it wasn't 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 supposed to be the most reference-like and true to the creators' intent, behaves... "strangely".
For overly bright blacks, issues with the smoothness of tonal transitions, errors in Dolby Vision and HDR10 – all of this led Hinton to lower the score, and the internet agreed with his opinion on the LG G5. Something was off.
LG in "we'll fix everything" mode
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 be officially stated: 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 the movies that can be seen in the AVForums film: A Quiet Place: Day One and Kung Fu Panda – previously full of artifacts: now look much better.
HDR10 also looks significantly better, although... not perfectly. In absolute darkness and with very demanding scenes (e.g., the tunnel in the film Pan) it's still possible to spot slightly elevated blacks. But we're talking about details that 95% of users will not notice – especially in normal conditions, with soft light in the room.
And what about the gaming mode?
Phil Hinton does not mention a word about the gaming mode in his post. This means we still do not know if the issues with Dolby Vision and HDR10 have been fixed in games. This is important information for gamers, 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 G5's problems?
Not quite. Subtle traces of dithering can still be noticed if you're sitting with your nose against the screen in total darkness. But does anyone watch TV like that? The most important thing is that the Filmmaker mode – the most purist (intended for watching movies) – finally works as it should. LG has taken the criticism to heart, improved what needed improvement, and made the update available to everyone who bought the G5.
The final version of the update is expected to be available for all G5 owners as early as June. And then... maybe the ratings in reviews will go up? Soon, a unit of the LG G5 will arrive at our editorial office. We'll check it thoroughly – also in gaming mode – and assess whether the new firmware actually resolves all the issues!
Source: AVForums (Phil Hinton)
