LG OLED C4 vs Philips OLED820

The HDR performance of the LG OLED C4 is impressive, firmly placing it in the higher tier. Most films exceed 700 nits, delivering a highly realistic image. While none surpass the 1,000-nit mark, the combination of these results with the TV’s infinite contrast and perfect blacks significantly enhances the visual experience. The final scene, with a full-screen flash of sunlight, is slightly less bright than the others but still maintains a solid level of brightness. Another highlight is the excellent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, which ensures incredibly vibrant colours. The HDR technology in the LG OLED C4 delivers exceptional colour and detail reproduction. The dynamic tone mapping feature optimises brightness levels, ensuring ideal light reproduction in every scene, even in the most demanding high-dynamic films.

When it comes to HDR quality, the Philips OLED820 uses the same class of WOLED panel that we find in its biggest competitors – LG C5 or Samsung S90F. This means we can count on truly solid performance. This year, mid-range OLED panels are capable of exceeding the threshold of a thousand nits, and the model tested reaches around 1300 nits in some films. This is an outstanding result that allows for an extremely precise depiction of the director's vision, as contemporary productions are mastered in such brightness ranges. Of course, there are situations where even the OLED820 has to compromise. Full-screen scenes flooded with white, like those in the movie The Meg, can drop brightness to 400–500 nits, which clearly weakens the effect. This is a characteristic of OLED technology that has not yet been fully eliminated. Despite this limitation, it is hard not to appreciate the HDR in this model – high luminance and wide coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut at 99% make the picture simply look great.

The best factory mode on the tested television was "Filmmaker," which served as the basis for all evaluations. In terms of colour reproduction, this mode performed reasonably well; however, certain flaws significantly detracted from the overall viewing experience. The most fundamental issue was the white balance, which exhibited a noticeable dominance of red, skewing the image characteristics. This resulted in a pronounced yellow tint to whites and a general shift of all colours towards warmer tones.

The gamma, an equally crucial—if not more important—aspect, was notably lowered, leading to a marked reduction in contrast. Additionally, the television frequently lost detail at the start of the gamma curve. These issues were most apparent in SDR content.

When examining HDR materials, the same yellowing effect in the white balance was observed, as seen with SDR content. However, the EOTF curve, which replaces the gamma curve for HDR, was near perfect and left little room for criticism.

The color reproduction in the factory settings really surprised us, and positively so. The Philips OLED820, switched to Filmmaker mode, immediately showed that it was quite well tuned in terms of color. The white balance was relatively accurate, though with a slight lack in the blue hue, which sometimes gave the image a slightly yellowish tint. However, this is not a flaw that particularly interferes with everyday viewing. A larger problem arose with the brightness characteristic. The gamma chart clearly deviated from the ideal, with the line being below the expected values, causing the image to be overly brightened, and the colors looked as if they were covered with a light milky filter. This effect was also noticeable in tests using the Colour Checker pattern, where more pronounced errors appeared.

As mentioned, LG televisions come with advanced tools to facilitate an accurate calibration process. By utilising these tools, we meticulously adjusted the image to align with the director’s original vision. Without overstating, the results were outstanding. Both SDR and HDR content now achieve a level of visual fidelity that reflects how films are intended to be seen.

Examining the colour accuracy on the "ColourChecker" palette reveals impressive results, with almost all colour errors falling below a delta of "1," aside from two minor exceptions. Post-calibration, the LG OLED C4 demonstrated a marked improvement in colour reproduction, particularly in SDR and HDR modes. Testing the TV after calibration highlighted its capacity for delivering exceptionally accurate colours, underlining the high calibre of this model. The LG C41LA offers a stunningly precise colour palette, sure to satisfy even the most discerning viewers.

After calibration, both the Filmmaker mode and the game mode gained quite a lot. A slight adjustment of the white balance and an improvement in brightness characteristics resulted in excellent outcomes for SDR content – the image looked almost perfect, natural and very close to the reference. In the case of HDR materials, the situation was similar; the colors looked stunning and it was hard to find anything to criticize. However, we noticed a certain feature that we had already pointed out when comparing scenes from the movie Billy Lynn. An analysis of the EOTF curve revealed that the television has a slight tendency to dim details in the blacks, which means that the darkest sections are not always displayed exactly as the director intended. Nevertheless, the effect after calibration is remarkable, and the OLED820 stands out as one of the more interesting screens in its class. It just needs a little bit of fine-tuning, and there's really nothing to be afraid of.

Let us revisit the function responsible for smooth gradation and consider its role in improving lower-quality materials. The default smoothing of tonal transitions, while decent, can be further enhanced. The feature includes a slider for adjusting its strength, and we recommend selecting the first option. This setting strikes a balance, offering excellent results without compromising important details through unnecessary blurring.

The image scaling on the LG C4 is commendable, though not entirely without flaws. By default, the image appears slightly sharper, though not to an intrusive degree. While jagged edges on elements like trees are occasionally visible, this issue is relatively minor compared to similar offerings from other manufacturers.

Fortunately, the earlier effects of the aforementioned posterization can be quite effectively mitigated. The "distortion reduction" feature set to medium handles unwanted color banding, improving the smoothness of tonal transitions. It does happen, however, that it works a bit too aggressively and smooths out some details – such as minor skin imperfections of the actors – but despite this, it can be considered worth using without major compromises. The upscaling in the OLED820 also performs well. The test image with the model is exceptionally soft, sometimes even too much so, although this can be alleviated by slightly increasing the sharpness in the picture menu – it’s a matter of personal preference. The lack of overscan issues with very low-resolution content is also commendable, meaning we don't have to worry that the image will be unnecessarily cropped.

The LG G4 supports a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz, achievable only when connected to a high-performance PC. Otherwise, the television operates at a maximum of 120 Hz, the recommended setting for viewing sports or content with fast-paced motion. For those prioritising smooth image quality, LG has included a versatile motion smoothing feature called "TrueMotion." This function is split into two adjustable sliders: De-Blur, which sharpens moving images, and De-Judder, which reduces jitter. Both sliders offer a range of settings from 0 to 10, enabling users to fine-tune the motion smoothness to their preference.

The LG OLED C4 boasts an impressive average response time of less than 1 millisecond, as confirmed by our measurements. This results in exceptional image clarity, far surpassing LCD televisions, which often have response times of several milliseconds. This clarity is evident in tests like the "UFO Test," where no trailing blur is visible behind moving objects.

Motion fluidity is an area where OLEDs always shine, and the Philips OLED820 confirms this rule. The panel itself offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which will mainly benefit PC gamers, but even with standard television sources or consoles, where 120 Hz is used, the motion is fast, sharp, and simultaneously smooth, without traces of ghosting. This is thanks to the outstanding response time between pixels, which ensures the image retains clarity in every dynamic scene. The manufacturer has also added its own smoothing feature called "Motion Style." In the menu, we find two sliders – the first, responsible for fluidity, allows us to adjust the amount of artificially added frames in movies. This way, we can choose a raw, cinematic character with a clearly visible film frame or a more theatrical image with smooth motion. The second slider is for reducing blurring, especially useful in sports broadcasts. Here, we definitely recommend setting it to the maximum value, as the effect is truly excellent.

The LG C4, like nearly all OLED televisions from the manufacturer, excels in its compatibility with consoles and PCs. With the inclusion of four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports supporting 48 Gbps, the TV incorporates a range of features to enhance the gaming experience. Notably, it offers simultaneous support for FreeSync and G-Sync, making it an ideal choice for gamers using AMD or Nvidia graphics cards. For those seeking the best possible gaming quality, the integration of HDR Dolby Vision and HGIG mode is particularly impressive. HDR Dolby Vision operates with remarkably low input lag across all settings, ensuring smooth and responsive gameplay.

A standout feature in LG's televisions is the GameBar, which allows users to adjust settings in real-time without leaving the game. This includes options for customising the image for viewers with visual impairments, a thoughtful addition. Additionally, enabling VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) does not result in a loss of contrast—a benefit of the OLED panel's self-emissive technology, eliminating the need for conventional backlighting. While some slight flickering of grey tones may occur, this is a characteristic of VRR technology across all manufacturers.

In summary: The LG C4, like the brand's other OLED models equipped with high-refresh-rate panels and HDMI 2.1, provides a seamless and immersive gaming experience. For gamers demanding top-tier performance, this TV is an outstanding choice.

Philips OLED820 is one of the most complete televisions for gamers. It practically has everything you could expect: two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps (too bad there aren't four), variable refresh rate VRR, automatic game mode ALLM, support for Dolby Vision in games, and a good implementation of the HGiG mode. The television also handles lower resolutions at 120 Hz without any issues, so you can count on great flexibility when choosing different picture modes on the console. Philips also adds Game Bar – a panel that allows you to change picture modes, add a crosshair, or view parameters. Although it looks quite clunky and is less polished than that of the competition, it serves its purpose. In practice, therefore, the OLED820, besides having a full set of four HDMI 2.1 ports, offers almost everything a gamer might need.