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To try to better understand how long a TV should last, we're running 100 TVs through an accelerated longevity test for the next two years. We've just posted our 1-year video update with our latest findings on temporary image retention, burn-in, and more!

LG EC9300 OLED TV Review

Tested using Methodology v1.0
Review updated Mar 01, 2017 at 06:31 am
LG EC9300 OLED Picture
7.8
Mixed Usage
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.2
Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.9
TV Shows
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
8.1
Sports
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
7.8
Video Games
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
6.1
HDR Movies
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
5.3
HDR Gaming
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
6.8
PC Monitor
Value for price beaten by
: Not at the latest test bench
This TV was replaced by the LG EG9100 OLED

The LG 55EC9300 OLED TV provides excellent picture quality and overall performance. The blacks and response time are perfect, but the uniformity of the colors could be improved. There is temporary image retention, but this should not be a problem for most people.

Our Verdict

7.8 Mixed Usage

Very good all-round TV. The OLED panel has great picture quality for movies and TV shows. Unfortunately it doesn't get very bright.

Pros
  • Perfect blacks
  • Perfect motion (although flicker free)
  • Great viewing angle (but with a yellow tint)
Cons
  • Not ideal in a bright room (purple reflections and doesn't get very bright)
  • Varying luminosity depending on the scene (ABL)
  • Poor dark colors uniformity
  • Prone to temporary image retention after displaying static images
8.2 Movies

Great movie performance. Lots of details in the shadows and perfect blacks. Unfortunately there is some vignetting in dark scenes.

7.9 TV Shows

Excellent for watching TV shows in a living room. Great picture quality, even when viewed from the side and deals well with reflections. Unfortunately can't get very bright to compete with a light room.

8.1 Sports

Very good sports performance. Almost perfect motion handling for fast plays. Unfortunately for hockey the ABL changes the screen luminosity.

7.8 Video Games

Very good video game performance. Input lag should not be an issue for most people. Excellent motion handling for fast paced games.

6.1 HDR Movies

Disappointing HDR performance. Highlights cannot get very bright and average-good color gamut.

6.8 PC Monitor

Pretty good PC monitor. Great picture quality and displays crisp, clear text at 1080p. Unfortunately there is some temporary image retention.

  • 7.8 Mixed Usage
  • 8.2 Movies
  • 7.9 TV Shows
  • 8.1 Sports
  • 7.8 Video Games
  • 6.1 HDR Movies
  • 5.3 HDR Gaming
  • 6.8 PC Monitor
  1. Updated Mar 01, 2017: Review published.
  2. Updated Sep 09, 2015: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
  3. Updated Sep 08, 2015: Our testers have started testing this product.

Test Results

Design
9.5
Design
Style
Curved Yes

The LG EC9300 OLED TV has a curved screen. The borders are very small, and the stand is stable, with a small footprint.

Design
Stand

Dimensions of the 55" stand: 12" x 8"

Design
Borders
Borders 0.35" (0.9 cm)
Design
Thickness
Max Thickness 2.05" (5.2 cm)
Picture Quality
10
Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
Inf : 1

Our luminance meter (Minolta LS-100) gave us a perfect 0.000 cd/m2 reading on a checkboard pattern, resulting in an infinite contrast ratio.

10
Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Local Dimming
No
Backlight
N/A

Of course, it doesn't have a backlight, so there is no local dimming. But for the sake of comparison, we ran our local dimming test. As expected, there is no blooming.

5.9
Picture Quality
SDR Peak Brightness
SDR Peak 2% Window
343 cd/m²
SDR Peak 10% Window
336 cd/m²
SDR Peak 25% Window
334 cd/m²
SDR Peak 50% Window
191 cd/m²
SDR Peak 100% Window
95 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 2% Window
343 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 10% Window
336 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 25% Window
334 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 50% Window
191 cd/m²
SDR Sustained 100% Window
95 cd/m²

When HDR arrives, one of the elements that will distinguish the performance of TVs is how bright it can make the highlights of a picture. Like plasma TVs, OLEDs have an automatic brightness limiter (ABL). The less whites the TV needs to display, the brighter those whites will be. We measured the luminosity of a 2% white window at 342.7 cd/m2, which isn't particularly impressive. Due to the ABL, a white fullscreen is even less, at only a maximum luminosity of 94.6 cd/m2. See here for a full table of the luminosity of different window sizes.

8.8
Picture Quality
Gray Uniformity
50% Std. Dev.
1.652%
50% DSE
0.115%

The 50% gray uniformity is better than all LED TVs. You can see a few bars of discoloration, but there is almost no DSE like you see on other TVs.

The darker the color, the worse the uniformity gets. It is also constantly changing. More detailshere.

8.0
Picture Quality
Viewing Angle
LCD Type
N/A
Color Shift
35°
Brightness
68°
Black Level
75°

The viewing angle is great, better than every LCD TV. We measured a drop of half the luminosity at 82 °, which is excellent. However, there is a yellow tint at an angle, something that our current test doesn't factor in.

Update 01/06/2017: We have changed the methodology of testing. Since this is an old TV which we don't have anymore, we extrapolated the results from 2016 TVs.

10
Picture Quality
Black Uniformity
Native Std. Dev.
0.327%

The blacks are also perfectly uniform. Note that this is only for a pure black. The uniformity isn't perfect for solid colors (more on this later).

7.8
Picture Quality
Pre Calibration
White Balance dE
5.49
Color dE
2.5308
Gamma
2.28
9.8
Picture Quality
Post Calibration
White Balance dE
0.57
Color dE
0.3668
Gamma
2.2
8.0
Picture Quality
480p Input

Standard TV content or DVDs looks good without any major image quality problems.

8.0
Picture Quality
720p Input

Upscaled cable and other 720p content looks good and is in line with other 1080p TVs.

10
Picture Quality
1080p Input

Blu-rays and other 1080p looks good without any image quality problems.

0
Picture Quality
4k Input
7.6
Picture Quality
Color Gamut
Wide Color Gamut
Yes
DCI P3 xy
86.23%
DCI P3 uv
91.67%
Rec 2020 xy
60.97%
Rec 2020 uv
64.02%

You can increase the color gamut by changing 'Color Gamut'.

9.0
Picture Quality
Reflections
Reflection
0.4%
Screen Finish
Glossy

The glossy finish is very aggressive. It is actually very good at cutting the ambient reflections, but gives everything a purple tint. The curve of the TV also zooms in on the reflections. If you have a window directly behind you (facing the TV), it is really bad.
The maximum brightness of the screen varies depending on the scene you are watching, due to the ABL. At a 50% window, the luminosity is lower than what you would get from an LED TV.

9.0
Picture Quality
3D
3D
Yes
3D Type
Passive

Its passive 3D has no crosstalk issue, but it comes at the cost of half the vertical resolution. This is a bit more noticeable than on LED passive 3D TVs, due to the smaller pixel sizes (see pixel close up picture at the end of the review).

Picture Quality
Pixels
Type OLED
Motion
9.9
Motion
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate 120 Hz
Response Time
0.3 ms
Overshoot
1.7 ms

Motion is very interesting on the LG 55EC9300. The response time cannot be better. It is almost instant, so there is no motion blur trail at all. You can see that our moving logo is perfectly symmetrical, while there is a shadow to the left of the logo on nearly all LED TVs.

That does not mean it is blur free, though. See here for more details.

4.0
Motion
Image Flicker
PWM Dimming Frequency
0 Hz
BFI
No
BFI Frequency
0 Hz
BFI In Game Mode
No
7.1
Motion
24p Playback
Judder-free 24p
Yes
Judder-free 24p via 60p
No
Judder-free 24p via 60i
No

It handles a direct 24 fps input without judder, which is good for movies outputted via a Blu-ray player. For 24p via 60i or 60p though, it couldn't consistently do the reverse 3:2 pulldown. Of course, if you enable 'TruMotion' it removes the judder, but at the cost of introducing the soap opera effect.

10
Motion
Motion Interpolation
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Yes
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
Yes
Inputs
7.0
Inputs
Input Lag
1080p @ 60Hz
40.7 ms
1080p With Interpolation
105.9 ms
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
106 ms
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
40.7 ms
4k @ 60Hz
N/A
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
N/A
4k @ 60Hz + HDR
N/A
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4 + 8 bit HDR
N/A

Under game mode, the input lag is 47.5 ms. If you label the HDMI input to PC, you can further reduce it to 40.7 ms.
Update 07/25/2016 We've received a report that the input lag is now 29.6 ms after the firmware update 04.01.00. We don't have that TV anymore to confirm this unfortunately.

2.0
Inputs
Supported Resolutions
Resolution 1080p
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
Yes
1080p @ 120Hz
No
4k @ 30Hz @ 4:4:4
No
4k @ 60Hz
No
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
No

Chroma 4:4:4 is enabled if you set the HDMI input to PC.

Inputs
Side Inputs
Inputs
Rear Inputs
Inputs
Total Inputs
HDMI 4
USB 3
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 1 (incl. adapter)
Composite In 1 (incl. adapter)
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 0
SD/SDHC 0
Inputs
Inputs Specifications
HDR10
No
5.1 Passthrough ARC Dolby Digital
Yes
Dolby Vision
No
5.1 Passthrough ARC DTS
Yes
5.1 Passthrough Optical Dolby Digital
Yes
5.1 Passthrough Optical DTS
Yes
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth No
ARC Yes (HDMI 1)
USB 3 No
HDCP 2.2 No
CEC Yes
MHL Yes (HDMI 4)
Variable Analog Audio Out No
Sound Quality
7.1
Sound Quality
Frequency Response
Std. Dev. @ 70
4.98 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ 80
5.08 dB SPL
Std. Dev. @ Max
4.14 dB SPL
Max
88.7 dB SPL
Low-end Cutoff
100 Hz

Good frequency response at all levels and no pumping seems to be present either. However it doesn't produce a lot of bass.

6.9
Sound Quality
Total Harmonic Distortion
Distortion @ 70
0.036
Distortion @ 80
0.013
Distortion @ Max
0.045

Very good distortion results at all levels, but the TV doesn't get loud.

Smart Features
9.0
Smart Features
Interface
Smart OS WebOS

WebOS is a great smart TV platform and it is very easy to use. The remote can control the on-screen pointer, but it doesn't have a dedicated number pad.

0
Smart Features
Ads
Ad-free
No
Opt-out
No
Smart Features
Remote
Remote Smart
Smart Features
Misc
Power Consumption 61 W
Power Consumption (Max) 121 W
Firmware 04.45.35