LG EC9300 OLED  TV Review

Review updated Mar 01, 2017 at 06:31am
Tested using Methodology v1.0 
LG EC9300 OLED
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

 0
 TV Settings
Notice: This TVs was replaced by 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.

5.3
HDR Gaming 
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
  • Changelog

    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.

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    How We Test TVs

    We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests are done with specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.

    Test Results

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    RATINGS
    Category:
    All
    Design
    9.5
    Style
    CurvedYes

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

    Stand

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

    Borders
    Borders0.35" (0.9 cm)
    Thickness
    Max Thickness2.05" (5.2 cm)
    Picture Quality
    10
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    Pre Calibration
    White Balance dE
    5.49
    Color dE
    2.5308
    Gamma
    2.28
    9.8
    Post Calibration
    White Balance dE
    0.57
    Color dE
    0.3668
    Gamma
    2.2
    8.0
    480p Input

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

    8.0
    720p Input

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

    10
    1080p Input

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

    0.0
    4k Input
    7.6
    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
    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
    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).

    Pixels
    TypeOLED
    Motion
    9.9
    Motion Blur
    Refresh Rate120 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
    Image Flicker
    PWM Dimming Frequency
    0 Hz
    BFI
    No
    BFI Frequency
    0 Hz
    BFI In Game Mode
    No
    7.1
    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 Interpolation
    Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
    Yes
    Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
    Yes
    Inputs
    7.0
    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
    Supported Resolutions
    Resolution1080p
    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.

    Side Inputs
    Rear Inputs
    Total Inputs
    HDMI4
    USB3
    Digital Optical Audio Out1
    Analog Audio Out 3.5mm0
    Analog Audio Out RCA0
    Component In1 (incl. adapter)
    Composite In1 (incl. adapter)
    Tuner (Cable/Ant)1
    Ethernet1
    DisplayPort0
    IR In0
    SD/SDHC0
    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 BandwidthNo
    ARCYes (HDMI 1)
    USB 3No
    HDCP 2.2No
    CECYes
    MHLYes (HDMI 4)
    Variable Analog Audio OutNo
    Sound Quality
    7.1
    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
    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
    Interface
    Smart OSWebOS

    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.

    0.0
    Ads
    Ad-free
    No
    Opt-out
    No
    Remote
    RemoteSmart
    Misc
    Power Consumption61 W
    Power Consumption (Max)121 W
    Firmware04.45.35