The LG C4 OLED is the 2024 iteration in LG's popular C Series lineup and replaces 2023's LG C3 OLED. It sits above the LG B4 OLED and below the LG G4 OLED. It uses LG's new α9 AI Processor Gen7, designed to provide better overall image processing than its predecessors. New to the C4 is the ability to game up to 144Hz, an upgrade from the maximum 120Hz on the models from the past few years. It also adds 'Filmmaker Mode' as a picture setting for Dolby Vision, designed to provide an accurate image without needing to tweak any settings. The TV uses the 2024 version of LG's webOS, and it has 40W 2.2 channel speakers built-in that can be virtually up-mixed to 9.1.2 using the α9 AI Sound Pro feature. It's available in six sizes: 42-inch, 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch, and 83-inch. We tested the 65-inch model.
The LG C4 is impressive for mixed usage. Unfortunately, while it is bright enough to overcome glare in a bright room, it struggles to reduce the intensity of direct reflections, making glare more distracting than you'd like. However, it's well-suited for use in reference conditions like a home theater since it has vibrant colors, perfect blacks, and incredible accuracy. It's bright enough in HDR to display impactful highlights in HDR content, especially when contrasted with the TV's perfect black levels, delivering a very impactful HDR experience, although unfortunately, it's noticeably dimmer in Game Optimizer. Otherwise, the TV is a solid option for gaming, thanks to its modern gaming features, 144Hz support at 4k, and sharp motion. Finally, it's a solid option for watching content with a group of friends due to its wide viewing angle.
Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks with no blooming around bright highlights.
Incredibly wide viewing angle for a consistent image from the sides.
Colors are vibrant, lifelike, bright, and accurate.
Bright enough in HDR to deliver an impactful HDR experience.
Direct reflections are distracting.
Lacks the SDR brightness needed to fully overcome glare in a bright room.
Loses a lot of its HDR brightness in Game Optimizer mode.
The LG C4 is a great choice for a home theater setup. As an OLED TV, it delivers perfect black levels without any blooming. Its HDR brightness is sufficient for highlights to stand out, especially against those perfect black levels. It reproduces vivid, lifelike colors with minimal banding, resulting in impactful HDR content. In addition, it preserves the creator's intended brightness for HDR, so you won't experience an overly bright or overly dim image. It also boasts impressive upscaling capabilities, effectively smoothing out artifacts in heavily compressed online media. Unfortunately, because of the TV's near-instantaneous response time, movies and TV shows can exhibit noticeable stutter.
Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks with no blooming around bright highlights.
Colors are vibrant, lifelike, bright, and accurate.
Does a very good job upscaling and cleaning up low-quality content.
Bright enough in HDR to deliver an impactful HDR experience.
Noticeable stutter due to the TV's fast response time.
The LG C4 performs reasonably well in brightly lit rooms. Its SDR brightness is sufficient to handle some glare, but it struggles with direct reflections, making it less ideal if you have wall lights, lamps, or a window facing the screen. However, blacks remain deep, and colors stay well-saturated under ambient lighting, so you don't lose much picture quality even with the lights on.
Colors are vibrant, lifelike, bright, and accurate.
Blacks remain deep and colors stay vibrant in a room with ambient lighting.
Direct reflections are distracting.
Lacks the SDR brightness needed to fully overcome glare in a bright room.
The LG C4 is a decent choice for watching sports. It's sufficiently bright in SDR to handle glare in well-lit rooms, although it struggles to mitigate reflections from direct light sources, such as lamps or windows directly opposite the screen. Thanks to its excellent screen uniformity, there's minimal dirty screen effect in the center, and motion appears smooth due to its fast response time. It excels at upscaling both SD and HD broadcasts and streams, reducing artifacts even during heavily compressed games. Colors are vivid and accurate, ensuring team jerseys look as they should. Plus, its wide viewing angle ensures the picture remains consistent when viewed from the sides—a convenient feature for watching the game with a group of friends.
Incredibly wide viewing angle for a consistent image from the sides.
Nearly instantaneous pixel transitions for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
Colors are vibrant, lifelike, bright, and accurate.
Does a very good job upscaling and cleaning up low-quality content.
Direct reflections are distracting.
Lacks the SDR brightness needed to fully overcome glare in a bright room.
The LG C4 is amazing for playing video games. The TV has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four of its ports and supports up to 4k @ 144Hz with VRR, so it's a fantastic choice to pair with modern consoles or modern gaming PCs. The TV's exceptionally low input lag delivers a responsive gaming experience, and there's no noticeable blur behind fast motion due to the TV's nearly instantaneous response time. Unfortunately, it is noticeably dimmer in HDR when in Game Optimizer mode, but it makes up for it with its perfect black levels and impressive colors, still providing a very impactful HDR gaming experience.
Nearly instantaneous pixel transitions for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
Colors are vibrant, lifelike, bright, and accurate.
Incredibly low input lag for a very responsive experience.
Loses a lot of its HDR brightness in Game Optimizer mode.
The LG C4 has decent brightness overall. Its SDR brightness is okay; enough to overcome some glare in a well-lit room, but you'd still wish it was brighter when watched in very bright contexts. In HDR, it's bright enough for highlights to pop, especially when set against the TV's perfect black levels, delivering an impressive HDR experience.
Bright enough in HDR to deliver an impactful HDR experience.
Lacks the SDR brightness needed to fully overcome glare in a bright room.
Loses a lot of its HDR brightness in Game Optimizer mode.
Since the LG C4 is an OLED, it has perfect black levels. Blacks are deep and inky when viewed in a dark room, with no blooming around bright highlights.
Near-infinite contrast ratio for perfect blacks with no blooming around bright highlights.
The LG C4 has impressive colors. It has solid color volume overall, so colors are vibrant and lifelike, but it does struggle more with displaying very light colors. Fortunately, this is an amazingly accurate TV in both SDR and HDR, and it respects the content creator's intent without needing calibration.
Colors are vibrant, lifelike, bright, and accurate.
Note:We're in the process of improving our tests related to image processing, but this score should give you a general idea of how a TV performs overall with its image processing capabilities.
The LG C4 has great image processing overall. The brightness of HDR content is very accurate, so it stays true to the content creator's intent, and color gradients are smooth with minimal banding. It does a very good job upscaling low-resolution content so it doesn't look too soft. Its low-quality content smoothing reduces the number of artifacts you see in low-bitrate content, but it doesn't eliminate them completely.
Does a very good job upscaling and cleaning up low-quality content.
Exceptional HDR brightness accuracy.
The LG C4 has outstanding responsiveness while in Game Optimizer. The TV's input lag is very low across the board, and it supports VRR for a nearly tear-free experience, so gaming feels responsive. It supports a 144Hz refresh rate at 4k, a great feature for PC gamers with powerful rigs. It also has nearly instantaneous pixel transitions, which makes fast motion very clear.
Nearly instantaneous pixel transitions for no noticeable blur behind fast motion.
Incredibly low input lag for a very responsive experience.
We're in the process of fixing the way we evaluate a TV's overall motion handling. This section is currently broken, and the score isn't indicative of how well a TV handles motion overall.
Mentioned the newly reviewed LG C5 OLED in the SDR Brightness section.
We wrote text for the new tests and rewrote text throughout the review after updating pre-existing tests and scores for Test Bench 2.0.
We bought and tested the 65-inch LG C4 (OLED65C4); these results are also valid for the 55, 77, and 83-inch sizes. The 42-inch and 48-inch sizes don't have LG's Brightness Booster technology, so they don't get as bright as the bigger models do. Note that the last three letters in the model number (PUA in this case) vary between retailers and individual regions, but there's no difference in performance. The Costco/Sam's Club variant carries the suffix 'AUA,' supports Wi-Fi 6E (the PUA variant has Wi-fi 5), and comes with store-specific perks, like extended warranties.
Size | US Model (Wi-Fi 5) | Costco Variant (Wi-Fi 6E) | Brightness Booster |
---|---|---|---|
42" | OLED42C4PUA | OLED42C4AUA | - |
48" | OLED48C4PUA | OLED48C4AUA | - |
55" | OLED55C4PUA | OLED55C4AUA | Yes |
65" | OLED65C4PUA | OLED65C4AUA | Yes |
77" | OLED77C4PUA | OLED77C4AUA | Yes |
83" | OLED83C4PUA | OLED83C4AUA | Yes |
Our unit was manufactured in March 2024.
The LG C4 OLED is an impressive TV that further cements the C Series lineup as some of the best WOLEDs on the market. Still, unless you need the 144Hz refresh rate or its other small upgrades, you're better off getting the cheaper LG B4 OLED; it's a bit dimmer in HDR, and it doesn't have a 144Hz refresh rate, but it doesn't lose any of its HDR brightness in Game Optimizer. Also, consider the Samsung S90D OLED, as it's a bit brighter than the C4, doesn't lose any of its brightness in Game Optimizer, and is much more colorful. Unfortunately, the Samsung doesn't support Dolby Vision, so you're missing out on that by going with that model over the LGs.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best OLED TVs, the best gaming TVs, and the best TVs for watching movies.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG B4 OLED for the most part. The C4 has better reflection handling and slightly better SDR peak brightness, so it handles a bit more glare in a bright room, and it has better low-quality content smoothing. The C4 also gets brighter in HDR in most picture modes, making highlights pop more in HDR content. However, the two TVs have very similar HDR brightness while using the Game Optimizer picture mode.
The LG G4 OLED is better than the LG C4 OLED. The G4 gets brighter overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room while watching SDR content, and highlights pop more in HDR content. The G4 also maintains its HDR brightness much better while in 'Game Optimizer.' On top of that, the G4 is more accurate before calibration and has less banding in colors.
The Samsung S90D OLED is mostly better than the LG C4 OLED. The Samsung gets brighter in HDR, so bright highlights stand out more on it, and it maintains its HDR brightness better while in Game Mode. The Samsung TV also has a wider color gamut, better color volume, and better HDR gradient handling, so colors in HDR are more vibrant, lifelike, brighter, and have less banding. The Samsung has a wider viewing angle, and the image doesn't have a green tint that worsens as you move off-center, so it's the better choice for watching TV in a group setting. However, the LG supports Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats, so it's the better option for those looking to get the most out of their physical media.
The LG C4 OLED is slightly better than the LG C3 OLED. The C4 gets brighter in HDR, so highlights pop a little bit more on it. The C4 also has slightly better PQ EOTF tracking, so it's a bit more accurate when it comes to the content creator's intent, and its better color volume delivers slightly brighter colors. If you're a PC gamer looking to take full advantage of your high-end graphics card, the C4 supports up to 144Hz versus 120Hz on the C3, so it's the better option for that. However, when viewed from an angle, the C4 has a noticeable green tint, so the C3 is the better choice for wide seating arrangements.
The Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED and the LG C4 OLED are very similar TVs, but the LG is better overall. The LG gets brighter in HDR, so highlights pop out more in HDR content. The LG also has better pre-calibration accuracy and PQ EOTF tracking, so it's more accurate in both SDR and HDR. Finally, the LG supports up to 4k @ 144Hz, whereas the Sony only supports up to 4k @ 120Hz, so it's a bit better for PC gamers with high-end graphics cards.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG C2 OLED. The C4 gets a lot brighter in HDR, so highlights stand out more than they do on the relatively dim C2, leading to a more impactful HDR experience. The C4 also has better color volume for brighter colors, better HDR gradient handling for less banding, and better upscaling with low-resolution content for a sharper image. On top of that, the C4 supports 144Hz, so it's the better option for gamers with powerful PCs.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG C1 OLED. It gets brighter overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room while watching SDR content, and highlights pop way more while watching HDR content. The C4 has significantly better pre-calibration accuracy, so colors are displayed much more accurately, and it displays colors brighter in HDR due to its better color volume. The C4 also has a sharper and cleaner image when watching low-resolution or low-quality content due to its better image processing and has less banding due to its better HDR gradient handling. On top of that, the C4 supports 144Hz, which is great for PC gamers with high-end rigs.
The LG G3 OLED is better than the LG C4 OLED. The G3 is the brighter TV overall, so highlights stand out more in HDR content, and it handles more glare in a bright room when watching SDR content. The G3 also has better color volume for brighter colors, and the image barely degrades from an angle and doesn't have a noticeable green tint as the C4 does. However, the C4 supports 144Hz, so it's better for those looking to get the most out of their powerful gaming PCs.
The LG C4 OLED is a good upgrade from the LG CX OLED if you're looking for a brighter OLED. The C4 is brighter in SDR and, combined with its slightly better reflection handling, fights more glare in a room with the lights on. Highlights in HDR content also pop more on the C4 due to its higher HDR peak brightness. Additionally, the C4 supports a 144Hz refresh rate, which is great if you're a PC gamer.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U8/U8N in most ways. The LG has better contrast thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, so it displays deeper and inkier blacks, but the U8N is no slouch in that regard. The LG has a nearly instantaneous response time, so there is almost no blur behind fast motion, whereas the Hisense still has some blur. The LG also has much better accuracy in both SDR and HDR. However, the Hisense is the better TV for very bright rooms due to its remarkable brightness that makes it easily overcome glare.
The Samsung S95D OLED is a bit better than the LG C4 OLED, even though the LG has generally better image processing, although the Samsung has a clear edge regarding HDR color gradients. Ultimately, the Samsung model is a higher-end product and is the brighter of the two TVs, especially in Game Mode, where it's much brighter than the LG. The Samsung has a QD-OLED panel versus the LG's WOLED, so it's also more colorful than the LG. The one thing that will dictate whether you prefer one over the other is the Samsung TV's divisive matte screen coating; it often eliminates reflections entirely, but it impacts the TV's black levels, changing how it looks in bright rooms.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony BRAVIA 7 QLED. The LG's OLED panel delivers much deeper, inkier blacks in a dark room with no distracting blooming or haloing around bright objects. The LG also has a wider viewing angle and much better reflection handling, so even though the Sony is a lot brighter, the LG looks better in a bright room. Finally, both offer a great selection of gaming features, but the LG supports up to 4k @ 144Hz gaming on all four of its HDMI inputs compared to Sony's support for 4k @ 120Hz on just two inputs, so the LG is a more versatile choice.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung S85D OLED. The LG supports up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it's better suited for PC gamers looking to get the most out of their graphics cards. The LG supports Dolby Vision and DTS audio formats, so it’' better for those who want to take advantage of streaming services that use Dolby Vision or those who collect physical media. When it comes to HDR brightness, the LG is much better, delivering more impactful highlights in HDR content. The LG also has much better accuracy.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL QM8/QM851G QLED. The LG has perfect contrast, so it displays inky blacks with no blooming at all. When it comes to accuracy, the LG displays an image that is much closer to the content creator’s intent in SDR and HDR. The LG also has a much wider viewing angle, so it’s the better option for watching TV with a group, and it has better image processing. Additionally, the LG has a faster response time for less blur behind quick motion. However, the TCL is the much brighter TV, so if you need a TV for use in a very bright room, it’s the better option.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN90D/QN90DD QLED. The LG displays deeper blacks thanks to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, so it looks better in a dark room and has a much wider viewing angle, making it much more suitable for watching TV with a group. The LG also has a nearly instantaneous response time, so there is even less blur behind quick motion. On top of that, the LG is more accurate in both SDR and HDR. However, the QN90D is much brighter overall, so it overcomes more glare in very bright rooms.
The Samsung S90C OLED and the LG C4 OLED are similar TVs with only a few key differences. They're very similar in peak brightness, although the LG is noticeably dimmer in Game Mode while the Samsung isn't, making the Samsung the better choice for gamers. The LG is the better choice for movie fans, as it supports Dolby Vision HDR and passes through advanced DTS audio formats. The LG also has slightly better image processing than the Samsung, especially when watching low-bitrate content from streaming services due to its superior low-quality content smoothing.
The Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED and the LG C4 OLED are better than each other in different ways. As good as the contrast is on the Sony, the LG has it beat, so it looks a bit better in a dark room. The Sony edges the LG out regarding accuracy, so it's better if you want the most accurate TV without needing calibration. The LG has a far faster response time for less blur behind quick motion. It also has a wider viewing angle, so it's the better option if you regularly watch TV with a group. However, the Sony is the brighter option overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room, and highlights pop out more in HDR content.
The LG C4 OLED is a bit better than the older LG G2 OLED. They're about equally bright, although when pushed, the G2 is capable of just a tad more brightness than the C4, but it's not noticeable to the naked eye. Ultimately, the C4 benefits from LG's latest features and optimizations; its four HDMI 2.1 ports are capable of up to 4k @ 144Hz, while the G2 is limited to 4k @ 120Hz. The C4 has better upscaling than its predecessor, and it can pass through advanced DTS audio formats, while the G2 can't.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony X90L/X90CL, making the LG the better choice for almost anyone. The Sony does have the edge in a few ways; it's brighter than the LG in SDR, and while both TVs perform similarly in HDR when watching actual content, the Sony maintains its HDR brightness in Game Mode, while the LG is noticeably dimmer. Still, the LG has vastly better contrast, leading to a much more impact viewing experience in dark rooms. Plus, its far superior reflection handling means it compensates for its lower brightness numbers in Game Mode and SDR content by handling reflections better than Sony. Finally, the LG has a better viewing angle, making it better for hosting large viewing parties.
The LG C4 OLED and Sony A80L/A80CL OLED perform very similarly, although the LG has a small edge in all areas. They both use WOLED panels, so they're about equally as colorful. The LG is, however, noticeably brighter in HDR and SDR than the Sony, so all content pops more on the LG. They're about as good when it comes to processing, but the LG is more accurate in SDR before any calibration. Finally, the LG TV is better for gamers because it has 4k @ 144Hz support on all four HDMI ports, lower input lag, and higher HDR brightness in Game Mode.
The LG C4 OLED is a great TV, but the LG G5 OLED is better overall. The G5's SDR brightness capabilities and superior reflection handling make it the better option for bright rooms, and its color advantages mean you get more vivid colors. The G5 also has better HDR brightness, making it more suitable for HDR content that pushes luminance to a high degree. However, HDR10 has odd contouring during dark scenes, making shadows and other dark elements look strange. Still, the G5 offers 165Hz for PC gamers, has better upscaling, and even has better speakers built in.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG B3 OLED. While they're very similar with nearly identical features, the C4 has the edge in almost every facet. It is visibly brighter in HDR and SDR, so all content pops noticeably more on the C4 than on the B3. Furthermore, the C4 is the better TV for those who own multiple HDMI 2.1 devices, as it has four full HDMI 2.1 ports with up to 4k @ 144Hz support, while the B3 is limited to two 4k @ 120Hz HDMI 2.1 ports. The B3's HDMI 2.1 ports are back-facing, meaning they're almost impossible to use when the TV is mounted flush against a wall. Finally, one of these ports is also the TV's eARC port, so you lose one of your high bandwidth ports if you have a soundbar connected to the TV.
The Samsung S95C OLED and LG C4 OLED are evenly matched. The Samsung is slightly brighter in HDR and is the more colorful of the two, leading to a slightly punchier HDR presentation. However, the LG does support Dolby Vision and passes through DTS audio formats, so movie purists who still prefer to watch content from physical media might prefer it over the Samsung TV. The LG is also superior for watching content from streaming apps due to its far superior low-quality content smoothing, so low-bitrate content is mostly free from compression artifacts. For gamers, however, the Samsung doesn't lose any HDR brightness in Game Mode, while the LG is significantly dimmer, so the Samsung is the superior gaming TV. Finally, the Samsung is the better choice for a wide seating arrangement due to its superior viewing angle.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U7N. While the Hisense is a bit brighter in HDR and noticeably brighter in SDR, the LG's vastly superior contrast leads to a much more impactful viewing experience overall, especially in HDR content. The LG is also much more accurate in SDR out-of-the-box, has a much wider viewing angle, and is a superior product for gamers with its nearly instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports. Finally, the LG also has better image processing.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN85D, but they use different panel technologies. The LG is an OLED, so it has perfect contrast, making it far superior to the Samsung when viewed in a dark room. The Samsung TV's QLED panel is brighter than the C4 in SDR content and in Game Mode when playing games, although the LG isn't far behind. Ultimately, the LG is the better product, except perhaps for those who almost exclusively watch SDR content in very bright rooms.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL QM7/QM751G QLED. The TCL is brighter in HDR and is especially brighter in SDR, but the LG has better reflection handling, so you don't get the full impact of the TCL's brightness if you're using it in a room with a lot of glare. While the TCL has outstanding contrast, it just can't match the perfect blacks of OLEDs, which look amazing in darker rooms. The LG is a better choice if you care about accuracy, as it's more accurate in HDR and SDR out-of-the-box. Finally, if you're a gamer, the LG is also a better choice due to its nearly instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports, while the TCL has one 144Hz port and one 120Hz port.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U8/U8K, but they excel in different ways. Being an OLED, the LG TV is amazing in dark rooms due to its nearly infinite contrast without blooming or zone transitions. The Hisense, however, is far brighter than the LG and looks far more impressive in brighter rooms. Otherwise, the LG is the better option for gamers due to its near-instantaneous response time and four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI 2.1 ports; the Hisense is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports. Another area where the LG has the edge is its viewing angle; it's far wider than the Hisense's, making the LG a far better choice for a wide seating arrangement.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Panasonic Z85A OLED in some ways. The LG is the brighter TV overall and has better reflection handling, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room and delivers a more impactful HDR experience. The LG also does a better job smoothing out artifacts in low bitrate content, and it supports 144Hz, which is great for PC gamers. On the other hand, the Panasonic has slightly better upscaling capabilities.
The Panasonic Z95A OLED is slightly better than the LG C4 OLED, mainly due to its higher peak brightness. The Z95A gets brighter in HDR, especially in Game Mode, since the C4 dims considerably in its low-latency mode. On the other hand, the LG is a bit more versatile, as it offers full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all four HDMI inputs.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN90C/QN90CD QLED, but they excel in different contexts. The LG has better contrast and image processing, so it's the better choice if you like to watch movies in a dark room. It's also the better gaming TV due to its near-instantaneous response time and 4k @ 144Hz capabilities on all four HDMI 2.1 ports; the QN90C is limited to 4k @ 120Hz on all of its ports, although the smaller 43 and 50-inch models do have 4k @ 144Hz. The Samsung is the better option for bright rooms; however, it gets brighter in HDR and SDR, and its reflection handling is just as fantastic as that of the LG, so the Samsung stays bright and vibrant even under heavy glare.
The Sony A95L OLED is better than the LG C4 OLED. The Sony is brighter in HDR and SDR and is more colorful than the LG, so all content pops more on it. While the LG is a bit better for gaming, especially for competitive gamers, due to its 4k @ 144Hz support on four HDMI ports and its lower input lag, the Sony TV's brightness and color advantage means all games will look better on it. The Sony is just as accurate as the LG, has slightly better image processing, and has a wider viewing angle, so it's the better option in almost any context.
The LG C4 OLED and the Samsung S85F OLED (QD-OLED version) are both great TVs with different strengths. The Samsung displays a wider range of colors, so it delivers more vibrant colors. On the other hand, the LG gets brighter in HDR, so highlights stand out more on it. The LG also has better image processing, and it supports 144Hz, Dolby Vision, and DTS audio passthrough, making it more versatile.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony BRAVIA 3. The LG displays significantly deeper blacks, so it looks much better in a dark room. The LG also gets brighter in HDR and has a wider color gamut, so highlights stand out a lot more, and colors are more vibrant in HDR content. The LG also has modern gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, VRR, and up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it's a better option for modern gaming consoles or PCs. Additionally, the LG's much faster response time delivers fast motion with almost no blur.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense 75U8N in almost every way. The LG has significantly better contrast, so it displays much deeper blacks in a dark room. The LG also has a much faster response time for less blur behind quick motion. In addition to that, the LG is the more accurate TV in both SDR and HDR, has better image processing, and has a much wider viewing angle. However, the Hisense is the much brighter TV overall, so it overcomes more glare in a bright room.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL QM8/QM850G QLED, but they excel in different ways. The LG is a dark room standout due to its nearly infinite contrast with no blooming or lighting zone transitions. It's also better for gaming due to its near-instant response time, lower input lag, and four full HDMI 2.1 ports with up to 4k @ 144Hz support; the TCL is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI 2.1 ports. The LG is also better for a wide seating arrangement due to its vastly wider viewing angle. However, the TCL is much brighter than the LG; it pops even in the brightest of rooms, while you'll want to turn off the lights to get the most out of the OLED.
The LG C4 OLED is significantly better than the Samsung Q70D QLED. The LG displays perfect blacks, has better HDR brightness, and displays a wider range of colors, so it looks much better in a dark room with SDR and HDR content. The LG has a much wider viewing angle, so it's more suitable for watching TV with a group, and its better accuracy means it sticks closer to the content creator's intent. Additionally, the LG has a much quicker response time with less blur behind fast motion.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the LG QNED85T. The C4 displays significantly deeper blacks and more vibrant colors, so it delivers a more pleasing image. The C4 fights more glare in a well-lit room due to its better reflection handling, and it gets brighter in HDR, so highlights stand out more in HDR content. The C4 also has a much faster response time and supports 144Hz, making it better overall for gaming.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the TCL Q6/Q651G QLED. The LG has perfect black levels, so it displays deep and inky blacks with no blooming. The LG also gets brighter in SDR and has much better reflection handling, so it’s better suited for a room with the lights on. Additionally, the LG has much better HDR brightness and displays more vibrant colors, leading to a more impactful HDR experience. Regarding gaming, the LG has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and 4k @ 144Hz support, making it fully compatible with modern consoles.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the LG QNED90T. The C4 is an OLED, so it displays deeper blacks with no blooming at all. The C4 follows the PQ EOTF curve closer and has better color accuracy, so it's the more accurate TV overall. The C4 also has a faster response time for less blur behind fast motion, a wider viewing angle, and better image processing.
The Samsung S95F OLED is significantly better than the LG C4 OLED. The S95F gets a lot brighter, so combined with its anti-reflective coating it looks a letter better in a bright room, with no noticeable glare. This higher brightness also translates to a better HDR experience on the S95F, as bright specular highlights stand out better and colors are more vibrant.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Hisense U7K in almost every way, although the Hisense is a bit brighter than the LG in SDR content, and while the LG is a bit brighter in most HDR content, the Hisense does maintain its HDR brightness much better than the LG does when in their respective Game Modes. The Hisense also supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, while the C4 only supports Dolby Vision. Still, these are slight advantages, as otherwise, the LG is much better than the Hisense in everything else: much better contrast, vastly superior viewing angle, better image processing, and is much better for gamers due to its near-instant response time and four full HDMI 2.1 ports with up to 4k @ 144Hz support, while the Hisense is limited to two 4k @ 144Hz HDMI ports.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Sony X95L, but they excel in different ways. The LG is an OLED, so it looks at its best in dark rooms due to its near-infinite contrast ratio with no blooming or lighting zone transitions. The Sony, however, is a high-end LED TV, so while it looks amazing in dark rooms, it looks far more vibrant than the OLED in bright rooms due to its superior brightness, especially in SDR and in HDR Game Mode. Still, the LG has other advantages inherent to OLED TVs: it has a much wider viewing angle, and it's amazing for gamers due to its nearly instantaneous response time, four 4k @ 144Hz HDMI 2.1 ports, and lower input lag. Ultimately, it comes down to whether you'll watch content in brighter or darker rooms.
In most ways, the LG C4 OLED is better than the Samsung QN900D 8k QLED. While the Samsung is an 8k TV, there is almost no 8k content available, so it doesn't provide it with an advantage over the 4k LG C4. The LG is an OLED, so it has even better contrast than the otherwise fantastic contrast of the Samsung, with no blooming or lighting zone transitions. While the Samsung can get brighter in HDR, the LG is close in real content, although the Samsung does have the edge in SDR brightness. Otherwise, LG is the far better gaming TV due to its faster response time, although Samsung is interesting for those with extremely fast computers because of its 4k @ 240Hz or 8k @ 60Hz support with VRR. Finally, the LG has a far better viewing angle, making it far superior for a wide seating arrangements.
The LG C4 OLED is better than the Panasonic W95A in most ways. The LG displays deep and inky blacks with no blooming at all due to its nearly infinite contrast ratio, making it look better in a dark room. The LG has better accuracy in SDR without calibration and follows the PQ EOTF curve closer, making it the more accurate TV overall. Additionally, the LG displays clearer motion due to its nearly instantaneous response time, has lower input lag, and is more suitable for wide seating arrangements because of its wider viewing angle. However, the Panasonic is slightly better for bright rooms due to its better SDR brightness, and it has the edge when it comes to upscaling capabilities.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Roku Pro Series QLED. The Roku has fantastic contrast, but the LG is an OLED, so it has even better contrast for a more immersive dark room experience. The Roku is a bit brighter in HDR and much brighter in SDR, but the LG has vastly better reflection handling, so it looks better than the Roku in most lighting configurations. Otherwise, the LG offers better image quality across the board, is more accurate, and is overall the far better option for almost anyone.
The LG C4 OLED has good HDR brightness. It gets bright enough for most highlights to pop, but it's not bright enough to properly display very bright highlights. Still, it delivers an impactful HDR experience. Unfortunately, large bright scenes are significantly dimmer than smaller, specular highlights due to its aggressive Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL).
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
Note that the 42-inch and 48-inch models don't have LG's Brightness Booster technology, so they don't get as bright as the bigger models do.
The LG C4 OLED is noticeably dimmer while in Game Optimizer. It's still bright enough to provide an impactful HDR gaming experience, but you notice the drop in brightness compared to the TV's other picture modes.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
The LG C4 has okay SDR brightness. It gets bright enough to handle glare in a bright room, although it's better suited for a moderately lit room. Fortunately, the TV's Automatic Brightness Limiter isn't aggressive in SDR, so you don't have to deal with the screen dimming considerably when large areas of brightness are present.
These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:
If you like what this TV offers but wish it were brighter, take a look at the newer LG C5 OLED.
The LG C4 is an OLED and has no backlight, so its self-lit pixels give it the same performance as a TV with perfect local dimming and no zone transitions. We still film the zone transition video on the TV so you can see how it compares to a TV with local dimming.
The LG C4 has very good SDR color volume. Its coverage of the DCI-P3 color space is outstanding, and it covers the majority of that space, only struggling a bit with some very light colors. Unfortunately, its coverage of the wider BT.2020 color space is more limited.
Volume ΔE³ | DCI-P3 Coverage | BT.2020 Coverage |
---|---|---|
L10 | 98.49% | 66.54% |
L20 | 98.39% | 66.82% |
L30 | 98.26% | 67.75% |
L40 | 97.76% | 69.37% |
L50 | 97.25% | 70.00% |
L60 | 95.22% | 67.96% |
L70 | 91.24% | 58.81% |
L80 | 91.38% | 56.44% |
L90 | 89.07% | 54.83% |
L100 | 78.48% | 51.26% |
Total | 93.69% | 62.82% |
The TV has good color volume. It displays dark, saturated colors very well, and its ability to display bright whites is outstanding. It doesn't display other colors as brightly as it does whites, but it's still enough to display bright and vibrant colors.
With the TV set to Game Optimizer, there's a visible decrease in color luminance, and you can see the measurements below.
The LG C4 has excellent pre-calibration accuracy. Its white balance is amazing, with just a bit too much red in all shades of gray. Gamma is very close to our target of 2.2, but bright scenes are a bit too bright. Color temperature is superb, but it's warmer than our target of 6500K, and color accuracy is outstanding, with only very minor inaccuracies in whites, lighter yellows, and lighter cyans.
The TV has exceptional accuracy after calibration to the D65 white point. The white balance and gamma are now essentially perfect. Color accuracy is even better than before, with no noticeable inaccuracies, and color temperature is incredibly close to our target of 6500K.
You can see our full calibration settings.
The LG C4 has excellent accuracy in HDR before calibration. Its white balance is fantastic, but there's not enough blue and too much red in some brighter grays, which makes its color temperature slightly warmer than 6500K. The TV's color accuracy is excellent, but there are some mapping errors throughout, most notably in some reds and magentas.
The TV has incredible accuracy in HDR after calibration. Its white balance is a bit better now, and its color temperature is nearly perfect. Colors are also more accurate than before, but there's still some very minor mapping errors, and reds are a bit undersaturated.
The LG C4 has excellent PQ EOTF tracking. Some darker shadows and mid-tones are a bit brighter than intended, but the TV tracks the curve very closely. With content mastered at 600 or 1000 nits, there's a very small roll-off to preserve some detail in highlights. With content mastered at 4000 nits, there's a much more gradual roll-off to preserve detail in very bright highlights.
The LG C4 is impressive when upscaling low-resolution content like DVDs or lower-resolution streams. Details are clear enough, but very fine details are hard to make out.
Sharpness processing was calibrated with no over-sharpening for low-resolution content with the following settings:
The TV has very good HDR native gradient handling. There's some noticeable banding in bright grays, dark grays, and bright greens, but all other colors have minimal banding or no banding at all.
The LG C4 has exceptionally low input lag when set to Game Optimizer with 'Prevent Input Delay' set to 'Boost,' resulting in a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between the actions on your controller and what happens on screen. For chroma 4:4:4 to work properly, you must set the input label to 'PC,' or the '4:4:4 Passthrough' setting must be enabled.
If you're a retro gamer, you can see the input lag results in 4:3 @ 60Hz below.
The LG C4 supports all common formats. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, which is important for clear text from a PC.
There are two settings you can use to passthrough proper chroma 4:4:4. The first is to change the input label to 'PC.' The second is to enable the '4:4:4 Passthrough' setting in the 'HDMI Settings' menu. Both of these options work the same and lock you out from using the 'Peak Brightness,' 'Noise Reduction,' 'MPEG Noise Reduction,' 'Smooth Gradation,' and 'Real Cinema' settings.
The TV supports FreeSync and HDMI Forum VRR and is certified as G-SYNC compatible, ensuring a nearly tear-free gaming experience from any VRR-enabled source.
The TV's CAD at 60Hz is fantastic. Most transitions from one RGB level to another are nearly instantaneous, but it's slightly slower when transitioning from blacks. There's also still some noticeable persistence blur due to the nature of a 60Hz refresh rate.
The TV is fully compatible with everything the PS5 offers, like 1440p @ 120Hz and 4k @ 120Hz, as well as HDMI Forum VRR. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to Game Optimizer to get the lowest input lag.
The TV is fully compatible with everything the Xbox Series X|S offers, including 1440p @ 120Hz, 4k @ 120Hz, HDMI Forum VRR, FreeSync Premium Pro, and Dolby Vision gaming. It also supports Auto Low Latency Mode, so you don't have to worry about switching to Game Optimizer to get the lowest input lag.
Unfortunately, due to the TV's nearly instantaneous pixel response time, there's stutter with low frame rate content, which is most noticeable during slow panning shots.
The TV removes judder when watching 24p movies or TV shows when the Real Cinema setting is enabled, even from sources that can only send a 60Hz signal, like a cable box. Unfortunately, movies and TV shows aren't judder-free when BFI is enabled because the BFI feature only flickers at 60Hz.
The LG C4 doesn't have a traditional backlight and doesn't use pulse-width modulation (PWM) to dim each pixel, but it's not completely flicker-free. There's a slight dip in brightness that corresponds to the TV's refresh rate. This differs from the PWM flicker on TVs with LED backlights and occurs on every OLED we've tested. It's not noticeable, and most people won't be bothered by this, but it can still bother people who are extra sensitive to flicker.
The TV has an optional black frame insertion (BFI) feature that reduces the appearance of persistence blur caused by the TV's nearly instantaneous response time. It can only insert black frames at a 60Hz refresh rate.
The TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to help improve the appearance of motion. It works well with slower scenes but struggles with fast-moving action, so there's noticeable haloing and artifacts present in busier scenes, especially if you use the settings too aggressively.
The TV has decent perceived color volume in ambient lighting. Colors shown at all levels of luminance are still vibrant and saturated in a bright room since they only lose a small amount of saturation from ambient sources of light. That said, high-luminance colors do lose some saturation in very bright contexts, although it's hard to notice unless you look closely.
Like all OLED TVs, the LG C4 has a fantastic wide viewing angle. This makes it a great choice for a wide seating arrangement, as the image doesn't wash out or degrade when viewed at an angle.
There's a noticeable green tint on the C4 we bought and tested. It's a widespread issue that impacts almost all LG OLED panels but varies widely from unit to unit. LG Electronics has confirmed to us that our unit is about as bad as it gets, and anything worse wouldn't pass LG's quality control checks. Although it varies between units, most people won't see this issue on their TV. This issue also isn't new or exclusive to the C4, as it's been an issue on LG TVs for a few years now.
The TV uses a WOLED panel with a RWBG pixel structure where all four pixels are never lit at the same time. Due to its subpixel layout, it has minor issues with displaying text on Windows since ClearType isn't well optimized to non-RGB subpixel layouts, but most users won't be bothered by this.
The white subpixel does an excellent job helping the TV display bright whites, but it dilutes the color purity of greens and reds.
The LG C4 TV supports the full 48Gbps bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 on all four HDMI ports. This allows you to take full advantage of multiple high-bandwidth devices, like if you own both current-gen consoles and a high-end gaming PC.
The TV supports many audio formats, including DTS audio formats, which is great if you like to watch DVDs or Blu-rays, as they often use DTS for their main audio tracks.
The TV has a very sleek and modern design. It's very similar to 2023's LG C3 OLED, but the back has a unique stone-like finish. The TV's bezels are incredibly thin, so you barely see them while watching.
The included stand on the 65-inch LG C4 is identical to the stand on 2023's LG C3 OLED. The TV wobbles a bit when pushed on, but it quickly recovers, so this doesn't cause any issues. The stand lifts the screen about 2.7 inches above the table, so most soundbars fit underneath without blocking the screen. The 83-inch model uses a bigger stand, and the 42-inch model uses two wide-spread feet instead of a stand.
Footprint of the 65-inch stand: 18.5" x 9.0"
The back of the TV is made from plastic that is grainy to the touch and has a unique stone-like finish that really separates it from other TVs. Outside of that, the back is the same as the LG C3 OLED, with a large plastic central panel that houses the inputs. The inputs face the right which makes them easy to access if you have the TV on the stand, but they're still hard to reach when the TV is wall-mounted.
The back of the TV has clips that you can funnel cables through, and then they can be put through the clip on the stand to help with cable management.
The TV runs the 2024 version of LG's proprietary smart interface, webOS. The interface is fast and easy to use, and it supports user profiles, so you can customize the home page for different users. LG promises at least four years of webOS updates on their TVs, and the C4 is expected to receive webOS 25 towards the end of 2025.
The TV has a bug that causes the occasional black screen when changing resolutions and refresh rates frequently in a short period. The only fix for this is to unplug and re-plug the TV, but this is unlikely to happen with real-world usage.
There are two settings in the 'Home Settings' menu, namely the 'Home Promotion' and 'Content Recommendation' settings. These settings remove the top banner ads and suggested content from the home screen. This gives your home screen a clean look, but there's no way to remove ads from the apps page.
The LG C4 OLED TV has the same Magic Remote as the LG C3 OLED. You can use the remote as a pointer or use the traditional buttons to control the TV. The TV also supports hands-free voice control through microphones on the unit itself. You can use your voice to change inputs, open apps, search for content, and ask for the weather and time.
The TV has an alright frequency response. The TV speakers produce a small amount of bass, but it's not enough to have much impact on the viewer. The sound profile is well-balanced enough that the dialogue is clear, but the TV doesn't get very loud, and there are compression and pumping artifacts at maximum volume.