Technology

LG Announces 2022 Smart TV Product Line: Expanded Size and WebOS Software Function Experience

With the opening of CES 2022, major manufacturers are also non-stop previewing various new products. For example, LG has released more screen size options for its smart TVs, increased the loudness of G series models, and brought some additional features to the pre-installed webOS software-such as support for multi-user profiles.


(Picture via TheVerge) First of all, with the support of the fifth-generation A9 processor, LG said that 2022 smarttelevisionThe product line includes 4K Experience upgrades, improved color mapping, and enhancement of foreground objects to get a greater sense of depth.G2 on the left and C1 on the right. As for the TV body, following the first display of the higher-brightness OLED “Evo” panel on the G1 product line in 2021, LG will also bring the follow-up G2 and more mainstream C2 product lines in 2022. LG C2LG, which is equipped with a brighter OLED Evo panel, said that by combining the brightness enhancement algorithm + improving the heat dissipation effect of TV components, G2 can provide higher peak brightness than C2. Even so, C2’s performance is still better than the CX product line two years ago.

The black of the OLED panel is still very pure. The significance of extending the Evo panel to the C series is that it is the best-selling high-end TV model in the US market (priced at more than US$1,500). At the structural level, 2022 G2/C2 uses a novel composite fiber material to make the finished product lighter. The LG 2022 OLED TV product line includes a smaller 42-inch model. Take the 65-inch C2 model as an example, which weighs almost half of the C1. For thin, fragile large-screen products, this also helps to reduce the pressure faced during unpacking and installation. For 97-inch G2 OLED models, for small bedrooms, offices, and gamers, the 42-inch C series may be sufficient (previously the minimum was 48 inches). However, if a larger display area is required, the G series also ushered in a new 97-inch 4K machine (previously the maximum was 83-inch 4K / 88-inch 8K models).

The 97-inch price is obviously expensive. As usual, every HDMI port on the G/C series has a complete HDMI 2.1 function. Many TVs previously only supported approximately 40Gbps of HDMI bandwidth, but new products in 2022 can enable a complete 48 Gbps channel. In addition, it supports 4K @ 120Hz games, variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low-latency mode, and other features, although, in some respects, competitors have overtaken (such as Samsung The 2022 TV supports 144Hz and VRR).

In terms of software experience, the game dashboard will place more details on the top layer to prevent players from going deep into multi-layer menus to complete the adjustment of key settings. In addition, the fifth preset for sports games, the darkroom game mode is introduced in the image quality setting, and the recent update added support for GeForce Now and Google Stadia cloud gaming services. As for the more entry-level A-series models, since they are mainly geared towards movie viewing experience, they lack support for HDMI 2.1 and game-centric functions. Mini LED makes LG QNED TV’s contrast closer to OLED, and brightness performance is also better. LG jumped onto the Mini LED ship in 2021 and launched a new batch of QNED TVs in 2022. Compared with the old LCD model, the new product has better contrast and black performance.

Although not as complete as OLED beautiful Black/close to infinite contrast, but Mini LED TVs can have higher overall brightness than OLED models. But what is confusing is that LG itself confuses the meaning of the “QNED” brand because not all new phones in 2022 will have Mini LED features. For example, the entry-level QNED80 model uses a traditional, low-precision local dimming solution instead of a more delicate and miniaturized LED backlight. In terms of software, LG implemented some low-level adjustments to webOS. The newly released webOS 22 uses the digital version number of the same year, allowing users to more intuitively understand the changes. In terms of functions, webOS now supports multi-user profiles, everyone can get their own personalized recommendations, and can freely customize the home screen according to their own preferences.

Regrettably, although Chris Welch asked LG whether it is possible to allow each user to customize and save the image settings of the TV, the current webOS has not yet supported such a detailed configuration file extension. In addition, LG promised to introduce a feature called “room-to-room sharing” to temporarily send the current TV (or connected to a cable set-top box or another input source) signal to another TV in a different room. In this mode, users can seamlessly perform channel switching and other operations. However, this feature is still in its early stages and will not be launched until the TV is shipped. Finally, the new “always ready” model was introduced in 2022. When the TV is turned off, the screen will turn to display a digital canvas for displaying artwork, displaying time, or playing music.