Forget the arrival of the polyester jumpers, tinsel-drenched Coca-Cola ads and truly awful TV specials, there’s only one thing we’re looking forward to this festive season. No, it’s not an energy bill that’s bigger than Santa’s belly itself but the World Cup 2022. And if you’re going to enjoy the pinnacle of international football and English schadenfreude in all its ethically dubious glory, you’ll want to do so on a great big telly.
As an artisan of the genre, the arrival of a new LG C series TV is always a big deal, and so it proves with this year’s C2 models. Although the latest entry in this critically-lauded OLED TV roster launched early this spring, we’re covering it now because it’s definitively the time you want to begin thinking about buying the best TV of 2022. Partly because those Panini sticker albums are just beginning to appear in stores, but mainly because we’re just about to enter discount season for the tech industry. If you’re thinking about making a pre-Christmas upgrade to your home cinema setup, here’s why you should look no further…
Bright new thing
OK. So if you’re vaguely familiar with TV tech then you’ll know that OLED models with their self-emitting diodes still represent the pinnacle of what you can buy. So much so that even Samsung has finally, begrudgingly gotten onboard the bandwagon this year with its own Quantum Dot OLED models. Why is this tech so good? You’ll find unrivalled colour accuracy and contrast with these sets than with traditional backlit LCD technology – think bright whites and deep, inky blacks that don’t smudge into each other – all of which helps immensely to eke every ounce of detail from the vicious shots, barbaric scuffles and booze-addled celebrations you’ll find in House of the Dragon. Of course, there’s also whatever Jack Grealish gets up to in Qatar as well.
Nowadays OLED TVs are by no means a rarity, and that means that Sony, Panasonic and plenty of other manufacturers also have a fair few models to their name as well. Since LG pioneered the technology – and often sells those panels to telly makers for their own sets – it still tends to have the edge on both price and performance. We’ve already covered its top-tier LG G2 OLED earlier this year, but it’s the more affordable C series that generally represents the pound-for-pound sweet spot for potential buyers. Granted, its 65-inch incarnation will still set you back £1,899 right now, but that’s already a handy £800 off its launch price. If you’re willing to hold off on your purchase until Black Friday, further discounts will no doubt be available.
So what’s new with the C2? In essence, it takes the OLED Evo lighting tech from 2021’s imperious G1 and makes it available in a more affordable form. This is a big deal because while sumptuous to behold, the Achilles’ heel of OLED TVs has traditionally been their brightness. The brighter any TV can go, the better it’ll be able to display the full gamut of colours seen in HDR (High Dynamic Range) content. For this, think Stranger Things, Obi-Wan Kenobi or almost any prestige show from your streaming service of choice. When you’re able to reproduce Vecna’s eye-gouging in all its visceral glory, the added luminosity does a lot to delight and disgust in equal measure.