It’s fair to say that LG had a pretty successful 2017. Its OLED TVs finally made the leap from niche favorite of well-heeled home cinema fans to genuine mass market contenders. Or, at the very least, they made hitherto unprecedented inroads into Samsung’s previous dominance of the premium TV market.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise to find LG’s newly announced 2018 TV range being headed up by another potent-looking series of OLED TVs, most powered by a promising new ‘Alpha 9’ Processor chip.
The new OLED models will be supported in 2018 by a revamped range of ‘Super UHD’ LCD TVs, powered by a new Alpha 7 chip. This Super UHD series will include in some models something we haven’t seen from LG in a while: full array local dimming (FALD) panels, where the LEDs are placed behind the screen rather than around its edges and can support different simultaneous light levels from separate LED zones.
Below are details on all the sets LG has announced for 2018 so far – including recommended pricing where already known.
Please note that at the time of writing, while the OLED range details are pretty much locked down (and have been previewed in this separate article), there’s still some vagueness surrounding aspects of the Super UHD LCD range. It’s probable, too, that LG will introduce a few budget LCD TV series in the coming weeks.
I’ve provided the information available at the moment, but will update this range overview in the coming days and weeks as LG releases more details. So if you’re interested in one of LG’s LCD sets, do revisit this article before heading parting with your cash!
OLED Models
OLED W8 series
Screen sizes (prices): 77-inch ($14,999/€14,999), 65-inch ($7,999/€7,499)
LG’s flagship TVs for 2018 follow the ‘picture on wall’ design theme of last year’s W7s (reviewed here). The W8s are, again, so thin that they barely protrude at all from your wall, with all their inputs, picture processing and audio being provided by an external box – complete with ‘emerging’ height speakers – extremely similar to the boxes that accompanied the ground-breaking W7 series.
The 4.2-channel, 60W sound system in this external control box can handle Dolby Atmos sound, and the Dolby theme continues with support for the Dolby Vision HDR format. This is accompanied by support for HDR10, HLG and Technicolor’s ‘Advanced’ HDR platforms – though there’s currently no sign that LG is going to also embrace the new HDR10+ HDR system (explained here).
The new Alpha 9 chip introduced for 2018 is claimed to improve pretty much every aspect of picture quality, from color range to contrast, noise control and motion. It also supports much deeper and more direct professional calibration than 2017’s models, and has the power to cope with LG’s new ThinQ ‘Artificial Intelligence’ smart system, complete with built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Echo compatibility.
The ThinQ AI platform also enables your TV to access other smart home products such as robotic vacuum cleaners, air conditioners/purifiers, lights, and speakers.
OLED G8 Series
Screen sizes (prices): 65-inch ($5,499/€4,999)
Calling this one a series is a bit of a cheek given that there’s actually only going to be one model for 2018: the 65-inch OLED65G8.
The 2018 G8 features a new ‘One Glass’ design concept that sees the screen mounted on an ultra-thin glass plate that extends down from the bottom of the screen to meet a new, smartly integrated control box and soundbar.
The set supports all the same picture and sound features as the W8, except that its soundbar is less powerful.
OLED E8 Series
Screen sizes (prices): 65-inch ($4,499.99/€4,499), 55-inch ($3,499/€2,999)
The E8 series maintains the same OLED panel and Alpha 9 picture processing as the G8 and W8 models. It differs in design, though, offering a refined take on the ‘picture on glass’ approach used to popular effect with the excellent 2017 E7 series (reviewed here). The transparent mounting glass now extends a few inches below the bottom of the screen, stopping just above a centrally mounted metallic silver stand.
Having seen these sets in the flesh at the CES in January, I can confirm that they really do look gorgeous.
The only potential pity is that the built-in ‘soundbar’ we’ve seen with the previous couple of E-series OLED generations has here disappeared to make way for the new glass-emphasizing design.
OLED C8 Series
Screen sizes (prices): 77-inch ($9999.99/€9,999), 65-inch ($3,999.99/€3,499), 55-inch ($2,999.99/€2,499)
The most important thing to note about the C8 OLED series is that it delivers the same panel and same Alpha 9 picture processor as the much more expensive E8, G8 and W8 models. It’s only cheaper because it skips the picture-on-glass approach in favor of a more conventional design, complete with striking, near full-width metallic plinth desktop stand.
This cheaper design also sees the sound quality taking a hit, as there’s no room for a built-in soundbar. You just get a more conventional 2.2-channel speaker arrangement. This does still claim a very respectable 40W of power, though.
The 2017 C7 models are reviewed here.
OLED B8 Series
Screen sizes (prices): 65-inch (£3,799.99 estimate based on Korean pricing), 55-inch ($2,799.99 estimate based on Korean pricing)
Having maintained the same panels and processing right across its 2017 OLED range, LG has changed tack slightly for 2018 by using a less powerful video processor – the Alpha 7 – in its new ‘entry level’ B8 OLED models. This means these TVs will not provide quite the same level of picture quality.
While some may feel upset about this, such feature differentiation between different TV series is normal practice with other TV brands. And if dropping the processing level a bit enables LG to offer an OLED option in 2018 for a lower price than ever before, that can only be a good thing, right?
With this in mind, it’s frustrating that the B8s are the only one of LG’s 2018 OLED series I haven’t been able to find any firm price information on so far, aside from some estimated figures on a Korean website that feel a little high to me. I’ll update this article as soon as more definite B8 pricing appears. Feel free to let me know via the Twitter account at the end of this article if you spot a B8 price ‘in the wild’ that you think I may have missed.
The 2017 B7 series is reviewed here.
LCD Models
SK95 Series
Screen sizes (prices): 65-inch ($2,699.99/€TBC), 55-inch (€TBC)
The SK95 models have the potential to cause a stir in the LCD world for five main reasons.
First, despite enjoying a strikingly slim, metallic design they use a full array lighting system, with LEDs placed behind the screen rather than around its edges. What’s more, they use local dimming to enable different zones of those LEDs to output different light levels at any given moment, as per the needs of the picture.
Second on the SK95 list of attractions is LG’s new Alpha 7 processor. This is claimed to boost contrast, colors, clarity and shadow detail to levels not seen on LG LCD TVs before, as well as driving LG’s new ThinQ AI system with its Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support.
Third, LG claims to have improved the so-called Nano Cell technology it initially introduced on its 2017 Super UHD TVs so that it produces a wider color gamut while the screen absorbs more unwanted light from your living room.
Fourth, although the SK95s don’t carry one of LG’s built-in soundbar audio systems, they still carry built-in Dolby Atmos audio decoding. This will not, of course, deliver anything like the same sort of surround sound experience you’d expect with an external Atmos sound system. However, some of LG’s 2017 models managed to produce a surprisingly wide ‘wall of sound’, at least. So hopefully that will happen with the SK95s too.
Finally, as with LG’s 2018 OLED TVs, the SK95s will support a wider range of HDR formats than any other TV brand: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and Technicolor Advanced HDR. As with the OLED sets, though, there’s currently no talk of support for the new HDR10+ HDR system currently being championed by Samsung, 20th Century Fox and Panasonic.
My biggest concern with the SK95s is that they use LG’s IPS panel technology (as do all of LG’s 2018 TVs, in fact). While these panels can give you a slightly wider effective viewing angle than rival VA panel types, they also traditionally struggle to deliver a convincing contrast performance, especially with HDR sources.
Hopefully the re-introduction of direct lighting and local dimming will improve things greatly in this respect. Though an attempt by LG a few years back to combine direct lighting with a special light diffuzer system to retain an ultra thin design delivered less than impressive results. Fingers crossed LG’s engineers have nailed it this time.
SK9000P Series
Screen sizes (prices): 65-inch ($2,199.99/€TBC), 55-inch ($1,599.99/€TBC)
At the time of writing, the SK9000P series only appears on LG’s US website so far as I can tell. There was no mention of it in LG’s recent official global TV range press release.
Given that the US website does not at the time of writing carry the SK8500 series that IS referenced in that press release, it’s possible that the site is temporarily running an incorrect model number.
Assuming the SK9000P TVs are ‘real’, their spec sheets suggest that the biggest difference in performance terms between them and the SK9500s will be that they don’t use as many local dimming zones. Their dimming system is described as simply Full Array Dimming versus the SK9500’s Full Array Dimming Pro. I’m seeking more detailed information on this difference – as well as clarification on the SK9000 model name – from LG.
SK8500P series
Screen sizes (prices): 49inch ($TBC), 55-inch ($TBC), 65-inch ($TBC)
This range has been confirmed by LG in a recent press release, and will feature direct LED lighting with local dimming once more. Expect a less premium design, though, and a reduced number of dimming zones compared with the SK9500 and possibly – if it actually exists! – SK9000 series.
SK8000P Series
Screen sizes (prices): 65-inch ($1,999.99/€TBC), 55-inch ($TBC), 49-inch ($TBC)
Although LG’s recent press announcement on this range is a little vague, based on information available at the CES in January it seems that the SK8000 series will seek to offer a much more affordable way into LG’s Super UHD Nano Cell technology by switching from direct LED lighting with local dimming to edge lighting.
These sets will still, though, carry all the HDR format, Dolby Atmos audio and ThinQ AI support of the more expensive models.
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LG 2018 OLED TV First Impressions
Samsung Leak Reveals Surprising New 2018 QLED TV Range
Sony’s 2018 TV Line Up – With Pricing
Samsung To Sell OLED TVs Again, Claims Report
LG OLED65E7 4K OLED TV Review: OLED Comes Of Age
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