LG announces a special OLED CS series. But, how are these televisions positioned between the OLED C1 and OLED C2? We take stock.
We’re used to seeing a new series of OLED TVs every year from LG, usually announced at CES in January. We therefore had the CX in 2020, the C1 in 2021 and the C2 in 2022. In LG’s OLED TV range, this is the series that offers the best price-performance ratio.
At the end of 2022, LG Electronics has referenced several televisions named LG OLED CSwhich were announced ahead of Black Friday. This is quite unusual, where the previous two series are traditionally seen on sale during this time.
What changes for these CS OLED TVs?
This special series is actually a mix between C1 and C2.
To put the context of the arrival of these new models, it would be an overproduction of LG. In effect, LG would have initially preconceived for Samsung Electronics a large quantity of W-OLED panels. As a reminder, Samsung has marketed its first OLED television. However, it is, for the moment, televisions equipped with a slab QD-OLED manufactured by Samsung Display. It was initially regarding Samsung OLED TVs with QD-OLED and W-OLED panels.
LG OLED CS TVs are therefore TVs that use the design of the LG C1 and offer the performance of the LG C2. They are found in three diagonal sizes, 55, 65 and 77 inches.
We therefore find, technically, the C2 panel, brighter, but we also have the new Alpha 9 Gen5 AI processor. This component is essential for the management of contrasts, colors, brightness, HDR… but also for upscaling (scaling) and fluidity. Difficult to estimate the performance differences between the two generations of chips, but it is obvious that this difference exists.
This TV is also entitled to the new WebOS 22 interfaceof this year, which brings some novelties, as you can see in our C2 test. Among the novelties, there is the management of several profiles, as well as the new game bar. However, we do not have the functionality Always Readya permanent sleep mode that gives access to the voice assistant.
On the connector side, we have four HDMI 2.1 sockets, instead of 2 on the C1. The remote control is almost identical, it only lacks the NFC part for simplified fitting.
What is the interest of this special CS series?
This special OLED CS series was designed for the holiday season and more specifically for Black Friday. We therefore expect slightly more aggressive prices.
For the moment, the 55 inch is at 1,500 euros, the 65 inch is at 2,100 euros and the 77 inch at 3,500 euros. These prices displayed on e-commerce sites are higher than those of C2.
Nevertheless, as David Nogueira explainsthese OLED CS will benefit from great promotions: the 55 inch would be at 1,100 euros, the 65 inch at 1,600 euros and the 77 inch at 2,600 euros.
You will have to be attentive to the different promotions, because it is not necessarily clear that this CS series enjoys the best prices during this key period. The best thing to do is follow our Back Friday coverage, we’ll sort it out.
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