LG 55EG920V review

The rise of OLED continues apace, as the price keeps dropping

LG 55EG920V

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So to reiterate, this screen has me utterly sold on OLED. Throw in the fact that the depth of its blacks and the range of its colours makes it almost the perfect match for HDR content at Ultra HD resolutions, and you can see why it would be a wrench to give up such a screen.

And this isn't even the top of LG's TV stack.

Amazon Prime Instant Video is the only place you can pick up HDR content right now, but its range is growing. All of its latest Pilot Season shows come with the HDR metadata attached to the 4K versions, and thanks to the brilliant webOS software it's incredibly quick and easy to get running on the EG920V.

LG 55EG920V review

That metadata tells the TV to switch to HDR mode, locking down the picture settings to deliver the best image. And it really does look fantastic. The bright lights of New York in Mozart in the Jungle are pinpoint sharp, like stars in the night sky, and the detail achieved in the dark audience scenes looks stunning.

The 'perfect blacks' of the OLED screen really are made for the HDR format. But even standard 4K Ultra HD content looks stunning, with the OLED contrast levels making Daredevil stand out.

I'm not entirely sold on LG's upscaling technology, however; the 1080i picture from my Virgin box looked a little less distinct than I've seen on more powerful UHD displays. But it's most definitely not bad – and the extra contrast performance you get from the OLED pixels almost entirely offsets any upscaling issues too.

The classic contrast test, Gravity in 1080p, shows just how much extra benefit those self-emissive pixels are when it comes to reproducing fine, bright details on a dark background.

Less than perfect

All is not perfect though. There are definite brightness issues with LG's OLED panels if you try and squeeze any more brightness out of them in general. Pushing the settings above the stock 50 point completely blows the LG 'perfect blacks' – suddenly they're faded and grey, lacking that depth which is the hallmark of OLED awesomeness.

And because the EG920V isn't at the very top of LG's TV tech tree the processing inside the box isn't the most powerful. Navigating the settings in the otherwise excellent webOS software is a slick experience – especially with the bundled magic wand remote – but when you're taxing the system with 4K or HDR content things become far more sluggish.

LG 55EG920V review

Shifting between menus becomes stuttery, and selecting an option introduces some definite pauses to proceedings.

The audio performance is necessarily understated too. That svelte chassis is never going to be able to produce the same sort of aural excellence you can get from a soundbar, or from Sony's stunning wide-boy TVs with beefy speakers.

But the speakers are clear, and retain a surprising level of clarity and depth too. You'll want a more impactful sound system for that home cinema experience, but for general day-to-day watching the EG920V's speakers are acceptable.