The release of the latest batch of TVs from LG and Samsung is imminent, and although we don’t have official release dates yet, I did get the opportunity to see some of LG’s latest sets in person – including its flagship OLED, the LG G5.
After the LG G5’s reveal at CES 2025, one of the headline announcements – and what I described as its most anticipated upgrade – was a big claimed boost in its fullscreen brightness, an area that all of the best OLED TVs find challenging.
The LG G4 was one of the best OLED TVs of 2024, earning a five star rating from us in our LG G4 review. It demonstrated spectacular color, stunning contrast and realistic textures and details, as well as pleasing levels of brightness. But, it’s unsurprising that the G4’s brightness, especially its fullscreen levels, still paled in comparison to the best mini-LED TVs, meaning the TVs are more prone to being overwhelmed by reflections.
So, when it was suggested by LG itself that there would be a 40% increase in fullscreen brightness between the G4 and G5, that caught my attention – this would mean the G5’s fullscreen brightness would be over 350 nits.
Although still not in the same league as mini-LED TVs such as the Hisense U8N or Samsung QN90D, which both averaged around 600 nits of fullscreen brightness, it was still a significant boost over the average OLED, which have hovered closer to 200 nits for years. This would make the G5 a very viable OLED TV for daytime viewing in bright rooms, especially for sports and even gaming.
Naturally then, I was excited to see just how the LG G5 looked in person and thankfully, I got to see it next to its predecessor to see just how bright it was.
The tech that makes it possible
Before I get into just how noticeable the difference between the G5 and G4 was, what is it that makes this brightness boost possible? Interestingly, it’s not micro lens array (MLA) (a layer comprising microscopic lenses that allowed for higher brightness) which was used in last year’s G4, but rather a new type of OLED panel that LG Display calls the META 3 ‘four-stack’ OLED. LG says this is what makes the brightness boost happen, in combination with processing from the G5’s Alpha A11 processor.
While I didn’t get a chance to see the LG G5 and LG G4 in every possible condition, I was able to see several video clips, and these alone were enough to show off the G5’s brightness increase over the G4.
Looking at the LG G5 and LG G4 side-by-side, with both TVs set to Filmmaker Mode, the brightness difference was obvious, with the G5 showcasing a significant boost in brightness, not only in peak sections (small areas of the screen), but the overall fullscreen brightness.
Watching a clip of a daytime chat show, the vividness of the studio backdrop showed just how much brighter the G5 was overall, and even the two people on screen had brighter skin tones and clothing that crucially were still accurate and never looked overblown or oversaturated.
At one stage, a loop of a trailer from Disney+ show A Thousand Blows played and while the gritty, Victorian-London set series showcased the G5’s colors and contrast more, brighter tones within the scene from lamplight or fire were given a more lifelike look thanks to the boosted brightness from the four-stack OLED panel. Colors also had a brighter, more vibrant punch to them.
One interesting scene was of a Japanese harbor at night, which again demonstrated the G5’s deep black levels. But throughout the scene were glossy neon signs that once again had more shine and vibrancy on the G5 compared to the G4, with the colors seeming to ‘pop’ more on the screen. This again showcased the G5’s contrast, with an excellent balance between the jet blacks of the background with the sheen of the neon signs.
Even viewing standard test patterns, in black and white or grayscale, showed elevated whites on the G5 compared to the G4, while also showing a better balance between black and white tones, with a broad range of gray tones in between.
While I wasn’t able to take any objective brightness measurements, I’m eager to see just what the brightness difference between the G4 and the G5 actually is when I can get my hands on the G5. When we measured the G4, it yielded brightness results in Filmmaker Mode of 1,489 nits and 257 nits in 10% (peak) and 100% (fullscreen) white window patterns. It’s clear the G5 has beaten this handily, but will it top a projected fullscreen brightness of 400 nits? I can’t wait to find out.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
