We recently reported that LG’s latest firmware update, 33.30.92, has made Dolby Vision picture modes – Cinema Home, Standard, Vivid and Game – appear much brighter on the LG G5 and LG C5, in an effort to fix user complaints of TVs looking ‘too dark’ with some HDR video these days… even in the case of the best OLED TVs.
A common complaint among TV owners is that movies and TV shows’ shadows look too dark, meaning you can’t always tell what you’re watching, especially if you’re in a bright room. Several years ago, Game of Thrones was one of the first TV shows to get wide coverage on this issue with its infamous season 8 battle.
So, how has LG done this? Is this a straight-up brightness boost or a tone mapping tweak? Thankfully, I have the G5 and C5 available, both of which hadn’t received the new update yet, plus specialized testing equipment to measure brightness. So let’s find out how this update looks! In this article, I’ll be focusing on the G5, because it got long enough before adding in the mid-range model – I’ll follow up with results for the C5 soon.
A quick note on the photos below: these should be considered illustrative, rather than totally accurate reproductions of what you’d see in real life – the films don’t appear as harsh (in some cases) on the TV in person.
The Batman
The Batman is a regular 4K Blu-ray I use for testing as not only does it have plenty of high contrast scenes to test a TV’s capabilities, but it’s also very dark (mastered at 400 nits, compared to the industry standard of 1,000 nits).
It acts as a sort of torture test and can be extremely difficult to watch in bright conditions, so naturally it’s the perfect first test for this new update.
Dolby Vision Cinema Home
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As you can see in the first photo above, there is strong contrast here with half of Batman’s face in shadow, but the white of his left eye is more obscured. My reflection wasn’t as pronounced as the photo would show, but there were mirror-like reflections visible over the detail in the scene.
The second photo, post update, shows better detail within the shadow, with Batman’s left eye and his stubble more pronounced, demonstrating a change to tone mapping. Even reflections of myself and other objects are less obvious, because the overall image is brighter. Crucially though, blacks and the darkest tones still appear accurate and don’t appear lifted.
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In this shot of a much darker scene, where Batman stands post-fight on a subway platform, the changes may not appear as obvious as the face photo above, but there are some differences.
More of the subway environment such as the back wall and floor are on display in the second photo and the various peak light areas do appear marginally brighter. Again though, accuracy has not been sacrificed: dark tones still appear deep and true-to-life.
Dolby Vision Standard
When I measure TVs, I always measure both Filmmaker Mode (as the most accurate mode) and Standard mode, as it is often the default for some users. So, I decided to check out Dolby Vision Standard before and after this update as well.
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The first thing I noted with Dolby Vision Standard is how different its color temperature was, as it favored a much cooler blue. While I expected this based on other picture modes, it was still surprising. It’s worth noting that the change in color temperature wasn’t as aggressive as the photos would suggest, but is clearly there.
Post update, Dolby Vision Standard seemed to receive the same treatment as Dolby Vision Cinema Home: a change in tone mapping revealed more details in darker areas, while still retaining accurate black tones. There is also a perceived brightness boost, with my reflection once again less visible post update.
I didn’t feel this mode suited The Batman, but it is good to see a noticeable change for the better.
DV Filmmaker, Cinema Home and Standard
Below, I’ve again used the photos of Batman’s face from The Batman, but in these galleries, I’ve included Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode. This picture mode is the only one to remain unaltered from the firmware update.
In the first gallery, this is Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode, followed by Dolby Vision Cinema Home and finally Dolby Vision Standard before the update. Gallery two is the same photos, but post update, so Cinema Home and Standard have changed.
Pre update
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Post update
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As you can see, Filmmaker Mode is a great marker for just how significant the update is. Both Cinema Home and Standard are showing much more detail than before the update.
Filmmaker Mode also struggles in the brighter conditions due to its lower brightness, meaning darker areas are harder to see, there is perceived black crush when in a brigther room, and mirror-like reflections are more present. For The Batman in brighter conditions, Cinema Home is definitely the better choice.
Dark room viewing
I also decided to see how these updates would fare in darker viewing conditions. For photography purposes, there is an uplight behind the TV, but in reality I viewed it in pitch black conditions. This is where Filmmaker Mode shines.
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In the pitch-black conditions, due to the G5’s higher brightness, I found that the brighter Dolby Vision modes could have lifted dark tones in places, and while Cinema Home still looked very good, Standard was oversaturated and didn’t look as accurate.
In these home theater conditions, Filmmaker Mode looked excellent. It delivered that accuracy I was looking for, still demonstrating crisp textures and powerful contrast, but without getting too overzealous.
In the subway scene from The Batman, Filmmaker Mode (slide 1) has the most visually pleasing picture, with the best balance in contrast that reveals details and textures in the walls and floor, while also demonstrating impactful highlights such as the lamp opposite the platform. Cinema Home does the same, but definitely appears brighter. I felt Filmmaker Mode did more justice to this dark scene.
Last Voyage of the Demeter
The next movie I tested was Last Voyage of the Demeter, another movie with plenty of dark and high-contrast scenes. Again, this can be tricky to watch in brighter viewing conditions as it’s vulnerable to mirror-like reflections. For this, I decided on a scene where two of the sailors are on deck at night and one walks while swinging a lamp.
Dolby Vision Cinema Home
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The biggest change here is in the mirror-like reflections. While they are still present, they are much less obvious in the Cinema Home post-update, thanks to higher average brightness across the screen.
Brighter objects, where moonlight is reflected on them, also appear brighter and more detailed, such as the tarp over the small boat in the background and the wooden grate in the foreground. Light sources, such as the swinging lamp also appear brighter, giving them a little more pop on screen and creating higher perceived contrast.
Dolby Vision Standard
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For Dolby Vision Standard, I didn’t find the changes to be as significant compared to Cinema Home. However, I was surprised that the color temperature of this scene, already very cool, became even cooler post update.
This mode also reduced reflections, but again not to the extent of Cinema Home. There was an added brightness however, which was obvious in the ropes in the background, again taking on a cooler hue.
DV Filmmaker Mode, Cinema Home and Standard
I decided again to put both Cinema Home and Standard alongside Filmmaker Mode to see how it fared in brighter conditions. Below, gallery one is all three modes pre-update and gallery two is all three post-update, with Filmmaker Mode once again unaffected.
Pre-update
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Post-update
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In brighter conditions, Filmmaker Mode unfortunately suffers from quite obvious mirror-like reflections, making it difficult to watch. Cinema Home’s post-update picture is the best for viewing conditions, nicely balancing the accuracy of Filmmaker Mode but adding a nice hit of brightness and adding some more detailed tone mapping, giving objects a more lifelike appearance.
Pitch black conditions
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I also tested this scene in pitch black conditions and this was once again where Filmmaker Mode came out on top. Its contrast was more balanced than the other two modes, but once again Cinema Home was a close second, as it had been with The Batman.
Cinema Home did bring out some nice details in less obvious objects however, such as the pile or rope in front of the sailor. For accuracy’s sake though, Filmmaker Mode was the obvious choice. I found Standard too bright in dark conditions.
The Sound of Music
I decided to try out the update on a brighter movie as well, to see what differences it could make. I opted for The Sound of Music, a breathtaking 4K Blu-ray with plenty of colors to pop and bright, impactful scenes. I decided to focus on the ‘Do Re Mi’ scene, as it has plenty of lush greens and vivid blues and whites, plus it has a particularly punchy brightness to it.
Dolby Vision Cinema Home
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Looking at this scene from The Sound of Music in Dolby Vision Cinema Home pre and post update, it’s clear the firmware update has had an impact. The green grass to the left of Maria and the snow-capped mountains in the background definitely look more vibrant and bolder post update.
The whites of everyone’s outfits also have more shine in the update, though I’m not sure this is a positive as some of the children’s outfits are straddling the line between accurate and oversaturated.
Still, it’s clear that the update has indeed added more energy to certain colors on screen and raised the perceived brightness.
Dolby Vision Standard
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I found Dolby Vision Standard’s changes harder to see, apart from the very obvious color temperature change again. There are some subtleties to suggest more saturation in the green grass and a bit more punch in the blue sky, but again I didn’t find Dolby Vision Standard’s changes as prevalent as Cinema Home’s or as obvious as I found watching The Batman.
Dolby Vision Filmmaker, Cinema Home and Standard
Once again, I decided to take a picture of the same scene above with Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode to compare it to Cinema Home and Standard pre and post update. Once again, gallery one is of the three modes pre-update and gallery two is post-update, where Filmmaker Mode remains unchanged.
Pre-update
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Post update
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Despite being in brighter viewing conditions, I would still choose Filmmaker Mode. Its color reproduction appears more accurate, striking a nice balance between saturation and accuracy, making The Sound of Music feel more authentic.
Cinema Home is a close second as it does add some nice pop and only certain colors can appear a touch oversaturated. For me, Standard changes the complexion of the film too drastically.
While it can be difficult to tell the changes the update has made at times, it definitely added more vibrancy in more subtle areas of the picture, especially the greens of the grass. Cinema Home has definitely benefitted the most from the update with The Sound of Music.
Measurements
Now that I had experienced the update in action, I was curious: was this a straight up brightness boost or was this more a focus on changing the tone mapping? Was LG just cranking up the dial marked ‘light’, or was it adjusting the curves for how bright specific tones should be compared to others?
The TechRadar team strongly suspected the latter, but I broke out the equipment to make sure. I measured the G5’s Dolby Vision Cinema Home and Standard picture modes pre and post update to see if there were any big brightness changes.
Using a Klein K10A colorimeter, Murideo Six G 8K test pattern generator and Portrait Displays’ Calman color calibration software to record said measurements to test the G5, I got to work, focusing on peak brightness (10% window) and fullscreen brightness (100% window).
Dolby Vision Cinema Home pre-update hit 1930 nits peak and 313 nits fullscreen brightness. Post-update, it hit 1979 nits peak and 325 nits fullscreen. So while there has been a slight boost in brightness, the human eye wouldn’t be able to discern this very marginal increase: not to the extent that I perceived when viewing the movies in action.
Dolby Vision Standard clocked in at 2,045 nits peak and 352 nits fullscreen brightness pre-update, meaning it was unsurprisingly the brighter of the two modes between it and Cinema Home. Interestingly, its brightness barely moved post-update, only rising by single digits in most cases.
So, what this tells us is that it’s not a simple case of LG pumping more energy into the panel to boost output, but rather that LG is taking certain tones and raising their brightness profile compared to how they were before, in an attempt to make them appear more accurate as the eye perceives them, specifically when viewed in brighter conditions.
Conclusion
After testing LG’s latest firmware update, I’m joining the majority and calling this a success, on the G5 at least. The Dolby Vision Cinema Home update in particular has been extremely useful for darker movies in brighter conditions. It reduces reflections, applies more dynamic tone mapping and adds some perceived brightness that mean it it’s impossible to watch a movie like The Batman in a light room.
In darker conditions, I would still opt for the more accurate Filmmaker Mode and I’m glad to see LG left it untouched. While Standard isn’t my style, it could work well for more modern, animated movies by adding even more brightness.
It’s rare that we cover a firmware update to this extent on TechRadar, but this one really piqued my curiosity as a TV tester. And honestly, it was worth covering: this is a successful update. If you’re an LG OLED TV owner, make sure to update – if you’re thinking of buying one, but have worried about performance in bright rooms, maybe this will make a difference.
I’ll be back next week with my look at the changes on the LG C5. Given that its panel is less bright, that could be very interesting…
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
