With their irresistible combination of ultra-slim futuristic designs and consistently outstanding picture quality, LG OLED TVs have become darlings of the high-end TV world – they’re not just among the best OLED TVsbut the best tvs of any kind.
We’re not just talking about moviegoers here either; lately, LG OLED TVs have also been advertised as the best gaming tvsthanks to their ability to deliver all the latest gaming features available on Xbox Series X, PS5 and the latest premium PC graphics cards.
As with all high-end TVs these days, however, the impressive and expansive capabilities of LG’s OLED TVs make them quite complex beasts that can be hard to get the most out of. Especially when research suggests that the vast majority of TV owners barely touch their TV’s settings once they’ve gone through the initial setup routines.
The problem is that few TVs are set up to deliver the best possible viewing experience, so if you haven’t chosen the right settings, you’re not getting the most out of your TV.
So here, let’s look at some of the most common misconfigurations made by LG OLED owners that can prevent them from getting the viewing experience they deserve.
1. Do not change the picture mode for different viewing conditions
We’ve never been better at both the range of sources our TVs have access to and the variety of content available from all those sources. While this is big news in many ways, it exposes the fact that for all the cleverness of the latest video processing systems you get with LG’s latest OLED TVs, maximizing the performance of an LG OLED means taking the time to choose the right picture presets for different types of content.
Helpfully, LG tries to help you out by creating different presets with names that reflect both the content they’re best suited for and the current environment in which the TV is viewed.
For regular daytime TV viewing, as well as sports, the standard preset that LG TVs default to is usually the best option. If you want to stream a high-quality movie or TV show, you should definitely make the effort to switch to the most suitable movie-based preset.
LG offers three options here: Home Cinema, Cinema, and Filmmaker Mode. The first of these is a good option for watching a movie in a fairly bright room, as it’s closer to movie industry video standards than Standard mode, but bumps up the color and luminance a bit to combat the ambient light in the room where you are. in.
Cinema is the preset LG has established to deliver a very sharp image in a darkened room, mimicking what you would have seen if you were looking at the image as it was created in a mastering studio. Great for watching in the evening when the lights are dimmed and the curtains drawn.
Filmmaker Mode looks a lot like the cinema, but it’s designed by the independent UHD Alliance to recreate the conditions the filmmakers the Alliance represents use when creating their footage. Personally, we’d lean towards LG’s Cinema Home or Cinema modes rather than Filmmaker mode, as they take a little more into account the specific capabilities of each LG OLED display – the picture is a bit more optimised.
We should add to this section that we don’t recommend using LG’s Vivid preset for really any viewing, as it pushes color, contrast and brightness to such extremes that the picture can become ungracefully unnatural.
Gamers should also be reminded to ensure their TV is switched to Game mode when gaming if you want to take advantage of the incredibly low response times that LG OLEDs are capable of. This should happen automatically, but it’s easy to recheck newer LG TVs, in particular, using the Game Optimizer menu.
2. Stick to Default Motion Settings
How different TVs handle motion and how well they are processed can have a big impact on the viewing experience. Yet it’s one of the most widely ignored or misunderstood aspects of TV setup.
Many AV fans (and Hollywood luminaries) would argue that any motion processing on LG’s TVs – or all TVs, come to that – should just be disabled by default. At least when watching 24p movies. Otherwise, the argument goes, you no longer get the natural 24 frames per second effect associated with a cinematic experience, and instead you make movies look like cheap soap operas.
Personally, while motion processing can actually have a pretty nasty effect on picture quality in many ways, we’d say there are motion processing options available on LG TVs that can help rather than affect image quality.
The relatively new Cinematic Motion mode in LG’s TruMotion processing, for example, can be nifty enough to eliminate the grosser effects of TV (rather than cinema) without over-smoothing the image or emitting too many unwanted digital artifacts.
Another option worth experimenting with if you find yourself finding jarring after disabling motion processing is to choose Custom from the TruMotion menus and set the Blur and Shake Reduction items to a setting of three or four each. This again generally reduces (not removes) the jerkiness effect, without anything looking too artificial.
3. Leave eco mode settings on
Almost all TVs now come with so-called Eco settings. In fact, most TVs come with Eco modes enabled by default. This is usually so they can comply with strict power consumption rules set by electronic bodies around the world.
Unfortunately, while the cost savings these modes bring are actually quite small, they can have a big impact on image quality. Typically they make the picture much less bright than it would be with the Eco modes off – even when a TV has a built-in camera it can use to alter pictures somewhat depending on the amount of light in the room.
In fact, the darkness of Eco Mode images can be particularly damaging in terms of the impact you should see with HDR content if you’re watching TV with a light sensor in a darkened room.
It all boils down to saying that one of the first things an AV enthusiast should do when buying an LG TV is to make sure all Eco features are turned off, so you’re the one in control. image appearance.
4. Not optimizing game settings
LG TVs are fantastic gaming displays capable of handling literally anything that today’s gaming devices can throw at them. However, there are a few settings gamers may not be aware of that can make a palpable difference to the gaming experience. Note that we’re assuming here that you’ve already made sure your TV is working in game mode with game sources, ideally with Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate Modes set to “on”.
The first “hidden” gaming trick to look for is RGB mode. Configuring the TV to accept RGB on the HDMI input that your gaming devices connect to can deliver richer, purer colors with gaming sources. This feature can be enabled by toggling the HDMI to which your console or your PC is connected in “PC mode” in the home dashboard menu of LG OLED TV. You will also need to configure your console or PC to output RGB.
The other key but often missed gaming graphics setting is HGiG. Short for HDR Gaming Interest Group, this mode available in LG’s HDR menu options is designed for use with gaming devices such as the Xbox Series X and PS5 that carry their own console-level HDR configuration system. (rather than just in-game). Basically, choosing HGiG mode disables the TV’s built-in HDR dynamic processing features, which are designed to constantly adjust HDR images to maximize their impact, so the TV essentially leaves the HDR optimization tasks to the console or PC you already have. configured to provide their best HDR output.
5. Using Dolby Atmos sound mode with built-in speakers
LG OLED TVs have a long and proud tradition of built-in decoding of the impressive Dolby Atmos audio format. Unfortunately, however, for a few generations now, the default Dolby Atmos sound mode in LG OLEDs hasn’t actually delivered the best audio results when using the TVs’ built-in speakers.
For some reason (although things have been improved for LG’s new 2022 models), Dolby Atmos mode on LG OLED TVs tends to sound rather swallowed up and short of impact, even going down in power. when the big Dolby Atmos moments reach a crescendo, rather than continuing to grow as they should.
A significantly better option, even when playing Dolby Atmos soundtracks, is LG’s AI Sound setting. This essentially reworks the sound to take full advantage of the known capabilities of each TV’s speaker setup, and generally results in much more powerful, dynamic and punchy sound than the native Dolby Atmos mode can produce.
The AI Sound system can sometimes have a touch too aggressive, it must be said. However, most of the time it provides a much more satisfying experience.
