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  • Picture Quality

  • Design & Features

  • Software & Interface

  • The Finish Line

  • Behind the Screens

  • Calibration

  • Contrast Ratio

  • Gamma

  • Grayscale

  • RGB Balance

  • Gamut: Color & Luminance

  • Expanded Color

  • Viewing Angle

  • Picture Quality
  • Design & Features
  • Software & Interface
  • The Finish Line
  • Behind the Screens
  • Calibration
  • Contrast Ratio
  • Gamma
  • Grayscale
  • RGB Balance
  • Gamut: Color & Luminance
  • Expanded Color
  • Viewing Angle

Last week, we firmly established that OLED is kind of a big deal. Well, LG's 55EA9800 ($9,999) is in our laboratory ready to run the same gauntlet and make the year's LCD and plasma TVs look old and busted. I got my first glimpse of this next-gen giant during the dog days of summer, and found that its bark definitely matched its bite.

"Your first kiss. A baby's first steps (bear with me for a minute)... Some things in life defy all explanation... Such is the case with the new LG CURVED OLED TV." That's what LG's website says about the EA9800, and—hyperbole and über-cheese aside—it's sort of on the mark: OLED is the most exciting advancement in TV technology since flat-paneled LCDs first supplanted round, boxy CRTs.

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From a highly detailed standpoint, LG's curved OLED has a bit of trouble staying inside the lines with traditional color production: It wants to do more whether you want it to or not! This is a very small complaint against one of the best TVs ever, but it did spell out second place for the EA9800 at the end of the day. At $10,000, the 55EA9800 is far-and-away an early adopter item. Even so, OLED is coming, it's here, and it's changing everything.

Picture Quality

With picture quality like this, who needs friends?

There's a marketing term that's lurked around spec sheets since the golden age of computer monitors: Infinite contrast. LG has the grace to put it in quotation marks on the EA9800's spec sheet; ironically, though, this is perhaps one of the only times where it's actually a true statement. OLED TVs use pixels that create their own light, meaning that when they display black, they turn off completely—something absolutely unheard of from any LCDs in the past. Plasma TVs traditionally come close, but must still emit a very small electrical current when producing black—resulting in dithering or "popcorn" when observed acutely.

OLED TVs use pixels that create their own light, meaning they turn off completely. What does this mean for picture quality? Everything.

What does this mean for picture quality? Everything. Light production is the name of the game for all displays, and being able to contrast light with a true lack of light means authentic infinite contrast.

Practically speaking, the 55EA9800 is only a forerunner of OLED TV technology, yet its contrast ratio can't really be improved upon: If real life had a "contrast ratio," this is about as close as TVs are going to get.

This kind of "true" black level makes every other on-screen element stand out. You see more brilliance from the brightest whites and colors, yes, but also from the subtler picture details that set 1080p apart from 480p; that set 35mm film apart from General Hospital. The difference between disparate resolutions becomes heavily pronounced by this TV's screen, and every small wrinkle of clothing, near-black shadow, and faint glimmer of color becomes easier to see, easier to appreciate.

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Unfortunately, while the 55EA9800 is capable of saturating colors further than traditional TVs, it struggled at first to match international standards—something we found out first hand while calibrating it in the lab. The EA9800 seems to prefer its wider, more-saturated color space to the traditional one—and you might too.

OLED is closer than ever to matching the scope of human vision.

As for the additional color: Some poorly engineered TVs continue to saturate—add color—to red, green, and blue until the top quarter of detail is glossed over, resulting in a hyper-bright, stomach-churning picture. Yet OLED cells not only turn on and off individually, they also produce color individually. While LG's 55EA9800 uses a different sub-pixel array than Samsung's 55KNS9C, the color results from both OLED TVs are equally stellar: More highly-saturated colors without loss of detail.

While it doesn't increase color production to quite the same degree as Samsung's S9C, the 55EA9800 still adds about 20% more color when displaying content using its wider color gamut. In real terms, this means more color in all areas of the picture—color that's more like what we see in real life. This is another area that display manufacturers have focused on since the first color broadcast in 1954, and OLED is closer than ever to matching the scope of human vision. The overall result of such tremendous color and contrast performance is an amazing picture—which it should be for $10,000.

OLED is a much bigger here-and-now improvement than UHD.

For anyone on the UHD (ultra high definition) bandwagon, I can only attempt to argue the immediate advantage of a 1080p (regular HD) OLED TV like the EA9800. Right now, users have very limited access to UHD content, which means they can't make full use of UHD TVs; OLED displays, on the other hand—towering price tags aside—can deliver maximum performance as soon as you unwrap them.

Considering that sub-UHD resolutions comprise virtually all of the content most people consume, it's easy to conclude that OLED is a much bigger here-and-now improvement than UHD, and serves consumers better at standardized resolutions.

Sports fans and action movie buffs will be glad to know the EA9800 retains detail during motion-heavy content quite well: While not necessarily beyond the best plasma displays, it's certainly as good or better than the year's LED/LCD line-up. In fact, the EA9800 processes motion just marginally better than Samsung's KN55S9C OLED TV—the only other choice interested buyers have right now.

LG's TruMotion mode is still in force here, offering variable de-blur and de-judder modes to smooth out video- and film-based content, respectively. The 55EA9800's 120Hz panel preserves clarity in motion pretty well without assistance, but occasionally, camera panning will have you desperate to smooth things out via LG's processor.

Design & Features

MacBook Airs look fat to me now.

OLED rises in fame daily due to its breathtaking picture quality, but both LG and Samsung have people talking it up for other reasons too: Like a Redguard's sword, these TVs are curved. Flexible OLED tech is nothing new, but curved TVs make an obvious splash—they take the "flat" right out of "flat panel."

Curve or no curve, the 55EA9800 is very thin. So bleepin' thin. To give you an idea, it's about the width of four stacked credit cards at its edge. It fattens a bit toward the base—the chipset has to go somewhere—but you seriously will not believe how thin this TV is. What's more, unlike almost every television out there, the 55EA9800 is a single, whole product: There's no assembly required.

You seriously will not believe how thin this TV is.

The screen describes the same gentle curve as its ghost-like, clear pedestal, which houses eight stacked speakers. The pedestal and panel are fused, which gives the EA9800 a sturdy footprint.

The reason for the stand's transparency seems obvious: In a dark or dimly-lit room, it's meant to disappear entirely, leaving nothing but the screen floating in "picturesque" beauty. Unfortunately, what looks great in the dark doesn't always stand up to the harsh light of morning. By that, we mean the clear stand, with its hyper-visible speakers (which are labeled Clear Speaker in retro 50s font) may not look good anywhere but the most modern room. The TV manages a terrific minimalism in the right environment, but most of my co-workers found the EA9800 to be rather unsightly when we set it up in our break room to watch.

As for the visual effect of the curve? We don't see many objectively-measurable improvements to viewing. OLED pixels are very bright, and are fused right to the front of the screen, meaning they scatter and direct their light in multiple directions. According to display expert Dr. Ray Soneira, "Because OLED is emissive rather than a gating light valve (LCD), it offers virtually no decrease in off-angle viewing that serves the curved screen format well."

The screen's subtle curve all but eliminates reflectivity and glare issues.

The screen's subtle curve helps to "fill" the panel with emissive, circularly-scattered light which all but eliminates reflectivity and glare issues—but we can't imagine a flat OLED screen would fare much worse, either. As for making viewing more immersive, in my opinion, that's a completely psychosomatic effect that may or may not impact you.

However, as Dr. Ray reported, the curving OLED pixels do make for terrific off-angle viewing: You can sit almost anywhere (except behind it, goofball) and the on-screen image is preserved perfectly. The mild inward curve means the illusion of head-on viewing at certain off-angles, albeit you do have to sit in something of a sweet spot for this to happen. While this sounds like the perfect formula for a wall-mounted TV, it's actually not possible—again, because of the curve.

LG plans to make home theaters happy by loading the 55EA9800 with an ample spread of connectivity options. Along the 55EA9800's side are four HDMI inputs—including specificities for ARC (Audio Return Channel) and MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link)—and three USB inputs. You'll also find component and composite in, RF (coax) in, digital and headphone audio out, and RS-232 to the rear.

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Software & Interface

Chock full o' high-end filigree

With its crazy, curvy screen and irrefutably next-generation OLED panel, the 55EA9800 may seem like the TV of tomorrow, today. Fortunately—or not, depending on how picky you are—some parts of it are very familiar. Namely, LG's 2013 smart features and passive 3D have been loaded over from the company's flagship models. Phew, finally something a little bit traditional!

The whole package complements this super-premium TV.

By traditional, I obviously mean the most high-end kind of TV filigree on the market right now: a web browser, apps, streaming content, passive 3D (including four free pairs of glasses), voice control, media sharing via DLNA or NFC, and LG's signature Magic Remote.

While each of these perks differ in overall usefulness and quality individually, the whole package is one that complements the already super-premium nature of the TV—or at least doesn't detract from it in any way.

As much as you may like—or dislike—LG's 2013 smart TVs and all the extraneous features that accompany them, the smart platform remains essentially the same for the 55EA9800, which is to be expected. For a much more in-depth breakdown of LG's smart platform, click here.

Another song that remains the same? The EA9800's picture and audio settings, which are carried right over from LG's other high-end TVs. Save for the OLED Light picture option, the EA9800's other settings are quite familiar: Contrast, Brightness, Color, Tint, as well as calibration controls for gamma, white balance, CMS (Color Management System), and color gamut selection. The wide degree of control over the nitty gritty details of the EA9800's picture means that, regardless of its out-of-the-box settings, it can be tweaked to match international ideals. Read: picture perfect.

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The Finish Line

Above and beyond

The bottom line for LG's 55EA9800 curved OLED is that it puts all non-OLED competition to shame. Plasma technology was the reigning champion of picture quality for quite some time... but that time is at an end. Short of motion performance, OLED TVs like this one are beyond anything you've seen before—truly a revolution in display technology.

What's the catch? A $10,000 price tag. The EA9800 is one of only two OLED TVs on the market right now, as manufacturing as a whole is still playing catch-up, and proper production yield is still balancing in terms of profitability. For most of us, that price is just way out of range; if you can afford it, it really comes down to brand loyalty between the two available models from Samsung and LG.

Price-wall aside, the LG 55EA9800 is objectively one of the best TVs we've ever seen and tested, and gives TV lovers everywhere a glimpse into a future full of awe-inspiring images. It may not actually compare to your first kiss or a baby's first steps, but it's nonetheless a revolutionary step towards a new class of display.

Behind the Screens

The LG 55EA9800 ($9,999) is the second curved OLED we've had the pleasure to test, and it continues to tout the sheer awesome power of organic light emitting diodes. Its contrast performance is flawless, its traditional and expanded color accuracy is top-notch, and it provides an outstanding picture right out of the box—and with LG's ISF calibration controls in tow, the EA9800 can be tweaked and tuned to flawlessness if you so desire.

Calibration

Before and after

I calibrated the EA9800 in its ISF Expert 1 picture mode, which gave me full access to the TV's more complex controls: 2- and 20-point IRE white balance, CMS (Color Measurement System), and color gamut selection, to name a few. Below, you'll find the as-found settings for all of our pre-calibration data and charts throughout this page, as well as our after-calibration data and results.

I found that, while the picture was very good in ISF Expert 1 by default, a little bit of tweaking allowed it to approach perfection even further. The major changes to RGB gain and offset have been reported; my 20-point IRE settings were so minute that they will differ from unit to unit, and reporting them would be misleading. I set the TV's 100 IRE light output to about 40 fL (or about 120 cd/m2 ) by adjusting the OLED Light setting, and set it to follow a 2.4 gamma—it struggled a bit here, but more on that in a minute.

Contrast Ratio

Infinite contrast: It's a thing now

As I said on the front page, marketers have been making a ruckus about infinite contrast ratios for quite some time. Contrast ratio is a measure of a TV's peak light output, divided by its minimum luminance level, or black level. One reason OLED TVs look so outstanding is because their black levels are "true" black levels: They emit no light, which makes for a contrast ratio that's infinite. However, our practice has always been to create a number for comparison purposes, so—like with Samsung's KN55S9C—we've approximated the EA9800's black level to 0.001 cd/m2 , or one one-thousandth of a candela.

Using a 50/50 ANSI checkerboard pattern, I measured a peak brightness of 272.50 cd/m2 , which is about 100 nits (candelas) darker than Samsung's OLED, but is still much brighter than you'd ever need in normal amounts of lighting. Using the EA9800's approximated black level, we can calculate a contrast ratio of 272,500:1—in other words, using numbers is becoming an obsolete practice.

Gamma

A bit unruly

Gamma is a measure of a television's middle luminance allocation, and determines, among other things, how aggressively or passively it exits black. Gamma is usually expressed in a set of numbers—1.8, 2, 2.2, 2.4—the larger of which mean a slower gamma curve, more suitable for a theater environment.

We calibrated the EA9800 to a 2.4 gamma, but found that it struggled to follow, especially when exiting black into middle luminance areas. The TV behaved much more amiably following a gamma of 2.2, which it defaults to in ISF Expert and which is more suitable for "most rooms."

Grayscale

Easy to fix

A TV's grayscale is its black to white output, a series of 256 steps (or 0-100 IRE) along a luminance gradient. The grayscale is made up of the red, green, and blue primary sub-pixels (which we'll analyze in the next section, RGB balance). Initial readings revealed a DeltaE (SI of sum error) of 4.35, which isn't bad, but is a little high. A quick 2-point calibration (and a slightly more tedious 20-point calibration) yielded a much lower DeltaE of 1.95. While this still isn't perfect, it is telling of the TV's flexibility.

RGB Balance

Too much blue!

Our initial readings in ISF Expert 1 of the TV's out-of-the-box settings revealed a somewhat uneven RGB balance across the grayscale spectrum. The TV's primaries continued to grow further imbalanced towards 100 IRE, resulting in the DeltaE discussed above.

Fortunately, more closely matching the red, green, and blue primaries to similar luminance and presence within the grayscale was fairly easy due to the highly-responsive 2- and 20-point grayscale controls. The end result was not perfect, but means a more natural-looking picture overall.

Gamut: Color & Luminance

Close, but not quite there

The EA9800 produces about 20% more color than international standards require, but it's still very important that it's capable of adhering to the HDTV color space (Rec. 709). Sure, more highly-saturated colors are great for a lot of content, but there are times when you want a movie or TV show to just look the way it was meant to.

The EA9800 initially struggled to match the Rec. 709 HDTV color gamut—it tends to oversaturate primary colors and produce off-tint secondary colors even in the BT709 color space. As I suspected and later confirmed with ISF's TV maestro, Joel Silver, this may be related to break-in. Sure enough, after a few more hours, the EA9800 was producing color much closer to the proper coordinates. I was then able to use the TV's CMS to fix most of the remaining error, and balance much of the color luminance to the same degree.

Expanded Color

The EA9800's Wide color space selection results in a wider color gamut with more saturated primary and secondary colors. Everything is more vivid, more rich, and more like real life—especially when viewed against the EA9800's perfect black backdrop. The most remarkable thing is that the EA9800 manages to preserve subtle details even when increasing the scope of its color.

Viewing Angle

A-plus all the way to the bank

Despite being curved, both OLED TVs we've reviewed in the last week have exhibited stellar viewing angles, thanks to the emissive quality of OLED cells. This means you can comfortably watch them from pretty much anywhere except behind them—expect a full 178° of viewing.

Meet the tester

Lee Neikirk

Lee Neikirk

Former Editor, Home Theater

@Koanshark

Lee was Reviewed's point person for most television and home theater products from 2012 until early 2022. Lee received Level II certification in TV calibration from the Imaging Science Foundation in 2013. As Editor of the Home Theater vertical, Lee oversaw reviews of TVs, monitors, soundbars, and Bluetooth speakers. He also reviewed headphones, and has a background in music performance.

See all of Lee Neikirk's reviews

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