First Test 8K 88" LG OLED the new Picture Reference?

[w.mayer]

Since last Friday the new 88” 8K LG OLED has finally arrived my sleeping room.

I had before there a 77” 4K OLED and it was possible to use the same place even it was very tight with the door.

I love my 77” especially as it can do 3D.
As most know all new TVs not offers anymore 3D and this is a big mistake especially when you have such
a perfect technology like the 8K OLED as it can show in theory  8x2 K passive in 3D in a very high picture quality.
So pity that now as such displays are there that can show perfect 3D that no TV manufacturer support it anymore.
I hope when the HDR Hype was over that LG and other will offer at least some premium OLEDs in 8K again with 3D with Polarizer Glasses.

The missing 3D was a reason why I almost not order it.
OLEDs from LG offer till today the very best 3D image I have seen in a TV.

The most differences between my older 77” 4K OLED to the new 88” 8K OLED was of course the size.
Watching in the bed in exactly the same distance to the display I am benefit from the increase of size a lot.
You can say 11” is not much more but I guaranty you in realty 11” is a lot more much and much more than the number alone tells!
Beside this I had the feeling that the color was improved compare to the 77”.
It show a more saturated color looks like there was near 100%  DCI color there.

I like to see real 8K content and as there are some nice clips at YouTube like for sample this two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1La4QzGeaaQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN3uF3990Q0
I was really impatient to see first time 8K 60P in my private home.
But then the big shock! The Internal YouTube App can NOT show this native 8K 60P material! Only in 4K was possible!
What a big disappointment! You have a true 8K OLED that not can show 8K content from the internal YouTube App?

I not give up and it take me some time to find out that the internal Web Browser offers 8K 60P content.
So I watch the 2 clips above in true 8K 60p and to make it short they looks fantastic almost unreal.
Even with the low data rate YouTube have picture looks so good and everybody that say at my 3.6 meter distance to the 1.95 meter wide picture I cannot see the benefit from 8K are wrong.
First I can see likely a bit more than 4K but sure not full 8K.
I guess that I can see resolutions wise arround 5K but resolution but this is only one parameter of a picture. The color’s even they are often only in rec. 709 looks so good and this is no wonder
as 8K show 4 times the color resolution that 4K have and this is very easy to see.
I also think that more resolution that you eye can detect gives us a more natural looking picture.
In other words it is may like audio where very high freq. that we not can hear anymore have an impact to the sound
even you cannot hear them.
Thing same is with video on resolution.
So real 8K is better than 4K for sure.

Also nice was how good this 88” can handle HDR content.
There are many functions that all have an effect to the HDR content.
This is very complex and it take my a half day to figure out how any of this functions change the picture in HDR dark and bright sequences and select the best possible adjustments.
I bet that 99.9 % of all user not have the knowledge to adjust it right.
There was a nice tone-mapping inside that in combination with 3 other functions can show a real good HDR will no clipping and depends on how you adjust the other parameters.
All this adjust perfect show a very natural looking good HDR picture very bright also at least in my relative dark sleeping room.

One thing I have to complain.
The silver color frame show at least at the surface down the picture big reflections as you can see in the picture!
I think the silver color was a design compromise to let the unit good fit to a normally living room where it will be used most time.
But video enthusiast will not understand why there was a color for the stand used that had so much reflections!
I already made a drawing and a wood worker got already an order to made a cover that I will coat with a very black special material that was already used for the stand down on the floor.
I will post a picture when it will be ready end of next week I hope.

All in all this is a nice upgrade for me and with this size it begin to have a cinema feeling.
I remember my first Sony CRT Projector 40 years ago when I project to a 2 meter wide screen.
As screen have a curved corners left and right I use from 2 meter wide only 1.8 meters.
So now this TV is bigger than my first Projection I had and as I say here at almost 2 meter wide home cinema begins.

I hope that LG will offer in the not to distance future an even bigger 8K OLED with 3D in the 100” plus range as there real home cinema begins.
Picture quality is the best money can buy at this time.
Only micro LED Walls can may top it but this is another price category when you are talking about a 8K version.

[donaldk]

Wolfgang why not just get some sticky backed velt and cover the metalic bezel directly?

[w.mayer]

You know the price of this TV right?
So my black foil had a very good glue impossible to remove.
If possible to remove I will not manufacture such a wooden part.

But may i can put first a other foil on that is easy to remove and put there my special black foil on... lets see…...

[donaldk]

Wolfgang I know it is what ~€35K. I read your post and answered befor the image was attached and shown. So I thought you were speaking only of the metalic bezel (looks black?), but with my reply loaded I saw the image and the wood look stand is part of the problem.


But will you ever sell it? You are moving the OLEDs forwards to other rooms/family members room downwards, to kids rooms, vacation homes bed rooms I recently bought a rol of double sided 3M high bond tape at Aldi clearance, actually i bought two, one for non removal applications and the second claims it can be removed. There is also vinyl wrapping, the claim is it can be removed safely, but I doubt they would warrantee that claim/promise.


We will see what clever solution you find direct application additional frame or something completely different.


I saw the signage/professional/pre-production model at ISE a year ago and even in the bright hall I was was not complaining about brightness, of course the still content was very colourfull, so judgement could be made about darker video quality. So I expected it to be bright enough, as you confirmed.


Impressive display, now a W or even R series version;-).

[w.mayer]

yes a good point about if I ever will sale it.
Will think about it...…..

[w.mayer]

It was a half day work  but now no reflection anymore visible see pictures.

First I put a wooden part inside the AL Frame then I cover all with a plastic foil for windows that you can easy take down with no problem.
Then I put my super black foil on top of this one.

So if I ever will sale this unit or may will place it in a normally living room I can easy remove the super black foil with not any problem.
How is this Donald

[donaldk]

Impressive Wolfgang.

[w.mayer]

I play a little bit more with the unit by testing 4K HRD and normally STB signals in Full HD.

With Full HD often the source is the limit.
As picture is now bigger than with my old 77” the bigger size limit the quality from STB signals in HD.
So normally broadcast looks ok but it also shows that you actually need a better picture quality than most broadcast offers today in HD.
With Netflix is very dependent.
Some movie in HD had a low data rate of only 2.5 MB and this looks not good with a lot of banding and other low data rate artefacts but
other movies that was encode with 5mb or higher show sometimes a very nice picture similar to a good Blue Ray.
A good source is Netflix in 4K or in Dolby Vision.
This movies often show a nice picture quality and can be in best case near the UHD 4K HDR Disc version quality wise.

What I really need is some 8K 60P material with high data rate that was not show any artefacts.
YouTube is ok in 8K 60 P until you not go close to the display.
To see full 8k resolution you need typically sit 0,5 times the wide of the picture in distance.
But at around 1 meter you see artefacts because the data rate is too low.
Hope to get such high end content in 8K 60p but question will be how this will be playback?
Can a USB Stick with what codec can be playback it?

[w.mayer]

I test further the 88” LG 8K OLED and playback top pictures I shot the last years in 8K with top cameras and optics.
I sit 0,7 times the display wide in distance so about 1.4  meter away from the 1.95 meter wide display and I get blown away so dam good this pictures looks!!!
So I will NOT replace my Barco Thor in my cinema down in the basement till I can get an
LED Wall in 8K that can do 3D.