LG’s latest range of televisions have been unveiled at CES 2017, including the 4K OLED W7 that is so thin it has to be wall-mounted. Here is everything you need to know.
CES 2017: One of the most exciting announcements to come out of the annual Las Vegas technology show is LG’s latest range of OLED televisions that are set to wow viewers with even better picture quality.
The five-strong selection ranges from 55 to 77-inches and at the top of the range is the W7. The key point to take away is that all TV sets in the W range have exactly the same 3,840×1,2160-pixel picture quality, with differentiation made up in other areas such as audio and aesthetics.
So that means the bottom of the range B7 will be as capable in the image department as the undoubtedly ultra-expensive W7, providing you can live without the extra bells and whistles. Let’s dive in, shall we?
2017 LG OLED TV range: What is new?
Given that all 2017 LG OLED television TVs use the same internals for picture quality, we can club together the main changes. For starters, LG claims peak brightness has been increased by 25 per cent, up to 1,000 nits in highlights.
Colours should be better, too, as the LG W range uses 99 per cent of the DCI colour space. In layman’s terms, that means you should see more accurate colours, improving the realism. That and 4K detail should ensure your eyes are treated well when watching UHD content.
Then there is support for four HDR formats, ensuring all HDR-enabled content can be played. The supported HDR formats are Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG and Technicolor.
3D is, however, completely absent, which will annoy some movie enthusiasts (come on, Tintin 3D was great). Samsung has also seemingly given up on 3D so LG is not alone in this.
Another plus is the addition of Dolby Atmos sound, which will either be pumped through television speakers or a sound bar. But more on that later. So what is the difference between, say, the B7 and W7?
LG W7
The LG W7 is the all-singing and all-dancing OLED TV that is likely to cost many thousands of your hard-earned pounds. It will be available in 65 and 77-inch formats, the former of which is just 2.57mm thin, and features a unique ‘Picture-on-Wall’ design.
Having a very thin television that sits inches away from the wall would ruin the effect somewhat, so LG has made its own magnetic wall mount that ensures there is no gap between the TV and the wall. Good luck fitting it if your plasterer has an interesting concept of what flat means.
Making the LG W7 so thin was achieved by putting all the internals inside a separate sound bar (with pop-up speakers) that also happens to improve the sound quality over typical in-built sound-makers.
An 82-inch long proprietary cable gives a degree of flexibility on where the sound bar can be located in your living, which is useful because all devices such as your Xbox One or Blu-Ray connect to the TV via the speaker. Although anywhere but in front of you would make little sense.
LG G7
The 2017 LG G7 will also be available in 65 and 77-inch flavours, like the W7, but unlike the flagship it has an in-built, foldable soundbar as opposed to a unit. The picture-on-glass design is present, but it is no longer describable as ‘ultra thin’.
LG E7
The middle child is the LG E7, which has two screen sizes: 55 and 65 inches. The E7 and G7 both share an in-built speaker and the same picture-on-glass design, but no foldable sound bar.
LG C7
The cheaper LG C7 has the same size options as the E7, but the sound bar has been ditched entirely to keep costs down and there is no picture-on-glass design here. Instead, it features an aluminium stand and bezel and relies on in-built speakers, giving you the perfect excuse to invest in a 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 home cinema speaker package.
LG B7
The ‘B’ in B7 is unlikely to stand for budget, given the fact it is a 4K OLED television we are talking about. But it is the cheapest in the range, thanks to in-built speakers and a less visually enticing look comprised a crescent stand. Shun the cheapest option all you want, the fact it has the same picture quality as the W7 should make the B7 the most sensible option.
2017 LG OLED TV range: Price and release date?
No word on a price or release date for the 2017 LG OLED televisions, but the company said to expect to pay a couple of extra thousand for the range-topping W7 over the 2016 E7. That means it should cost around £16,000. A B7 is likely to cost under £3,000 before the inevitable price drop later in the year.
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