Author: DA Gadgets

LG’s OLED TVs have been some of the best OLED TVs in the business, and the LG G4 was no exception. As one of the most popular high-end models of 2024, it impressed with its bright OLED panel, powerful processing, and sleek design. At CES 2025 LG introduced the LG G5 (shown above at right, alongside the LG G4), promising even better brightness, smarter processing, and improved connectivity. But how much of a step up is it, and is it worth upgrading, both for LG G4 owners and others? The LG G4 already delivers fantastic picture quality with its Micro Lens Array (MLA) panel and Alpha 11 processor, and the LG G5 takes things further with a brighter OLED panel, a new Alpha 11 AI Gen2 processor, and a smarter, AI-powered experience. You may like Anyone looking to get the best OLED TV is likely to have some cash to spend, and neither of these models is cheap. Fortunately, based on the announced European pricing for the G5 and other LG OLED models, pricing for the G5 looks to be in line with last year’s G4. LG’s new G5 OLED carries the same thin, wall-hugging design as the LG G4 (Image credit: LG) LG G5 vs LG G4 OLED: design and build LG’s G-series OLED TVs have always had a premium, minimalist design, and that hasn’t changed with the LG G5. Like the LG G4, it’s built to sit flush against the wall with its sleek “Gallery” style, making it look more like a high-end piece of decor than a traditional TV. The LG G4 was already impressively slim, with an almost bezel-free screen and a solid, high-quality finish. The LG G5 follows the same design philosophy, but LG has seemingly made some refinements to improve durability and heat management. While these changes aren’t as flashy as a complete redesign, they should help with long-term performance and possibly increase longevity. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. One thing to note is that LG only included a stand in the box for the 65- and 55-inch G4 models, and we expect the same for the G5. These TVs are designed primarily for wall mounting, and 77-inch and larger models come with a wall mount. The earlier G4 (shown above) was already a sufficiently bright TV thanks to its MLA display tech, now superseded in the G5 by a new ‘four-stack’ OLED panel (Image credit: Future) LG G5 vs LG G4 OLED: display, brightness, and picture quality When the LG G4 launched, it set a new standard for OLED brightness thanks to its Micro Lens Array (MLA) panel, which helped improve light efficiency and peak brightness. Combined with LG’s Alpha 11 processor, it delivers vibrant colours, deep blacks, and excellent HDR performance. The LG G4 was also praised for its dynamic tone mapping, which helped adjust brightness levels on a scene-by-scene basis to maintain realistic contrast. With the LG G5, LG has taken a completely different approach. Instead of refining MLA tech, the G5 introduces a brand-new four-stack OLED panel design. This new structure allows for higher peak brightness (potentially up to 4,000 nits in future OLED models) without relying on MLA. The shift to a four-stack design improves both efficiency and durability while maintaining OLED’s signature deep blacks and colour accuracy, meaning that while MLA improved brightness through optical layering, the G5’s new panel fundamentally changes how light is produced, leading to brighter highlights and better fullscreen brightness (a 40% improvement over the G4, according to LG). Another change is the introduction of the Alpha 11 AI Gen2 processor. To be sure, the LG G4’s Alpha 11 chip already did a great job with AI upscaling and motion processing, but the Alpha 10 takes things a step further with better real-time adjustments for brightness, contrast, and detail enhancement. Motion handling is another area where the LG G5 should make improvements. The G4 was already strong in this regard, especially for fast-moving sports and action scenes, but the G5 is expected to offer even smoother frame transitions and reduced motion blur. For HDR formats, both the G4 and G5 support Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG (but not HDR10+), so there’s no difference in compatibility. However, with the improved panel brightness and processing, Dolby Vision content on the G5 should look slightly better, and there’s also a new Filmmaker Mode with Ambient Light Compensation that dynamically boosts gamma (the range between brightest white and darkest black) based on room lighting conditions. LG’s webOS smart TV interface (Image credit: Future) LG G5 vs LG G4 OLED: smart features LG’s webOS has been a major selling point for its OLED TVs, and the LG G4 shipped with webOS 24, which introduced a more personalised home screen, faster navigation, and better recommendations based on viewing habits. It also features AI-driven picture and sound enhancements, a dedicated gaming dashboard, and seamless integration with smart assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa, all of which are nice to have. The LG G5 builds on this with webOS 25, which is set to include more refined AI personalisation. LG has hinted at an improved user experience with faster load times, a cleaner interface, and multi-user profiles enabled by AI Voice ID, so different household members can have their own tailored recommendations. Another big focus for the G5 is AI-powered content curation. While the G4 already suggested content based on watch history, the G5 takes this further by dynamically adjusting recommendations in real-time, taking into account trends, genres, and even the time of day. For smart home integration, both TVs support Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Matter, so users can control smart devices directly from the TV. The G5 may improve responsiveness, but overall, both models offer a strong connected experience. One potential advantage of the G5 is longer-term software support. LG has committed to up to four years of updates for its latest webOS versions, so buyers of the G5 will likely receive new features and optimisations for longer than those with the G4. LG’s Game Bar gaming menu (Image credit: Future) LG G5 vs LG G4 OLED: audio, gaming, and connectivity Audio has always been something of a weak spot for ultra-thin OLED TVs, and the LG G4 was no exception, featuring virtual 11.1.2 surround sound, powered by AI Sound Pro, which attempted to simulate an immersive audio experience. While it worked reasonably well for casual viewing, most users still preferred pairing it with a soundbar for deeper bass and better spatial effects. The LG G5 doesn’t drastically overhaul the audio hardware, but LG has hinted at improved speaker tuning and better virtual surround processing. The G5 still supports Dolby Atmos, but with a more refined approach to sound placement, making dialogue clearer and action sequences feel more immersive. However, like the G4, it will likely still benefit from an external sound system for those who want truly cinematic audio. On the gaming front, both the G4 and G5 are packed with features that make them ideal for PS5, Xbox Series X, and high-end PC gaming. The G4 offers four HDMI 2.1 ports capable of 4K at 144Hz VRR with AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync and Dolby Vision gaming support. These features ensure smooth gameplay with minimal input lag, which was already impressive on the G4, and the new G5 bumps VRR support up to a 165Hz refresh rate. One of the most significant new features of the G5 is wireless 4K video transmission. LG has introduced Zero Connect tech, allowing the TV to receive a wireless 4K signal from a separate hub, which means you can keep consoles and media players out of sight while still enjoying full-resolution and low-latency. In terms of connectivity, both TVs support Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0. The new LG G5 OLED TV at CES 2025 (Image credit: Future) LG G5 vs LG G4 OLED: Is it good value? The LG G4 launched at a premium price, reflecting its status as one of the best OLED TVs of 2024. Over time, however, its price dropped, making it a great value for those looking for high-end picture quality without the latest features. As of early 2025, it’s still one of the best OLED TVs available, especially when discounted (or even spread across multiple payments). The LG G5, is expected to launch at a similar price as the G4 did originally. Our guestimation of the LG G5’s pricing is as follows: OLED48G4: $2,299 / £1,799 / AU$3,599 OLED55G4: $2,599 / £2,399 / AU$4,199 OLED65G4: $3,399 / £3,299 / AU$5,299 OLED77G4: $4,599 / £4,490 / AU$7,999 OLED83G4: $6,499 / £7,000 / AU$9,999 OLED97G4: $24,999 / £24,999 If you already own an LG G4, the differences may not be significant enough to warrant an upgrade. But for first-time buyers looking for the best OLED experience, the G5 offers subtle but meaningful improvements that enhance both picture and usability. Ultimately, if getting the absolute best OLED TV matters, the LG G5 is the smarter choice. But if you can find an LG G4 at a significant discount, it remains an outstanding option, delivering nearly the same level of performance at a lower price.

A Complete Unknown is an Academy Award-nominated biopic that details Bob Dylan’s meteoric rise as an artist in the early 1960s. To be honest, until I saw the film at a private screening in the McIntosh House of Sound’s jaw-dropping statement theater, he was never among my favorite musicians. Surprisingly – or maybe not so surprising – I left the House of Sound theater that night a huge Dylan fan. McIntosh had granted me a private pre-movie interview with five-time Oscar-nominated production sound mixer Tod Maitland, who was responsible for recording all of A Complete Unknown’s soundtrack, including dialogue, singing, instruments, and environmental sounds. Maitland, who is highly accomplished in his field, has worked on over 100 movies, including I Am Legend, The Greatest Showman, JFK, Joker, Seabiscuit, Tootsie, and West Side Story. I had previously visited the 11,000-square-foot, luxuriously appointed House of Sound to experience the movie Top Gun: Maverick. With its massive banks of McIntosh amps and Sonus faber speakers, the theater is a 29-channel, 16-subwoofer audiophile oasis. A McIntosh home theater processor feeds nine monoblock and ten stereo amplifiers that output a total of 14,500 watts. There are 21 Sonus faber Arena speakers spread throughout, ten of which are ceiling-mounted. Sonus also makes the theater’s 16 Arena S15 subwoofers, with four used for LFE (low frequency effects) and twelve timed to work with the Arena speakers. You may like For video, the theater features a Sony 4K projector, a 204-inch Screen Research screen, and a Kaleidescape movie player. The author (left) with A Complete Unknown’s sound mixer Tod Maitland (right) (Image credit: Future / Howard Kneller) Recording A Complete Unknown A Complete Unknown was released in December 2024 and stars Timothée Chalamet as Dylan. The movie garnered a total of eight Oscar nominations for best picture, actor, director, supporting actor and actress, adapted screenplay, costume design, and yes, sound. With its beginning set in the early 1960s, the movie details Dylan’s path to superstardom, including the transition of his music away from its acoustic folk roots to electric rock and roll, which at the time was considered by many to be subversive. The film also explores Dylan’s often strained romantic relationships, including with Joan Baez, and generally reveals him to be a bad-ass. My first question for Tod Maitland was what, if anything, did he do to get Chalamet to sound like Dylan, to which he replied, “Nothing.” According to Maitland, Chalamet “did it all by himself” and without rehearsal. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Next, I asked Maitland what he did to give the movie’s sound such a 1960s feel. He explained that for the film’s numerous concert scenes, he located and used 42 different vintage microphones, each one appropriate for a specific period in time. According to Maitland, the earliest period mics that were used sounded very “midrangy” but grew sonically more full as the years progressed. When I asked Maitland what his biggest challenge was in working on the film, he replied that of the roughly 40 songs Chalamet performed, in about a dozen of them, the scene dictated that he not be in front of a microphone. Chalamet also held his guitar high up on his body, just as Bob Dylan did, and this meant the spot where Maitland would normally locate a lavalier microphone was now unavailable. To get around this problem, Maitland ended up placing a tiny lavalier microphone in Chalamet’s bushy hair, which required some negotiations with A Complete Unknown’s hair technicians. David Mascioni, McIntosh Group Director of Brand Marketing, with Maitland (Image credit: Future / Howard Kneller) Following my interview, I joined other members of the press in the theater to attend a discussion between Maitland and David Mascioni, the McIntosh Group’s Director of Brand Marketing. To keep things relatively brief here, the discussion focused on the complex way a music-based movie’s audio gets captured. According to Maitland, the process typically involves recording all of the instrumentals first and then having professional singers add vocals. The actors are then trained to sing those vocals and perform on instruments based on the musicians’ work. Eventually, it’s back to the studio to record the cast singing the tracks, where the sound production manager can feed the prerecorded vocals and instrumentals to an actor’s earpiece. Subsequently, in post-production, the production engineer can use either the prerecorded or “live” recordings, jumping between them as needed. On A Complete Unknown, Chalamet decided just ten minutes before the film’s first big scene to go live with everything. They discarded all of the prior pre-recorded work and ended up going live throughout production. According to Maitland, Chalamet’s talent and commitment (he spent five and a half years preparing for the film) were the reason they were able to take this highly unusual path. Maitland assumed he would be replacing “a whole lot of” the live guitar sounds and vocals, but he mostly replaced only a small part of Chalamet’s live harmonica work. Even when Chalamet was off camera and other actors were being filmed, Maitland stated, Chalamet was still playing “to keep the energy going on the set.” The theater’s vertical stacks of McIntosh amps alongside Sonus faber in-wall speakers (Image credit: Future / Howard Kneller) Screening time When it came time for the movie, I could not believe the theater’s sound quality, even with my prior eye-opening experience there watching Top Gun: Maverick. Chalamet’s performance and musical chops in A Complete Unknown were spellbinding and, in a testament to the theater’s McIntosh and Sonus faber gear, the timbre of his voice was spot on. This made it easy to suspend disbelief and accept that he was, in fact, Bob Dylan. One constant in the movie is that Dylan gets around mostly by motorcycle. In the theater, the sounds of these bikes, which grow increasingly expensive as Dylan becomes more successful, were mesmerizing both in their volume and level of sonic detail. During the many concerts reenacted in the movie in venues both large and small, I was able to locate the expansive horizontal and vertical placement of clapping and other crowd noises. The sound of Dylan’s, um, Chalamet’s, guitar notes were warm and vibrant. Indeed, virtually all of the sonic images were reproduced at an impressively large scale. The iconic McIntosh MC275 stereo amplifier on display at the House of Sound (Image credit: Future / Howard Kneller) The film’s environmental sounds were also exceptional. Whether it was someone talking across the street from where Dylan was standing, a car horn honking, or fans screaming as they chased him, each small detail was audible. During the concert scenes, I repeatedly had to resist the urge to clap and several times lifted my hands to do so. That’s something I have never done before when watching a movie! Watching A Complete Unknown at McIntosh’s House of Sound opened my eyes to Bob Dylan’s unique and great talent, which is something I knew of but never before paid sufficient attention to. The experience also reminded me that a movie with great sound can be a moving experience that stays with you for a long time. That’s a lesson that never gets old, even for this lifelong audiophile and film lover. You might also like…