The ultra-thin LG OLED55C7V promises a cinema experience in a stylish jacket that suits any interior. You can judge for yourself whether this OLED TV also fits your interior thanks to the photos. To test the promised cinema experience, we have tested this LG OLED extensively for our LG OLED55C7V review.
LG OLED55C7V
Price1,425 euros
Screen type
OLED
Screen diagonal
55 inches, 139.7 cm
Resolution
3840 x 2160 pixels (4K Ultra HD)
HDR
HLG, HDR10, Dolby Vision
Frame rate
100Hz
Connectivity
4 x HDMI, 2 x USB, CI+, HDMI-ARC, headphone jack, antenna, optical, WiFi, Ethernet LAN, bluetooth
Smart TV
WebOS 3.5
Website
www.lg.com/nl 9.5 Score 95
- Pros
- WebOS 3.5
- Many HDR standards
- Rich color rendering
- Perfect black display
- Wide viewing angle
- Negatives
- Sometimes color streaks or blocks in dark scenes
- Not as bright as top LCD models
The ultra-slim OLED screen of this LG stands on a brushed metal, slightly upward sloping base plate. This may make placing a soundbar difficult. The TV is well equipped with four HDMI connections, all of which are ready for Ultra HD and HDR sources. Three pieces are to the side, one is at the back and points to the wall.
There are no more analog connections, but you probably won't miss them. The headphone jack is hard to reach on the back, but the C7V is also equipped with Bluetooth so you can use wireless headphones.
Image quality
With an OLED screen, each pixel gives off its own light, and can be turned off individually so that it is perfectly black. OLED TVs therefore have an unparalleled, almost infinite contrast. This LG is also excellently calibrated so that the image quality is of reference level. He combines natural rich colors with perfect skin tones and deep contrast for vivid, almost tangible images. The device converts all your sources (DVD player, game console, digital TV, etc.) to Ultra HD resolution, eliminates noise and other image errors and neatly shows all detail. In fast-moving images, the OLED panel delivers a lot of detail, without overly blurry or double edges.
The screen has two minor flaws. In very subtle color transitions or very dark images you can sometimes see faint stripes or blocks. The effect is less disturbing than on previous models, and fortunately also occurs much less. In addition, an OLED panel (also from other manufacturers) may have slight uniformity issues. You can recognize these by vertical bands in the screen, especially in dark images. Fortunately, this is rarely visible in practice.
HDR
OLED screens are a great choice for HDR with their perfect black value and enormous contrast. They also combine that with an enormously rich and extensive color palette, so that HDR content really comes into its own. Only in terms of brightness they have to give way to the very best LCD TVs. This is especially visible in predominantly bright images (think of snow landscapes) because OLED technology renders these types of images darker than they should be. LG uses Active HDR to partly counteract this.
Another HDR advantage of LG is that they support a lot of standards: HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision. This way you can enjoy the best HDR content, both on Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube and Ultra HD Blu-ray. Technicolor may be added later. That makes the device a safe choice for the future.
Smart TV
WebOS 3.5 is an excellent smart TV platform that gives you access to all sources, apps and functions in a clear and playful way. You can arrange the tiles on the Home screen so that you can find all your favorites immediately.
Magic Remote
LG equips its WebOS TVs with the Magic Remote. It fits well in the hand, and by pointing at the screen you move a cursor on the screen. The remote follows your movements very accurately, and you don't have to put in much effort. This way you can quickly click on the desired tiles, or navigate easily through the menus. If you don't like the hassle of pointing, then there are still enough keys on the remote to operate your TV in the classic way. The remote control is equipped with a microphone with which you can record searches.
Sound quality
Unlike the E7 series, the C7 series is not equipped with a built-in soundbar, but it still sounds fine. The television can produce a nice volume, and has a neatly balanced sound image in which both high tones and low tones come into their own. Both music and movie soundtracks come into their own.
LG offers 'Magic Tuning' on this model, a short, one-time procedure in which you use the microphone of the remote to adjust the sound to the acoustics of the room. The television supports Dolby Atmos sound, which provides an audible surround effect. But keep in mind that for a real Atmos experience it is better to choose a separate sound solution.
Conclusion
The 55OLEDC7V is an ideal choice for movie buffs whose top priority is image quality. It also supports a lot of HDR standards so that you have the widest possible content choice. Sports enthusiasts and gamers will also appreciate the excellent detail of fast-moving images. OLED technology remains a premium product, with a corresponding price tag.
The C7 series is an excellent choice if you want to bring the qualities of LG's OLED technology into your home without extra frills. This television combines deep blacks, excellent contrast, rich colors, and powerful HDR reproduction with a simple design and solid sound. Yes, in terms of brightness it still has the best LCD TVs, but in all other areas it performs fantastically. WebOS is a playful, smooth and handy smart TV environment that makes the television very user-friendly.
The successor to the C7 has now appeared on the market, the LG OLED55C8PLA. As a result, the price of the LG OLED C7 has fallen.
