LG C2 OLED TV Gaming Review: Brighter Than Ever and I Want One

It is a truth widely recognized that, of today’s TV technologies, OLED is the best for black. With each pixel turning itself on and off, the blacks are as black as they can be, without the little halo effect you get on traditional LED TVs. While the LG C2 isn’t as exciting as a rich guy moving in next door for your daughter who’s about to finally get married, it’s still pretty good if you like black.

But with the emphasis on the dark side of color, the bright can sometimes be lost. QLED TVs may not get the same black level as OLED, but you can see them in sunlight and the whites look like they belong in an ad for washing powder.

With the C2, LG has found a way to make it so that I can actually see the screen in my apartment greenhouse during the day. Since I couldn’t see anything on OLED screens even on the mildest sunny days four years ago, this shows a huge improvement and removes one of the main barriers to entry.

However, being clear is only a quarter of the battle. I used the 65″ LG C2 ($3,795) as my main gaming TV for three weeks, and here’s my verdict:

Is the LG C2 any good?

Yes very much. In most ways at least.

Expand on that

The LG C1 OLED has been my go-to recommendation for relatively dark rooms since it replaced the B6 I bought 1,000 years ago and still uses because it’s great. The C2 isn’t much of a jump over the C1. If you already own a C1, you don’t even have to think about the C2.

However, if you also have an older OLED like me, the C2 will blow your mind.

Ports in a storm

Unlike some other TV models, the LG C2 has quite a few HDMI 2.1 ports: 4. All ports have HDMI 2.1, although one is eARC. There are also 3 USB ports and an Ethernet port. As you knowHDMI 2.1 is key to getting the most out of Xbox Series X and PS5 as that’s the only way to get high frame rates AND high resolution rather than having to make a benign Sophie’s Choice. Having the Ethernet port is important to take full advantage of the Nvidia GeForce Now app available on the TV, so you don’t even need a console to have fun with this TV.

But is the LG C2 good at games?

Yes. The game mode is great for giving you information and tailoring the picture to different types of games. So you can keep an eye on how many frames the variable refresh rate serves if you want to be sure, but the buttery smoothness of 120FPS is wonderfully apparent.

Game mode lets you choose between different game genres to tailor to your game of choice, increasing the darkness, brightness or contrast depending on what someone at LG thinks you want from each genre. If you’re anything like me, you’re definitely going to disagree with this review. I found RTS and Standard a bit too faded, FPS a bit dark and Sports a real riot of contrast.

That said, all picture modes only serve suggestions based on the eyes of whoever tuned it. Out of the box, the colors are vibrant, but not accurate. Most people probably won’t notice (aside from the intense contrast in some modes), but if it bothers you, it’s worth playing until you’re happy. Everyone sees color slightly differently, and if you’re not using it as a reference monitor for color correction, all that matters is that the colors look right to you. It’s more important that you can make a TV look good from the first minute than it is good from the first minute, and the LG C2 meets that requirement.

Once I played to get the colors right for me, it looked fantastic. I spent way too much time playing games and getting lost in the worlds because the technology melted away and let me live in the game. That is good. That’s what you want. If you notice the TV, the TV has let you down.

LG C2 brightness

The reason OLED TVs weren’t super bright in the past is because of the burn-in risk. The hotter the pixels get, the more likely they are to die. Like a himbo flying too close to the sun.

LG probably sold at least one soul to crack the code to keep the screen cool and brighter at the same time, as it’s definitely brighter and not that hot, even after hours of use. Certainly, a heavenly bargain worth having.

It’s nowhere near as bright as my Samsung QLED QN900A, so it’s not great in rooms where a window shines the vicious rays of the run directly onto it. But it was fine in my bedroom with the back to one window and the other window to the side. Granted, this is winter in Melbourne, but it’s still getting bright enough that it would be a problem for an older LG OLED.

What did I play to test?

I played an unhealthy amount of Forza Horizon 5, both in performance and graphics mode, and it was so smooth. In the night scenes in the game, it was a bit easier to tell the difference between the different dark areas than during the day on the QN900A.

Horizon Forbidden West looks incredible too, so vibrant and beautiful. Being able to easily switch between game genres in Game Mode made it easy to set it up for exactly what I wanted the most out of each game and quickly switch between games. It’s the first game mode I’ve tried in ages that felt natural and logical.

NBA 2K22 resembling NBA 2K22 am working on it. The default sports game mode setting made it easier to tell the difference between teams, which was nice, but it did so by making the contrast so intense it hurt my mind. That said, I still made sure the contrast was chosen more on Sports because while it didn’t look as good or accurate it meant I made better, faster choices without thinking about it, and it’s worth it .

also what Assassin’s Creed Odysseybut that was mainly because i wanted to play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey†

Does it sound good?

No, it’s a flat screen TV. It sounds absolutely terrible. Using it without a soundbar hurt my soul. There’s no bass at all and yet the highs and mids suck too.

But there isn’t a TV on the market that wouldn’t at least sound much better with a soundbar. Flat screen TVs are flat and focus on the picture while for some reason they are extra thin, there are no good speakers to go to. I used this TV with the S90QY ($1,349) soundbar and it was pretty good. Very strong subwoofer, well tuned. Even without being top class, I was impressed.

Should you buy the LG C2?

If you need a new 4K TV for gaming (probably), you want the flexibility of HDR and Dolby Atmos (you do), and you don’t have a bright window reflecting the sun directly off your TV (I don’t know). know I’m not in your house), then this is a great TV. It’s not a huge jump over the C1. The C1 was close to perfect, but just needed to be a little brighter to better suit some homes. This is a little brighter.

If you don’t need more brightness than the C1 has to offer then you should buy that as it’s probably on sale right now and they are very similar.