LG provides information about 2018 OLED televisions

Information has been published about the OLED televisions that LG will release in 2018. The W8, E8, C8 and B8 are the successors of the current OLED models from 2017. All models support high frame rate and only the B8 cannot combine HFR images in 4K with HDR.

The most important change compared to the OLED models in 2017 is the fact that the B8 is positioned slightly lower than the other models in terms of specifications. The B7 and C7 were already the least expensive OLED TVs from LG, but in terms of image performance and hardware, they were almost identical to the more expensive models. That will change somewhat in 2018, as the B8 won’t get the new Alpha 9 processor that the C8, E8, and W8 will have; the B8 has to make do with the less performing Alpha 7 processor.

In contrast to the current C7, the C8 can also be obtained with an image diagonal of 77 inches; the current OLED models except for the W7 and the G7 are all available in 55 or 65 inches. The W7 Picture-on-Wall OLED TV that came out in May for 7999, will get a successor of 77 or 65 inches in the form of a very thin TV where all electronics and components are integrated in the corresponding soundbar. The E8 and the C8 will also not differ much from their predecessors in terms of design. The G7 OLED television will not receive a successor in 2018. In addition to the HDR formats hdr10, Dolby Vision and hlg, the four 2018 models will also have Advanced HDR from Technicolor at their disposal. The W8 and E8 get a 4.2 sound system with a power of 60W; with the C8 and B8 this is a 2.2 system with a power of 40W.

The Alpha 9 chip ensures that HFR is supported and the display of 4k images at up to 120 frames per second is possible. Because the B8 does not get this chip, this model is not able to play 4k content in both HDR and HFR according to CNet. The B8 can play HFR material in 4k and 2k images in HFR with HDR. The C8, E8 and W8 do not have this limitation. None of the four OLED models will receive HDMI 2.1 support, which means that HFR can only be made available via streaming services and not via externally connected equipment such as UHD Blu-ray players.

The Alpha 9 processor is also specifically designed to suppress noise and improve color reproduction, according to LG. In addition to the different hfr support in the B8, it is unclear what exactly the differences are between the two chips. The Alpha 7 is mainly built into new 4k LCD televisions from LG. The chip supports fald-backlight and should provide deeper black values ​​and improved image processing in the LCD top models. LG uses quantum dots for its LCD TVs.

All OLED models are equipped with ThinQ technology, which means that there will be support for smart home applications and artificial intelligence. Users can give various voice commands and searches that are picked up by the remote control. Google Assistant will also be supported in some countries, although it is not yet clear which countries this concerns.

The W8, E8 and the B8 will all be available from June 2018, while the C8 should hit the market from March. Prices have not yet been announced. LG will probably announce more details and specifications during the upcoming CES fair.