Not Your Father's HD TV

LG OLED65E7P OLED Ultra HDTV

- Thomas J. Norton

LG’S 2017 OLED OFFERINGS FALL into five model groups, with the OLED65E7P positioned roughly in the middle. At $5,000, it’s hardly a Black Friday special, but it’s significantly cheaper than the near-paper-thin 65-inch flagship OLED65W7P (reviewed in our June issue), which commands $8,000.

Unlike that model, which must be hung on a wall, this TV has the added option of mounting on a stand (included). According to LG, all of their OLED sets use the same panels and should offer the same video performance—though with only the OLED65E7P on hand, I had no way to confirm this. They do vary in size and features, but the differences in the latter appear to be small.

And flat is back! OK, it never actually went away—but this year, none of LG’s new OLED sets is curved. In addition, as is the case with other major TV makers, LG has abandoned 3D.

Walk Around

I’ve spoken with more than a few folks who confuse OLED sets with the so-called LED TVs that dominate the market. There’s no such thing as an LED TV. The pixels in such sets—the picture elements that produce the actual image—are liquid crystals. These pixels can be opened or shuttered at different rates of speed, but they produce no light. That’s where the LEDs come in; they sit behind the LCD panel, or at the edges beyond the frame, and provide the required illumination.

OLEDs, however, need no separate backlight. They’re self illuminating; each pixel can go black or white or any level in between. This allows the picture to go from full white to totally black, either overall or in any area of the screen, as the source requires. LCDs can’t do that unless assisted by sophisticated LED back lighting, usually some form of local dimming.