LG 2023 OLED TVs

They also charge a lot. A A95K is like $1000 more than the S95B. While it does have some improved features, like a nice heatsink, it is still a pretty steep increase to pay and not really justified by the features.

Sony really charges too much for their name. Like they make good TVs that tend to have premium features, but then they go too far on the premium pricing.

That's why I have an S95B. I would have liked a A95K, and would pay a few hundred more for it, but not as much as they wanted.
It's hard to go back to WOLED after witnessing A95K's colours side-by-side comparison against the C2's. For some enthusiast, the extra image quality gaining from Sony's flagship + QD-OLED is just worth paying for.
A95L will be worth if the Pentonic 1000 SoC inside it can do 4K 144Hz DV HDR. 4K 120 DV still not enough to justify the price imo.
 
It's hard to go back to WOLED after witnessing A95K's colours side-by-side comparison against the C2's. For some enthusiast, the extra image quality gaining from Sony's flagship + QD-OLED is just worth paying for.
A95L will be worth if the Pentonic 1000 SoC inside it can do 4K 144Hz DV HDR. 4K 120 DV still not enough to justify the price imo.
Having the LG 27” OLED monitor, I think LG may have just closed the gap with QD-OLED. MLA is a game changer for color on WOLED.
 
Having the LG 27” OLED monitor, I think LG may have just closed the gap with QD-OLED. MLA is a game changer for color on WOLED.

I thought MLA does nothing for the colors as all it does is just gather scattered light to increase the brightness. The testing from RTings shows that 27" OLED still trailing far behind QD OLED.
 

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I thought MLA does nothing for the colors as all it does is just gather scattered light to increase the brightness. The testing from RTings shows that 27" OLED still trailing far behind QD OLED.

Correct. I have the 45" version of the OLED (45GR95QE) and the AW3423DW QD-OLED. The QD-OLED is brighter and has better colors, so I like the image quality much better on the QD-OLED. However, I like the larger size of the OLED, and the motion clarity is better at 240Hz on the OLED than 175Hz on the QD-OLED.
 
Question for you guys! I just installed an LG C2 and am messing with it a bit, it appears that for me to run it at 120Hz I have to change the output color format to YCbCr420, but when I do that, I can't enable HDR, when I click the use HDR button in display settings it just toggles off. Can I not have both?
 
Question for you guys! I just installed an LG C2 and am messing with it a bit, it appears that for me to run it at 120Hz I have to change the output color format to YCbCr420, but when I do that, I can't enable HDR, when I click the use HDR button in display settings it just toggles off. Can I not have both?
You need Hdmi 2.1 to run 120hz in full chroma. You can run that with HDR. You may have an old/bad cable if your video card has Hdmi 2.1 support. If not, there's your problem.
 
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You need Hdmi 2.1 to run 120hz in full chroma. You can run that with HDR. You may have an old/bad cable if your video card has Hdmi 2.1 support. If not, there's your problem.
I'm using a 3080 so should be ok there. Just to clarify, you're saying I should be able to run at 120Hz with the output color format set to RGB? If so I'm guessing it's probably the cable, it's definitely an old one.
 
I'm using a 3080 so should be ok there. Just to clarify, you're saying I should be able to run at 120Hz with the output color format set to RGB? If so I'm guessing it's probably the cable, it's definitely an old one.
Yep, exactly that. Gotta be the cable then :).
 
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anything out there that’s under 32 inches, 5k, OLED?

I’m not gaming on it.
 
The 48CX I’ve been using as a monitor perished about an hour ago to a screen strike.

I’ve absolutely loved it these past couple of years, is there any reason not to replace it immediately with a 48C2?
 
The 48CX I’ve been using as a monitor perished about an hour ago to a screen strike.

I’ve absolutely loved it these past couple of years, is there any reason not to replace it immediately with a 48C2?

Get it. The C3 offers pretty much nothing over the C2.
 
Get it. The C3 offers pretty much nothing over the C2.
Didn't they remove the option to disable the back light dimming in the c3's service menu, too? That's a major downside if that report is true. Not to mention the much higher price on the c3 as it's newer.
 
Didn't they remove the option to disable the back light dimming in the c3's service menu, too? That's a major downside if that report is true. Not to mention the much higher price on the c3 as it's newer.

Right. I completely forgot about that. That makes the C3 even worst than the C2 🤣
 
The 48CX I’ve been using as a monitor perished about an hour ago to a screen strike.

I’ve absolutely loved it these past couple of years, is there any reason not to replace it immediately with a 48C2?
Rumor has it that LG will offer a 240hz 42" panel in some manner for their 2024 model...
If you can wait that long/want 240hz.
 
Unfortunately I needed something now and ended up buying a 48C2 and a 42C2. The 42 inch panels weren't available when I originally got my 48CX, and I'd always intended to drop a size eventually.

I'm running on the 42C2 right now to see if I like it, and if so will eventually return the backup 48C2.

It is noticeably smaller. A couple hours of MW2 on it tonight felt great, we'll see how 8 hours of work goes tomorrow.
 
I bought a 48" C3 last night. Haven't had time to set it up yet. I'll post impressions when I can. According to the Rtings review it isn't much improved over the C2. The "brightness booster" doesn't really seem to make a difference. Real scene HDR is only slightly improved with more sustained brightness in larger highlight areas, but the ABL behaves similarly. SDR brightness is similarly only slightly improved.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c3-oled
 
I personally like the 42” size more than the 48 especially for text based / desktop use, interested in hearing your thoughts after some use.
 
I personally like the 42” size more than the 48 especially for text based / desktop use, interested in hearing your thoughts after some use.
I sit about 4' away is 150% PPI scaling. I've only done some light web browsing on it, but text is perfectly readable with no issues. I fail to see the fringing issue that is supposed to be present with the WRGB subpixels. White backgrounds in SDR are a lot better on the eyes while reading text with an OLED compared to a LCD. I have SDR brightness tuned down to somewhere around 100-120 nits. There are still some gradient issues, but I can see them smoothing out. In my experience it takes around 200-400 hours of use for the gradients to completely smooth out on an OLED.
 
Looks like I'm joining the club.

I was a dumbass and was working on one of those pop-out Dell monitor stands on my desk. I slipped and the thing fell full with those two top metal prongs stabbing straight into my Asus XG438Q.

PXL_20231009_012103017.jpg


It doesn't LOOK all that bad, but the panel is essentially destroyed.

Placed an order to pick up my 42" LG C3 at Best Buy tomorrow.

Because I mostly work on this machine (probably an average of 9 hours of work with static windows per day, and maybe 2 hours of games every other day) I was concerned about burn-in, so I decided to add their 5 year Geek Squad protection plan.

Let's see how this goes.

I had hoped to upgrade for better HDR and blacks at some point, but I had been putting it off (for years) because of burn-in concerns.
 
Looks like I'm joining the club.

I was a dumbass and was working on one of those pop-out Dell monitor stands on my desk. I slipped and the thing fell full with those two top metal prongs stabbing straight into my Asus XG438Q.

View attachment 604475

It doesn't LOOK all that bad, but the panel is essentially destroyed.

Placed an order to pick up my 42" LG C3 at Best Buy tomorrow.

Because I mostly work on this machine (probably an average of 9 hours of work with static windows per day, and maybe 2 hours of games every other day) I was concerned about burn-in, so I decided to add their 5 year Geek Squad protection plan.

Let's see how this goes.

I had hoped to upgrade for better HDR and blacks at some point, but I had been putting it off (for years) because of burn-in concerns.
I lost my pristine 48CX in a similar, but more embarrassing fashion. I was sitting at my desk trying to figure out what was wrong with my son's airsoft gun that wouldn't shoot. Turns out, sometimes it did! The 6mm plastic bb left a tiny little scuff on the glass and cracked the panel behind it.

I was so mad at myself I couldn't tell me wife exactly what happened for two weeks.
 
So, I'm not going to lie. At first I thought I had made a mistake with the LG C3.

I could immediately tell it would be great with games and movies, but I do something like 9 hours of productivity work a day, and well, the experience was not fabulous out of the box.

White highlights were blinding, text rendering was not good.

A few things improved upon that.

Firstly, I followed this guide which was very helpful:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK_pchCK-5I

For SDR productivity work under Linux that pretty much did it. I also tweaked text AA to greyscale which helped a bit with the poorly rendered fonts.

IN Windows (which I pretty much only use for games) I transitioned to Windows 11, enabled HDR and ran the HDR calibration tool on top of the settings changes above. If you use the TV under windoes for productivity, there is a tool called BetterClearTypeTuner which apparently adds functionality beyond what is built into windows, for greyscale text AA, but I hven't tested it yet.
Now it is a MUCH better experience.

While I am still getting used to the peaky bright whites which can be too much at times, they are much reduced after following the guide above. Its amazing how quickly you get used to the TRUE BLACK's though. After a few accidental power button presses because I couldn't tell if the TV was on or not (all black background, auto-hide task bar, no desktop icons, to mitigate any burn-in) my eyes got used to it, and now my side screens are almost painful to look at with their comparatively grey shimmery backgrounds.

There are still few small annoyances though:
  • Glossy screen. Turn on any light in the room at all, and you see your own reflection in the screen when it is dark (which is most of the time for me) In a dark room my backlit keyboard reflects in the screen which is bothersome as well, to the point where I am considering cutting out a carboard keyboard shield to put between my keyboard and the screen to block light reflections.

  • It's still a TV. It doesn't handle "sleep" commands from the computer at all. When the signal goes away it sits saying "no signal" for a bit before shutting off, and when doing so it goes into "show off all my colors and brightness" mode with fancy colorful backgrounds. If you are sitting in a dark room at night and reboot it's like being blasted in the face by a UFO. I've been looking for a way to change the "no input" background, but haven't found one yet. Having to manually power it on and off every time using the remote is a bit of a pain. I briefly considered using a smart power strip to accomplish this, but that wouldn't work, as it defaults to "off" when it gets power.

1696957949350.png


  • Accelerometer remote. Why, just why? How much of the TV's cost was for this stupid feature I don't think anyone wants? Every time I try to go into the settings screen to adjust settings it triggers, and it is really annoying, and I've been through the setting screen and there is seemingly no way to disable it. I didn't like the Nintendo Wii, and I don't want a Wii-mote for my TV.

  • The legs. They are short, preventing all the Schiit I keep under my screen from properly fitting. I came up with a ghetto solution using pieces of scrap wood from my "workshop" in my shed, carpentry clamps and zipties just to get it to work for - well- work this morning, but I'll be looking for a better solution long term.

PXL_20231010_173039785.jpg


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  • Other minor things. Like how there is no way to completely disable the sound on the TV. They just assume you want it. There is also no way to completely disable the Smart TV functions (webOS?) they just assume you want those as well. Initial setup is 100% broadcast/cable TV oriented assuming that you want to use those, instead of just using an HDMI input 100% of the time. During the "first time use" setup I got to a "connect to the internet" screen that I could not bypass (I don't want the TV to ever connect to the internet. I don't trust "smart" devices.) forcing me to cancel the first time setup. Just like Windows these days, this TV could benefit from being able to disable all the things you have no interest in. Stuff like that. Not deal breakers, but annoyances either way.

IMHO, the LG C3 would be a better product if there were a "I'm only using it for it's HDMI input, and will never use it for sound, get rid of everything else including that stupid wii-mote" mode.

None of these things are surprises though. This was ultimately designed to be a TV, not a monitor, and when you use something "off label" as it were, you have to deal with the annoyances. It's par for the course. (That said, I don't use any of these features on my TV's for TV viewing either. They are all hooked up to a Kodi box as their only input, don't get connected to the internet and never use their tuners or speakers either)

It's time for TV manufacturers to get with the times and realize that most people under 50-60 somewhere are cord cutters.

If they made a version of this screen with a firmware more oriented towards monitor use it would be awesome, and I would be all over it. Get rid of WebOS, and network connectivity, get rid of the speakers, just give me basis image settings configs. No remote, make it wake and sleep based on commands from the computer, and heck, give me a displayport while your at it, and this would be an amazing product.

I have taken all the precautions against burn-in I can (all black desktop background with no desktop icons and auto-hide task-bar). I'm hoping I don't experience burn-in, but just in case I did get the Geek Squad 5 year protection plan. It's the first time I've ever bought a protection plan for any electronics I've bought.
 
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  • Accelerometer remote. Why, just why? How much of the TV's cost was for this stupid feature I don't think anyone wants? Every time I try to go into the settings screen to adjust settings it triggers, and it is really annoying, and I've been through the setting screen and there is seemingly no way to disable it. I didn't like the Nintendo Wii, and I don't want a Wii-mote for my TV.
Why? To make it quicker and easier to navigate through the lengthy menus and for text input.

You really have to be whipping the controller around for the accelerometer to trigger. The one in the C3 remote is a hell of a lot less sensitive than it was a few years ago. If I want to use the remote cursor I have to whip it back and forth 2-3 times to get it to trigger.
  • Other minor things. Like how there is no way to completely disable the sound on the TV. They just assume you want it. There is also no way to completely disable the Smart TV functions (webOS?) they just assume you want those as well. Initial setup is 100% broadcast/cable TV oriented assuming that you want to use those, instead of just using an HDMI input 100% of the time. During the "first time use" setup I got to a "connect to the internet" screen that I could not bypass (I don't want the TV to ever connect to the internet. I don't trust "smart" devices.) forcing me to cancel the first time setup. Just like Windows these days, this TV could benefit from being able to disable all the things you have no interest in. Stuff like that. Not deal breakers, but annoyances either way.
If you don't want to use the smart TV functions then don't connect it to the internet. You can go a step further and not accept any of the EULAs.
It's time for TV manufacturers to get with the times and realize that most people under 50-60 somewhere are cord cutters.

If they made a version of this screen with a firmware more oriented towards monitor use it would be awesome, and I would be all over it. Get rid of WebOS, and network connectivity, get rid of the speakers, just give me basis image settings configs. No remote, make it wake and sleep based on commands from the computer, and heck, give me a displayport while your at it, and this would be an amazing product.
These two statements are contradictory. Unless you're running your own media server then the cord cutting experience is best on WebOS. I can say that with confidence being a cord cutter myself and having used Windows apps, Android TV, and WebOS.
 
If you wanted a "monitor" experience then that's why the Asus PG42UQ exists. Yes it costs a lot more than a C3 but people were more than willing to pay that premium JUST for the sake of having those "monitor" features. If you chose to save the money and skip out on the monitor features then that was your choice to make.
 
Why? To make it quicker and easier to navigate through the lengthy menus and for text input.

It is by far faster to just use the directional buttons on the remote.

You really have to be whipping the controller around for the accelerometer to trigger. The one in the C3 remote is a hell of a lot less sensitive than it was a few years ago. If I want to use the remote cursor I have to whip it back and forth 2-3 times to get it to trigger.

Maybe they changed the firmware? Mine pops up if I as much as look at the remote wrong.



If you don't want to use the smart TV functions then don't connect it to the internet. You can go a step further and not accept any of the EULAs.

These two statements are contradictory. Unless you're running your own media server then the cord cutting experience is best on WebOS. I can say that with confidence being a cord cutter myself and having used Windows apps, Android TV, and WebOS.

My comment was more directed at the forced step through of setting up either OTA tuner or cable set top box than WebOS, but the truth is, I don't trust LG any more than I do any other manufacturer of so called "smart" devices on my network. Every last one of them is to be assumed to be doing unsavory things and sending it back to the mothership.

In my use case I don't use any streaming services. Haven't in over a decade when I canceled my Netflix subscription. I technically have Amazon Prime, but that is for the shipping. I've never once used it to stream any content.

It's not a matter of the cost, I just don't like the streaming model.

Everything that is watched in my household is from my media library on my NAS over my local network using KODI.
 
If you wanted a "monitor" experience then that's why the Asus PG42UQ exists. Yes it costs a lot more than a C3 but people were more than willing to pay that premium JUST for the sake of having those "monitor" features. If you chose to save the money and skip out on the monitor features then that was your choice to make.

Honestly did not know that screen existed, I probably would have taken a closer look at it if I did.

This all came together very quickly due to the untimely demise of my Asus XG438Q last night. I had to make a decision, and fast, as I needed to be up and running for work today. Couldn't afford to wait for shipping. Closest match I could find locally was the C3 at Best Buy. Under normal circumstances I would have spent more time and done more research before buying.

I usually research any purchases over like $500 for as many as 6 months before buying. For this one I had like 45 minutes to make the order cutoff :p But I had been hearing good things about LG's OLED TV's as monitors for years, so I felt comfortable enough to bite.

Cost is no object when it comes to having a screen that works for me. It's amazing that having fewer things costs more though.
 
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If you wanted a "monitor" experience then that's why the Asus PG42UQ exists. Yes it costs a lot more than a C3 but people were more than willing to pay that premium JUST for the sake of having those "monitor" features. If you chose to save the money and skip out on the monitor features then that was your choice to make.
Honestly did not know that screen existed, I probably would have taken a closer look at it if I did.

This all came together very quickly due to the untimely demise of my Asus XG438Q last night. I had to make a decision, and fast, as I needed to be up and running for work today. Couldn't afford to wait for shipping. Closest match I could find locally was the C3 at Best Buy. Under normal circumstances I would have spent more time and done more research before buying.

I usually research any purchases over like $500 for as many as 6 months before buying. For this one I had like 45 minutes to make the order cutoff :p But I had been hearing good things about LG's OLED TV's as monitors for years, so I felt comfortable enough to bite.

Cost is no object when it comes to having a screen that works for me. It's amazing that having fewer things costs more though.

So, I decided to do a little research to see if it was worth eating the restocking fee and switching.

Having looked it over on RTINGs, once you factor out the little annoyances of using a TV as a monitor (sleep functions, etc.) the C3 is still the better screen, maybe because it is slightly newer.

The PG42UQ still suffers from many of the same productivity issues the C3 does, and it's image quality seems a bit lower for video/game content, so I think I'll have to put up with the remote. The only real benefit it seems to have is going up to 138hz instead of 120hz, something that doesn't matter to me. (120hz is plenty fast)
 
  • It's still a TV. It doesn't handle "sleep" commands from the computer at all. When the signal goes away it sits saying "no signal" for a bit before shutting off, and when doing so it goes into "show off all my colors and brightness" mode with fancy colorful backgrounds. If you are sitting in a dark room at night and reboot it's like being blasted in the face by a UFO. I've been looking for a way to change the "no input" background, but haven't found one yet. Having to manually power it on and off every time using the remote is a bit of a pain. I briefly considered using a smart power strip to accomplish this, but that wouldn't work, as it defaults to "off" when it gets power.

Hmm. I wonder if enabling the SIMPLINK (HDMI-CEC) feature will allow the computer to turn off and on the TV... I am going to test this.

I hope it doesn't shut down the PC if I accidentally push the remote power button :p
 
Accelerometer remote. Why, just why? How much of the TV's cost was for this stupid feature I don't think anyone wants? Every time I try to go into the settings screen to adjust settings it triggers, and it is really annoying, and I've been through the setting screen and there is seemingly no way to disable it. I didn't like the Nintendo Wii, and I don't want a Wii-mote for my TV.
LG has been doing this bullshit for the longest time, and it is infuriating. I can't stand those fucking Wiimote pointer remotes. I thought people were gonna complain after the first few years they did it, but here we are over a decade later, and LG has standardized on that crap. Either people don't mind, or LG doesn't care what people think.

The legs. They are short, preventing all the Schiit I keep under my screen from properly fitting. I came up with a ghetto solution using pieces of scrap wood from my "workshop" in my shed, carpentry clamps and zipties just to get it to work for - well- work this morning, but I'll be looking for a better solution long term.
Do NOT trust the legs on LG TVs! They are liable to fail (my friends have experienced this), and your TV will come crashing down. It happened to one friend in the middle of the night, and he and his bro thought someone was breaking into their house. The outer glass cracked but not the panel, so they are still using the TV! All my friends who own LG HDTVs have ended up using aftermarket legs, or wall-mounts.

Its amazing how quickly you get used to the TRUE BLACK's though. After a few accidental power button presses because I couldn't tell if the TV was on or not (all black background, auto-hide task bar, no desktop icons, to mitigate any burn-in) my eyes got used to it, and now my side screens are almost painful to look at with their comparatively grey shimmery backgrounds.
I have a friend with an LG CX, two friends with C1s, and one recently got a C2. GOOD GAWD I loooooooooove those pure blacks! And yeah, some of these friends often had trouble telling if their TV was on while it was on, until they finally got used to it.

OLEDs have made it VERY clear that time of LCD is over. And I couldn't be happier.

There is also no way to completely disable the Smart TV functions (webOS?)
At this point I think I would be willing to pay extra to get an HDTV that does NOT have stuff like webOS or Android-based menu systems and all those fucking apps.

Like how there is no way to completely disable the sound on the TV.
Oh well that's fucking great. I never use an HDTV's speakers. In the past you could just outright disable them in the menus. I don't know what these newfangled TVs are like though.
 
I've been looking for a way to change the "no input" background, but haven't found one yet. Having to manually power it on and off every time using the remote is a bit of a pain.

Mashing the mute button several times brings up a hidden options menu (why not just put this int he regular menu????)

Here there is an option for "No Signal Image". This might just solve my problems.
 
At this point I think I would be willing to pay extra to get an HDTV that does NOT have stuff like webOS or Android-based menu systems and all those fucking apps.

You and me both. But this probably removes the revenue they get from monitoring you and selling the data to data brokers, and they can't have that now can they.

I'd happily pay whatever any company makes from my data and more to avoid it being collected, but at this point you an I are probably a small enough minority that implementing a feature like this would cost too much :(
 
Oh well that's fucking great. I never use an HDTV's speakers. In the past you could just outright disable them in the menus. I don't know what these newfangled TVs are like though.


it hasn't been an issue in practice, it's just odd, that there are several options for sound processing, and whether you want to use external bluetooth speakers (connected to the TV of course :rolleyes: ) but none of those options are "off".

I was happily ignoring that the TV had sound at all until I accidentally cycled power to my Schiit DAC, and this made the OS switch sound inputs to the TV instead :p

If you use Windows 11 one feature I actually like is that you can tell it not to use certain devices for sound. I might be able to do something similar in Linux by blacklisting the Nvidia sound device, but I'll have to look into it.
 
As my luck would have it, Best Buy just dropped the price today by a further $100 under what I paid just the day before.

I wonder if they can be persuaded to give me a $100 refund
 
So, I decided to do a little research to see if it was worth eating the restocking fee and switching.

Having looked it over on RTINGs, once you factor out the little annoyances of using a TV as a monitor (sleep functions, etc.) the C3 is still the better screen, maybe because it is slightly newer.

The PG42UQ still suffers from many of the same productivity issues the C3 does, and it's image quality seems a bit lower for video/game content, so I think I'll have to put up with the remote. The only real benefit it seems to have is going up to 138hz instead of 120hz, something that doesn't matter to me. (120hz is plenty fast)

DP connection and proper sleep function are what people mainly complain about though and the PG42UQ addresses that. Some people complain about the glossy screen of a TV which it also fixes. I personally would never pay the premium for that but to some just being able to have DP + sleep is enough reason.
 
DP connection and proper sleep function are what people mainly complain about though and the PG42UQ addresses that. Some people complain about the glossy screen of a TV which it also fixes. I personally would never pay the premium for that but to some just being able to have DP + sleep is enough reason.

I wonder if anyone sells any after-market anti-glare film, and if it is any good...
 
Do NOT trust the legs on LG TVs! They are liable to fail (my friends have experienced this), and your TV will come crashing down. It happened to one friend in the middle of the night, and he and his bro thought someone was breaking into their house. The outer glass cracked but not the panel, so they are still using the TV! All my friends who own LG HDTVs have ended up using aftermarket legs, or wall-mounts.

That's a little scary. Sounds like a pretty serious design flaw.

Are you talking about the two legs, one on each side like on the 42" models, or the big center pedestals?

What kind of stand would you use for it? Looks like it has some weird-ass 300x200mm mounting pattern, rather than the 200x200 and 75x75 I am used to seeing.

Edit:

I think I am going to try this one.

Through measurements and educated guesses, I think I can make this work in roughly the height I need, but no guarantees. These things are difficult to measure accurately until you have them in place.
 
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