LG 48CX

gan7114

Limp Gawd
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As revealed by the US FCC and the Korean RRA this week, LG will be releasing the 48" OLED in 2020 as a CX model. Which is interesting, because the C series comes with better picture processing than the B series. Most manufacturers sell their smallest size panels as low-end series or models, so it seems LG is positioning the 48" as something special. Also, the C series typically releases earlier in the year than the B series.

https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/news/40e223c

We're almost there, folks!
 
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Seems like good news "LG has already confirmed that its 2020 OLED TVs will arrive with HDMI 2.1 and 100/120Hz refresh rates." Hopefully this also applies to the 48 and they are not dropping features on their smaller TVs like Samsung did with their QLEDs.
 
Seems like good news "LG has already confirmed that its 2020 OLED TVs will arrive with HDMI 2.1 and 100/120Hz refresh rates." Hopefully this also applies to the 48 and they are not dropping features on their smaller TVs like Samsung did with their QLEDs.

Also hopeful -- LG has to know they're bringing their tech into a newer space, whereas Samsung was selling luxed-up LCDs and competing with Chinese trash (and not so trash) at Wal-Mart / Best Buy.

Granted, 48" is still a bit large for me, but I think that plenty would be interested for usecases where their current 55" floor for OLEDs is just too large.
 
It's still a bit large for me but I suppose I can move things around and make it work if no one else gives us an alternative.

Hopefully we'll get the new nvidia GPUs with HDMI 2.1 before or not long after.
 
I put myself into 'I'll believe it when I see it' group. Seen too many of these things come out only to be let down. I'm not exactly doubtful a 48" model is coming but more of 'will it be any good for pc gaming?' That's the part I'm skeptical about. Hopefully its as good as the C9 is now but yeah... I'll believe it when I see it.
 
I put myself into 'I'll believe it when I see it' group. Seen too many of these things come out only to be let down. I'm not exactly doubtful a 48" model is coming but more of 'will it be any good for pc gaming?' That's the part I'm skeptical about. Hopefully its as good as the C9 is now but yeah... I'll believe it when I see it.

As a new owner of a 65" LG C9, it's amazing for gaming. Only a HDMI 2.1 GPU away from 4K @ 120 Hz, excellent motion handling due to near-instant response time. Does 1080p and 1440p @ 120 Hz with current GPUs. Variable refresh rate support. Gaming on OLED is not the issue at all and I have no doubt the 48" model will be just as good in that department.

It's the size and the automatic brightness limiter in LG OLEDs. ABL tends to dim the display when you have say a browser window open which on most websites has a light background. 48" without being curved is still very large so a deep desk, wall mount etc will be required to make it a reasonable option.

Burn-in is still going to be a problem you need to be aware of. While my C9 will gladly go into a screensaver mode (black screen with fireworks at random spots) when it detects static image, on the desktop it will not do this most of the time so you can easily keep racking up time with static content on screen because on the desktop you might not have a ton of things going everywhere on the screen. Using something like a black background or changing wallpapers can help and so would autohiding the Windows taskbar. Cost will determine if something like this is worth risking to have what will be arguably the best image quality you can get on a desktop display without going into super expensive reference level monitor stuff. If it's low enough those with deep enough pockets might be ok replacing the display after a few years if burn-in occurs.

Remember that you always have the option to run these at 21:9 resolutions, so even though it'll be letterboxed, it won't actually be the full 48" size. You could just run these at 3840x1600 or something.

You certainly could but I imagine you would do a fair bit of jumping around between full resolution and a smaller, more desktop compatible view. You could do this with presets and keyboard shortcuts using Displayfusion, don't know if there are other apps for this. I think you would still want to put it further away so you don't see pixels as 48" 4K is just 91.79 PPI.

I think the most amazing thing LG could do is make this size available as a curved display. They have the tech to do it. Unfortunately I don't think they will be this forward thinking.
 
Still too darn big for a monitor.

why do these people refuse to do a 27”, 30”, 34”, or even 37”. They’ve got to know the biggest market is there for desktop computer use.

The only logical reason is they don’t want these used for computer use — because of burn-in fears.

It’s not like OLED can’t be small. Dell had a 13” and a 30”
 
This is a TV (LG cx48) I wholly agree about the dearth of monitors in that size range though.
 
Still too darn big for a monitor.

why do these people refuse to do a 27”, 30”, 34”, or even 37”. They’ve got to know the biggest market is there for desktop computer use.

The only logical reason is they don’t want these used for computer use — because of burn-in fears.

It’s not like OLED can’t be small. Dell had a 13” and a 30”

LG pretty much makes all the bigger OLED panels right now. Their production pipeline is most likely suited for the large TV sizes and at the same time they have their desktop display business. TVs are a larger market because most people want one for their living rooms, usually a large one too. So there is not all that much demand for smaller size OLEDs at a scale that makes producing them a great business. Burn in is not a good thing to happen for the professional market that would make good use of OLEDs. LG is afaik building a new plant for making inkjet printed OLEDs which should reduce their cost and possibly also allow for more size options. That has had some setbacks and only goes operational in H1 of this year. It doesn't look like LG has much new to offer this year but we will know more as CES 2020 starts next Tuesday.

High end desktop displays are a far smaller market than you would think following forums like this. Most people buy sub 500 euro models which are usually either cheaper 1080p or 1440p gaming displays or cheap 1080p/1440p/4K 60 Hz screens. So making desktop size OLEDs which would most likely be expensive niche things. I want one as much as anybody but 2020 looks like to be a pretty bad year for monitors with not much happening. 2021 is the year where we are expected to see OLEDs from Samsung as well as displays (most likely TVs though) with micro-LED and dual layer LCDs.
 
Finally. While I think my 43 is perfect for my desk, I'll accept the 48 and take it.
 
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My greatest fear right now is that they decide to nerf the 48" version and make it 60hz only and lack VRR, just to prevent it from competing with their gaming monitors or out of sheer stupidity. I swear I will strangle a plushie puppy if LG pulls that stunt. :mad::cry:
 
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Sweet. I can retire my 49KU6300 when this comes out.
My greatest fear right now is that they decide to nerf the 48" version and make it 60hz only and lack VRR, just to prevent it from competing with their gaming monitors or out of sheer stupidity. I swear I will strangle a plushie puppy if LG pulls that stunt. :mad::cry:
Seeing the speculation of the use of 'C' in the model name I think LG is smart enough to realize that a lot of us clamoring for a smaller OLED are wanting to give it double duty as a monitor or gaming display. Regardless, I think it would be a huge misstep for LG to go the Samsung route with their smaller displays.
 
The biggest problem (bigger than burn-in) with using an OLED TV as a monitor is text rendering. Text doesn't look as clear, smooth, and crisp as on LCD monitors. This is a result of the OLED TV RGBW sub-pixel structure which is not what Cleartype, etc. accommodate.

Until that situation changes, I don't find the addition of a 48" TV all that exciting.
 
The biggest problem (bigger than burn-in) with using an OLED TV as a monitor is text rendering. Text doesn't look as clear, smooth, and crisp as on LCD monitors. This is a result of the OLED TV RGBW sub-pixel structure which is not what Cleartype, etc. accommodate.

Until that situation changes, I don't find the addition of a 48" TV all that exciting.

With DPI scaling I don't really notice much difference based on quickly testing this on my 65" LG C9. Without it I see some difference that I would probably be able to sort out with Cleartype settings.
 
With DPI scaling I don't really notice much difference based on quickly testing this on my 65" LG C9. Without it I see some difference that I would probably be able to sort out with Cleartype settings.

No, it's not possible to sort it out with Cleartype settings. I've tried all combinations... Cleartype as implemented today doesn't work well with the sub-pixel structure that LG uses on their OLED TVs. The font rendering on these TVs is significantly inferior to what you get on a good LCD monitor.
 
Hmmm might be my next gaming monitor. I don’t use my computer for much of anything other then gaming and I have a 2 foot deep desk. I could mount this flush with the wall and have ample desk space. Really hope they don’t gimp it. Also hope it’s in the 1k-1.2k price range. I’ll have no issue paying that much for it for this size.
 
Yeah, if you use it mostly for gaming and videos, then it's very good. Browsing and text work are a different story (because of the pixel structure and ABL).
 
Sweet. I can retire my 49KU6300 when this comes out.

Seeing the speculation of the use of 'C' in the model name I think LG is smart enough to realize that a lot of us clamoring for a smaller OLED are wanting to give it double duty as a monitor or gaming display. Regardless, I think it would be a huge misstep for LG to go the Samsung route with their smaller displays.

Now you're scaring me. That would be a bummer for sure, but also if it put it into a more cost effective category I'd STILL replace my current 43" Samsung with it regardless. I've gotten used to 60hz again after leaving Gsync Ultrawide (which back 4 years ago 3440x1440 wasn't as widely adopted). Here's to hoping you're wrong though, I really want 120hz capable to pair with the next round of GPU's with HDMI 2.1
 
I agree. If there's something "wrong" or "off" about text on this display.....I'm sure as hell not seeing it.

Compare it side-by-side with a proper LCD monitor with an RGB subpixel structure. I have a Samsung CRG9 next to my 55" LG C9. The text quality isn't in the same league. I wonder if font smoothing techniques (such as ClearType) could in principle be adapted to work well with the LG OLED TV pixel structure if someone put the effort into it. There has been some work in the Linux world to accommodate some unusual pixel structures, and Android works really well with the Samsung AMOLED pixel architecture. Windows does very well with RGB, and quite well with BGR with the right tuning, but that's about it.
 
How do you deal with preventing burn in on OLEDS if you game a couple of hours? Many games have fixed HUD elements...
 
How do you deal with preventing burn in on OLEDS if you game a couple of hours? Many games have fixed HUD elements...

Burn in is not that huge issue with LG Oleds because of the way they are designed. It does not happen in 'couple of hours'. Again I point at the test Rtings made. It took them months of abuse before visible burn-in was setting in. With PC you are bound to do something more than just play the same game over and over or leave it paused to same screen for hours. Unlike with TV where some leave it on for houts at news channel, day in and out. This is a good example of abuse that Oleds are not designed for.

Anyway, some games have an option to remove the hud and/or make it transparent. That is always a help for paranoid people.
 
How do you deal with preventing burn in on OLEDS if you game a couple of hours? Many games have fixed HUD elements...

Gaming for a couple hours won't do anything.

LG's OLED TVs have a few methods by which to mitigate the potential for burn in, both when the TV is on and off. It's an important point that is often not discussed, and is something generally not seen in OLED monitors. And in my opinion, image retention is more of a serious concern than burn in. Most of the bad rap came from LG's early OLED TVs, like the 6 series. For example, the C6 scored a (terrible) 1.3 / 10 for image retention at Rtings back in 2016. Fast forward 3 generations, and the C9 scored a perfect 10 / 10 for (no) image retention.

If you do a few simple user-end adjustments like Kasakka mentioned above, you won't have any worry using OLED on the desktop or gaming.
 
How do you deal with preventing burn in on OLEDS if you game a couple of hours? Many games have fixed HUD elements...
I game on the LG OLED display since 2017. I sometimes play for 6 or ten hours straight. There is no permanent burn-in. The panel was replaced in summer 2019 due to developping a vertical line at the center of the screen, but this has nothing to do with the burn in. The new 2019 panel is definitely more sensitive to temporary burn-in, but it goes away seeminglessly. (wow, I had to google this one for correct spelling). Just leave your OLED plugged in to the AC socket because after powering off, it runs pixel recovery procedure which deals with the burnin. I used to run the built in recovery procedure manually, but looks like it is not required.
Even then! To see that tempo burn-in that I am talking about, you would have to launch a special program such as DPT that displays solid fullscreen colors on which you might be able to distinguish slight haloes from windows or whatever. You have to look really closely though, beware the eye watering...
I don't run screensavers on the 55" OLED and I never hide icons or taskbar, but I do have black background in Windows. For me it is not a problem because I usually setup black backround even on LCDs. I hate staring at the same picture, it gives me brain burn-in. Black background is the way. Plus, on OLEDs it saves energy, and my OLED is almost constantly on.
 
Bottom line is that LCD is such junk these days that OLED is really now the only recourse anyway. I don't know if any of the Mini-LED, multi zone products that are being talked about/developed will amount to anything, but they'll be stupidly priced as and when they do ever hit the market. This 48" OLED won't cost the earth and it will be available soon. Burn-in risk can be easily mitigated, and in all other respects it will destroy LCD performance. 48" is still going to be too big for many people though of course, that's really the biggest barrier here, but if that works for you, it should be a no-brainer at the right price, especially in light of what high end LCD monitors cost.

I don't see why someone would opt for high-end gaming LCD over this... burn-in really isn't even a concern for the average gamer with OLED. Daily desktop use, browsing, Photoshop, hours spent in Microsoft Word etc... those uses are where the greatest burn-in risk resides, but if that's what you predominantly use a monitor for, you really don't need an OLED in the first place lol!
 
I don't see why someone would opt for high-end gaming LCD over this... burn-in really isn't even a concern for the average gamer with OLED. Daily desktop use, browsing, Photoshop, hours spent in Microsoft Word etc... those uses are where the greatest burn-in risk resides, but if that's what you predominantly use a monitor for, you really don't need an OLED in the first place lol!

One (expensive) approach is to have two computers - one connected to an OLED, and one to an LCD. You use the OLED for videos and games, and the LCD for anything involving text.
 
I mean, I have a 65" C9 and the text rendering on it is fine, unless you're so close you can see the pixels. The problem with comparing it directly to an LCD is I don't have an LCD with the same PPI and it's not a fair/reasonable comparison if you compare a low ppi display to a higher ppi display at the same distance. The biggest factor in text clarity is NOT subpixel rendering it's raw PPI.

Considering that to use a 48" display as a monitor I would need to sit around 36" away, and that the PPI is 92, I would not be able to see the pixels and I'm really, really skeptical that subpixel rendering details would make much difference.

Now, if you are using it much closer than that, it's a different story, but well, you're bringing the problem on yourself at that point. Buy a different product, then.
 
Considering that to use a 48" display as a monitor I would need to sit around 36" away, and that the PPI is 92, I would not be able to see the pixels and I'm really, really skeptical that subpixel rendering details would make much difference.

That distance is actually pretty spot on. I was unsure, since I don’t own a 48” anything. But I do have a 55” OLED, so I got out the measuring tape, lined myself up and imagined something around 48”, and the tape wound up right around 36” that satisfied my view.

I know for 40-43” that 30” distance (wall hung) is about right, since my desk is that deep. Regardless, using a 48” for desktop will definitely require a wall mount, unless you want some screen in your face. :)
 
One (expensive) approach is to have two computers - one connected to an OLED, and one to an LCD. You use the OLED for videos and games, and the LCD for anything involving text.

And that's how I'd do it. I'm doing it right now. A pc to surf the net and anything non gaming wouldnt cost much really. A low end rig would do the job fine. Hell a dual core cpu would do the job. I use the old gaming rigs for that sort of work.
 
And that's how I'd do it. I'm doing it right now. A pc to surf the net and anything non gaming wouldnt cost much really. A low end rig would do the job fine. Hell a dual core cpu would do the job. I use the old gaming rigs for that sort of work.

Yes - I mentioned the two-computer approach because that's what I do as well... The thing is that the 55" OLED is good for some games, but too big for others, so I game on both. Videos/movies are best watched on the OLED. Browsing/work on the LCD.
 
I am interested in this because I want to get away from curved monitors...

I'm not a fan of curved monitors but what about ultrawide? I don't have any experience with that so I can't say if it wouldn't be nice for that scenario.
 
That distance is actually pretty spot on. I was unsure, since I don’t own a 48” anything. But I do have a 55” OLED, so I got out the measuring tape, lined myself up and imagined something around 48”, and the tape wound up right around 36” that satisfied my view.

I know for 40-43” that 30” distance (wall hung) is about right, since my desk is that deep. Regardless, using a 48” for desktop will definitely require a wall mount, unless you want some screen in your face. :)

Yeah, I use a rule of thumb of 0.75 * diagonal size for viewing distance. This works pretty well for normal monitor and TV sizes, and also matches up with the ITU recommendation of 1.5 x (display height), where height is typically ~0.5 x (diagonal) for 16:9.

You can wall mount or put it on a floor stand and move the desk ~6-8 inches back from the wall, the latter is my plan.
 
It’s not like OLED can’t be small. Dell had a 13” and a 30”

Keep in mind, they can't satisfy the TV demand yet, either. I'm still not sure if making these TVs so attractive to monitor enthusisiaists is genuinely two markets starting to overlap or them cheekily testing the waters.
 
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