LG C3 Series 42-Inch Class OLED evo 4K Processor Smart TV for Gaming with Magic Remote AI-Powered OLED42C3PUA

I shopped around for a good while even going to the big box stores to compare various TVs on offer from the various makers and this model stood out after multiple visits and time spent researching options and price ranges and sizes. The picture quality always jumped out at me as the best out of all the wide options I encountered. After pulling the trigger on this unit I am absolutely glad I choose this model. I wouldn't even say glad, more like thrilled. The quality of the picture is far beyond the best I've seen. We have a very nice high end TV at home already for comparison that's fairly new and at the top end. So I do have a comparison point. We just needed another set for another room in the place and it was time to buy. I took some time in the settings to explore what everything could do, had a run with the 'AI' features of this set and did some manual adjustments to all the various things to get this working and displaying exactly how I want my picture to look and I was able to land exactly where I wanted in the sweet spot with very little stress at all. And the audio? The AI enhanced setting is just phenomenal. I didn't even bother putting in a sound bar even though I had one laying around. It's just so clear and crisp with nice deep lows that don't rattle but do rumble. This TV gets *loud* if you want it. I also game on this now and it puts out a stunning 120hz at 4k that just absolutely sings to the eyes. Using my PS5 to feed the image, it's never looked better and I've been 4k gaming for a long time now. It's just never looked better. I am thoroughly impressed by LG after buying this, it was my first one from them and I'd be hard pressed to go with another make after this as I truly feel that I'm spoiled now by it. Nothing else looks as good to me. Even watching older shows, this brings them to life in new ways and the fidelity is so ramped up by the on board features of this set that it makes watching literally anything a pleasure. I usually have no patience for kid's shows for example, but when the grandkids came to visit shortly after we got this, I was just as glued to watching them as they were. The colors, the fluidity of motion, the crisp detail...just pure eye candy. And for a visual device like this, that's the highest praise I can give it. It's heavy in case you're wondering about that. Even at 48" I only felt secure moving this around the house with two grown people handling it carefully. It's got weight to it. In summary, this TV is not only the best TV I've ever owned, it's literally the best quality I've ever seen. Even among family and friends or display models in store. I feel like it's from the future or something, at least a couple years out compared to everything else. I have no higher praise to give this than what I've said and it was nothing for me to say it. No exaggeration or imagination required this is just stream of thought and these are genuinely the things that came to mind when I felt it was time to review. I can't help but gush about this set, it deserves the praise. I feel my life itself would lose a little bit of color if I had to give this up, and it brings me actual mental comfort knowing I have this and can relax after a long day looking at it. It's one of those things where you're looking at it and often think and even remark things like "This looks better than real life huh?" Read more

This is my first OLED TV and all I can say is WOW! If you’ve only had LCD TVs in the past, the OLED difference is very noticeable with the infinite contrast and 3D look that it gives to the image. My biggest concern with this TV was that it wouldn’t be bright enough but even during the day with 3 windows shining light into the room I’ve found it’s plenty bright enough, and a lot brighter than the budget LCD TV I had before (Vizio M658-G1). LG supports everything you could want in terms of gaming with 4 HDMI 2.1 ports for 4k/120Hz Dolby Vision gaming, VRR, ALLM, etc. I play Xbox Series X on it and it looks amazing! I also play Nintendo Switch and with a few tweaks like upping sharpness to 15 and turning Super Resolution to high it looks almost 4k! Everything I’ve watched on it looks better than ever before and I can’t say enough good things about it. After considering all my options I decided on this TV over the other options: - Compared to the LG G3: A lot cheaper but with the same processor for equal upscaling and clarity. The G3 is noticeably brighter but, like I said, I haven’t felt like the C3 wasn’t bright enough and it was brighter than I expected - Compared to the Samsung S95C: Again, much cheaper and the processor is better than that on the S95C so lower quality content will look cleaner, especially lower bitrate like YouTube TV. The S95C is much brighter and more colorful but Samsung has quality control issues, poor firmware updates, and no Dolby Vision HDR support - Compared to LG C2: The C3 is very similar to the C2 and it’s hard to justify the price increase of the C3. It was worth it to me since I got a good deal and only paid a few hundred dollars more. The C3 has an improved processor with improved dynamic tone mapping with 20,000 zones instead of 5,000 and is a little bit brighter. It also supports DTS passthrough and QMS unlike the C2. A common complaint about LG OLEDs is their aggressive dimming during prolonged high APL scenes. That issue was fixed on the 2023 models. Lastly, the C3 has a new customizable quick access menu that’s nice for changing settings in a snap - Compared to Samsung S90C: This is the C3’s biggest competition this year because they are close in price. The S90C has the better QD-OLED panel and is brighter and more colorful. I went with the C3 because of the Samsung issues I mentioned above with the S95C. I just trust LG more than Samsung as a company to support their products for years to come. Also, QD-OLED appears to have more risk of burn-in and I like to keep my TVs for a long time - Compared to Samsung S95B (2022 model): I wanted a 77” TV and the S95B only comes in 55” and 65”. Also, Samsung issues I mentioned before Conclusion: The C3 is probably the best all around OLED TV for most people. Everything I’ve watched on this looks incredible and LG is a brand you can trust when it comes to OLED. They’ve been making them longer than anyone else and they’ve figured out how to prevent burn-in for the vast majority of users. If all you do is watch news or sports channels all day long then OLED probably isn’t for you but if you watch a variety of content from movies, TV shows, gaming, etc then I think this might be the best TV you can buy. Unless you can afford the LG G3, of course Read more