It was back at the very beginning of the year, during CES 2025 – the world's largest consumer technology show (which I live blogged) – that I first clapped eyes on LG's best new OLED TV, the G5.
I said then that LG's latest set was impressive, because it makes one huge change versus the previous (and 5-star worthy) OLED G4 – in ditching Micro Lens Array (MLA) for an all-new multi-layer OLED panel structure.
So it's out with the not-so-old and in with the brand new, as the best TVs go from strength to strength in 2025. LG isn't the only brand to utilise its new panel type, either, with Panasonic's impressive Z95B also adopting the new technology.
At CES, however, I hadn't been able to see the brand new OLED G5 next to last year's OLED G4. But that's something I was able to do at a behind-closed-doors session last month, in February, to get up close and personal with LG's latest TV champion.
MLA vs multi-layer vs QD-OLED
And, let me tell you, OLED technology just went stratospheric for 2025 – as the LG's results are mind-bending. This new-fangled technology has given QD-OLED – Samsung and Sony's go-to OLED type of choice – a bit of a wake-up call, to the extent I'm wondering if it'll even survive as a viable competitor anymore.
As you can see from the image up top, my session wasn't only limited to the LG OLED G4 versus the LG OLED G5, but a Samsung S95D and Sony A95L (out of frame) were thrown into the mix too. There are inherent strengths in each of those sets for different reasons – from anti-reflection to in-built sound, respectively, for example – but the OLED G5 does seem to really put itself high in the pecking order.
Various tests confirmed that LG's new panel type can output higher colour volume at lower brightness output – so ideal for Filmmaker Mode, for example – which is how many movies opt to be graded. On the flip side, however, this new panel can also go even brighter – even more so than MLA – and deliver ultra-contrasty images. It's a win-win.
Brightness Boosted to the Max
The LG OLED G5's panel structure is why the brand gives the TV its 'Brightness Booster Ultimate' stamp, stating that it's "up to three times brighter than conventional OLED" – which, in this case, you can take to mean LG's OLED B5 (which sits two model positions below).
The G5 is also the world's first 4K 165Hz capable TV, with all the VRR and G-Sync and FreeSync boxes ticked, which will be hugely appealing for gamers with PC rigs who want to future-proof their TV setup rather than using a monitor.
LG has also gone all-in with artificial intelligence (AI) for this year, with the Magic Remote updated to now include an AI button, with voice-prompted controls and other on-board AI features as part of the webOS setup. Indeed, the cat on a beach wearing a sombrero screensaver is an AI prompted screensaver – going to the cloud to produce the image in your preferred visual style.
Picture processing gets an AI boost, too, with the Alpha 11 4K AI Processor Gen 2 being the top of the line chip, able to handle at a per-pixel level in real-time. The images look stunning, based on the variety of trailers I've watched on repeat, both in light- and dark-room settings – the step up from the G4 is clear in person, just next to impossible to convey in pictures.
The LG OLED G5 will go on sale later this year, with pricing still to be confirmed for the 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch models (there's also a 48-inch model for the first time, plus a 97-inch mega-scale model, but these two additions are not the multi-layer OLED panel type, so results will differ).
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