Sony and LG have released some exciting OLEDs
this year, and many of you may be wondering
about which one to get.
In this video, we’ll be comparing the Sony
A8H against the LG CX so see which one is
right for you.
Hi, I’m Brandon, a Test Developer at RTINGS.com
where WE HELP PEOPLE FIND THE BEST PRODUCTS
FOR THEIR NEEDS.
The CX and the A8H are very exciting products,
and they both offer an amazing experience,
but there are a few key differences to look
out for, some of which may sway your decision.
First we'll look at the design of both TVs
as well as their inputs.
Then we’ll compare their various aspects
of pictures quality.
Lastly, we’ll finish with the motion handling,
input lag, and sound, and then conclude with
a quick summary.
If you’d like to skip straight to our test
results, then see the links in the description
below.
For both TVs, we bought the 55” model to
test, but we expect them to perform similarly
in their other sizes as well.
Sony offers 2 sizes of the A8H, a 55” and
a 65”, whereas LG offers 4 sizes of the
CX, including a 48” model that we reviewed
as a monitor.
Lets start by comparing the design.
The design of both TVs is great, which is
not surprising considering these are both
high end OLED displays.
They both have very thin bezels and the overall
thickness of the TVs is pretty slim thanks
to the OLED panel.
The stand between the two is quite different
however.
The LG has a single piece stand that sits
low to the ground and almost spans the entire
width of the TV.
It’s very solid and gives the TV a premium
look, but because of how low it is, placing
a soundbar in front of it might obstruct view
of the screen.
The Sony on the other hand uses a more traditional
2 piece leg stand, which although it might
not look as premium as LG’s solution, it
does offer more versatility.
The feet can adjust to a higher setting to
allow for soundbars and consoles to fit beneath
it.
On both TVs, the thinner backplate that houses
the OLED panel is made of all metal, with
the thicker compartments being made of plastic.
The build quality of both is superb with only
minimal flex in ceartain areas.
Neither TVs wobble and their stands feature
basic cable management, with the LG offering
a slightly cleaner solution.
Now let’s move onto the inputs, which is
where things first start to really differ.
Both TVs have a great selection of inputs
that should satisfy most people, but there
are a few key differences between them that
may be important to you.
They both offer 4 HDMI inputs, but the CX
supports HDMI 2.1, whereas the Sony only supports
up to HDMI 2.0.
This makes the CX a great option for those
who plan on using their TV with an HDMI 2.1
source and take advantage of it’s features,
like 4k at 120Hz or HDMI Forum VRR.
There currently aren’t any HDMI 2.1 sources
on the market, but rumored graphics cards
and consoles releasing later this year are
expected to support it.
If you don’t plan on using these features,
then HDMI 2.1 isn’t a big deal, as it won’t
affect any home theater experience.
Moving on, both TVs have 3 USB inputs, an
optical and analog out, a TV Tuner, ethernet,
and a composite in, but the Sony does not
include an adapter.
The Sony also features an IR input, which
the CX doesn’t have.
For audio, both TVs support ARC and eARC,
and the Sony has the ability to pass a DTS
signal to a receiver, unlike the CX.
Now let’s move onto picture quality, and
in many ways, these TVs perform the same,
which is to be expected, as both are using
OLED panels manufactured by LG.
That said, there are definitely a few differences
that are worth discussing.
Let’s start with the contrast ratio, which
is often regarded as one of the most important
aspects of picture quality.
Contrast ratio is the relative luminance between
the brightest white and the darkest black
that a TV can display, and a high contrast
ratio will help scenes appear deep and full
of detail, especially in a darker environment.
Because these are OLED displays, the pixels
are self-emissive, meaning each one can be
turned off to give a true black.
This will result in a remarkable contrast
ratio, and is one of the main appeals of OLED
TVs.
Because these are both using OLED panels,
there’s no meaningful difference in contrast
between the two, and either will look great
in this regard.
Now onto the gray uniformity, which is how
even and uniform colors appear throughout
the display.
Screen uniformity issues can result in some
areas of the display appearing darker or brighter
than their surroundings, which is commonly
known as the dirty screen effect.
This can be noticeable and distracting while
watching sports or content with long panning
shots.
Before I get into results, it’s important
to note that gray uniformity may vary between
panels due to manufacturing tolerances, so
any differences between our units could be
unique to us, and not representative of all
models.
On our units, we measured an excellent 50%
gray uniformity on both TVs, with the slight
edge going to the Sony, which has almost no
dirty screen effect.
We also measure a 5% gray test pattern which
is known to cause issues with OLED displays,
such as vertical banding.
Here, we measured great performance on both
displays, with the Sony besting out the LG
by a slight margin .
Another advantage of self-emissive pixels
are the viewing angles, which is how accurate
the picture remains when viewed off-center.
Having good viewings angles is great if you
plan on setting the TV in an open room with
wide seating.
The light emitted from an OLED pixel is dispersed
fairly evenly across all angles, lending these
2 TVs to have exceptional viewing angles.
We measured slightly different results between
the two, but this is likely margin of error
and we expect them to perform the same.
Either way, both will be a great choice for
having guests over and enjoying sports in
the living room.
If you plan on using these TVs in a brighter
environment, then you want to have good reflection
handling to counter-act any distracting glare.
Like all OLEDs we’ve tested, both of these
TV’s have remarkable reflection handling,
thanks to their anti-reflective coating.
This glossy coating makes the reflections
clear and defined, but with very little luminance
as to not be distracting.
The anti-reflective coating does result in
a slight purple-ish tint, but this won’t
be noticeable when watching content.
Along with the reflection handling, it’s
important to have a high peak brightness to
also counteract glare in a bright environment.
A high peak brightness will aslo help HDR
content pop in bright scenes.
These two TVs trade blows in both HDR and
SDR, depending on the window size and scene
duration.
In our testing, sometimes the Sony is brighter
than the LG, and other times the LG is brighter.
Both get decently bright in SDR, and paired
with their anti-reflective coating, will definitely
help counteract distracting glare.
They also both perform decently for HDR as
well, but not as well as some other LCD displays
on the market.
Also important to note, both of these displays
have a pretty aggressive Auto Brightness Limiter,
so the peak brightness changes significantly
depending on the window size and scene duration.
Now lets take a look at the color gamut and
volume.
The color gamut is the range of colors a TV
is capable of displaying, and the larger the
gamut, the more rich and vibrant the colors
will appear.
Both the Sony and the LG support a wide color
gamut, and have very similar coverage of the
P3 and Rec.2020 Color space.
They both perform very well in this regard,
but not quite as good as some other QLED TVs
we’ve tested, such as the Vizio P Series
Quantum.
The color volume is the range of colors a
TV can display at different luminosity levels.
Color volume is great for content mastered
in HDR, where you can expect to see vivid
and bright highlights.
Here, the A8H outperforms the CX, as can it
display more colors near the white and black
point.
Also important for picture quality is the
gradient handling, which is how finely different
levels of color can be displayed.
Poor gradient performance results in noticeable
color banding in scenes with gradients, such
as the sky, shadows, or skin tones.
In our testing, we found the A8H to be a step
up over the CX, with only some banding in
the red, greens, and grays.
That said, the CX still performs well in this
regard and should satisfy almost everyone.
These results are somewhat expected, as Sony
has been known in the past for their exceptional
gradient processing.
Before moving onto motion handling, we should
note that both of these displays are OLEDs,
so they have an inherent risk of burn-in.
However, we don’t believe this will be an
issue for most people, as long as you watch
varied content.
To learn more about our long-term investigation
into OLED Burn-In, you can see our video here,
or in the article linked below.
Now onto the motion handling, and lets start
with the response time.
Response time is the time it takes for a screen
to change from one color to the next.
It’s important to have a fast response time,
in order to reduce the blurry trail behind
fast moving objects, which is commonly known
as ghosting.
Thankfully, since these are both OLED displays,
they have nearly perfect response times, so
ghosting won’t be an issue here.
We found the two TVs to perform nearly identically
in response times, as you can see in our pursuit
motion photo of the RTINGS logo.
If you’d like to make motion appear even
smoother, you can enable black frame insertion.
BFI turns off the display in between frames
to reduce the persistence blur of modern displays.
You can learn more about how BFI works in
our video here.
Both of these TVs support BFI and can flicker
at 60 or 120Hz depending on the user preference.
In the A8H, BFI is referred as Motionflow,
whereas it’s called TrueMotion on the CX.
The CX is able to turn it’s pixels off for
longer on it’s max BFI setting compared
to the Sony.
This means a dimmer display, but it also means
less persistence blur, as you can see from
our pursuit motion photo.
Now let’s look at the input lag and supported
resolutions, which is where things once again
get interesting.
Input lag is the amount of time it takes to
process and display an image coming from a
source.
Having low input lag is important for gaming,
as it means you’ll see the results of your
actions faster, resulting in a more responsive
experience.
We found the CX to have a slight edge over
the A8H at 60Hz, by about 5 milliseconds.
The LG is also faster than the Sony at 120Hz,
and you may notice, the Sony doesn’t even
support 1440p or 4k at 120Hz.
For most content, that’s fine, as no movies
or tv shows display at high framerates, but
this might be an issue for those who plan
to use this TV for PC or Console gaming.
Also, the A8H doesn’t support HDMI 2.1 or
Variable Refresh Rate, which again makes the
CX the better choice for gamers.
Now let’s take a look at the smart features,
apps, and interface.
Both of these TVs are on a mature platform
using high end processors to make for a smooth
experience, so most people will be happy either
way.
Most of the differences are going to come
down to user preference.
The A8H is using Android TV and is also very
smooth and easy to navigate, and it’s quick
to get to where you need, thanks to the customizable
quick menu.
Since it’s using Android TV, you get access
to the Google Play Store, which has a large
selection of apps.
The remote can’t be used as a pointer like
the LG, but there are still app shortcuts
and the built-in mic features Google Assistant.
The CX uses LG’s WebOS which is smooth and
easy to navigate, especially with the LG Magic
Remote.
The app store has a great selection and you
should be able to find anything you’re looking
for.
The remote can be used as a pointer to help
navigate the menus, and it also has media
shortcuts and built-in voice control.
Lastly, lets take a look at the sound quality.
Both TVs offer a pretty decent sound, with
the LG slightly edging out the Sony thanks
to it’s lower distortion.
The CX uses traditional speakers located in
the back of the display to project sound,
whereas the A8H vibrates the screen itself
to produce the sound.
Both TVs have decent sound, but are lacking
in the low and sub-bass, so audio enthusiast
may want to invest in room speakers or a soundbar.
So overall, the Sony A8H and the LG CX are
both superb OLED TVs with excellent picture
quality, design, and feature sets.
However, they do differ in some key areas.
The CX is a better choice for gamers thanks
to it’s HDMI 2.1 support and lower input
lag.
The A8H has a slight edge in picture quality,
and has better support for audio passthrough
and soundbars, so it might be a better choice
for AV enthusiast who don’t plan on doing
much gaming.
Either way, anyone who owns either TV will
be happy with it’s excellent performance.
So that's it!
Do you prefer the LG CX or the Sony A8H, and
why?
Let us know what you think below.
As always, you can check out all of the measurements
on our website.
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Thank you for watching and see you next time.
