LG's 2018 OLED TVs offer enhanced HDR, Google Assistant, Dolby Atmos and voice AI

Pocket-lint

By Chris Hall

Published Jan 5, 2018

LG has pulled the covers off its flagship OLED TVs for 2018, following very much in the lines of 2017, but this time called its TVs AI OLED, to indicate the new level of intelligence that they offer.

There's a new Signature Wallpaper model, the W8 leading the charge, in 77 and 65-inch sizes. This startlingly slim TV drops all the normal gubbins you expect from a TV, leaving you with the OLED panel that you affix to the wall, with an accompanying Dolby Atmos soundbar that also contains all the connections and brains to drive the TV.

In 2018, those brains include an enhanced version of LG's webOS TV platform that offers Google Assistant, voice control and AI learning, allowing you to search for content and control other devices, all by voice.

While the W8 Wallpaper TV might not suit all customers (and comes with a premium price tag), the AI OLED E8 gives us a closer look at LG's "more normal" OLED TVs. The big difference is form, with the E8 offering an evolution of LG's picture-on-glass design.

As with the 2017 E7, there's a 60W 4.2 channel soundbar integrated into the design. However the design looks a lot slicker than that older TV. Again, it claims to offer Dolby Atmos support for immersive cinema sound. The E8 is available in 65 and 66-inch sizes. Taking a step down is the new LG AI OLED C8, also in 55 and 65-inches.

As per the W8, the C8 and E8 are powered with a new α9 processor that enables all those smart functions. LG is also promising better image rendering and colour accuracy, as well as enhanced viewing angles.

There's also a new AI OLED B8 (55 and 65-inch). This has, in the past years, been the most accessible OLED model offered by LG, but this year there's a hardware difference too: it's powered by the α7 processor rather than the new α9, so it might not quite have the picture power that the W, E and C offer.

There's a full array of HDR format standards covered including HDR10, Dolby Vision, hybrid log gamma and Advanced HDR by Technicolor. HDR data is processed frame-by-frame using LG's enhanced tone mapping algorithm aiming to give you a more dynamic HDR experience, regardless of the HDR format used. There will also be support for HFR too.