When it comes to OLEDs, Sony versus LGs been a hotly debated topic for the last few years,
and it looks like 2019s not gonna be any different.
Hi, I’m Carl with Abt, and in this video, we’re gonna show you a couple of TVs that
I think should be on everyone’s “best of” lists for this year,
the Sony A9G and the LG C9P.
First things first, I wanna address the most common theme I see in the comments sections
on these OLED comparisons: LG’s better because the panels in each TV come from LG.
Well, it’s true that they’re both LG panels, but that’s not necessarily the reason why
the C9P would be better.
It’s the processors that really make the difference.
Sony uses their X1 Ultimate, and LG uses their Alpha 9, gen 2, and each is the current flagship
processor.
Plus, there’s other little things that you might prefer on one that don’t have anything
to do with the picture.
Now, let’s take a closer look at these two TVs side by side.
Right out of the box you’re gonna see a pretty obvious difference, and that’s in
the brightness.
The LGs quite a bit brighter.
I tried raising the Sony’s brightness as high as it could go and it wasn’t getting
anywhere near the LGs.
But, that’s not to say that brighter is always better.
Here’s some shots of them both in their vivid, standard, and cinema modes, all at
the factory calibrations, so you can hopefully see what I’m talking about.
All that being said, I do like the brightness of the LG, but I’m curious to see if it’ll
have any adverse effects on the TV in the long run.
When you lower the LGs brightness to the level of the Sonys, it starts getting more difficult
to tell the pictures apart.
The Sonys colors are a little flatter and more natural-looking.
The LG tends to be a little on the sharper side, and looks a bit more vivid, even at
the same brightness.
It’s hard to show off these somewhat minor differences in a video, though, since not
everyone's watching this on the same type of monitor, and there’s gonna be some compression
happening through YouTube, as well.
Now, when you go to the other end of things and look at some dark scenes, they’re both,
as you can imagine, extremely good.
I didn’t find the blacks to be getting crushed like on some past models, and they were each
showing off nice details.
And here’s a shot showing off the black uniformity as well….
As far as motion goes, they both did a great job handling fast and slow-moving objects
on screen.
Plus, you can also change the blur and judder settings to your liking depending on what
you’re watching.
One advantage I found with the Sony, though, is you get an auto mode where on the LG you
have to select smooth or clear, or do the manual adjustments.
I like the fact that there’s less to think about with the Sony.
I honestly think if you were looking at each of these TVs by themselves, you’d have a
hard time finding any flaws with the pictures.
When you put em right next to each other is when you notice some of those smaller discrepancies.
The bigger differences to note are in the other features.
For example, LG has a big advantage when it comes to inputs.
Their HDMIs are 2.1, where the Sony’s are 2.0.
They do both have eARC capabilities, but the LGs also gonna give you variable refresh rate
at 1080p or 4k, from 40 to 120 hertz, and auto low latency mode, which are great benefits
for anyone using their TV for gaming, specifically with a PC or XBox One X or S.
The operating systems are another component to consider.
Although Sony’s made a much-needed improvement by including Android Oreo on the A9G, WebOS,
which comes with the C9P, at least in my opinion, is much better.
As you highlight different cards along the bottom, you’ll see relevant information
regarding that app pop up right above it.
For example, when we highlight Netflix, you’ll see recently watched shows that you can jump
right into without having to open the whole app again.
The Sony still offers a good experience, much better, in fact, than their previous operating
system, it's just spread out over a larger screen that covers the picture.
The LGs smart menu lets you keep watching a program while you’re searching.
So, where does that leave us?
I’d have to say that even though the LGs picture was brighter, when they were next
to each other I actually liked the Sony’s colors better.
However, with LG getting HDMI 2.1 and all the features that come along with it, plus,
in my opinion, the better operating system, if I were getting one for myself, I’d go
with the C9.
Which one would you pick?
Make sure to let us know down in the comments.
As always, we appreciate you taking the time to watch.
If you enjoyed this video make sure to subscribe and check out our other comparison videos.
Thanks again, and we’ll see you in the next one.