LG OLED B1 – Is the cheaper OLED still worth it?

The design has hardly changed in the past years. The B1 still comes in a chic and high-quality look and can convince with a thin metal frame. The flat design makes it a good candidate for wall mounting, even though not all ports are aligned to the side.

The stand, which is a bit narrower than for example the C1, is made of plastic, but still makes a solid impression. Nevertheless, the TV wobbles a bit. LG only has a clip on the back of the stand for cable management, which can be used to bundle the cables into one strand.

The B1 appears in an additional size this year. In addition to the usual 55 and 65 inch versions, the OLED will also be released in a huge 77 inches this year.

Thanks to the 10-bit OLED panel, the B1 has outstanding picture quality. Perfect blacks and a theoretically infinite contrast are produced by the organic pixels, which can be controlled individually. This makes HDRHigh Dynamic Range – image/video with more dynamic range (contrast range) content in particular look incredibly good.

However, the maximum brightness of ~600 nitsSI unit of luminance: 1 nit = 1 cd/m² – The best way of measuring and comparing a TVs brightness   puts a damper on the great picture, as even the predecessor could get brighter. As a result, the OLED is only suitable for a dark living room and HDR content does not look quite as good as on LG’s other OLEDs. In addition, the Automatic Brightness Limiter ensures that the brightness is turned down further in large bright scenes to protect the pixels from overheating and to further keep the burn-in risk low. Despite all this, the B1 delivers excellent picture quality, which is further optimized by Dolby Vision IQDynamic HDR-format with a color depth of up to 12 Bits and Mastering of up to 10,000 Nits, which can adapt to the ambient brightness. The dynamic HDR format also ensures that the screen brightness adapts to the ambient brightness.

The viewing angle, as with all OLED TVs, is relatively wide, allowing the whole family or friends to enjoy the same picture quality no matter where they sit on the sofa.

The B1 uses the Alpha7 Gen4 AI processor, which is powerful enough to deliver good image processing, but you notice the difference compared to the Alpha9 Gen 4 AI processor that is installed in the C1. For example, color transitions are not quite as smooth on the B1 as they are on the top model.

The B1’s motion handling leaves nothing to be desired. The 120 HzHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. panel and a response time of less than 1 ms prevent motion blur and fast content like action movies, sports events or games are displayed smoothly. Only content with a low refresh rateHertz is the derived SI-unit of frequency with 1Hz=1/s – When talking about TVs this means how many different pictures a TV can display in one second. can cause stutters. However, stutters can be significantly reduced by an interframe calculation, which can lead to the Soap Opera effect, that might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

JudderInconsistent time frame due to the input frequency not mismatching the TV’s frequency (e.g. 24p via 60Hz) does not exist in LG’s B1, it can be removed from all sources.

If you are looking for a good gaming TV, you have found it with the B1. The excellent motion handling paired with an input lag of 5ms at 4K@120Hz and 13ms at 4K@60Hz make games run smoothly and without any delays. The new Game Optimizer feature also keeps input lag as low as possible, which is why gaming on the B1 is just plain fun.

Two HDMI 2.1 ports are waiting to be equipped with the new consoles, even if you might have to switch more often with only two connections. But both interfaces feature an Auto Low Latency Mode and VRRVariable Refresh Rate – synchronizes the display’s refresh rate with the output refresh rate of the graphics card via FreeSync PremiumVariable Refresh Rate with AMD graphics cards or consoles with at least 120fps at Full HD, Nvidia G-SyncVariable Refresh Rate for Nvidia graphics cards and HDMI Forum. Thus, both the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and compatible graphics cards for a PC are supported to avoid tearing.

The B1’s sound is fine for everyday use. The 2.2 channel sound system with a total power of 40 watts reproduces dialogs clearly and the TV also gets loud enough for most rooms. Due to the flat design it lacks bass, so no real cinema atmosphere can be created in the living room. Luckily, a soundbar or an external sound system can quickly remedy this.

Uncompressed Dolby AtmosObject-based surround sound format with 3D-Sound from any direction can be transmitted via the HDMI eARC port, so that a solid soundscape can be created when using an external sound system. Unfortunately, you have to sacrifice one of the HDMI 2.1 ports for this.

DTSMulti-channel-sound-system (Surround Sound) competing with Dolby Digital is still not available.

The new operating system webOS 6.0 does not deliver any groundbreaking innovations, but it does offer a new, clear interface. It can also be used smoothly and intuitively, and it also features a tidy dashboard. The app selection is huge as usual, so you do not have to do without any app or streaming service. The most popular ones are already preinstalled and some are even accessible with a push of a button on the Magic Remote. With the new remote, you can even control the OLED with hand gestures, which works surprisingly well.

Those who prefer to talk to a voice assistant will find both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integrated in the B1, so you do not have to rely on a third-party device anymore. Apple users can fall back on HomeKit as well as Airplay 2.

LG ThinQ turns the B1 into the center of your smart home, where all other smart devices can be controlled. A twin tuner is also available, which means that timeshift and the USB recording function can be used.

Like most current TVs, LG’s B1 is not immune to ads on the dashboard or in the app store.