Review: LG OLED42C24LA (C2-serie) OLED TV

LG OLED42C24LA – Design

It is noticeable that this small size does not immediately give that typical OLED TV impression. The OLED42C24LA is about four centimeters deep, and the electronics housing almost reaches the edge of the screen. The thin OLED screen that otherwise dominates the view is less visible as a result.

What is more striking than with the large screen sizes is how thin the black border around the screen is. Barely five millimeters, ten millimeters at the bottom, you hardly see it on a large screen, but on this smaller size you notice how narrow that is.

LG OLED42C24LA – Connections

Small, but well equipped, that’s the motto of this C2. It comes with the same connections as the larger models. Four HDMI 2.1 connections that deliver the full 48Gbps bandwidth and support ALLM, VRR, ARC/eARC, 2K and 4K HFR.

All connections are on the side, and sufficiently far from the edge. You will find three USB connections, an optical digital audio output, two antenna connections, an Ethernet port and WiFi. The headphone jack is striking, which you will only find on the 42 and 48-inch models. There is also an IR output and IR blaster. If you are looking for the CI Plus lock, it is located at the top of the electronics housing.

No WiSA 2.1 on this C24LA. Those who still want WiSA should look out for a C26LA, and keep in mind that just like on the G2 you are limited to 2.1 setups, so no real wireless surround.

Ease of use and smart TV

The C2-series and G2-series do not differ in terms of ease of use or functions, so we largely repeat what we already noted for the G2. LG has implemented WebOS 22 with some additional features and personalization options after the major 2021 redesign.

You will find all apps centrally, and at the top part of the screen is still sacrificed to weather information and tips. At the top right we now find a handy tile that contains your most recent source. Also new is the option to log in, and therefore also change your profile if you wish. Different members of the family can see their own organization of the Home screen and their own recommendations.

Unfortunately, the recommendations that you see centrally (Disney+) cannot be adjusted. If you don’t have Disney+ at home, that’s wasted space. But you can personalize the order of everything below the list of apps. There is, among other things, an item ‘Now streaming’ in which you can view all streaming services via a tab list. In our list we found Amazon Prime Video, Rakuten TV and YouTube, but unfortunately no Netflix or Disney+.

Remote control

The remote control of the OLED42C24LA has a slightly rounded rectangular shape that fits well in the hand. The keystroke requires a little too much pressure. Of course, the screen cursor can still be operated by simply pointing at the screen with the remote.

LG still offers numeric keys, useful if you want to use the internal TV tuner, but also because you can program them as hotkeys for your favorite apps. At the bottom we find four shortcuts for Netflix, Prime Video, Rakuten TV and Disney +. We find the three keys for voice control a bit confusing, there is a general microphone key and separate keys for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. With the NFC tag (you will find the logo just below the keys), you can quickly and easily connect your smartphone to the TV, for example to stream audio or mirror your smartphone to the TV.

Functions

The C2 series is equipped with a single TV tuner for digital TV (DVB-T2/C/S2) and CI+ slot. There’s Apple Airplay 2 and Google Cast for YouTube and Netflix. The media player supports major formats, subtitles and HDR. He only refuses Xvid and DTS. It will therefore not forward DTS via eARC. Fans can follow their favorite teams via Sports Alerts.

You can also expect excellent motion sharpness from the C2 series, which also has excellent motion processing. For movies, we recommend ‘Cinematographic Motion’ because disabling TruMotion shows too much of the stutter of 24fps images. If you really don’t want to see judder, choose the ‘Smooth’ setting, but personally we found that it causes too many artifacts as soon as the action on the screen is too fast.

Just like the G2 series, the OLED42C24LA (C2 series) no longer has a 120 Hz Black Frame Insertion technique (what is BFI ). OLED Motion now works in 60 Hz, and you can only switch it on or off. Since that causes visible flickering, it is better to leave it off.

Main settings

LG OLED42C24LA – Picture quality

Does the OLED42C24LA now use an older OLED panel or a newer version? Our test model seemed equipped with a newer panel, judging by the spectrum analysis. But if you look at the specifications, you will notice that the 42-inch C2 did receive the OLED evo designation, but is not equipped with the ‘Brightness Booster’.

In concrete terms, you cannot expect that the panel will be as bright as the 55-inch (or larger) version. That probably has to do with the higher pixel density, and LG’s intention to better control image retention and burn in.

The panel had excellent uniformity in clear images. On the dark test screen, a slight pink tint was visible on the far left side of the screen, but that effect was not visible in normal footage. Just like on the G2, we see that the dithering in dark shades is considerably less visible. We also saw no annoying flickering in dark images.

The Filmmaker Mode is very well calibrated. The gray scale is almost perfect. The color reproduction is excellent, also for skin tones. There is a lot of black detail visible, there too it leans towards an almost perfect result.

LG OLED42C24LA – HDR

The C2 supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision IQ , not HDR10+. But how does this little OLED score at peak brightness? On a 10% window, it still achieves 715 nits, a very good result, and better than we expected. But the ABL (Average Brightness Limiter) intervenes fairly hard when the test window becomes larger. On a completely white screen, it only has 117 nits left.

The color range of 95% DCI-P3 and 68% Rec.2020 is fully within expectations. We switch to HDR Filmmaker Mode to evaluate performance. The images are very beautiful. There is an enormous amount of black detail and the C2 can handle very clear mastered images very well. There he preserves almost all white detail. An important part of that performance can be attributed to ‘Dynamic Tonemapping’.

After all, the C2 series uses the same processor as the G2 seriesand can therefore also count on the improvements we have already seen there. For HDR10 images, the OLED42C24LA therefore not only takes the metadata into account, but it itself analyzes the image very finely and optimizes tone mapping in different ways within the same image. This way he gets the full potential out of the screen. A lot of color is preserved, even in the brightest shades, although we have to admit that it still loses a little bit of ground there. But that is largely typical of the WOLED technology. This may not be optimal for purists, but personally we find the added value excellent. Another great asset is ‘AI Brightness’, which lifts the shadow detail a bit when there is a lot of ambient light. This also works with SDR, but very limited. …

LG OLED42C24LA – Conclusion

There is good news, lots of good news. This 42 inch OLED from LG has immediately gained a place in our favorites. The only downside that we think is worth pointing out is the price. It is very high, even exorbitant. Fortunately, we see that it can already be found online at a hefty discount, but it remains a relatively expensive purchase. We also remain of the opinion that we would like to personalize the Home screen a little more. And yes, the 42-inch version is less bright than the larger models. But we don’t think that’s significant enough, its impact is limited.

About the good things, the OLED42C24LA continues the line of the G2 smoothly. The new processor delivers top notch image processing that extracts every ounce of potential from the OLED screen. With Filmmaker Mode you immediately enjoy a top calibration that guarantees beautiful images, both in SDR and HDR. Add the enormous amount of gamer features and we suspect that many buyers for this C2 have a place in their gamer place. WebOS22 also provides you with a whole lot of features and almost all major streaming services.