LG held its Showcase 2023 event for the Middle East and Africa on the 14th of March in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event showcased LG’s new products for 2023 across its various sectors, such as Home Appliances, PCs and TVs.
Following the event, I sat down with Jun Oh Jung, Head of TV Sales at LG Electronics Gulf, and discussed some of the TVs LG showed at the event and future OLED TVs and plans.
Tbreak: What are some of the new TV models we’ll be seeing from LG this year?
LG: This year will see the updated C3 and G3 as well as the introduction of the M3, which is a new technology. It’s a wireless product, which should give people more freedom to install their TV anywhere they want in their home, without the restrictions of any wires.
[Editors’ Note: The LG M3 is somewhat similar to the Samsung TV with a OneConnect box that runs a fibre optic cable between the TV and a breakout box and houses all connectivity as well as power. LG’s M3 display only requires a power cable. The breakout box with all the connectivity is completely wireless. I asked LG about the maximum distance the box can be placed from the screen, but they did not have a definitive answer to share at the time of the interview]
What has been updated for the LG C3 and G3 TVs this year?
The G3 is an OLED Evo product and is one of the top of the line TVs that LG has. The G3 is 70% brighter than a conventional OLED TV, while the C3 is 40% brighter than the previous model.
The most important thing is the Alpha 9 chip which is exclusively developed for our OLED panels. It has a picture quality algorithm that is suitable for OLED as it is a pixel dimming technology which is different to LED TVs with backlight.
The algorithm with the Alpha 9 chip with our OLED panels gives more brightness and a picture similar to how the content was recorded.
I like the new soundbar design that clasps to the TV. Tell us a bit more about that.
Yes, we are always trying to deliver some distinctive value to our customers. We want our customers to have a good experience with the sound along with the image quality. We have several sound bars, but for many people, installation is a major issue. There are so many wires to connect, which many users find confusing, as well there is some confusion over how to control the sound volume, etc.
So, we solved all those issues by making an exclusive bracket that attaches to the back side of the TV. And then, you can easily attach our soundbars to the bracket. You can also use the bracket along with a wall mount and use the same power source.
So, we have made it extremely easy for people to install their soundbars. And we also made it simple to control the sound volume, as now you can control the soundbar’s volume with the TV remote.
All 2022 models, including the C2, are compatible with the new bracket.
What are your thoughts on Micro-LED or will you continue with future OLED TVs?
Our R&D team is always looking for opportunities to develop future technologies. But, as you can see, last year, our largest competitor just entered the OLED market. So, they admit that OLED technology is the next generation at the moment.
So, we welcome them [to the market]. It’s hard to grow in the OLED market, but it also gives our customers more choices now.
I currently use the LG 42-inch C2 as a monitor for my computer and I think it’s great. Any plans for an even smaller OLED TV?
As the leading brand in OLED TVs, we are always increasing the size of our OLED panels. From 42” to 97”, we even have an 8K display. But it seems that it’s not easy to make a smaller-sized TV.
The challenge with smaller sizes is mainly because of the cost associated with making small-sized panels. If we make small-sized OLED panels, the cost will be similar to full-sized TVs. So, it doesn’t make sense for us to make them. And we also don’t see much demand from customers.
LG’s monitors division is now moving to OLED. Does the TV division give direction to the monitor lineup, or is that a completely separate team?
It is actually a separate division. And we have now reached some area where we are competing against each other. You have already seen the 45” Flex model, and it was rightly targeted towards gamers.
