CES 2023: LG’s TV range updated with 6th gen chips and webOS upgrades

South Korean manufacturer LG has revealed its updated TV lineup at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

While the structure of its impressive OLED range remains unchanged, the introduction of new sixth-generation processors heralds the arrival of new features and promises to provide better picture and sound experiences than previous generations.

The most powerful α9 AI Processor Gen6 will only be found in LG’s most expensive OLED offerings – the 8K Z3 and 4K G3 and C3 – while the more affordable B3 and A3 will be powered by the α7 AI Processor Gen6, the same chip found in LG’s current flagship MiniLED QNED TV, the QNED85, and QNED80. The QNED75 and NANO77 models make do with the less advanced sixth-gen α5 AI Processor.

LG announced a number of new technologies made possible by the new α9 processor, including AI Super Upscaling, Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro, Object Enhancer and HDR Expression Enhancer.

AI Super Upscaling seeks to further reduce noise and optimise LG’s already impressive upscaling based on the genre and scene of content you’re watching. Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro now maps brightness and colour to up to 20,000 blocks on the panel for more precise mapping, while Object Enhancer boosts the sharpness of on-screen objects and HDR Expression Enhancer allows objects to be tone mapped more effectively.

Alongside those upgrades, LG discussed a couple of improvements to its flagship 4K OLED TV, the LG G3 (pictured above). The 55in, 65in and 77in models will all benefit from “Brightness Booster Max” technology, which LG says improves brightness by up to 70% when compared with LG’s non-OLED evo televisions. The larger 83in and 97in screen sizes don’t get quite as bright but are claimed to be 30% brighter than last year’s LG G2. Additionally, the LG G3 now has what LG describes as a “Zero Gap” design, allowing it to be mounted even closer to the wall, and is lighter thanks to the use of composite fibre materials.

There are plenty of improvements coming to the wider range of 2023 LG TVs, too. All of its new UHD, QNED and OLED sets will come with “AI Blue Light Reduction” to minimise colour distortion to deliver a more natural viewing experience, while a new home screen for webOS groups content into easy-to-access categories to reduce the amount of time you spend scrolling.

Other tweaks to the smart platform include an increase to the number of user profiles available (now up to ten), a quick settings menu, a dynamic service capable of alerting you to sports results, the ability to personalise your picture using deep learning technology and support for displaying two HDMI sources on screen simultaneously.

On the audio front, LG’s flagship 2023 TVs will come with support for 9.1.2 virtual channels, plus a couple of handy new technologies: Auto Balance Control, which optimises audio based on how the human brain processes sonic information, and AI Clear Sound, another optimisation algorithm that takes into account ambient settings and content types.

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LG launches new soundbars at CES 2023

The company is also bringing new audio hardware to market this year, with a trio of soundbars joining its already extensive range. The LG SC9S soundbar and subwoofer combo is designed to perfectly match the extremely popular C Series TV, while the LG S77S is a more compact option for those seeking a bar with a separate subwoofer.

The third new addition, the LG SE6S, is a refresh of the LG Eclair that sees the subwoofer dropped in favour of an all-in-one 3.0 channel configuration complete with four passive radiators.

The trio will benefit from “Wow Orchestra” technology, which synchronises the audio output of a compatible LG TV with that of the soundbar to deliver a more immersive experience. Support for the feature will be coming to 2022 models at some point later this year, so there’s no need to upgrade if you splashed out on an LG soundbar last year.