WALLPAPER IS LG'S STAR OF THE YEAR

– Wallpaper TV is our biggest news this year. It uses our latest OLED panel and our best anti-reflection technology, says Erik Svalberg of LG Electronics.

We meet him before the summer at Elkjøp's Campus Tech training fair, where the W6 is centrally positioned on the stand.

– Above all, it is completely flat at the back. It sits flush against the wall without any gap, and has a wireless connection box that allows all sources to be placed up to ten metres away. You only need power for the TV, which makes for a very beautiful installation, says Svalberg.

– At the same time, it has exactly the same panel and anti-reflection technology as our G series standing next to it here, he adds.

Same panel in both

Technically, the differences between the W6 and G6 are small.

– The Wallpaper model is much thinner and wireless, while the G series is a more traditional TV where you connect everything directly to the TV. The G series also has our gallery installation with a recessed wall mount, so it sits flat against the wall, says Svalberg.

– You naturally get a somewhat more premium solution with the wireless model, he says.

At the same time, the price difference is far smaller than when the first Wallpaper model came onto the market.

– We are talking about a difference of a few thousand kroner. When the first Wallpaper TV came in 2017, it cost around NOK 210,000. Now we are down to roughly a quarter of that, says Svalberg.

He believes the choice between W6 and G6 comes down to how premium you want it to be.

– If your main priority is the best functionality and picture quality, you can stick with the G series. If you also want the perfect installation and design, and care about how the TV looks in the room, Wallpaper is a step up, he says.

Almost four times brighter

W6 and G6 are built around LG's latest OLED panel.

– The fantastic thing is that this is our brightest OLED panel. It is almost four times brighter than a standard OLED TV. Compared with the B series, it is 3.9 times brighter, says Svalberg.

LG has also further developed its anti-reflection treatment.

– The anti-reflection filter removes 99.7 per cent of the light in a normal room, so you can have it in bright surroundings without reflections interfering with the picture. At the same time, the filter is completely transparent, so the light does not affect the colours. You do not get that grey matte effect; OLED looks as expected, with perfect blacks and perfect colours, he says.

The response has been positive.

– Wallpaper has undoubtedly attracted attention here at Campus. People see it from the other end of the exhibition hall and come over to have a look, says Svalberg.

Boosting the C series

He also points to significant improvements in the more affordable OLED models.

– The B series is the entry-level range, and we believe it will be widely available at accessible price points, allowing more people to step into OLED, says Svalberg.

The C series has received the biggest upgrade.

– This receives a huge boost. In 65 inches and below, the C has around twice the brightness of the B series. In 77 and 83 inches, it has a different panel, the same as in the G5, which means that it is, in principle, 300 per cent brighter than a standard OLED. This applies to the entire C series, he says.

LG offers several versions of the model.

– The C6-4 is the standard C model. The C6-5 has extended features for HDR, software and processing, providing more detail and precision. This is called Precision HDR Master Pro, and is intended to make the picture “pop” a little more, says Svalberg.

Above this comes the C6 Pro.

– This comes with factory calibration for even higher brightness, a further approximately 10 per cent above the standard C. Compared with the B, depending on size, it can be around 220 to 230 per cent higher. This can have a major effect in larger screen sizes, he says.

He says the C6 Pro has received a great deal of attention at Campus.

– This is an Elkjøp-exclusive model, which naturally generates extra interest, Svalberg tells the Elektronikkbransjen trade magazine.

Facing tougher competition

He admits that competition is intensifying as more suppliers now offer OLED TVs.

– The question is what you do with the panel. We rely on our experience and the time we have spent on OLED, as well as the fact that we have a broader OLED segment than most, says Svalberg.

He says this enables LG to prioritise more strongly, with specially developed anti-reflection technology that preserves the panel’s quality, and processors designed for OLED that optimise the results better for this technology.

LG is also continuing to invest in RGB-based TV solutions.

– We have introduced Mini RGB, and later this year our Micro RGB models will arrive. The segment will be branded MRGB, says Svalberg.

– Mini RGB in this case consists of edge-lit models with somewhat larger diodes than micro. The point is that we use the primary colours directly in the diode, for a purer light that does not need to be filtered as on a conventional LED TV. When less filtering is required, more of the pure light comes through as colours, giving you a better effect without distortion, he says.

Personal TV experience

LG wants to make the operating system more personal.

– We have introduced MyPage, where each user in the family can have their own profile and widgets, with their own homepage, says Svalberg.

He believes the TV is increasingly being tailored to the individual user.

– If you watch a lot of sport, this is a sports TV. If you watch a lot of films, it is a film TV. If you are a gamer, it is a gaming TV. We try to make all the functions available, while each user personalises the TV according to their own use, he says.

He believes OLED has gained new user groups.

– Historically, OLED was the favourite among film enthusiasts. Over time, it has expanded into gaming and sport. At first, many people were afraid of burn-in, but as early as 2017–2018, people stopped asking about it. That was when the benefits for gaming became apparent: fast response time, good motion, colours and contrast, says Svalberg.