LG’s C-series OLED televisions have long been celebrated for hitting that “sweet spot” in the market, bridging the gap between the more affordable B-series and the premium G-series. Last year, the LG C4 impressed many with its near-perfect blacks, strong gaming capabilities, and surprisingly bright HDR highlights. Fast forward 12 months, and LG introduced the C5, featuring a newer Alpha 9 AI Gen 7 processor, promising an even brighter image and more vibrant colors.
However, the C5 initially launched with a significant HDR10 issue that made it difficult to recommend. While LG has since released a firmware update that all but fixes these problems, the story, especially for gamers, is more nuanced. So, can the C5’s brighter panel and cleaner post-update gradients truly justify its higher price, or does the C4 remain the smarter buy?
Core OLED Excellence: What Both TVs Share
Both the LG C4 and C5 utilize LG’s W OLED panel, which means they share fundamental strengths that make them superb displays:
- Perfect Blacks and Zero Blooming: As true OLEDs, they deliver infinite contrast with pixels that can turn completely off, resulting in perfect blacks and no light blooming around bright objects.
- Excellent Uniformity and Wide Viewing Angles: Both TVs maintain consistent picture quality across the screen and offer wide viewing angles, ensuring a great image no matter where you sit.
- Full Bandwidth HDMI 2.1 Ports: Each model is equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports, supporting 4K resolution at up to 144Hz with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), making them excellent choices for next-gen consoles and high-end PC gaming.
- Dolby Vision Support: Both the C4 and C5 support Dolby Vision, providing an enhanced HDR experience for compatible content.
- LG webOS Interface: Both TVs run LG’s intuitive webOS smart interface.
LG C5’s Advancements: Where the Newer Model Shines
The LG C5 brings several key upgrades that push it ahead of its predecessor in certain areas:
- Alpha 9 AI Gen 7 Processor: The C5 ships with the newer Alpha 9 AI Gen 7 processor, an upgrade from the C4’s Gen 6 chip. This new processor contributes to improvements in overall brightness, processing, and image quality.
- Noticeably Brighter HDR: The C5 is visibly brighter than the C4 in HDR content. While the C4 peaked at approximately 950 nits on 2% highlight windows, the C5 climbs to roughly 1,300 nits in the same test. This “sizable difference” translates to a stronger, more impactful HDR punch in real content.
- Significantly Brighter SDR: For standard dynamic range content, especially when viewed in sunlit rooms, the C5 offers a clear advantage. The C4 averaged 411 nits in SDR, while the C5 jumps to 592 nits, making daytime TV, like golf courses or news banners, look much more vibrant and crisp.
- Improved Gradient Handling: A major win for the C5 post-firmware update is its vastly improved gradient performance. Before the update, the C5 suffered from noticeable banding in grays. Now, it’s “almost free of any noticeable gradient issues,” requiring you to actively look for them to see them. In contrast, the C4 still shows “some noticeable banding in grays and light greens.”
- Wider Color Coverage: Post-update, the C5 covers almost 98% of the DCI-P3 color space (compared to the C4’s 93%) and around 68% of the wider BT2020 color space (versus the C4’s 62%). This allows the C5 to push brighter and more vibrant colors, making it “noticeably more colorful in SDR” if you force it to its native color space.
- Slightly Better Upscaling and Macro Blocking Smoothing: The C5’s newer chip does a marginally better job at preserving fine detail when cleaning out macro blocking in low-quality content and looks a bit sharper when upscaling low-resolution feeds, though the overall difference is “very close.”
The Nuance: Where the C4 Holds Its Own (Especially for Gamers) and C5’s Lingering Issues
Despite the C5’s improvements, the comparison isn’t entirely straightforward, particularly for gamers:
- HDR10 Contouring Issue in Game Optimizer Mode (C5 Specific): This was the “nasty” issue that initially plagued the C5. While the firmware update fixed it for “Filmmaker Mode,” the HDR10 contouring issue still persists in “Game Optimizer Mode” on the C5. This means competitive gamers who want the absolute lowest input lag might still see unsightly banding in darker HDR10 scenes.
- Gaming Input Lag Compromise on C5 (Filmmaker Mode vs. Game Optimizer): A workaround for the G5 allowed “Filmmaker Mode” with ALLM to offer the same input lag as “Game Optimizer,” bypassing the contouring issue. However, on the C5, input lag in “Filmmaker Mode” with ALLM enabled is higher than in “Game Optimizer Mode.” This is especially true if the input label is set to “HDMI.” While setting it to “PC” lowers it significantly, it’s “still higher than in game optimizer picture mode,” which might be noticeable for “competitive gamers or those who play Twitch shooter games at higher difficulties.” This forces C5 gamers to choose between lower input lag and better image quality in HDR10. The C4 remains the “simpler choice for gamers” as it doesn’t have this specific HDR10 contouring bug in Game Optimizer.
- SDR Gaming Limitations in PC Mode (C5 Specific): If you game in SDR with your PC, the C5 presents another problem: the peak brightness setting is disabled in SDR when the input label is set to PC. This means you have to choose between playable input lag and a brighter image. The suggested solution is to force your console/PC to always output HDR, even for SDR games, but this comes at a cost of image accuracy.
- Reflection Handling: While the C5 is brighter, its overall reflection handling is “slightly worse” than the C4. The C4 deals with ambient light sources “a bit better.” Both TVs are “kind of mediocre” at handling direct reflections, though their blacks “barely lift under well lit conditions.”
- DTS Audio Support Dropped (C5): A “quick note on audio” reveals a significant difference: the C4 retains DTS input via eARC, but the C5 “unfortunately drops DTS support entirely.” This means if you have content with DTS audio tracks, the C5 will not be able to process them, which can be a dealbreaker for some home theater setups.
Price and Value Proposition
The LG C4 is currently trading at a mid-$1,000 price point for a 55-inch model, while the C5 is “decidedly more expensive.” With the C5, you’re paying for the “extra HDR and SDR brightness headroom, better SDR color volume, and smoother post-update HDR10 gradients,” but you’re “losing DTS audio.”
Whether the C5’s price premium makes sense “depends on where and how you watch it and of course on your wallet.”
Which W OLED Wins? The Verdict.
- Choose the LG C5 if: You “watch mostly in daylight conditions,” or “simply crave the brightest and most accurate image straight out of the box.” The C5 is worth the extra cash, especially now that the firmware fixes have “banished this HDR10 contouring issue” in Filmmaker Mode.
- Choose the LG C4 if: You are “not a gamer” and “most of your viewing is in dim rooms,” and you’d “rather pocket the savings.” You’ll lose some nits in SDR and HDR sparkle, but you’ll still enjoy “excellent color fidelity, deep blacks, and the same great gaming chops, all at a lower price.” The C4 also has “no HDR10 contouring bug in game optimizer mode.”
- For Gamers (The Tough Choice): As highlighted, competitive gamers on the C5 face a “tough choice of trading some responsiveness for better image quality.” While the “Filmmaker Mode plus ALLM trick” has been a known workaround on C-series TVs for years to bypass dimmer HDR in Game Optimizer, the HDR contouring issue makes it an “even bigger graphical uplift” now. However, competitive gamers “will however feel the slightly worse input lag even with the label set to PC mode.”
Ultimately, “either way, you’ll end up with one of the best W OLEDs on the market.”
The LG C5 is noticeably brighter in HDR, peaking at approximately 1,300 nits on 2% highlight windows, compared to the C4’s 950 nits. In SDR, the C5 averages 592 nits, while the C4 averages 411 nits.
LG C5 has a persistent HDR10 contouring issue in “Game Optimizer Mode.” This forces competitive gamers to choose between the lowest input lag (with banding) or better image quality in “Filmmaker Mode” (with slightly higher input lag). The C4 does not have this specific HDR10 contouring bug in its “Game Optimizer Mode.”
No, the LG C5 (and other 2025 LG TVs) unfortunately drops DTS audio support entirely, unlike the C4 which retains DTS input via eARC.
The C5 offers brighter HDR/SDR and improved gradients, but its price premium and gaming compromises mean the C4 often remains a smarter buy for value, especially for competitive gamers or those with DTS-encoded media.
The LG C5 features a newer Alpha 9 AI Gen 7 processor, which brings noticeable improvements to gradient handling (reducing banding) and slightly better upscaling and macro blocking smoothing compared to the C4’s Gen 6.
About the Author & Disclosure:
About the Author: Reo R As a marketing expert with 4 years of experience in the digital marketing field, I specialize in SEO and help companies increase their online visibility, drive more traffic, and boost their sales. With a track record of success, I have a proven ability to improve clients’ SEO and drive sales.
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Disclosure: This comparison is derived directly from the detailed review and analysis presented in the YouTube video “LG C5 vs. C4 OLED: A Big Enough Improvement?” All data points and conclusions reflect those presented in the original source.
