LG has taken the saying “go big or go home” to heart this year and released the largest OLED TV ever. Because doesn’t everyone want a 97-inch TV in their living room? Yes, the LG G2 OLED TV comes in an impressive 97-inch configuration, and I had the chance to check the big-screen behemoth out myself.
Last week the LG 2022 OLED TV price and availability information became available, letting shoppers know when new sets will hit shelves and how much each model will cost. While the LG C2 OLED TV will carry on the company’s awarding-winning series, the LG G2 OLED TV is the set I’ve been most excited about. In addition to delivering a ginormous 97-inch model, it also promises the best LG TV performance ever in terms of brightness, which has been a longtime struggle for OLED panels.
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While Samsung and Sony are both betting on QD-OLED, an evolution of OLED that introduces quantum dots for added brightness, LG instead came up with an evo-lution of its own called OLED evo. First introduced on last year’s LG G1 OLED TV, the second-generation OLED evo technology features a dedicated heat-dissipation system that lets the panels get much brighter without causing the dreaded OLED burn-in.
Without lab tests it’s difficult to determine whether LG OLED evo on the G2 will be better than Sony’s Sony A95K QD-OLED TV or the Samsung S95B QD-OLED (which is simply being called Samsung OLED), but I do know one advantage that LG has with its top-shelf set: size options.
Sony and Samsung’s TVs in question come in only 55-inch and 65-inch sizes. The LG G2 OLED, by comparison, comes in 55-, 65-, 77-, 83- and 97-inch configurations. Larger screens are increasingly in demand as the centerpieces of cinema-rivaling home theaters. Most people would agree that whether it's to catch a big game, see the latest Disney Plus release or even play video games, more screen is a good thing.
LG G2 OLED TV hands on and first impressions
So how does this beast of a TV look up close? In one word, bewitching. As with LG’s previous Gallery Series TVs, the G2 is almost impossibly thin and thus designed to be wall-mounted. Narrow bezels and an artwork ambient mode add to the illusion that this set is actually high-end decor and not a compelling contender for best TV of the year.
I’ll admit in my short demo I mostly just viewed moving screensaver-like images, one of which many who follow Tom’s Guide on TikTok likened to… well... you’ll just have to check out the comment section on our LG post to find out for yourself:
To get a better sense of what kind of picture performance I can expect on the G2, I also watched some film samples on the 65-inch LG G2 OLED next to the LG C2 OLED and LG C1 OLED TV in the same sizes. Anyone who’s picked up a C1 in the last year might not be thrilled to know the G2 appears to win in not just brightness but also dynamic tone thanks to the Alpha 9 Gen 5 processor.
Darkest Hour’s high-contrast scenes of sunlit windows precisely filling otherwise-dark palace corridors gave me a particularly good sense of how the G2 excels. Not only did the scene’s brightness points (in this case the windows) appear much brighter, but the tapering of light into the set’s nooks looked more realistic, too. Plus, every piece of furniture or floor panel split by a shadow had nearly as much definition in the dark portions as it did in the illuminated parts.
Similarly, as Tom Hanks’s character goes on a jog through Times Square in Sully, the LG G2 OLED TV didn’t wash out the tourist trap – err, destination – as I’ve seen some TVs struggle with when managing multiple light sources. It’s not uncommon to see billboard logos or images blown out, especially as the set identifies a different person or object as the foreground, but the G2 mapped the scene exquisitely. Yes, even the auspiciously placed LG logo (I swear it’s there) is legible among the evening chaos of crowds, street vendors and massive advertisements.
97-inch LG G2 OLED TV price — how much will it cost?
When I think of how the performance sample might translate to the 97-inch version, I nearly consider buying a house that would accommodate such a large TV. You know how millennials became infamous for buying homes for their dogs? Well I would buy a home for this TV, if it were in my budget.
In fact, it’s very possible the price of this TV alone would cover the down payment of some homes. LG hasn’t announced availability or price for the 97-inch G2 OLED TV as it has the rest of the sizes in the series, but we can make an educated guess. The 83-inch size costs $6,499 at full retail, which is $2,500 more than the 77-inch version (a 6-inch difference.)
A 15-inch difference in diagonal from the 83-inch size to the 97-inch size is a lot more screen, and a lot more expensive to make. According to FlatpanelsHD, LG allegedly confirmed a European price of €25,000. No U.S. price was available as of the company’s most recent communications, but it sounds like it could translate to about $27,500. Oof.
For that price, you might as well splurge on the LG Rollable OLED TV, or perhaps a fancy projector, if size is your priority. Or you could just check out the best TV deals now to see all the great sets you don’t need to donate an organ to to own. We've also got an LG promo codes page to help you spend less on your tech purchases. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want this 97-incher in my abode.
