Blur Busters Forums

I have found conflicting information including reputable review sites about wether the LG OLED TVs, more specifically the CX and C1, are 8 or 10 bit panels natively. I would think for the price, there's no way they are 10 bit panels natively. Yes they can show 10 bit color. I'm just curious. Even LG's website didn't say (unless I missed it).

Clokwork wrote: ↑

06 Jan 2022, 21:56

They're both native 10-bit panels, with any 12-bit content being processed and downsampled (such as some Dolby Vision material) to 10-bit. See TFT Central's CX review, for instance:
https://tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_cx_ ... d-Features

Thanks for the reply. What gets me is they say “color depth” I’m that except. An 8 bit panel can simulate 10 bit color (FRC) for 10 bit color depth as many monitors do.

Clokwork wrote: ↑

06 Jan 2022, 23:21

What gets me is they say “color depth” I’m that except. An 8 bit panel can simulate 10 bit color (FRC) for 10 bit color depth as many monitors do.

To my knowledge, the LG CX and C1 don't use FRC to reach 10-bit.

For further confirmation where TFT Central is concerned, they instead list "8-bit + FRC" in that same column when it's a panel that achieves 10-bit through FRC, like so:



Again, they're native 10-bit panels.

I own a CX, and can attest that they still have plenty of color banding; 10-bit does not equal improvement over 8-bit in all cases, especially on current-gen OLED, which handles gradients differently than LCD. In fact, 8-bit + FRC (or at least 10-bit downsampled to 8-bit via dither) can look "better" (smoother gradients) than native 10-bit in some cases.

This is a reason most higher-end Sony models of these OLED panels process everything in 14-bit and then downsample to 10-bit, as to avoid some of the color banding still evident in a lot of true 10-bit content (some of it native to the source, some of it from panel limitations).

Understood. I appreciate the info. This may help clarify that FRC isn't my issue with LG OLED panels then. May be tied to the additional white sub pixel, but I'm shooting in the dark here. That's for another topic I suppose. Thank you.

Clokwork wrote: ↑

07 Jan 2022, 13:45

Understood. I appreciate the info. This may help clarify that FRC isn't my issue with LG OLED panels then. May be tied to the additional white sub pixel, but I'm shooting in the dark here. That's for another topic I suppose. Thank you.

No problem.

However, you never said what your issue with these panels were or if you already owned one?

As for the white subpixel, it presence basically reduces possible color gamut for HDR content (SDR content is mostly unaffected), which Samsung's new QD-OLED panels are attempting to avoid.

LTT had a video about that recently:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9563&p=76847#p76847

I hope not to bring you down my rabbit hole but I will try to make a long story short.

I bought the LG CX over a year ago and found I got dizzy every time I tried watching it. I went through all of the suggestions with brightness, BFI, picture modes, etc... I exhausted everything I could find. That said, the TV went back but I never had answers.

I asked about this panel being 10 bit to determine if 8-bit FRC was my issue, but that appears not to be the case. From what I understand with that panel, the white sub pixel attempt to help with brightness? I don't have confirmation on that. If that is the case, I wonder if that could cause my focusing issue as I don't know how the voltage on that subpixel is handled with regard to its RGB counterparts.

In the end, I'm learning a lot about panel technology, but still haven't found a solution

Clokwork wrote: ↑

07 Jan 2022, 15:26

I asked about this panel being 10 bit to determine if 8-bit FRC was my issue, but that appears not to be the case. From what I understand with that panel, the white sub pixel attempt to help with brightness? I don't have confirmation on that. If that is the case, I wonder if that could cause my focusing issue as I don't know how the voltage on that subpixel is handled with regard to its RGB counterparts.

Again, watch the video in the thread I linked, it breaks down the difference between WOLED and QD-OLED, which doesn't use a dedicated white subpixel.

Also, while the CX and C1 don't have FRC, I think they do use some form of dithering on the low end of the grayscale to mitigate chrominance overshoot, so there are a variety of reasons you could be experiencing discomfort on OLED (or any other display types).

I had to rewatch that video a few times to understand, but I get it now. Sorry about that. I had no idea about the grayscale dithering. Is that checkerboard dithering or FRC? All said, I'm hopeful to view new OLED tech from Samsung.

Clokwork wrote: ↑

07 Jan 2022, 16:43

I had no idea about the grayscale dithering. Is that checkerboard dithering or FRC?

Probably proprietary due to the fact that the issue is exclusive to OLED, and maybe even exclusive to LG OLED panels. We'll see when Samsung QD-OLED becomes available.