I’m a TV Reviewer, and This New OLED Made Gaming More Fun With One Key Feature

CNET’s key takeaways 

• The LG G5 series is the best and brightest OLED I’ve ever tested in the CNET Labs.
• At $3,400 for the 65-inch size, it’s expensive compared to some of the competition.
• The G5’s best-in-class brightness made gaming easier and more enjoyable than I expected.

As a Call of Duty player, I know that quick responses can be the difference between clinching victory and languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard. But until I played Call of Duty Black Ops 6 on the new LG G5 OLED, I didn’t know there was something else just as crucial.

I’ve tested dozens of the best TVs over the years. My CoD session helped cement my opinion of the G5 as the best OLED I’ve ever tested.

Why? One reason is this model’s best-in-class brightness: It’s the brightest OLED I’ve ever seen in the CNET TV lab. Its clarity ensured I was able to see both the bright and dark parts of the screen — in a way the other TVs I’ve tested couldn’t reproduce. For instance, it was harder for enemies to hide in murky doorways because the TV rendered shadows more crisply.

Brightness for the win.

Picture quality is so important when it comes to gaming because some of the latest advances, such as HDR10 and Dolby Vision, help to elevate the gaming experience in a meaningful way, and the G5 can take full advantage of these. Zooming around the Protocol map from Black Ops 6, I found out it was the clarity of the G5’s images that really struck me. I toured the grounds of this map’s old naval fort — the sky was a brilliant blue and the buildings popped up out of the sea — everything looked more lifelike, like in the way it would if you were actually wandering here on a fall afternoon. 

But in the middle of my reverie, I found that people were shooting at me. Like, a whole lot.

Watch this: LG C5 vs. LG G5: Which OLED Gives the Most for Your Money

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As part of my testing, I compared the LG G5 against four other TVs, including the new Samsung S95F, the LG C5 and two LCDs, all connected to the same Xbox. (With five screens playing at once, it felt like I was starring in my own personal esports event.) 

I played several different games, including Doom, Ori and the Blind Forest, but Call of Duty was where I saw the biggest improvements. The thing that immediately stood out about the G5 when playing games was how bright it was. When combined with the TV’s deep contrast, the G5’s picture popped in a way that the competition didn’t. 

That brightness I saw on the G5? That’s thanks to LG’s new four-stack panel, which literally stacks two blue OLEDS (and a red and a green) on top of each other for its dazzling light output.

This is a technology that seems to be unique to the G5 for now, but it’s not the only advantage it has over the slightly cheaper — and slightly dimmer — Samsung S95F. Unless something changes, a Samsung TV will never tick the Dolby Vision check box — it’s HDR10 only. So if you’re an Xbox completionist, then the LG G5 (and others) will help you max out the Xbox 4K compatibility test. (Profile & system > Settings > General > TV & display options > 4K TV details).

The specs

• Available screen sizes: 55-, 65-, 77-, 83- and 97-inch 
• Screen type: OLED 
• Native refresh rate 120Hz (165Hz variable refresh rate)
• HDMI ports: 4 
• Weight: 48.5 pounds without its stand (65-inch)

CNET’s buying advice

I can’t say playing on the G5 in the CNET lab made me a better player — there are other crucial factors, including networking, that can decrease lag — but I had a blast revisiting old maps and new ones on this fantastic television. It’s definitely a “must-see” for serious gamers.

If you simply want a good TV for gaming, you don’t need to spend $3,000; there are plenty of great budget TVs under a grand, and most of them will give you an enjoyable gaming experience. 

Even so, if you’re looking for your ultimate gaming setup, then the LG G5 has everything you need.