Impressions of the LG Flex OLED, a television with a flexible panel ideal for gaming | Gaming
IFA has the name of a supermarket and it doesn’t sound familiar to many people, but it is one of the largest fairs on the technological calendar and, in fact, it is one of the largest fairs in the world for consumers. LG has taken the opportunity to show the world its impressive LG OLED Flex, an OLED television with a flexible screen that we have already tested.
If there is a fair that is “cool”, that is IFA. Although it goes very unnoticed outside the professional technology sector, it is a fair where manufacturers bring their new technology and set it all up in a very “cute” way to impress the public.
And it is that, in the end, it is a fair set up for consumers, so companies put on their best clothes to attract attention, being LG and Samsung two of those that are always “fighting” to grab more looks thanks to their panels.
Samsung has taken advantage of the event to once again show the Odyssey Ark, the ultra-curved monitor that we saw a few days ago at Gamescomas well as your connected home and the new G8, an ultrawide monitor with an OLED panel that looks very, very good.
On the other hand, LG has also shown OLED, being the LG OLED Flex its star. It is a television that also has a fairly pronounced curvature and that features a flexible OLED panel.
It may seem silly to you, but it is really impressive and, I think, quite useful because we are not going to have to choose when playing.
In terms of specifications, the truth is that it seems that we have something very similar to the latest OLEDs from the South Korean company with a clear gaming focus. It has a 42” diagonal with 4K resolution, the refresh rate is 120 Hz and it has the latest technologies that HDMI 2.1 allows.
So, you’re going to have VRR, it’s G-Sync compatible, it’s also AMD Freesync Premium certifiedhas automatic low latency mode (ALLM) and is compatible with Dolby Vision content.
If we go to the sound, has two 40W front speakers and it has compatibility with Dolby Atmos. Yes, all this is what we told you in the news that we gave a few hours ago, but I wanted to get rid of “the technical” as soon as possible because here, the truth, what matters is the technological novelty of the flexible panel.
A monitor that curves at the touch of a button
At the level of specifications, as you can see, it is a very interesting television to enjoy both PS5 like PC and xbox series x. Something that I like is that it has a USB because, together with a PC, it can function as a HUB, but in the end, the star feature is the capacity of the flexible panel.
And it is that, we can go from a flat panel to one with a curvature of up to 900R, which is quite pronounced. There are 20 intermediate levels to leave it to our liking and the method is very simple.
The television has a lower button in the central part that gives you access to various configuration options or source selection, but it is also the one that allows you to set curvature positions or adjust it manually.
From what I have been able to test, we have three positions: one completely flat and two that we can customize for, for example, have a curvature of 50% and another of 100%. If you want, you can manually set it to 80%, 40%… as you see fit.
The important thing is that it is an automatic process thanks to two arms and a central motor unit which is what does the work, so you won’t have to “curve” it with a wave of your arms. And, to tell you the truth, it gives me more security that way, since if it were manual we could force an angle and break the screen.
As I was saying before, it may seem silly to you, but the experience changes radically. For example, in a cooperative game or if you sit at a certain distance from the television, laying it flat would be enough, since it will also be the best experience.
It’s something conventional… and I don’t need to tell you much more, but if you feel very close and put the curvature to the maximum, you will have a most immersive experience.
And that is precisely where the grace lies, since you will not have to choose between a conventional television or a curved one that allows you a very interesting immersion in the game, but there is no perfect product and here we have a drawback that is obvious .
And it is that, in the end, these flexible OLED panels have a plastic coating It reflects a lot of the light in the room. I know that we were not in the best conditions to test it, we will do it at home and we will talk to you in more detail, but the truth is that the reflections were important.
In this case, something similar happens to what happens with the reflections in a mobile with a folding panel, that the reflections are more noticeable than, curiously, in a panel with glass coverage.
But hey, at least from the tests we were able to do with ForzaHorizon 5, Tekken 7 either halo-infinitethe image quality is superb and I have not perceived anything negative that catches my attention although, as I say, we will see that in depth in the analysis.
It seems that screens that fold are in fashion and, in addition to the Fold 4 that we recently reviewed or the new Asus laptop, we have LG making this type of panel for the new Corsair 45” monitor and LG with this OLED Flex.
We will see what acceptance it has at the market level, but the truth is that having it in front of you is, to say the least, striking. And, of course, we are looking forward to having it in our hands to be able to do the analysis.
