Comparison based on internal LG testing of LG OLED TV Full White measurements, excluding the OLED evo series. Brightness Booster improvements do not apply to 48/42C2. CES Innovation Awards are based upon descriptive materials submitted to the judges. CTA did not verify the accuracy of any submission or of any claims made and did not test the item to which the award was given. Interestingly, it’s the preset called ‘Eco’ that gives the fastest access to the right SDR picture. That’s because the viewing is best without too many of the brightness boosters that would otherwise blow out all of the detail. Add in just a small level of the contrast enhancer, modulate just a touch with the contrast slider and you’ll pretty much have it all. It’s possible to get a more consistently impactful feel if you switch off the Dolby Atmos processing, and some more volume too, but the bass isn’t handled brilliantly and tends to muddy those clear waters that LG has worked hard to make pond weed-free this year.

It’s expensive for a TV this size, but if you’re looking for the best sub-50in TV you can currently buy, this is it. The new Alpha 9 Gen 4 chipset ensures that lower-resolution content also looks good by applying AI-enhanced upscaling to 720p and 1080p sources. Blue Bloods on Now looks surprisingly watchable despite the lower resolution, with the processor upscaling the image as effectively as possible, while also applying noise reduction and sharpening where appropriate. LG C1 OLED review: HDR performanceIn terms of energy efficiency, this television belongs to energy efficiency class G for both SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) content. It consumes approximately 88 kWh of energy per 1000 hours when displaying SDR content and 142 kWh per 1000 hours for HDR content. When in standby mode, the TV's power consumption is a minimal 0.5 W. The promise of the OLED48CX is a proper flagship OLED performance at a sub-50in size for the first time and, having tested it alongside an OLED55CX (see our review here shortly), we can confirm that that is exactly what it delivers. The TV will not have been used for any longer then 28 days from new and will have very low hours usage on the panel.

I then tried a Sony 55” A8 in-store with all motion processing off and motion was rougher with panning shots but more natural overall. This suggests LG in their wisdom don’t let you defeat as much motion processing as Sony and What Hi Fi do give Sony the edge here. The effect for me was so bad with the LG I was ‘seeing’ the acting, the magic had gone. YMMV Confusingly, there are three versions of the LG C1 in the UK: the C16LA reviewed here, the C14LB and the C15LA. The latter is exclusive to Currys PC World, while the remaining two will be split between all the other retailers. The C14LB has a dark grey rear panel, with the other two using white, but otherwise, all three TVs are identical in terms of specifications, picture quality and features.

A transformative TV experience.

As is the norm for LG’s OLEDs, the 2020 range consists of a number of models, with all except the B-series (this year, that’s the BX) having the same panel and processing tech. The only differences are the styling and the sound system. That means this 48in TV gives you the full 4K flagship experience at a smaller size.

The Alpha 9 Gen 4 does a decent job of upscaling a film that can come across as quite noisy. The filters take care of the worst of that while leaving some impressive skin details in the close-ups. Tom Cruise’s battle-hardened Reacher is complete with pits and scars and everything you’d expect. These include eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). Those last two are specifically for gamers, with ALLM ensuring the TV’s low-lag Game mode is automatically selected when a compatible console is connected, and VRR dynamically matching the TV’s refresh rate to the frame rate being output by a console. It’s definitely a bit thinner-sounding than the bigger 55CX, and the tonal differences are arguably more pronounced when playing music using the Music preset (we use AI Sound Pro for most other content), but that’s no surprise – bigger TVs usually sound better than smaller ones, even if both have the same power output and drivers, as is the case here. Tested and refurbished and in good condition with minor defect: Two Dead Pixels on the left hand side of the screen. This does not affect any general viewing and will not worsen over time. (Please see pictures).Of far less value than Dolby Vision IQ is Filmmaker Mode, another new feature added to LG’s 2020 OLEDs. This is a UHD Alliance-approved picture preset that’s supposed to deliver the picture precisely as intended, but isn’t metadata-led or tailored to the specific content being played. In fact, here it’s just a blanket set of picture settings that’s practically identical to those of the Cinema preset, and the result is a soft and insipid picture. It’s like an anti-HDR setting, and we’d avoid it.