LG CX C9 VRR Issues

silent ninja

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I saw this story about the LG CX/C9 and VRR issues. LG have acknowledged the picture
problem. Considering the CX has been heavily marketed as VRR ready for next gen consoles at 4k/120hz, I thought I'd share here for awareness.

 
Yeah, saw this as well, pretty concerning. I was about to pull the trigger on a CX, but changed my mind for the time being after reading this. VRR will be important for next gen, and it sounds like both C9 and CX have some major issues here. :(

Can anyone with one of these TV's chime in here? Are these problems enough to ruin the VRR experience here?
 
Yeah, saw this as well, pretty concerning. I was about to pull the trigger on a CX, but changed my mind for the time being after reading this. VRR will be important for next gen, and it sounds like both C9 and CX have some major issues here. :(

Can anyone with one of these TV's chime in here? Are these problems enough to ruin the VRR experience here?

So the issue is it raises blacks, can’t say I’ve noticed the issue myself, I have the cx. That’s not to say I don’t have the issue, just not looked for it or cared enough to notice. CX here.
 
So the issue is it raises blacks, can’t say I’ve noticed the issue myself, I have the cx. That’s not to say I don’t have the issue, just not looked for it or cared enough to notice. CX here.
Hm, I see. Blacks still seem pretty good to you in VRR? The other issue is flashing that supposedly occurs mainly in scenes with a lot of contrast between bright and dark object (I think). You haven't seen this either?
 
Hm, I see. Blacks still seem pretty good to you in VRR? The other issue is flashing that supposedly occurs mainly in scenes with a lot of contrast between bright and dark object (I think). You haven't seen this either?


Most games feature a gamma calibration test pattern to adjust brightness as per the monitor. I've play-tested GOW and Shadow of the Tomb Raider and had no problems. SDR wise, I tried Batman Arkham knight and it was great.

No flashing. Blacks aren't raised but if they are you can calibrate in-game settings (every game has a gamma scaler).

If you REALLY want perfection, you could even just boot your display into VRR mode and calibrate it in VRR under say 'cinema home' and then just boot into cinema home.

I can assure you VRR is working, in that everything is buttery smooth, tear free and fluid as can be. Better than my CRG9 and AW3418DW monitor. My CRG9 had many many many more important game-breaking issues with VRR... and that is a gaming monitor. Even my AW3418DW had more issues than this LG does (it used to flick very rarely).
 
Hm, I see. Blacks still seem pretty good to you in VRR? The other issue is flashing that supposedly occurs mainly in scenes with a lot of contrast between bright and dark object (I think). You haven't seen this either?

Not seen flashing, I’m sure raised black is there but just not really looked for it or played games that may highlight it more.
 
Well, this is a little reassuring, have seen quite a few articles and forum threads talking about, it made it seem like these issues were pretty concerning.
 
Well, this is a little reassuring, have seen quite a few articles and forum threads talking about, it made it seem like these issues were pretty concerning.


If the issues were big for VRR, I'd be crying about it.

VRR has never been absolutely perfect. Hopefully it'll get there but even the highest end gaming monitors have their hiccups with it.

LG's black level issue should be a fairly easy fix for them, and if its not, it just means a custom setting for VRR mode (sadly).
 
Well, this is a little reassuring, have seen quite a few articles and forum threads talking about, it made it seem like these issues were pretty concerning.


Gimme a sec.. I'm going to test now gsync on and gsync off on SOTR.
 
Gimme a sec.. I'm going to test now gsync on and gsync off on SOTR.


HDR + Gsync + 120hz 1440p = buttery smooth, can't see any obvious raised blacks. black background is still black with white text on it. There is a 'grey' loading screen which initially alarmed me.. but its also present without gsync so i guess the coders just like the colour dark grey. there MAYBE is a subtle gamma change IMO. I think Vincent already touched on this. But its not creating floating blacks.

On the loading screen with gsync there IS a flicker on the bottom left corner. This is also present on my CRG9 monitor which I used to have. I've seen flicker TBH on every single VRR monitor during loading screens + sometimes gameplay. Here there is no flicker during gameplay.



HDR+ 120hz + 1440p + no vsync = buttery smooth, no tearing ( i must be staying within the 60-120hz range quite flawlessly. the colours really don't look very different TBH.


so from my assessment, I will say YES there might be a slight change in black level but NO it is not causing black to become grey which is obviously what we're most worried about.
flicker wise, nothing which affects gameplay. anyone new to VRR, flicker is sadly a thing, and it happens at weird points.. whats important is if it happens during gameplay and it doesn't here. honestly a static loading screen is where I always saw flicker on EVEN the gsync module AW3418DW display
is gsync working? HELL YES. it feels amazing.

and finally .. and surprisingly.. the HDR/120hz/1440p with NO sync is really really quite nice. Obviously not as nice as gsync.. gsync just has something magical there... but its VERY VERY close to the extent only the person holding the mouse can tell the difference IMO... but it could be im lucky im at the sweetspot of framerates.
-> this does make me think, i wonder if panasonic or sony could even just enable 120hz@1440p, it could be awesome for PC users. 1080p is sadly too muddy.

Sorry for the lengthy post.. wanted to give u an honest assessment as best I can with the gear I have in my room.. rather than just write it off as an issue which doesn't exist. I hope my limited experience with other VRR technologies puts into perspective how big or small the issues at with the CX range. I think some people who might be getting anxious about this issue haven't played with many other VRR displays.. or maybe they are lucky and got the perfect ones or didn't notice it. I would say if u didn't tell me there was flicker.. I wouldn't have found it on the loading screen. ;)
 
HDR + Gsync + 120hz 1440p = buttery smooth, can't see any obvious raised blacks. black background is still black with white text on it. There is a 'grey' loading screen which initially alarmed me.. but its also present without gsync so i guess the coders just like the colour dark grey. there MAYBE is a subtle gamma change IMO. I think Vincent already touched on this. But its not creating floating blacks.

On the loading screen with gsync there IS a flicker on the bottom left corner. This is also present on my CRG9 monitor which I used to have. I've seen flicker TBH on every single VRR monitor during loading screens + sometimes gameplay. Here there is no flicker during gameplay.



HDR+ 120hz + 1440p + no vsync = buttery smooth, no tearing ( i must be staying within the 60-120hz range quite flawlessly. the colours really don't look very different TBH.


so from my assessment, I will say YES there might be a slight change in black level but NO it is not causing black to become grey which is obviously what we're most worried about.
flicker wise, nothing which affects gameplay. anyone new to VRR, flicker is sadly a thing, and it happens at weird points.. whats important is if it happens during gameplay and it doesn't here. honestly a static loading screen is where I always saw flicker on EVEN the gsync module AW3418DW display
is gsync working? HELL YES. it feels amazing.

and finally .. and surprisingly.. the HDR/120hz/1440p with NO sync is really really quite nice. Obviously not as nice as gsync.. gsync just has something magical there... but its VERY VERY close to the extent only the person holding the mouse can tell the difference IMO... but it could be im lucky im at the sweetspot of framerates.
-> this does make me think, i wonder if panasonic or sony could even just enable 120hz@1440p, it could be awesome for PC users. 1080p is sadly too muddy.

Sorry for the lengthy post.. wanted to give u an honest assessment as best I can with the gear I have in my room.. rather than just write it off as an issue which doesn't exist. I hope my limited experience with other VRR technologies puts into perspective how big or small the issues at with the CX range. I think some people who might be getting anxious about this issue haven't played with many other VRR displays.. or maybe they are lucky and got the perfect ones or didn't notice it. I would say if u didn't tell me there was flicker.. I wouldn't have found it on the loading screen. ;)
Thank you for going to all that trouble! Yeah, I have never actually experienced any form of VRR before, so this all new to me, lol. Looking into other displays like the QLEDs, it seems like they have their own issues with ghosting and other wonkiness. But all of this seems reassuring for the CX, thanks again! 😃
 
Thank you for going to all that trouble! Yeah, I have never actually experienced any form of VRR before, so this all new to me, lol. Looking into other displays like the QLEDs, it seems like they have their own issues with ghosting and other wonkiness. But all of this seems reassuring for the CX, thanks again! 😃


No problem. Yes VRR is not perfect despite what people say.

Its better than not having VRR but it has its teething problems even on the dedicated Gsync 1.0 modules which I've used in the over priced 'old' monitors they sold (basically a module which is built into the monitor to JUST do gsync).

You can expect this as VRR is trying to do the impossible, and that is fix low frame rate content. This is an issue which people pay £500-1000 for in upgrading their current PCs... so as you can imagine, its something difficult to do with absolute perfection.

I'd say in terms of VRR experiences, it is right up there with the AW3418DW which had a gsync module and far surpasses the CRG9 (which uses the same VRR tech of the LG OLEd, just less refined and not with the gsync label).

Just to say there is no smoke without fire and im sure there is some issue with the black level... but its not game breaking at all..
 
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So, there is any new good news? or nothing? :(
According to HDTVTest's latest video, it is hardware-based and a true fix unlikely beyond a band-aid type patch to possibly mask the issues if possible at all.
As a C9 owner, I give zero xxxx's about this issue, but then I am a casual gamer at best.
Apparently, the issue is present in VRR capable LCD panels too
 
According to HDTVTest's latest video, it is hardware-based and a true fix unlikely beyond a band-aid type patch to possibly mask the issues if possible at all.
As a C9 owner, I give zero xxxx's about this issue, but then I am a casual gamer at best.
Apparently, the issue is present in VRR capable LCD panels too

Thank you for the reply.
The question is how really it's noticeable? or we just need to wait for the next gen and then we can see?
 
Thank you for the reply.
The question is how really it's noticeable? or we just need to wait for the next gen and then we can see?

Read kenshingintoki posts further up he describes the effect, its not really a deal breaker most people don't notice it. Also VRR gamma shift is not unqiue to LG it affects LCD's too but all the image purists are on OLED so thats were things like this get noticed.
 
Hello, I was planning to get the cx to go with my ps5 (when I get it). & rtx 3080.
Seems to be no issues on the rtx but a bit unclear on the games consoles?
 

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