LG Electronics OLED55B8PUA 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV (2018 Model)

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Kaz - Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2018

The finest TV I've ever owned

This is a world class television and you should absolutely buy it. I am not a TV expert, but I try to be a well-informed novice. My wife and I have been debating a new TV for a year or so and I've been doing a lot of research. After looking at the various brands, styles, technologies, etc, the results were in--get an LG OLED TV as the best mix of quality and longevity. After that it was just a matter of diving into the specifics and choosing a size. The long and short of it is that this specific version of the TV is the right choice out of all the options available. The latest (2018 model) version of these LG TVs come in three levels, denoted by a B, C, or E in the name. This one, the B (B8PUA), is considered the lowest, or most basic, model. While the C and E are undeniably excellent TVs, the features they add did not, I felt, warrant the additional cost; the B model is really all the TV you could want or need. There is a lot to love about this TV. First, the screen size. This was my first major upgrade for a TV in a long time, and I'd never had one this big before. As long as a TV physically will fit where you want to put it, getting the biggest screen size you can matters. At 65 inches this thing seemed ridiculously huge out of the box, but you'll be amazed at how quickly you become used to the size and once you do, you can't understand why you waited so long. Size is a quality all of its own. But what truly makes that size work is the quality LG brings to this device. Put simply, I have never seen a sharper, more vibrant, more true to life display that this. Every comparison I've seen in person and online consistently demonstrates that the LG OLEDs are king. The OLED technology (which I freely admit I don't truly understand beyond the basics) allows for true black on the screen simultaneous with the brightest of colors. When you first start using this screen you are just consistently blown away by the images you see. On the technical side, I won't say much, as others online can certainly do it better, but basically this thing has the specs to prove its awesomeness. I will say that I like the 60 Hz even at 4k resolution. I have not tried it hooked up to a computer as a monitor, but I imagine it would do real well in such a setup. The TV has all the inputs you could want or need on a modern TV, though somewhat surprisingly the USB ports are 2.0 rather than 3.0. This is not going to be an issue still for a majority of devices, but 3.0 has been out for a decade now, so it really should have at least one USB port be 3.0. There are really only two caveats I would offer. First, this 2018 model has a redesigned stand/base that I, personally, find less aesthetically appealing than the one found on previous models. I am sure that LG had a reason for the redesign, and likely plenty of people will find it appealing, but I thought I'd mention it. Given that plenty of people wall-mount their TVs, and that no one spends time staring at their stand, this isn't really a problem. Second, the price. Let's be honest, if you are reading this review, you are considering a high-end TV. The B-version is cheaper than the C and E and is, I believe, the best option of the bunch--the higher priced models just don't offer enough extra to warrant the added price. That said, this is a lot of money. You can almost always get deals, some of them substantial, around Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl, so you may want to wait till then to save several hundred bucks. Finally, as with any high-end TV or monitor, you are going to need/want to tweak the display settings after you connect it to your WiFi and have applied any updates. I have included my settings below as a starting point, but every display is slightly different, so you may still need to adjust a bit. Adjust all the settings before deciding if you like the image, and only then start making small changes, as the picture won't look right until all changes have been made. I am very much a set it and forget it kind of person, so I wanted to take the time in the beginning to get it right, and then never have to worry about it again. Under Settings, Picture: Energy Saving - Turn Off (otherwise the screen brightness will constantly change, which is annoying) Aspect Ratio - Set to 16:9 (but you can also opt to leave it to scan each program individually, especially if you watch old shows) Picture More - Expert (Dark Room), and in that, the following settings: OLED Light - 75 (kept high so I don't have to change the mode when the room is bright vs. dark, but you may want it lower to the 50s) Contrast - 80 (I wouldn't go much lower than this, but you could range as high as 95) Brightness - 58 (anything within 10 of this is the range you want) Sharpness - 5 (probably don't need to consider anything outside the 1 to 10 range) Color - 50 Tint - 0 Expert Controls: (brings you to another menu) Dynamic Contrast - Off Super Resolution - Off Color Gamut - Normal or Auto (I haven't really noticed a difference either way) Color Filter - Off Gamma - 2.2 (standard for most shows/movies apparently) White Balance: (brings you to another menu) Color Temperature - Warm2 (somewhat a personal preference, go cooler if that's for you) Picture Options: (click back two menus to Picture Mode Settings again) Noise Reduction - Off (but if you watch older shows/movies you may want this on) MPEG Noise Reduction - Off (but if you watch older shows/movies you may want this on) Black Level - Low Real Cinema - On Motion Eye Care - Off (I find it real annoying when brightness changes automatically while watching something) TruMotion - Off Overall this is a terrific TV. If you already have an OLED or QLED TV from the last couple of years, it may not yet be time for an upgrade, but if you don't have one, this TV is the current reigning champion and will be a vast improvement over virtually all other TVs. Do yourself a favor and get this TV, it's just that good. UPDATE (3/2/19): First, let me just say that I absolutely still love this TV and highly recommend it. So much so that I have convinced one of my buddies to get one for himself (he's going to wait for the next model version--the B9--to come out sometime later this year however); I will soon be able to enjoy the same level of TV viewing pleasure at his place that I enjoy at mine. The TV continues to work flawlessly, the picture is still better than anything else I've seen, and I have detected no deterioration in the product. The one [admittedly minor] annoyance I have is the magic remote (or whatever it is called). While I do like the versatility of having a cursor appear on my TV screen, the tracking accuracy of the cursor is really not very good. To be clear, it works fine, but you often have to compensate by holding the remote at a slight angle from where you actually want to be aiming to get the cursor properly aligned. While I don't think anyone cares too much about remote controls (as long as they work), given the price point of the TV itself, I would have liked a bit more effort put into the remote. UPDATE (7/12/19): Still extremely pleased with this TV. It continues to simply blow me away with the picture quality and I quite simply cannot imagine having a TV of lesser quality ever again. Our other TV is nowhere near as good, and we definitely notice that every time we watch something on it instead of this one. If you are in the market for a TV, I'd get this one (though at this point you should probably wait until the next model, the B9, releases some time later this year). The only other minor annoyance I've noticed is that I still cannot tell if the TV is on or off right after I hit the power button, as the red indicator light at the bottom of the screen is both faint and seems to pulse slowly, leaving me confused as to whether or not I hit the button on the remote properly. Waiting a few seconds always proves to me that I did, of course, hit the button correctly, but it still gets to me fairly often. A minor quibble, but one that has happened enough to make it worth mentioning. I should really just sit down and memorize the pattern of when the indicator light is on or off and save myself future frustration. Finally, some reviewers have mentioned having burn in on the screen; I personally have seen no evidence of that to date, and I can't imagine most viewers will have any problems with it.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Matthew K. - Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2018

Such good picture quality that it can scare birds

Had this TV delivered today and set it up with my existing sound system and game consoles. Afterward, I started playing Forza Horizon 4 in 4K with improved colors, with a couple of parrots sitting on a fake tree behind me. A race against a hovercraft started with a cutscene of the player's car driving toward the camera. This was realistic enough that the birds got scared and took flight. They'd never been scared of anything displayed on my previous television. So, the display is gorgeous but I'm going to have to be careful not to stress out the birds with it :) Picture Quality: 5/5. This is a wonderful display, but it needs a bit of tweaking first. I had to switch it into Game Mode for all of my consoles, which is normal. The Switch was overscanning a little bit so the Just Scan feature needed to be turned on. The screen is also extremely dim in some scenarios unless you tweak the energy saver settings (turn them off entirely if you don't mind blinding yourself). Apps: 3/5. It has Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu right out of the box, which is to be expected (the included remote also has dedicated buttons for Netflix and Prime), though understandably the apps had to update. It doesn't have VRV on its app store - not a huge deal since I have several perfectly functional consoles attached to it, but a notable absence for me personally. It has a screen sharing feature but appears at first glance not to be compatible with iOS devices. Remote: 4/5. The remote works well enough, with a motion-controlled onscreen cursor, a scrolling clicker, etc. There's also a smartphone remote control app which appears to work pretty well. In either case, it's a very feature-rich remote, which is nice, but I prefer the elegant, minimalist look and feel of Samsung's recent remotes. Audio: ?/5. I haven't actually heard the TV's built-in speakers, since I hooked it up to my sound system before powering it up the first time. Bird Compatibility: 2/5. Some UHD content may frighten birds.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By R. Hansen - Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2018

it works fine, great quality picture and it has the same ...

The shipping was quick arriving on the first day of the shipping window rather than the last. Be careful and beware of the fact that not all 2018 models are alike. The model OLED 55B8PUA has the older A7 processor while the OLED C8PUA has the new A9 processor and the price of the C8 model is typically $200 more. That said, I bought the B8 (my mistake): however, it works fine, great quality picture and it has the same features that 99% of viewers would not see any difference between the B8 and the C8. So in the end I am satisfied with the B8 and saved myself $200.

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Steve Boyet - Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2019

Lesson learned--don't buy major appliances online

A little over a month after installing our new LG OLED tv, there is a one inch horizontal band at the bottom of the screen than flashes and goes in and out of focus constantly. Called the Amazon help and after 40 minutes on the phone, I was literally told, after some basic questions as to when the band is visible (all the time), to read the owners manual for resetting the TV. I reset the TV. Band still there. Hoping to get help from LG on this problem. Until then, I would recommend to those thinking of buying an expensive TV online, don't. It is a hassle to get the support you need when something goes wrong.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By blondvillain - Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018

Best TV ever made.

Buy this TV now, no regrets. No other TV I’ve ever seen can hold even a birthday cake candle to this masterwork of technology. LG appears to have more or less resolved the majority of issues that have affected past generations of OLED panels, such as image burn-in risk, and stuttering/shimmering when viewing low framerate content (ie, most TV and movies we watch). I can say without reservation that LG has finally made OLED a fully viable, no compromise technology.