LG C4 OLED vs LG G4 OLED: Which OLED TV is right for you?

LG announced its 2024 TV lineup with exciting promise. This year, the LG M4 OLED takes center stage as the company’s flagship display, leveraging some of the most advanced features in the market, with both its LG G4 OLED and LG C4 OLED taking somewhat of a back seat.

But both OLED TVs might well be some of the best TVs to release this year. The G4 OLED alone already was heralded as one of the best TVs at CES, a serious contender this year that’s well-adapted over the 2023 LG G3 OLED thanks to LG’s new a11 processor.

While the LG C4 OLED doesn’t look all too enticing from the outset, given its limited improvement over the C3 OLED, it could prove to come highly regarded if LG positions its price well enough. Still, the LG C4 OLED price won’t be nowhere near in the same ballpark as its LG B4 OLED counterpart, LG’s budget-tier 2024 model.

Both TVs, the LG C4 and LG G4 OLED, will definitely have a high premium to them. While we don’t know official pricing or availability just yet — we’ll have to wait until March for more information on this front — we still can put these two OLEDs to the test and see which might prove superior beyond just raw specs alone.

With a veritable slew of TV reviews, face-offs, and roundups under our belts, we have more than enough data to tackle this TV bout. Can LG’s more middle of the road model in the C4 OLED beat out its higher-end G4 OLED? Let’s dive in and find out just how far LG is pushing its TVs into the future.

LG C4 OLED vs LG G4 OLED: Specs compared

LG C4 OLED vs LG G4 OLED: Picture and performance

It’s hard to quantify how great both displays look when not paired side by side, but the obvious winner in terms of just raw overall picture performance has to be the LG G4 OLED and it’s in part due to the latest META 2.0 panel it leverages. This panel, designed by LG Display, utilizes both a Micro Lens Array (hence “MLA panel”) in tandem with a Meta booster, which LG explains “maximizes light emission while enhancing brightness and color expression.”

The LG C4 OLED only uses a base WOLED panel, though it does have the Evo designation on its side. Beyond that, there’s little really to gawk at when it comes to the C4 OLED’s potential performance. Look no further than our most recent face off that saw the LG C4 OLED vs LG B4 OLED, which proved the latter might well be a better TV just in value alone.

Add to its panel woes the fact that the LG C4 OLED only uses the a9 processor against the LG G4 OLED’s brand new a11 chipset and you can see where the winner lies — at least in terms of performance.

But, what about audio quality? The LG C4 OLED uses an 11.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos-supported speaker, which its a9 chip upmixed from basic surround sound for punchy, full audio. Although, as Nick Pino explains in his LG C4 OLED vs LG C3 OLED faceoff, “neither TV is going to be a true replacement to a proper sound system,” and that’s true for these two displays, as well. 

The LG G4 OLED will leverage the same upmixing, pushing audio to 11.1.2 channels of sound. Given we don’t have any real hands on with the G4 OLED just yet, we will have to wait and see just how well it sounds over the G3, which was 9.1.2 channels.

You may still require one of the best soundbars to get true and fuller audio out of both sets, but LG’s AI Sound Pro feature might alleviate some of the many pain points associated with LG TV audio performance.

One thing that users won’t dislike is both displays’ gaming performance. At a 144Hz refresh rate with all of the added screen tearing tech, like AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync, both the LG C4 OLED and LG G4 OLED are major gaming icons. The LG C3 OLED remains one of the best gaming TVs in the market and its successor probably won’t be far behind, especially given LG’s beloved Game Optimizer feature, found on both the C4 and G4 OLEDs.

LG C4 OLED vs LG B4 OLED: Design

Design-wise, it’s hard to tell where the two displays will differ all that much. Overall looks will appear the same on the outside, though as already mentioned much of the main differences lie within the LG C4 OLED’s a9 AI processor and the LG G4 OLED’s a11 AI processor. Additionally, the G4 OLED will sport the more advanced MLA panel, which might give it a bit better brightness and limited glare.

At CES 2024, where we were gifted a look into the future of LG’s TV lineup, most of its TVs were set up on walls, meaning we couldn’t get a good look at their bases. Similarly, most of LG’s marketing shows the OLED TVs attached to walls, so it’s hard to tell how different the stands will be, but the LG C4 OLED could be sporting a pedestal over the two leg design as per some recent photos of the TV.

The G4 OLED does prove somewhat superior over the C4 OLED via the inclusion of Zero Gap design, which allows the TV to fit snug against the wall or surface akin to a frame. Although the C4 lacks this, it’s not the most game-changing feature and isn’t exactly a must-have, but will make your entertainment setup look that much more Feng shui.

LG C4 OLED vs LG G4 OLED: Price and availability

As already mentioned, we don’t yet know when to expect either displays or what the general markup on LG’s 2024 lineup will be. We can, however, look at the previous year’s release schedule and overall LG TV pricing to see where its new displays might land.

Typically most new TV releases drop in March or April and its 2023 OLEDs were no different. LG launched both the C3 OLED and G3 OLED in March last year, which means the 2024 LG TV lineup release date could be set around the same general period. 

As for pricing, you can see below the debut MSRPs of both the C3 OLED and G3 OLED across their sizes.

It’s unclear what the LG C4 OLED and LG G4 OLED prices might be, but you can expect them to be just a bit more over their predecessor’s listing. We will update this page accordingly when official prices and availability are announced, so stay tuned to Tom’s Guide going into the 2024 TV launch season.

LG C4 OLED vs LG G4 OLED: Outlook

Without either TV in our hands, it’s hard to give an overall winner just yet, but by all accounts the LG G4 OLED will prove to be the biggest draw in 2024 and easily beats out the LG C4 OLED just in terms of its performance upgrades.

It’s unfortunate that none of LG’s 2024 lineup will include an ATSC 3.0 tuner, but looking past that at the incredible performance gains afforded via the new a11 chipset in tandem with the META 2.0 panel and the LG G4 OLED proves to be the clear winner.

It’s pricing, however, will come at a very high premium. Thus, if you’re looking for something that has some sound specs at a reasonable price point, the LG C4 OLED might be the better bargain — though, again, without any official pricing, it’s hard to tell where specifically it might land in the market.

Against its predecessor, the LG C4 OLED doesn’t bring that much of an upgrade to the table. We’re hoping it’s price can reflect that, but no matter the case it’s quite obvious that the LG G4 OLED is the true winner in this faceoff and could prove to be this year’s best LG TV.

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Ryan Epps is a Staff Writer under the TV/AV section at Tom’s Guide focusing on TVs and projectors. When not researching PHOLEDs and writing about the next major innovation in the projector space, he’s consuming random anime from the 90’s, playing Dark Souls 3 again, or reading yet another Haruki Murakami novel.