LG BX and CX OLED 4K HDR TV Comparison Review

65” OLED65BXPUA 120Hz Smart TV
65” OLED65CXPUA 120Hz Smart TV

Which one should you choose? Read on to see my recommendations.

The BX is also available in 55” and 77” screen sizes. The CX is also available in 48”, 55” and 77” screen sizes.

Intro

I’ve always enjoyed doing reviews on OLED TVs simply because of their outstanding overall picture quality and LG’s BX and CX models were no exception to my usual findings when evaluating OLED TVs.

I recently had the opportunity to do an evaluation on both the BX and CX at the same time. So in this review, I will reveal my findings which will focus on features and performance differences.

Design and Features

I’m still in awe of how thin OLED panels truly are. This is made possible because the panel uses a thin layer of self-illuminating diodes which means they don’t require a backlight such as used in LED/LCD TVs which require the rear panel to have ample space for the LED/LCD configurations.

Both the BX and CX displays have wafer-thin panels that add a tremendous amount of aesthetic appeal which adds a very modern touch to any room décor. Unfortunately, the entire back panels on both of these models aren’t uniformly thin across the entire surface due to the TV’s electronic components, which have to go somewhere. These compartments add to the overall thickness (depth) of the panels.  The BX and CX panel both measure approximately 1.8” deep.

When viewed from the front, both displays appear identical and contain a glossy screen surface that is surrounded by an ultra-thin bezel and a thin black border that spans the outer edges of the TV screens.

The back panels of these TVs are also virtually identical and contain a smooth metal finish, whereas the bottom half, as I mentioned earlier, contains electronic components and is made of durable plastic.

Both models are supplied with pedestal-type stands that are center-mounted to the TV panel. The design of the stands is similar in appearance with the exception of the CX’s stand, which spans almost the entire length of the display panel, whereas the BX stand has a much smaller footprint and is centrally located beneath the panel. The CX stand provides very good panel stability with minimal wobble due to its expansive width. The BX stand isn’t quite as stable and has a small amount of wobble due to its compact size. Yet it still provides good stability for the TV panel.

In general, both TVs have a solid build quality and appear to be well made. The only difference in build quality is with the stands – the CX stand is made of metal whereas the BX stand is made of plastic.

Feature Highlights for the BXPUA and CXPUA

• Self-illuminating OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display panel produces infinite picture contrast and obsolete black levels.
• Pixel-level dimming enables each of the panel’s 8.3 million pixels to brighten, dim, or power off completely, for exceptional detail and exceptionally deep black levels.
• CX only: Alpha 9 Gen 3 AI Processor 4K with 4-step noise reduction improves clarity, sharpness, contrast, and color and AI Upscaling upconverts standard-def and high-def video to near 4K quality.
• BX only: Alpha 7 Gen 3 Intelligent Processor with 2-step noise reduction improves picture depth, sharpness, and color and 4K Upscaler upconverts standard-def and high-def video to near 4K quality.
• The BX and CX will process HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG HDR formats for extended picture contrast and brightness when viewing HDR content.
• Filmmaker Mode automatically adjusts picture settings to preserve the director’s intent.
• A 10-bit panel displays over one billion colors with finer steps of gradation for greater color reproduction with HDR sources.
• 120Hz refresh rate with OLED Motion Pro processing for smooth, clear motion
• Gaming features: HDMI 2.1 enables 40 Gbps bandwidth, 4K @ 120Hz, ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) supports variable refresh rate. Additionally, both models support Nvidia G-SYNC, and AMD FreeSync.

Smart TV features include:

• webOS smart TV platform
• LG’s ThinQ AI makes your TV the hub for all your smart devices
• Built-in Google Assistant and Alexa intelligent voice assistants
• Both models are also compatible with Apple HomeKit and AirPlay 2 which allows for wireless streaming from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Audio features include:

• Built-in 2.2 speaker system (40 watts total), Bluetooth (version 5.0) wireless audio streaming to a compatible speaker or set of headphones.

Note: The TV’s built-in speakers and audio outputs are disabled when streaming audio to Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

• Both models can send Dolby Atmos audio to the TV’s speakers, or to an A/V receiver via HDMI/eARC, when using the TV’s HDMI inputs or built-in streaming apps.
• WiSA ready and compatible with WiSA-enabled USB transmitters and WiSA-certified speakers for creating a wireless 5.1-channel audio system.

Remote control: Both models are equipped with a motion-sensing point and click Magic Remote with a built-in microphone for voice control.

Connectivity:

• Both models have 4 HDMI inputs. The CX HDMI inputs are all 2.1 compatible, whereas the BX only has two of its four HDMI inputs (HDMI 3 & HDMI 4) that are 2.1 compatible. The other two inputs (HDMI 1 & HDMI 2) support the 2.0 specification. All inputs on both models are HDCP 2.2 compatible for connecting to copy-protected 4K video sources. HDMI 2 inputs on both models support eARC/ARC.
• 1 composite video (3.5mm A/V minijack – adapter cable required).
• 1 Digital optical audio output
• 1 RF input for antenna/cable/satellite
• 1 Ethernet input
• 3 USB 2.0 inputs
• 3.5mm headphone output – can also be connected to a soundbar or other audio system
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) provides fast, reliable wireless streaming

Performance/Comparison

Before I dive into this section of the review, I want to state that the picture quality of all current OLED TVs is very similar, and what I have discovered over the years, has been minimal amounts of image quality differences. This is due to OLED technology having very few technical and manufacturing variations from brand to brand which all revolves around OLED’s self-emitting light diodes.

That being said, I did notice some performance differences between the BX and CX. I will discuss those findings below.

Picture settings: To get the most accurate picture quality from either of these two displays, set the “Picture Mode” to “ISF Expert Bright Room” when viewing in a bright room. Or to “ISF Dark Room” if viewing in a dark room. However, if you don’t find these settings to your viewing tastes, you can always check out some of the other picture mode options such as “Cinema” or “Standard”. Always remember, what looks best to your own eyes is what truly matters as the end result.

A couple of other quick settings you may want to make are setting the TV’s color temperature to “Warm 2” and the “Color” at “50”.

OLED TVs are well known for their fantastic contrast and black-level capabilities. So of course, the BX and CX delivered an outstanding performance in these areas. Black levels were exceptionally dark in content that required this level of performance. However, depending on what you are watching, you may experience some slight black crush in images, that may obscure some shadow detail which was otherwise excellent on both of these displays. By comparison, I did not detect any difference in black level performance on either of these TVs.

Color reproduction was excellent on both the BX and CX. I experienced a lavishly rich and dynamic color palette. Colors were rendered with great saturation and accuracy and never appeared over-processed or exaggerated. For the record, color rendering was virtually identical on both displays with most content, however, I did notice in some content that the colors had slightly more richness and intensity which I believe was due to the increased brightness output the CX provided which allowed colors to have slightly more dynamic pop and a bit more vibrancy. I had to look closely at the content I was viewing to even see these slight differences which could only be noticed in a side-by-side comparison.

And speaking of picture brightness, the CX had a performance advantage that was clearly visible and gave certain images a more dynamic presence. This extra brightness will also be advantageous in a well-lit room.

Rtings.com BX “real scene” SDR (standard dynamic range) peak brightness 285 nits, and HDR (high dynamic range) peak brightness 454 nits.

Rtings.com CX “real scene” SDR (standard dynamic range) peak brightness 321 nits, and HDR (high dynamic range) peak brightness 685 nits.

In the areas of picture detail and clarity, both TVs did an excellent job delivering sharp and well-defined images that were visually impressive, especially with high-def 1080p and 4K resolution content. HDR images were also very impressive on both displays and produced the best image quality on these TVs by rendering the extended contrast and peak brightness that gave quality HDR content an obvious advantage over non-HDR content.

Although, as mentioned above both TVs had excellent detail and clarity, however, I must point out that the CX had slightly better picture detail and clarity which was scene-specific and not always visible to my eyes. I believe this was due to the CX’s better Alpha 9 Gen 3 AI processor. This processor should also provide slightly better upscaling.

Image transparency was also excellent on these displays allowing me to see deep into the image with crystal clear definition while giving images a three-dimensional appearance.

Side angle viewing was excellent on these TVs with no apparent picture dimming, contrast, or color saturation loss that is typical with LED/LCD type displays.

Motion handling was generally good on both the BX and CX with real scene fast motion content. However, if you do experience any motion artifacts whether it be motion blur or judder, etc. There is a wide range of settings in the “Picture Options” menu that can be used to help eliminate any motion issues. Use these settings at your own discretion.

Both the BX and CX are optimized for video gaming thanks to the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 which allows for the latest advanced gaming features noted above. Input lag numbers for video gaming are very good for these TVs and are as followed:

BX input lag: 1080p @ 60Hz approx. 15 ms, 4K @ 60Hz approx. 14 ms, 1080p @ 120Hz approx. 6.0 ms, 4K @ 120Hz approx. 11 ms

CX input lag: 1080p @ 60Hz approx. 13 ms, 4k @ 60Hz approx. 13 ms, 1080p @ 120Hz approx. 7 ms, 4K @ 120Hz 11 ms

Sound quality: Audio quality from flat-panel TVs is typically not very good. This, however, was not the case with the BX and CX which had surprisingly decent or dare I say good audio output. This was most like due to all the audio-enhancing features found in these displays which include AI Sound Mode, Magic Sound Tuning, Dolby Atmos with Dolby Surround and OLED Surround + EQ, and when combined will produce a well-balanced and immersive audio experience and an enveloping spacious soundstage. The TV’s speakers also deliver decent punch and impact. In addition, dialogue was presented crisp and clear whether watching movies or TV shows and remained intelligible at high volume levels.

Conclusion

In my opinion, OLED TVs deliver the best picture quality currently available and the LG BXPUA and CXPUA certainly continue this trend. It’s hard to find fault with the overall picture quality of the two OLED TVs reviewed in this article. Contrast and black levels are second to none. Color rendering, picture detail and clarity are absolutely stunning.

As I wind down this review, the question still stands…which one should you choose? Well, that depends. If you want the nth degree in picture quality no matter how big or small the improvement will bring; then you may want to choose the CX since it does offer slightly better picture detail and clarity and a noticeable increase in picture brightness. Other than that, the BX holds its own against the CX in overall picture quality and features. So putting things in perspective, unless you are viewing these TVs side-by-side you would never know there was a difference.

Nevertheless, if you want to save yourself some cash and still have an OLED TV that offers outstanding picture quality, then go with the BX. You won’t be disappointed.

The BX and CX OLED 4K HDR TVs are HDTVs and More recommended.

You may also like this review of Sony’s A8H OLED 4K TV.