LG OLED Objet Collection Posé TV: A Masterpiece for Your Living Room

The LG OLED Objet Collection Posé TV isn’t just a television; it’s a statement. Unveiled at Salone dei Tessuti during Milan Design Week 2022, its very introduction signals a target audience that appreciates both cutting-edge technology and sophisticated aesthetics. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill screen or even a standard premium home theater display. Instead, it confidently positions itself as a lifestyle TV, meticulously crafted to serve as a captivating art piece, much like Samsung’s The Frame series. To achieve this, it promises a luxurious build quality and a distinctive design that sets it apart from other LG OLED offerings.

Since its arrival in the mid-20th century, the TV has become a ubiquitous centerpiece in countless living rooms. The idea of transforming it into a visually engaging object, a piece of art in its own right, feels like a natural progression. While efforts to create aesthetically pleasing TVs have existed since the days of bulky CRTs, evolving tastes and technological advancements demand a modern interpretation. The Posé answers that call with an understated flat canvas gracefully perched on a pair of elegant legs.

Unboxing the LG OLED Posé, any skepticism about the company’s stylistic claims quickly dissipates. Every aspect of the TV, from its design to its functionality, feels carefully considered and impeccably executed. The sheer volume of accessories within the colossal box is impressive, and the attention to detail is truly remarkable. While we’ll delve into the specifics later, the true star of the show is undoubtedly the easel stand. It’s far more than just an aesthetic addition, providing exceptional cable management that grants unprecedented flexibility in placement compared to competing models.

The cleverly designed pouch discreetly placed on the back of the screen further solidifies the Posé’s identity as more than just a cosmetic upgrade. This practical element reinforces the idea that form and function can coexist harmoniously.

The LG OLED Posé is available in three sizes: 42, 48, and 55 inches. The 42 and 48-inch models are priced at $1,699, while the 55-inch variant costs $1,999. Considering the Posé’s enhanced design features compared to other LG OLEDs, the price increase is justifiable. As a point of reference, a 55-inch LG OLED C3 TV is priced at $1,899.

All three models boast stunning 4K OLED Evo panels. OLED technology, renowned for its self-illuminating pixels, enables perfect blacks and exceptional contrast. "Evo" is a marketing term LG uses to identify OLED panels that offer enhanced brightness compared to their standard counterparts, but it’s a metric best approached with a discerning eye.

The integrated speaker system features a 4.0 channel configuration, employing two front-firing and two rear-firing speakers. This setup surpasses the audio capabilities of many competitors, including some other LG TVs. With a total output power of 40W, the front-firing speakers on the Posé series also support Dolby Atmos encoding for an immersive audio experience.

The review unit was the 55-inch Posé variant, measuring 48.2 by 30 inches with a slim profile of just 2.4 inches thick. When the stand is attached, the height increases to 49.5 inches, and the depth extends to 19.5 inches. The screen weighs 46.3 pounds without the stand and 50.5 pounds with it. Featuring extremely thin bezels on the top and sides, with a slightly thicker strip along the bottom, the LG Posé maximizes its screen real estate.

The panel offers a comprehensive selection of ports, including three HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which supports eARC for seamless soundbar connectivity. Additionally, there are two USB 2.0 ports, an ethernet port, an RF antenna input, an RS-232C input jack, and a digital audio output port.

As previously mentioned, the Posé is intended to be a focal point, demanding attention and commanding a place of honor in your living room. Otherwise, the extra investment in the premium Kvadrat fabric that adorns the device, its artistic beige color, and its state-of-the-art easel would be in vain.

However, the Posé is far more than just a pretty face. The pocket on the back of the screen serves as a practical solution for concealing cable clutter and even provides a space for storing magazines and books, a feature absent in other LG TVs. The device also includes numerous cable holders that can be easily screwed onto the back of the screen. The rear of the screen is equipped with cable plugs for power extension, and once the cable setup is complete, a clip-on shelf can be attached to accommodate a router, Chromecast, or even a slim gaming console. Furthermore, the legs of the easel cleverly conceal cable management systems, allowing wires to be routed flush against the device. This design choice liberates the TV from the constraint of needing a wall for support, ensuring that the back of the LG Posé is just as visually appealing as the front.

Setting up the TV, despite the extensive cable management options, is a surprisingly straightforward process. The package contains a multitude of accessories, which may initially seem daunting. However, by carefully consulting the user manual, the process becomes clear. It is advisable to enlist the assistance of a friend and arm yourself with a screwdriver, allocating at least two hours for the entire task.

The initial step involves assembling the easel, which should be relatively quick and easy when following the instructions closely. The next step involves mounting the display onto the easel, requiring at least one additional pair of hands. The final step is configuring the rear of the display. This includes securing the cable holders onto the back, routing cables through the legs of the stand and through the cable plugs, and covering it all up with the back panel.

As mentioned, the LG Posé boasts an OLED Evo display with a 4K resolution. It’s optimized for gaming, featuring a 120Hz maximum refresh rate, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low-Latency Mode), a response time of less than 1 millisecond, and Adaptive Sync compatibility. Adaptive Sync includes both G-Sync (NVIDIA’s proprietary technology) and FreeSync Premium (AMD’s proprietary technology).

In terms of performance, the panel rivals LG’s other premium OLED designs, such as the C3. You won’t be sacrificing functionality for aesthetics. However, the easel design may make it more challenging to connect as many devices to this TV as you would with a TV placed on top of an entertainment center.

A magic remote, featuring a motion control cursor for pointing, clicking, and scrolling, is included.

The TV supports HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. WebOS 22 powers the smart features. The LG Posé integrates with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit, and offers built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice input. LG ThinQ AI allows you to control the TV using your voice. You also gain access to hundreds of LG channels and Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro, an optional technology that can enhance the vibrancy and detail of images.

AI Sound Pro, a more controversial feature, attempts to enhance dialogue and automatically adjust the sound based on the content being viewed. However, you might find LG Sound Sync, which allows audio synchronization between supported soundbars and the TV, to be a better option. This feature lets you use the TV speakers as a separate channel for dialogue, rather than adjusting the mix. AI Sound Pro can sometimes introduce unwanted tinniness and echo.

There is an array of other presets to experiment with. A Game Optimizer picture setting optimizes the display for maximum clarity and responsiveness, automatically disabling features like TruMotion and providing a quick menu for toggling features like VRR on and off without navigating through multiple menus.

TruMotion, LG’s term for motion smoothing, is enabled by default on the LG Posé. While beneficial for sports content, it can be detrimental to animation, games, or movies viewed in their intended form. It uses AI to insert extra frames into your content, boosting the framerate and creating a smoother appearance. While Game Optimizer offers a quick way to disable it, you can also disable it for other viewing modes by navigating to Settings > Advanced Settings > Picture > Clarity > TruMotion and toggling the switch.

The Advanced Settings category is a treasure trove of helpful features. There’s a sound mode section that allows you to select from presets such as AI Sound Pro, Standard, Cinema, Clear Voice Pro (which emphasizes dialogue even more than AI Sound Pro), Sports, Music, and Game Optimizer (which shares the name with the picture mode and settings menu but is separate from it). These modes are more than just marketing gimmicks; they significantly alter the sound based on the content being viewed. You can quickly access these modes from a Sound Mode menu using a dedicated button on the magic remote. The Cinema preset is a personal favorite.

The LG Posé also offers a range of Image Enhancement AI tools that function similarly to Game Optimizer but prioritize visual enhancements over performance. AI Picture Pro enhances image clarity based on the content being displayed. AI Brightness Settings allows you to adjust the darker areas of your content based on the ambient brightness around the TV. AI Genre Selection identifies the most suitable picture quality based on the type of content being displayed. These settings are easily adjustable, and while they may not drastically alter your content, the difference is noticeable.

These are in addition to standard picture modes like cinema, filmmaker mode, and a balanced default setting called "standard." Each mode adjusts color and contrast to different degrees, but you can fine-tune them to your preferences.

A Gallery Mode displays images in a slideshow when the TV is not in use, helping to prevent burn-in. However, this mode is underwhelming because it doesn’t allow users to select the images they want to see. The transition between images is also unusually slow and distracting. It’s disappointing that LG didn’t enhance this feature in any way for the Posé, which is marketed as an art piece.

The contrast levels on the LG Posé are exceptional. Although great contrast was expected due to the OLED technology, the results are still impressive. The display delivers the deepest blacks and brightest whites, resulting in vibrant colors thanks to the high contrast.

The brightness is also impressive, which is great to see on an OLED. There were no issues watching content in a well-lit room with lots of natural light. The detail and precision are also excellent, thanks to the multiple HDR formats the TV supports. However, there felt a lack of sharpness.

There was a significant amount of ghosting on the device’s screensaver, which is unusual given the low advertised response time. However, gaming felt snappy and responsive, and no issues were noticed with actual content.

Burn-in isn’t something that would manifest during a week-long review, but the advanced settings tab offers a helpful Panel Care category for reducing image retention and preventing burn-in. The TV should automatically run its pixel refresh functions when needed, but these tools are available for manual intervention. Pixel refresh technology on OLED panels mitigates burn-in or uneven brightness by lowering the brightness of each pixel to match the TV’s weakest link, ensuring that the TV ages uniformly. While this eventually reaches a limit, OLED longevity has improved significantly over the years.

The Blue Light and Energy Saving modes are excellent and greatly helped at night, when the display’s standard brightness was excessive. It also didn’t bathe the screen in orange, which can sometimes happen with these modes.

One of the best features of the Posé is its sound. Considering that decent sound is rare in modern TVs, this is a significant advantage. Because of the slim panels, most modern TVs have downward or even backward-firing speakers, which sound poor. The LG Posé has forward-firing speakers, and you can hear the difference. The sound is loud, clear, and full of punch.

Overall, the LG Posé is a great screen to invest in. Visually, it’s stunning and much more than just a TV. It’s a work of art and a great showpiece for your living room, as long as you are willing to set up your own slideshows. But it looks great even when the screen is off, thanks to the excellent cable management features. Setting up the TV isn’t a nightmare, even if it takes some time.

It can also be used for most types of content. Though this is a lifestyle-focused TV, it offers the features gamers seek. The colors are vibrant, and the contrast levels are excellent. Also, it has brilliant sound, which is not very common on newer screens. For $2,000, this is a pretty decent option that will easily fit into most households.