Credit: LG
LG Electronics have confirmed Australian pricing and availability for their 2018 TV range, which invokes the company's ThinQ sub-brand and emphasizes new natural language learning capabilities.
“At the core of what we deliver at LG is helping make life and living the best it can be and that means passionately improving the day-to-day lives of Australians. 2018 is a massive year of innovation for us as we are integrating LG AI ThinQ technology into our TV range for the first time,” said Angus Jones, General Manager of Marketing at LG Electronics Australia.
According to him, “this marks a significant and exciting step-change in our journey to help make the TV viewing experience easier and more intelligent for all Australians."
In the past, LG have emphasized their OLED panels as a point of difference over competing brands. However, with the arrival of Sony and Panasonic into the OLED arms-race, LG have now shifted tactics.
It's no longer just about having TVs that look better but also about having TVs that "ThinQ" better. Every TV in the company's 2018 TV range comes with support for easy voice control via a microphone on the LG's Magic Remote.
Credit: LG At launch, LG claim that this capability will allow users to easily and intuitively talk to their TV and control it using their voice. They'll be able to change inputs, raise or lower the volume, pause and search content using a variety of phrases and commands.
Unlike smart speakers like the Google Home or Apple HomePod, the microphone in the Magic Remote isn't always on and listening for a hot-word. Instead, there's a physical button on the remote that users press whenever they want to enable the microphone and submit a command.
That said, LG say that their 2018 range of TVs will be upgraded via software update to incorporate the Google Assistant later in the year. In the US, this feature is already enabled alongside similar support for Amazon Alexa. When this update occurs, users will be able to speak to the Google Assistant using the Magic Remote's microphone. Interestingly, this upgrade won't overwrite the way that the microphone is configured. You'll still have to push a physical button to bring the Assistant to attention.
Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG The company's new OLED range consists of seven models across three series: C8, E8 and W8. Physically, the design of these OLED models is largely the same as last year. However, under the hood, LG say that the results they deliver are being empowered by the company's new Alpha 9 processor.
According to LG, the processor "reduces noise, transfers messages faster and creates colours on the screen that look more realistic." It also supports high frame rate (HFR) video images with up to 120 frames per second for a smooth and more life-like video with reduced judder or blur.
Credit: LG Then, the company's Super UHD TV range promises to "continue to bring the whole family together" using LG's Nano-Cell technology and Full Array Dimming. This time around, all but the company's UK75 SUHD TVs support Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and 4K Cinema HDR. Both the SK85 and SK95 SUHD TVs also tout Full Array dimming - which promises to produce better and more authentic on-screen contrast.
A full listing of the prices, sizings and availability of LG's 2018 TV range can be seen below:
Credit: LG 
