The LG G6 OLED TV arrived at CES 2026 as LG’s flagship OLED, promising 20% brighter performance than its predecessor, the G5. What Hi-Fi? tested the 65-inch model at £3,000 and awarded it four stars—but the review flagged serious issues. Now LG has asked for a re-test, claiming to have fixed some of those problems. Whether firmware tweaks can address fundamental brightness-versus-accuracy trade-offs remains the real question.
Key Takeaways
- LG G6 OLED TV originally scored four stars but faced criticism for over-brightening in Filmmaker Mode and oversaturated colours.
- LG requested re-testing after claiming fixes to brightness, black levels, and colour saturation issues.
- G6 uses Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel with four-stack structure for higher brightness than the G5.
- Original review scores: Picture 4, Sound 3, Features 5; competitive threat from Sony Bravia 8 II (What Hi-Fi? Product of the Year).
- Available in 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83-inch sizes at launch in 2026.
Why LG Asked for a Re-Test of the LG G6 OLED TV
LG G6 OLED TV launched with a core promise: brightness without sacrificing OLED’s signature blacks and colour accuracy. The initial review revealed a painful trade-off instead. Filmmaker Mode—the mode serious viewers rely on—showed scenes from Pan and Civil War looking unnaturally bright, as if someone had cranked the contrast. Greens appeared oversaturated. Blacks looked greyish rather than true black, particularly visible in Sinners and Alien: Romulus. What Hi-Fi? also noted the remote felt cheap for a £3,000 television.
LG’s response—requesting a re-test—suggests the company believes software or firmware updates can address at least some of these issues. The brightness problem may not be fixable through updates alone, since it stems from the panel’s physical design. However, black level raising and colour oversaturation are often tunable via picture settings or firmware adjustments. If LG has refined the out-of-box calibration, a re-test could show meaningful improvements without requiring a hardware redesign.
LG G6 OLED TV Panel Technology and the Brightness Gamble
The LG G6 OLED TV uses a Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel—a four-stack structure with two blue layers, one red layer, and one green layer—designed to boost brightness while maintaining colour volume and accuracy. This architecture is LG’s answer to the brightness wars that have defined the 2026 OLED market. The G5, its predecessor, earned What Hi-Fi?’s Product of the Year award but was dimmer.
The trade-off became apparent in testing. Chasing brightness often means pushing colours harder to compensate, which is exactly what reviewers observed in the G6. Greens and reds looked cooked rather than natural. The raised black levels—measuring greyish instead of true black—suggest the panel’s brightness boost comes at the cost of shadow detail and contrast depth. This is the central tension the re-test will need to resolve: can firmware tuning preserve the brightness advantage while restoring the colour accuracy and black depth that made the G5 and Sony Bravia 8 II (What Hi-Fi?’s current Product of the Year) so compelling?
How LG G6 OLED TV Compares to Competitors
The LG G6 OLED TV faces stiff competition from the Sony Bravia 8 II, which What Hi-Fi? has named Product of the Year. The Sony delivers superior colour accuracy and black depth compared to the G6’s brighter but less refined picture. The G5, still available in some markets, remains the safer choice for viewers who prioritize natural colour and skin tone rendering over peak brightness.
Samsung’s QD-OLED models offer weaker anti-reflection properties (1.5% reflectance versus the G6’s sub-0.5%), which means blacks appear less pure in bright rooms. The LG C6, another LG option, suffers from similar black level issues to the G6, though less severely—and reviewers noted those issues are sometimes fixable by adjusting the Near Black Detail setting to -1. If LG has applied similar calibration lessons to the G6 firmware, the re-test could show meaningful progress.
What a Successful Re-Test Would Mean
If LG G6 OLED TV firmware updates genuinely address the over-brightening and colour saturation problems, What Hi-Fi? might upgrade the review score from four stars. The original Picture score of 4 out of 5 reflects those brightness and colour issues. A revised test showing more balanced Filmmaker Mode performance, truer blacks, and less oversaturated greens and reds could justify a 5-star Picture rating. The Sound score of 3 and Features score of 5 are unlikely to change, since they reflect hardware and software features that LG has not claimed to fix.
More importantly, a successful re-test would signal that LG understands the core complaint: brightness alone does not make a great OLED TV. Viewers want brightness, yes, but not at the expense of the colour accuracy and black depth that have always been OLED’s unique strengths. If LG has genuinely tuned the G6 to deliver on both fronts, it could reclaim the flagship crown from Sony and the G5.
Pricing and Availability of the LG G6 OLED TV
The LG G6 OLED TV launched at £3,000 for the 65-inch model (OLED65G6), with equivalent pricing of around $3,399 in the US and AU$4,999 in Australia. The TV is available in five sizes: 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83 inches. As a 2026 flagship unveiled at CES in January, the G6 has been in retail circulation for several months, though some OLED models have faced stock constraints across markets.
Will Firmware Fix the LG G6 OLED TV’s Fundamental Problem?
LG’s request for a re-test raises a practical question: how much can firmware actually fix? Over-brightening in Filmmaker Mode likely stems from the panel’s physical brightness advantage combined with the TV’s out-of-the-box picture settings. Firmware can adjust colour saturation curves and black level behaviour, but it cannot fundamentally change the panel’s light output. If the brightness boost is inherent to the hardware, no update will make the G6 as colour-accurate as the G5 or Sony Bravia 8 II in side-by-side comparison. What firmware can do is optimize the balance—perhaps allowing Filmmaker Mode to feel less aggressively bright while still leveraging the panel’s brightness advantage in HDR content where it matters most.
FAQ
Has LG released a firmware update for the G6 OLED TV yet?
The research brief does not specify whether LG has already released the firmware update or when it will arrive. LG has requested a re-test, which implies fixes are either available or imminent, but no release date is confirmed.
Can the LG G6 OLED TV be calibrated to look more like the G5?
Professional calibration might help, but the G6’s brighter panel architecture means it will never match the G5’s exact black depth or colour volume. The re-test will reveal whether LG’s own tuning has narrowed the gap enough to make the brightness trade-off worthwhile.
Is the LG G6 OLED TV still worth buying before the re-test results?
That depends on your priorities. If you value peak brightness and are comfortable with potentially oversaturated colours, the G6 offers advantages. If colour accuracy and natural black levels are non-negotiable, the Sony Bravia 8 II or LG G5 remain safer choices. Waiting for the re-test results could inform a more confident decision.
LG’s request for a re-test signals that the company recognizes the G6’s shortcomings and believes they can be addressed. Whether firmware updates truly fix the brightness-versus-accuracy problem will determine whether the G6 deserves its flagship status or remains a cautionary tale about chasing brightness at the expense of picture quality. The stakes are high: OLED’s strength has always been its ability to deliver both brightness and colour depth. If the G6 re-test proves LG has found that balance, it could reshape the 2026 OLED market.
Where to Buy
Edited by the All Things Geek team.
Source: What Hi-Fi?
