The LG G6 OLED TV got a picture-changing firmware update before its release, so I tested it side-by-side with the G5 again — here's what happened

Round 2!

04 Apr 2026, 17:00 by https://www.techradar.com/uk/author/james-davidson · TechRadar

Features By James Davidson published 4 April 2026

LG G5 (left) and LG G6 (right) (Image credit: Future)

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The LG G5 was one of the best-performing TVs of 2025, delivering exceptional picture quality and performance that set a strong bar for the best OLED TVs to follow. The G5 was an excellent flagship OLED, so it meant its successor, the LG G6, needs to prove itself against its predecessor.

I actually already compared the LG G6 side-by-side with the LG G5 once, and was impressed with the results of the G6. It proved to have more natural colors, more accurate contrast with deeper blacks, and proved to be better in bright rooms, thanks to its superior reflection handling. It also posted impressive brightness boosts, especially in fullscreen.

However, since then, LG has released a new firmware update for the G6, which it says makes adjustments to brightness. The color vibrancy had already been adjusted in the G6’s Filmmaker Mode (compared to the G5’s) after feedback. Now, it seems the G6 has had its overall brightness tweaked freshly. So, I applied the update to see what it had done and re-evaluate the G5 and G6 side-by-side again.

Article continues below

I haven't written about black levels, shadow detail or sound comparisons here — I wrote about them in my original article, but these remained essentially unchanged, so for my thoughts on these, check out my original article here.

Let's instead look at what's new in this update.

Changes from the firmware update

Some peak areas on the G5 (left) appear particularly bright, whereas they appear more muted on the G6 (right) (Image credit: Future)

Rather than go into too much detail about the firmware updates changes, I’ll give a brief summary here. First and foremost, I found that perceived brightness had been reduced in the G6.

Colors were already more natural on the G6, but again the brightness of said colors on the G6 has been toned down, to give an even more balanced look. In some scenes however, the G6’s colors had more depth and richness. I’ll get into what colors looked like on the G6 shortly.

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