Watching Indiana Jones On The LG C5 65-inch OLED TV Unearthed The Best Colour We’ve Ever Seen

If you're going to sit down to watch a tomb-raiding archaeologist run away from a giant boulder, why not do it in style? For us a 65-inch screen is the perfect cinematic size for most rooms. So, when this new LG OLED evo AI C5 arrived on our doorstep, we'd already donned our fedoras and prepared for big screen adventure. Little did we know, this trip would soon become a journey into unrivalled OLED colour on a seriously impressive TV.

Thrilling adventures aside, what do LG say about this 2025 65-inch model? A successor to its previous generation OLED (the C4), from the outside there's not a lot to tell them apart. On the inside it's a different story, with much of the C5's processing prowess coming from the Alpha 9 AI Processor Gen8 chip. What that really means is more AI functionality when it comes to upscaling, picture enhancements and superior HDR (for the uninitiated, that's High Dynamic Range – aka over a billion colours in its palette and broader control over contrast). The net result is more detail across the board.

There's also some AI-powered voice recognition, an AI Wizard for bespoke sound and picture profiles, and even a chatbot. But we're much more excited for what that OLED panel can do with all of those extra colours. Audio is well catered for, with Dolby Atmos support and 2.2 channel speakers that LG claim sound like 11.1.2 spatial surround – thanks again to the wonders of AI. As a smart TV running webOS, we're also hoping for a fast and intuitive experience, as well as a comprehensive range of popular streaming apps to keep us safely away from the precipice of boredom.

OLED is already superior to most other panel types for those inky blacks and vivid colours. But, with the addition of that wider HDR colour gamut, we're expecting increased realism, finer contrast and more detail. We had Indy lined up and ready to play – in his movie and game incarnations – at the crack of a bullwhip, but we also had some other 4K HDR surprises in store for the LG C5. Any OLED this large is always going to impress, but were there any pitfalls? Here's our full review.

First Impressions Of The LG C5 OLED evo AI 65-inch TV

Much like the Ark itself, lifting this is definitely a two-man job. It weighs 16.6kg, which doesn't sound much, but lifting it single-handedly without putting too much pressure on that screen is another thing entirely. Whatever LG has packed into the back of this TV gives it serious heft and (we hoped) the hardware to deliver top performance.

Design And Build: Real Screen Presence

Having lowered it onto the stand, we stepped back to see what we had. As good as 55-inch TVs can be, making the leap to 65-inches really does makes a difference. This one has a lot of presence and a surprisingly slim profile. The ultra-thin bezel is edged with brushed metal, making the screen a focal point for the room. Although we prefer wall-mounting TVs using something like the Perlesmith TV Wall Bracket, we decided to place this on an AV unit. Thankfully, the provided stand is wide enough for decent support without being too large.

We're not fans of prominent chrome logos and bright omnipresent LEDs on a TV's bezel. Nothing will break your immersion faster. Thankfully, the LG C5 foregoes the usual brand prominence here and gives an uncluttered, simple bezel with only the stand bearing the LG OLED logo. The LED only responds when the remote is used. All of that makes for distraction-free viewing, especially when we're in a darkened room on movie night. We don't want to see a red LED staring back at us while Indy braves a gloomy snake-ridden tomb.

An Ancient Stone Panel?

As for the back panel on this set, it's certainly going for a high-end feel thanks to its tough textured finish. At first glance we thought someone may have wiped it with a damp cloth and left some dust behind, as the panel is faux black marble with dark grey highlights. Fair enough, it's at the back – but if you're fastidious you might be irked by this choice, especially if you don't plan on wall-mounting the TV.

We Really Don't Like Snaking Cables

We avoid snaking cables around our AV setup at all costs, so a well thought-out stand with built-in cable management is a bit of a necessity. This LG has a neater solution than many. At the back there's a removable panel and a clip to route cables in the right direction. There's enough room to deal with half a dozen unruly cables if you needed to.

That said, even though this TV's sound setup is 2.2-channel Dolby Atmos, we do like the option to neatly add a soundbar. More on the sound later, but placing a soundbar on the same unit as this TV means trailing cables around the C5's stand. For those not wall-mounting the TV, we wish there had been a concealed cable channel in the base to allow for a neater setup.

Controls

The Remote

We're used to seeing TVs from the likes of Samsung and Sony that come with not one but two remote controls. One is often a minimalist affair that works over radio. It usually has a handful of the most commonly used functions and looks a bit more premium. The other is a standard infrared version with the full range of buttons if you need them. However, with the C5 LG has gone with a chunky fully-featured radio remote that also functions as a wireless pointer for navigation (if you prefer a more mouse-like experience). It also has a built-in mic for voice control.

It's quite comfortable to hold and reassuringly heavy. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we're happy to have a single device that feels this substantial. Plus, it's a lot less likely to slip down the side of the sofa like so many others we've used. It doesn't have a backlight though, which did make for a few wrong presses in a darkened movie night room.

All of the usual controls are here, as well as Home, Settings and AI Chatbot buttons placed around the four-way directional pad. That pad has a scroll button in the centre. For those new to this type of remote, that central button can be clicked but also rotated. The latter activates the on-screen pointer and also scrolls through app menus. It's taken a few days to get used to. It was initially too easy to inadvertently click and rotate at the same time, which triggers that on-screen cursor to appear. Only a minor annoyance, but we're now happy with the flexibility that this provides – especially when browsing through apps and using on-screen keyboards, for example.

Smart Controls

We're testing the LG C5 in is Alexa-based smart home, so the Alexa integration here came in very handy. It was simple enough to add the LG Skill to our Alexa app and then access all of the usual smart home commands and automations via the TV's microphone. Alexa aside, it's good to see comprehensive smart home integration for other platforms like Google Home, Matter, and of course LG ThinQ.

As for AI, holding down that AI button on the remote lets you use your voice to ask the C5 almost anything. We found it handy for finding the location of the TV's many settings, plus searching for video content across various services. No doubt it'll find a following among fans of Microsoft CoPilot and AI chatbots, but after playing around with it we just wanted to get watching.

Secret Switches?

So you need to turn the telly off, but the remote's gone missing. However, you won't find a single physical button on the LG C5 itself. Thankfully you can trigger those essential TV functions via voice control. So, if your children have turned the TV up full-blast and hidden the Magic Remote for later, you won't need to scramble around on the carpet or upturn the sofa for the antidote.

Connectivity: Hidden In Plain View

If there's one thing we don't mind having to hunt for, it's a discreetly situated port panel. The line-up of connectivity options are to the left side, accessible but well inset from the bezel. There are four HDMI 2.1 ports – one with eARC for connecting devices like Blu-ray players and game consoles. For those new to this feature, eARC allows advanced surround audio formats to be routed to and from a connected soundbar. It'll also accept video from a soundbar, if you need to connect your playback device to that instead.

Aside from the usual antenna connections, there are three USB ports and an optical digital output (for those not using eARC) to connect to an amp or a capable soundbar. Altogether that's a similar number of inputs to many 40-inch TVs, but enough for most home cinema setups nonetheless.

It's also good to know that, alongside the prerequisite Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, Airplay and Google Cast are supported for easy sharing from mobiles.

Setting Up The LG C5 OLED evo AI 65-inch TV

After powering on and following the usual network setup and firmware update, the C5 greeted us with a snappy UI and a home page with apps and suggested content. We immediately dug into the settings to see what we could do. We found the LG C5 to have an exceptionally fast and responsive webOS interface, with everything branching off from a well-appointed home screen. Finding or adding apps is simple enough, as is reordering the apps to suit. During the initial setup we were asked to choose our favourite apps and this was used to populate some good content suggestions on the home screen.

Smart Apps And Menus

Thankfully, despite having more features and options than the average smartphone, everything is easy to find and intuitive once you've accessed the settings menu. A panel opens that provides fast access to everything, from a quick way to change the HDR mode to suit whatever you're watching, to sound modes and deeper picture settings like Clarity and AI-driven enhancements.

You'll find the obligatory selection of preset picture modes seen on all TVs, such as Vivid – which results in a eye-watering level of vibrancy, rivalled only by looking directly into the Ark at the end of Raiders. There's also Movie mode, which dials everything down and gives a much warmer temperature overall, and Game mode which turns on handy features like reduced input lag (and turns off motion smoothing and other lag-inducing features) and more. With the exception of Standard and Game mode, we find these modes rarely make a good impression right out of the box. They're more like a starting point for your own tweaks, which is why we really like LG's AI-driven picture and sound customisations.

As it happens, having gone through the AI Picture Wizard, our bespoke result was a match for the TVs standard settings. As for the Sound Wizard, we actually found that we preferred the C5's standard audio profile over our own picks – so, we think that's a real testament to the engineers of this set's default picture and sound profile.

The Lost Apps: UK Catchup Services

Although we found streaming apps for paid content without any fuss (Paramount+, Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV+ and more) we were thwarted when it came to finding the UK terrestrial TV catchup apps ITVX, My5 and Channel 4. There's also no Freeview Play here as an alternative method of getting those channels.

Despite some retailers stating that the C5 actually has these apps, a bit of Googling and an LG support chat revealed that they're not available on the C5 at launch. We have to say that, for a TV that costs this much, we'd expect three of the five original UK terrestrial channels to be there on catchup. The previous version (the LG C4) did have these apps, so it is perhaps only a matter of time until this set gets them too. We'll update this article, and our rating, if it does.

Until then, you'll have to stick with watching those channels on live digital broadcasts or invest in a cheap streaming stick. It's a noticeable oversight for what is an otherwise stunning television. However, if you're not interested in content from those channels and want this TV for your 4K movies and other TV shows, you can consider this a five-star review.

Testing The LG OLED evo AI C5

First things first, like many new TVs, the LG C5 uses AI to upscale everything that's not 4K to that standard. If you think that sounds a bit like sorcery, it is… And isn't. We don't believe in magic when it comes to this sort of thing, despite manufacturers' big claims. But, give the C5 something at full HD resolution or higher, and AI Picture Pro will analyse contrast, brightness and more to upscale and improve the picture on the fly. We couldn't wait to test this out for ourselves, albeit with a pinch of scepticism. There are other AI-driven picture optimisations too that we'll come back to later, but for now let's look at some glorious unadulterated 4K HDR.

Performance Test: Movies

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

First up on our 4K HDR list was 1981's Raiders Of The Lost Ark. This edition has both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision – the latter being Dolby's high-end version of HDR, with slightly more colour depth than rival format HDR10+ (which this set doesn't support).

The stand-out scene that made the most of the LG C5's tonal range and HDR colour was opening the Ark. Here we found plenty of detail, specular highlights and excellent true blacks that didn't overwhelm the shadow detail. The ethereal angels and wrathful flames were literal highlights, with the TV doing a great job visually and also with decent Atmos surround effects.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Next on our exploration of 4K was 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. We'll cover this in our roundup of the C5's audio later, but this disc has 5.1 DTS Master Audio. This TV doesn't support DTS decoding and won't pass it through to a soundbar, so rigging the player to the soundbar rather than the TV is the only workaround. As for HDR, this has HDR10 – and, despite being technically inferior to Dolby Vision, it blew us, and the surface of the planet, away as we watched Sarah Connor's recurring nightmare of nuclear Armageddon.

It was a visual feast, showing off the extra colours that HDR has to offer in the form of a nuanced palette and a tonne of detail. The apocalypse never looked so good. Elsewhere, the opening scenes of an advancing Skynet army, complete with lasers and fireballs, really showed us what OLED and HDR is all about. Our first look at a gun-toting T800 against the midnight blue hues of the landscape was jaw-dropping. Its titanium endoskeleton had all of the reflectivity, highlights and extra tones to make it look even more realistic.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Our final movie for our C5 write-up is Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which again comes with both Dolby Vision and Atmos. We've chosen this one for its dynamic visuals, explosions of colour, fast motion and CGI clarity – all make for an excellent test of the OLED panel.

Our favourite scene on the C5 (spoilers ahead…) was the finale, with its combat between Sonic and Shadow, and Jim Carrey's double-turn as "Eggman" Robotnik and his grandfather. The highlights and vivid colours as the two hedgehogs battled it out was a joy to watch, but the combination of live actors with the whirlwind of Chaos Energy onboard the orbiting Eclipse Cannon stole the show. It would be easy for a lesser TV to muddle all of the colour and detail going on here, but the C5 gave us a cinema-worthy experience.

Performance Test: TV Shows

Andor

The best 4K show to cross the C5's screen was Star Wars prequel Andor: Season 1, with the opening episode Kassa in HDR10 and Dolby Atmos_._ We enjoyed the contrast with the movies we'd watched earlier, as this has a very subtle palette with a lot of earthy colours and lighter tones. What we noticed here was the exemplary black levels and shadow detail. The HDR colour range brought yet more depth and realism to scenes in Bix's workshop, with lots of background set design nicely defined, even in murky corners.

However, the true power of the C5 was apparent with highlights and burst of colour. Red laser pistol fire and illuminated buttons really exude vibrancy and brightness, without blooming as they might on non-OLED screens. Against a run-down, cobbled together universe filled with traders, charlatans and criminals, the blinking lights on the ageing tech inside spaceships and cantinas really stood out.

Star Trek: The Original Series

We're in favour of preserving the cinema experience at home as much as possible, and that also goes for older TV shows. While AI enhancements promise to bring aging content up to modern standards, for us this often comes at too high a price. We mentioned the curse of motion smoothing earlier, but we've also seen AI-driven denoising and sharpening used to poor effect – removing the nostalgia of the original film grain, creating crisp edges where they don't belong and smoothing out important details.

But, this LG C5 promises to use all of those tricks as part of its AI Picture Pro setting and AI Super Upscaling. We had to find out if it would iron out the creases in older shows without destroying the essence of the original. Our test would be the Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Original Series, with the episode The Changeling. As a show shot on film and digitally restored for Blu-ray release, the LG has plenty to go on in terms of a 1080p source. But, for all of the work that's been done to restore this show, there's still plenty to tackle and, of course, upscaling to do.

Where No TV Has Gone Before?

In short, we were blown away. Tweaked accordingly, the AI settings here – including AI Noise Reduction and AI Super Resolution – managed to retain the film grain at the same time as tackle blocky colour artefacts on uniforms and so on. The flecks seen in McCoy's medical tunic were not AI'd into oblivion, but retained - yet, somehow, colour artefacts and excessive grain (not all of the grain) in the film stock were removed. The net result was a show that's never looked so good. The uptick in detail was genuinely organic and we found ourselves marvelling at some of the finer details of the sets and props on the 65-inch screen.

Standard Definition: Is There A Doctor In The House?

We wish we could say the same for old PAL resolution content shot on a mixture of film and video. Swapping Doctor Jones for some Doctor Who, we viewed the original DVD version of Genesis Of The Daleks. It's clear that the LG C5 can only do so much when it comes to AI upscaling and picture enhancements, with the most obvious casualty being detail. It just can't create what isn't partially there to begin with. It still looked great thanks to the OLED panel and with denoising and clarity added, but upscaling PAL's 720 x 576 (or around 400,000) pixels to a screen with 8.3 million pixels really only magnifies the lack of detail of the original episodes – AI or no AI.

Lastly, for those who want to explore live TV, the guide is clear and responsive – the usual webOS experience that makes it easy to control and schedule your viewing.

Performance Test: Gaming

Although some video content can benefit from super-high refresh rates, gamers stand to benefit the most from the LG C5's variable 144Hz.

The TV has its own Gaming Portal which will let you play Cloud-based games, which means you won't need a console at all – just a controller to connect to the TV via Bluetooth. However, we didn't want our experience to be subject to internet connection speeds and so on, so we rigged up our Xbox Series X instead. The C5's settings menu is then replaced with a handy gamer-friendly panel, giving us easy access to frame rate, HDR settings and more.

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (4K HDR10)

Starting this game afresh was a bit of a rediscovery for us, as we'd previously played it on a curved gaming monitor without HDR. Set to Game Mode (which also features ALLM – Auto Low Latency Mode) the LG was about to ramp up immersion on all levels. Not only was response time a non-issue (LG say it's less than 0.1 milliseconds), the C5 rendered the 4K HDR10 game into something that stunned us with its clarity and colour.

Although Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is one of those games that doesn't natively support 120 frames per second, instead aiming for 60, the C5's AMD FreeSync variable refresh rate kept things looking smooth, sharp and judder-free. We also found that Game Mode disabled any motion smoothing and other lag-inducing enhancements. As such, we enjoyed sending Indy off on another crusade with this massively immersive 65-inch OLED.

The Overall Picture: Colour Us Impressed

This TV has Perfect Black and Perfect Colour verification, meaning that what LG claim here is true. There's an absolute level of black available when the OLEDs are off, and 100 per cent Colour Volume is there to guarantee accuracy. Panel aside, we tested various Picture Settings throughout our testing, including HDR.

HDR Settings

The HDR Picture settings menu is crucial to get familiar with. It'll let you choose between the modes that best match your content. As it happens, the Standard setting was a favourite of ours for most content, despite the availability of Filmmaker mode and Cinema Home mode. The latter activates Dolby Vision IQ which uses a built-in light sensor to adjust the picture to suit the ambient light in the room.

Filmmaker Mode?

HDR Filmmaker mode is supposed to do a handful of things to make for a better experience. Firstly, it'll tune Dolby Vision picture settings to match the director's intentions – that includes colour balance and frame rates. As a consequence it'll disable motion smoothing and anything else that might get in the way of a more authentic experience. All that said, we found this to yield varying results. Although it's designed to preserve details by lowering brightness and turning off noise reduction, it also gives a warm colour temperature (as does Cinema Home mode) which, for us, just didn't sit right with some content, particularly Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Terminator 2.

Dynamic Tone Mapping

This is another excellent feature of the LG C5. It'll analyse what you're watching and adjust the picture for optimum brightness and contrast on the fly, which will also preserve shadow detail and a wide colour range. We never turned this off other than to test the results, and it's a star feature for the HDR performance of this set.

TruMotion And AI enhancements: Keeping It Real

As we covered in our review of the 55-inch Sony BRAVIA 8 OLED TV, the majority of leading TV brands are somewhat obsessed with noise reduction and motion smoothing – and we're not normally a huge fan of either. LG's TruMotion smoothing tech works in a similar way to all of the others: Filling in the gaps in lower frame rates to make movement look smoother. The massive downside to this, which is why it's the first thing we disable for testing, is that the vast majority of movies shot at 24 frames-per-second will suddenly look like they were shot on video. It also often has the unfortunate side effect of making things look plasticky and artificial. LGs version is better than most, but it'll still remove the authentic look of a movie shot on film if you let it.

As for the other settings, we covered the truly excellent AI Super Resolution option above, but there's also AI Noise Reduction and Sharpness. We found the former to be a little too aggressive at medium settings much of the time, removing film grain and other details we'd have preferred to keep. That said, if you're watching older TV shows in HD resolution or less, there's definitely a place for these settings.

Brightness Level

We're often baffled by the race to make face-meltingly bright TVs. Yes, the OLEDs of old would need the curtains closed for daytime viewing, but nowadays the dynamic picture mode we see in showrooms needs dialing down, not up. The LG C5 operates at an excellent default brightness level that we could comfortably view on a summer's day, curtains open but without direct sunlight. And we could have pushed it higher if we wanted to. To some degree good HDR relies on high brightness levels to render all of those gentle tones, but for us the C5 isn't lacking in this area. LG rate the C5 as brighter than the previous C4, thanks in part to its Brightness Booster technology.

LG C5 Audio Quality: Spatial Enough?

Dolby Atmos And Other Surround Formats

There's no doubt that being able to watch movies and TV shows that carry Dolby Atmos for spatial surround is a huge plus with this TV. Outside testing, we'd hook this up to an Atmos-capable soundbar with surround speakers and a beefy sub. And that would better serve other Dolby Digital formats and Dolby TrueHD as well. As it is, the C5 has plenty to offer – even if the claim of 11.1.2 virtual surround is a bit of a stretch for our ears. Unfortunately though, its capabilities don't extend to DTS audio support of any kind. You'd need to play your DTS discs by connecting your player to a soundbar (or AV receiver) that could then pass the video through to the TV. That said, most streaming services use Dolby technologies, so this issue is somewhat mitigated.

So, Is A Soundbar Needed?

As mentioned earlier, we normally recommend a high-end or decent budget soundbar (or separate AV receiver and speaker system) for any serious home cinema use. Our testing was done without one though, as a fair test of the LG's audio capabilities. But, adding the Denon Home cinema kit we had for review would have meant a messy cable run around the stand. Could you place a soundbar lower down on an AV unit's shelf? Yes – but we don't recommend it. Placing a surround soundbar (especially one with side or upfiring speakers) here will demolish that spatial sound you've been looking forward to.

As for the number of internal speakers, LG claims that the C5's 40 watt stereo arrangement uses AI to emulate spatial 11.1.2 sound (that's eleven channels at listening level, one subwoofer and two height channels). In practice we didn't find it delivered on this as well as we'd expected. It definitely sounded more like solid 5.1 surround sound than the full eleven and more claimed. Then again, if you're buying this as a first foray into surround sound you won't be disappointed. But, if you're investing in a C5 as the centrepiece of a home cinema, you're likely to already own (or are about to buy) a separate surround audio system anyway.

Who is it for?

First and foremost, we think that the LG C5 is for anyone who loves colour accuracy and the realism, depth and vibrancy that only HDR can deliver. It's also for cinephiles and fans of premium streaming TV series who want their entertainment to have big-screen impact with the true black levels and contrast that OLED excels at. Lastly, we think that it will best suit those who have, or intend to invest in, a separate surround sound solution like a soundbar or full surround AV amp and speakers.

Final Verdict: Was It All Fortune And Glory?

Despite a few hiccups with this brand new 2025 LG C5 OLED evo, we think it packs power and finesse in all of the right places. The HDR performance, twinned with that stunning 65-inch OLED panel with its True Black and True Colour ratings, is nothing short of spellbinding. Not only did it wow us with naturalistic colours and tonal detail, it had more than enough brightness, clarity and punch for CGI and sci-fi content too. The spatial sound could have been a tad more enveloping given the screen size, and then there's those missing catchup apps. But for anyone looking for a class-leading picture at the heart of their home cinema – your quest is over. We think this OLED will lead the competition for quite some time.

Alternatives to the LG C5

Although other competing TV panel technologies are out there, particularly the much more expensive QD-OLED, we're staying with OLED options here. OLED vs QLED is always a close call too, with pros and cons on either side, but OLED is our choice for movie fans right now given their perfect black levels.

As a like-for-like alternative to the LG C5, we find the Samsung S93F 65-inch 4K OLED to offer a strikingly similar spec at a comparable price, but we also think that the Sony 55-inch BRAVIA 8 OLED we reviewed is just as capable when it comes to picture quality. It's also a set that undercuts the price of the LG without cutting corners (other than being 10 inches smaller).

How We Tested The LG OLED evo AI C5

We tested the LG OLED evo AI C5 65-inch TV for over two weeks. It was set up on its stand and placed on a Blok AV unit in a living room measuring around 21 x 16 ft. The TV sat opposite a large north-facing panoramic window. It was connected to a network over Wi-Fi and controlled using the included remote The TV was connected to an Xbox Series X and a Blu-ray player via HDMI.

Various apps were downloaded to the TV, including Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, and Netflix for TV series and movie content. We also used an iPhone to cast videos to the TV's YouTube app and also Airplay for supported mobile music apps like Spotify.

The LG OLED evo AI C5 was loaned to us by a PR agency for the purposes of this review. Neither the agency or LG had any oversight or editorial control over the content of this review. Find out more about how we recommend products.

Latest Updates

This review was first published in June 2025. Any future updates and additions will be added here.

Chris Duffill is a senior tech reviewer, writing for Empire, What's The Best, Yours, Closer, Heat and other brands. He specialises in home entertainment and audiovisual tech, including TVs, projectors, speakers, amplifiers, turntables and more.

Having worked in video production, photography and graphic design, he has decades of professional experience with various display technologies. He's owned TVs of various sizes and specs, several home cinema projectors and also set up his own surround sound systems, including Dolby Atmos. He's a lifelong TV and movie fanatic with a Masters in Screenwriting from the UEA.