One persistent issue with the 2016 LG OLEDs was the presence of some slight shadow crush. This could be mostly fixed through a combination of the brightness control and the 20 point white balance, but not perfectly. Having to choose between perfect blacks or more shadow details I always went with blacks, but it was a compromise.
On the 2017 panels this has been fixed. All of the shadow details are visible, the brightness control is much finer, and you get the best of both worlds now.
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At CES 2017, LG made a big deal out of the fact that the new OLEDs, free of ABL in SDR mode at 150 nits or less, were good enough to be used as reference monitors by Technicolor. Having seen one and measured it, I can say this is the case.
Watching some clips from Harry Potter and Skyfall, the dark shadow details were visible while black levels were pitch black. The Macau lantern scene in
Skyfall looked better than it ever has, with the bright orange-red lanterns glowing on top of the water with the wave details clearly seen. Skin tones were pure without any red push, and the overall impact was great for SDR. As with all OLED displays, the contrast ratio is infinite so I left it off this table.