What you need to know about Gallery Mode on LG TV – before you buy!

Gallery Mode is a setting on LG TVs that shows artwork and pictures. It’s meant to be something akin to the art mode on something like a Samsung Frame TV, meaning you don’t need to be left with a giant black hole in your space; you can gaze instead at gallery quality artwork and photography instead. At least, that’s the theory…

A lot of shoppers are deciding between this TV and something like the Samsung Frame TV (and, Spoiler Alert: the Frame is way more adept at hiding as an art piece. Check out my full review of the Frame TV here or see how to add your own art and photos to the Frame TV here.)

LG TV Gallery Mode: how it works

Lack of customization on LG Gallery Mode

I love the concept of Gallery Mode, but in my opinion LG doesn’t get it right for a few reasons. Here’s why: You can’t choose one picture to keep up at all times; you must rotate through them, and you can’t even seem to narrow down the choices to a handful of options or styles; it’s the whole library, or nothing.

Also, because each picture goes to black before it transitions, there’s no pretending this is a painting; it’s an obvious TV screensaver and the fading to black actually draws the eye more so than any other effect would, making it pretty distracting.

 How does LG Gallery Mode compare to Samsung Frame TV?

Unlike something like a Samsung Frame TV you also can’t customize any of the frames (aka bezels), or the artworks themselves; what LG gives you is all you get… and the choices are lacklustre, to be honest.

It seems to me that the LG gallery TV insists the picture change up periodically to avoid any image burn-in on the screen while displaying the works of art. Which makes me wonder: if this TV is all that delicate… if burn-in is that much of a concern, I’d wonder about the longevity of this set overall.

Can I upload my own photos to LG Gallery Mode TV?

I wondered next if there’s a way to upload my own photos or artwork if I wanted to, so I could at least find art to my taste. Turns out from my research there’s no option to do that. That’s a big disappointment since this is a feature other TVs have added.

Is LG Gallery Mode or Art Mode worth it?

Overall, if I were to add this LG art gallery TV to my living room, a big reason I’d want it is for Gallery Mode’s ability to make it disappear into the room and fit in like a part of the decor, but since it’s limited in its customization, and it constantly flashes to black, I think these two issues alone make it a dealbreaker for me personally. A lot of folks are comparing this TV to the Samsung Frame TV, but the Frame is way more adept at hiding as an art piece. Check out my full review of the Frame TV here or see how to add your own art and photos to the Frame TV here.

So that’s what you need to know; if you’re okay with the factory basics of art mode, and plan to use the LG TV art mode as more of a screensaver than as an art piece, you’ll be fine. If you’re really hoping for a showpiece and for your TV to blend in, you might be disappointed. I do hope LG is able to make some upgrades to this feature in future TVs or even firmware updates.

Do you have questions about the Gallery Mode experience, or wonder about how it compares to the Frame TV? Please post in comments below.

LG C1 OLED TV and Samsung The Frame are both available at Best Buy Canada, or from Amazon.

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