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LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black
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As my first HDTV purchase, I did a lot of research going in. Plasmas are a bit cheaper, but due to concerns about burn-in (as I'm using the set with a Home Theater PC, which has a number of static elements that are often on-screen) I decided I wanted to go with an LCD panel. Then came the questions of brand, size, and features. LG is very well-reviewed, looked great in the store, and has a better reputation than, say, Phillips or Vizio. (This is not to say all the panels from the latter manufacturers seemed poor, but they definitely appear to use cheaper components.) 42" is a great middle-high size point, not so huge that it won't fit in a smallish apartment like mine, yet big enough to really feel sizable. And, as for features, this really has most of the bells and whistles one could ever want, including 120Hz playback for Blu-ray content.
The TV has a nice smattering of inputs--I have it hooked up via HDMI to my HTPC--and looks great. It has a very subdued aesthetic, with a glossy bezel (that, yes, will attract fingerprints, but wipes off easily with the included cleaning cloth) and a fairly unobtrusive idle/power light. The on-screen display is very well thought out and easy to navigate, with coherent groupings of the various settings, and quick access to some of the more commonly accessed on a special "Quick Menu". The built-in sound is good for a TV, but they're still built-in speakers, so don't expect anything mind-blowing here (or on any TV, really).
And, lastly, it looks great. It has a wonderful built-in calibration program that really has resulted in a very balanced picture. It also has good energy saving and brightness features, easily accessible via a dedicated button the remote, so you can drop down the brightness to 25 or 50% if it's too bright. It also has an auto-sensing feature for brightness (much like the feature seen on Apple laptop displays), though I found I tend to prefer it a little brighter than the auto-sensing feature would dictate.
All in all, an easy five stars. Highly recommended, especially given the 120Hz proofs you for the future. And, as an aside, don't waste money on a 240Hz TV. You've already got 5:5 pulldown with Blu-ray (24p, which divides into 120Hz evenly but not into the usual 60Hz). It took a while for me to be sold on 120Hz as a worthwhile factor in making my purchasing decision, but 240Hz really is more of a marketing ploy than anything.
I want to draw special attention to the 120hz function of the TV, which is buried in the expert settings of the video options. LG advertises this feature as 'TruMotion 120hz', but the option in the menu simply states "120hz." This can cause some confusion for some people. Let me explain what is going on. This TV will refresh at 120hz, no matter what - which is exactly what you want it to do. The 120hz option in the menu that I am referring to has nothing to do with that - is not really turning 120hz on or off. The name of the option is misleading. It really should be called "TruMotion" (as LG calls it, rather than just "120hz" - which implies that you are changing the refresh rate. Samsung refers to the feature as "Auto Motion Plus.") To make a long story short, this feature has to do with frame interpolation, not refresh rate. You will find that this setting should be OFF for films (unless you want the frame rate to look "weird" and more like video instead of film) and either on LOW or HIGH (depending on your preference) for sports and video games - basically, you want the feature on for things that are shot at 60 frames per second, and off for films, which are shot at 24 frames per second. There are some times when the 120h setting can be tolerated on LOW for films, but after a while, you will just find yourself thinking that it looks a little too "weird," and too realistic - NOT film-like. Keep the RealCinema option on (which makes 24-frame film look better). The TV will know if something is 24fps or 60fps, and will adjust accordingly. So, don't think that you have to turn that feature off when you're watching sports. You don't. Just keep it on and the TV will know when it needs to use it.
This TV only needed some MINOR calibration to make the brightness/colors what they should be. I had to heavily calibrate my other HDTVs, but this one only needed a little calibration to have perfectly accurate colors. It has 4 HDMI ports (more than I would ever need!), an optical audio port, and some analog ports (which I won't ever need to use, considering it has 4 HDMI ports!). I can't wait to purchase a Blu-Ray home theater system to compliment this new TV, but LG has decided that Europe and Korea are the only places that deserve their RESPECTABLE Blu-Ray home theater in a box systems. The two they released here in the US do not play DivX or MKV files via a USB stick (the standalone LG BD390 does, but I want the feature to be included in a home theater system, like they have released overseas). Hopefully LG will release the good systems in their 2010 lineup.
Now, back to the TV. I really don't have too much else to say, because everything else is pretty perfect. The menus are easy to navigate, switching inputs is easy, and there is a "quick menu" button on the remote that makes it easy to switch between video and audio modes without having the giant menu on the screen while you do it. I want to stress how happy I am with the speakers, once more. While I need to have surround sound when I get my inevitable Blu-Ray player, I have no problem with the built-in speakers. They are easily the best built-in speakers I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Did I mention that there is also an option that makes the human voice higher than the background noise (for those films with poor audio, or those people watching that don't care much for bass and just want to hear the dialog). This feature disables the virtual surround sound (which I believe was also disabled by default, so make sure you go and turn that on if you want to really enjoy the speakers) because it lowers everything that is not on the same frequency of the human voice. I was skeptical at first, but it really works, and it works well. But, since my hearing is good, I don't need to use this feature yet, so I will stick to the built in virtual surround sound system that the TV comes with (which, on cinema mode with the bass and treble turned up all the way sounds really amazing).
In closing, amazing LCD HDTV. I highly recommend this item.
Setup was simple, plug in the HDMI cables and go. Training the Uverse remote to control the set was painless. Colors were outstanding out of the box in "Natural" mode and the automatic tuning wizard was very easy to follow.
Only small negative so far is mediocre black level. It's noticeable at night when watching a movie, but I've never been distracted by it. Several "professional" reviews knock this set for black levels but I honestly don't see the big deal. If you want deep blacks, buy a plasma.
Definitely recommend this set to anyone looking for a great value in the 40" LCD range. Amazon ordering and shipping were great. Shipping company called to confirm my selected appointment and showed up on time.
The screen is bright and beatiful and sports in high-def look amazing. The menus are clear and intuitive which makes changing settings a breeze. The remote isn't anything fancy but I do like the large input button that allows you to quickly switch between devices by displaying large icons that represents your inputs with the active inputs in color. The tv has a on off indicator on the lower right hand side that glows blue when off and red when on. This light also does a little Knight Rider type animation when the tv has been turned on and is warming up. Blue-Ray movies give you the best picture, then high-def tv, then upconverted dvds, then standard-def tv. Standard-def looks pretty crummy but that is to be expected on any large HDTV. Sound is also pretty darn good to be coming from built speakers.
Overall
Pros - Picture, menus, # of inputs, sound, style
Cons - Remote isn't backlit
One thing that is great is the sound on this TV. It is much better than your typical LCD 20 watt speakers. It is just amazing and very clear!
I haven't spent time calibrating because I just got it yesterday but I will and have heard that this can help a great deal with picture quality.
Overall, I'm impressed immensely and am just glad that I got a great deal on it! If you can find it at the price I paid or even at $699 then do yourself a favor and pick this bad boy up!
The picture quality is quite frankly, amazing, compared to our 1080p sony downstairs, and compared to the old Sharp. It must be the 120hz.
On many shows, such as CSI, or Californication, or Desperate Housewives, you feel like you're actually on the set, it is so life-like. My wife actually finds it a bit disconcerting, but I think she is getting used to it.
This weekend SyFy was running a James Bond marathon in HD, and even those old movies looked amazing. I've never seen an old movie look so clear. I'm talking about the old Sean Connery Bond movies, watching them and feeling like you were on the set, it was impressive.
Almost everything we have watched is great, except Grey's Anatomy. For whatever reason that one show does not look good on this TV, it must be the equipment they film with or something. Other shows on ABC look fine, other dramas, sports, movies, it is just that one show.
We also got an LG network capable blu-ray player (network capable means it can connect to the Internet and get things like Netflix for you, which is really nice). And the TV talks to the DVD player so we can use one controlled to control both, except if we're using the TV controller it doesn't have a disc-menu button, so that is kinda annoying.
Initially the sound was kinda bad on the TV, it was really hard to hear dialog. There is an audio setting called "dialog" something er other and once we turned it on the problem was solved, so make sure you do that. I'm surprised it was not on by default.
The only thing to really complain about is the delivery. They pushed back the date a couple times and then on the delivery day missed their window and didn't show up until like 7 at night, they were nice and efficient when they got here, but obviously the delivery company needs to hire more drivers.
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