This stunning plasma's Full HD 1080p picture quality gets even better with the addition of our 600Hz Max Field Driving, which makes each frame of video brighter and clearer. Better still is the power and convenience of LG Smart TV, with its easy access to premium content.
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SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEW'S
1) Good price, good screen quality, comprehensive smart TV features, limited analog video input - I usually wait until others have given their reviewer comments before I decide to buy an expensive item on amazon, but this time I can't wait any longer because my old 46" Sanyo is dying and I must replace it with a new TV or else I have no news to watch at dinner time.
I had my eyes on plasma TVs because I want to have a wider viewing angle for my living room, and also that I am tired of the ghostly pixelization images during fast movements on my old 60 Hz Sanyo LCD. The plasma TV is supposed to eliminate these problems with its higher 600 Hz refresh rate which this TV indeed seems to do. I also was originally hoping to get a Samsung 3D plasma TV but I have a budget limit not to exceed 1K and the Samsungs are well above that. Then I came across this LG 60" plasma smart TV. I was once thinking if I should get the 3D version but later decided against that idea, after learning that the 3D counterpart of this LG plasma TV does not come with the active syncing 3D glasses needed and I would have to shell out a couple more hundreds to get them, far exceeding my budget limit.
Amazon special delivery of this TV was fast enough, though not within the usual 2 day time frame I usually enjoyed as a Primer member. I received the TV on June 20 and it took me less than an hour to unpack, gather the parts and assemble the stand onto the TV. My neighbor helped me bring it up to my home theater table that my Sanyo once sit, and this TV looks a LOT bigger than the old 46" Sanyo. In fact, if it's any bigger than 60" it would start to block my window.
Now I have used this TV for over two weeks I think I can share the following user experience with fellow amazon shoppers:
Pros:
I have not had time to do any video calibration using my Bru-ray calibration discs, but its preset video settings are good enough to me, except the default auto energy saving mode, which is a bit too dark under daylight. I usually use the presets Vivid and Sport and they look very bright and crisp even during day time hours. There is no dead pixel on my TV, so I consider myself lucky. I believe once I can get around my busy schedule and really calibrate the TV following the Bru-ray calibration discs, its picture quality will be even better.
Not much reflection on my TV even with plenty of daylight (but no direct sunlight) and I only notice the reflections when I turned it off.
The smart TV feature isn't bad at all compared to the another smart TV I had bought 2 years ago. It wasn't clear from the product description if this TV will provide Amazon Instant Video support, but it does. In fact, it has support for pretty much all the common video streaming services like Netflix,, Hulu and YouTube. I can cast videos from my iPad and Android to the TV screen on Netflix and YouTube (off my head I forgot if I can do that with Amazon video as well), so basically the smart feature on this TV completely replaces my existing Google Chromecast, freeing up one HDMI port. I only miss the background picture mode of the Chromecast when not in use.
Input selection software on this TV is very smart but not too smart. What I meant is that it will detect newly powered on devices and ask me if I wish to connect to them, but it will not insist that a device wasn't powered on and refuse to connect there. This is very important for my 3 to 1 video switch described below in the Cons section to work.
The tuner on this TV seems to be more sensitive than my old Sanyo, and it picks up more off-the-air stations than my old Sanyo. Actually, the tuner on this TV picks up quite a few duplicative broadcasts in Central Iowa, meaning that it's the same TV station but from different channels that I have to deselect. I don't have cable service so I use an outdoor antenna to pick up HDTV broadcasts for news. I watch no cable at all so the monthly fees on cable or satellite TV is a total waste to me.
The TV passes through all digital audios from all sources to it's optical audio output. I can get Dolby Digital and DTS sound from my XBMC home theater device and my DVD player that are connected to the TV with HDMI. Of course, due to the nature of its optical audio link I don't expect it would pass TrueHD or Dolby Plus to my receiver but my old receiver can't handle these newer audio streams anyway. Therefore, for my purpose this TV functions as a many-to-one digital video/audio switch when switching video sources, which greatly expands the capacity of the digital audio sources my receiver can receive without changing cables.
The remote seems functional and almost all buttons I need to control my TV was on it. The only complain is that I still don't know what some buttons do! Like the 4 color buttons?!
Cons:
The TV has only 3 HDMI port and 1 analog video port. The latter is especially limiting to because it uses the same set of 5 jacks for EITHER composite video Y, L and R OR component video Y, Pb, PR, L and R, but not both at the same time. Since I have many old composite video devices and also the Nintendo Wii which produces component video, this would be a major headache for me if not with the help of a cheap mechanical video switch like this one seen on amazon Cable N Wireless 3-Way Audio Video RCA Composite AV Video Game Selector Switch Box Splitter. I connected my VCR and LD player Y video line only to the switch and the Wii Y, Pb and Pr lines to the switch as well. I route all their audio directly to my receiver which is old and has plenty of L/R audio input jacks. This separation of video and audio to TV and the receiver also improves the video signal quality to the TV, although I don't know why. I then connect the output from the switch to the TV Y, Pb and Pr jacks and leaving the audio L/R ports unconnected. Now, because of the three line connection from the switch to the TV, the TV detects only component video input BUT it still allows me to choose the A/V input (i.e., composite) option and when I set to that the TV will comply and switch the video mode to composite even it doesn't detect it. Had the TV insisted that there was only component connection then my video switch scheme wouldn't work.
The TV gives me alternative choices to either play all sound through its own speakers, or to route all of them to its optical audio output, which requires me to turn on my receiver all the time. Unlike my old Sanyo TV which outputs on BOTH its speakers and digital audio output, I find the mutually exclusive audio output options somewhat inconvenient, especially that I have to go into the Settings menu to get the audio output option switched. I would love that the TV either output audios to both its speakers AND its optical output, or make it a simple one button switch on its remote control. That being said, I will gladly trade in this convenience for the digital audio passthrough feature of this new TV as I described above.
The TV does not come with good printed user manual. I can't find any printed instruction to explain some of the TV Settings like the 3 anti burn-in options and how do they differ, or to learn about the Apps in the Smart TV home screen. The TV does come with an electronic user support guide buried deep inside its menu hierarchy but even there I don't find all the instructions to explain some of the TV setting functions. I guess I will figure them out eventually.
Summary
Despite a few limitations, I gladly give this TV a 5 star rating given the low price I paid for it and the fact that it fits so well among my mostly old home theater devices. In particular I like its digital audio passthrough function that expands the limited digital input on my old receiver, but I also dislike that all my analog video devices must share the ONE analog video port on this TV. I noticed its price has changed dramatically on amazon so you may find it a bit expensive to buy now. However, I would definitely recommend this TV to buyers who do not need all that bells and whistles and just want a good quality TV screen with versatile smart TV features and a good price. This is the 2014 model just came out in May, so there should be plenty of supplies and chances of finding lower prices later.
By B. Boye on July 6, 2014
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