LG’s 42LH50 is designed for the consumer looking for interactive features. This is the first set to date that is equipped with Netflix streaming movies, letting users view free-to-subscribers movies and TV shows with no external box. The amount of films available to watch is less than the normal mail order service, including the lack of newer releases, but the streaming service still has many films.
Note: LG’s 42LH50 shares the same features and performance as all models in LG LH50 LCD HDTV series. This review here is slightly shorter than the LG 47LH50 Review. If you want to find out a bit more about this model (especially about its features), feel free to consult that review as well.
Brief Specifications of 42LH50
- Resolution: 1080p (standard), 1920 x 1080 (exact)
- Contrast Ratio: 12000:1 (native), 70,000:1 Contrast Ratio (dynamic)
- 120Hz TruMotion processing
- THX Certified: NO
- Picture-in-Picture: NO
- Anti-glare filter: YES
- 24p cinema mode: YES
- NetFlix streaming
- SIMPLINK
- Smart Energy Saving Plus
- Four HDMI Inputs
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Picture Wizard useful feature for new users
- Four HDMI and one PC input
- NetFlix streaming capability a first on LH50 series
- Yahoo! Widgets operate better than any other brand
- Energy saving features
Cons:
- Black levels a bit too thin
- Off-angle viewing not good
- Anti-blur and anti-judder processing combined
- Set has issues with 1080p/24 sources
- S-Video input not provided
Features
LG’s Netflix doesn’t allow users to change any picture controls except for the presets for its picture modes. Yet this still gives users more control of the picture than Yahoo Widgets’ current video players. And the eight picture modes provided are most likely fine for viewers. The LG 42LH50 lets users stream photos and music from networked PCs and also photos (JPEG) and video (MPEG-4, XVid) from the thumbdrives with its USB port. Sony and Samsung’s models can handle DLNA video streaming, but LG’s cannot. The LH50 series has no wireless capability, meaning interested users must buy a router.
Black Levels
The LG 42LH50’s black levels are a bit lighter than Panasonic’s TC-P50V10, Sony’s KDL-52XBR9, and Samsung’s LN52B750. The images are not as realistic in dark scenes, though Samsung’s B650, Sony’s XBR9, and JVC’s LT-P46300 all mirror this problem.
Color Accuracy
With the abundance of picture controls that LG gives users, the LH50 series has a lot of color accuracy overall, withstanding its black levels of course. While its color points, grayscale, and color-decoding accuracy beat out the Sony KDL-52XBR9 and XBR9, as well as Samsung’s LN52B750, the LG has a bit less saturation than the other LCDs.
Video Processing
While the 42LH50’s dejudder feature is designed to replicate film-based sources, it often looks like video too much. It also has a lot of issues with 1080p/24 sources. This isn’t usually a problem with a lot of other sets 120Hz refresh rates. The LH50’s Real Cinema feature causes images catch, and flail to the point of making a source unable to be watched. LG LH50 has around 300 and 400 lines without dejudder processing and around 500 and 600 lines when on.
Standard definition
The jagged edges in some images are reduced greatly in the LH50 series. It also does wonders with noise reduction. When 2:3 pull-down detected, the 42LH50 has no problem as well.
Glare and Reflections
With its matte-screened displays, the LH50 series does okay with ambient lighting, much better than the glossy Samsung LCD screens. Sony and JVC’s matte-screen displays don’t seem to do as good of a job as LG’s.
Conclusion
The 42LH50’s features are plentiful, but its downfall is the issues with its picture quality. But with interactive features like NetFlix streaming capability and Yahoo! Widgets that can check weather, sports, and more, most users be satisfied. LG’s Yahoo Widgets also work smooth Samsung’s, and the LH50 series also gives users their own YouTube client and network streaming as a bonus. Video quality really depends on a user’s Internet connection, but the HD videos can seem a bit better than DVD at times.
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