LG LCD TV Reviews

LG’s 47LH50 is a set that stands apart from all other LCD HDTVs on the market in that it takes full advantage of its interactive features. It’s the first and only set to date that features Netflix streaming movies, which allows users to watch instant, free-to-subscribers all-you-can watch movies and TV shows without needing an external box. Sony claimed that the service will be available for its own compatible TVs this fall, and it will most likely be available on the Yahoo Widget TVs from Samsung by winter. Yahoo Widgets is also offered on the LH50 and it seems to work better with the service than Samsung.

With no interactive features to speak of in LG’s 42LH90, Samsung’s LUXIA UN55B9000 seems to surpass LG’s set. However, the 42LH90’s LED technology does give viewers fantastic black levels and color accuracy. And its 240Hz refresh rate blows many other sets out of the running for best picture. LG provides users a slew of picture controls, including the Picture Wizard feature that assists in optimizing the display. LG's dejudder processing also smoothes out images during action sequences, reproducing them in a much more natural fashion.

LG’s 47LH90’s strongest points are its black levels and color accuracy. While it lacks the interactive features in the Samsung’s LUXIA UN55B9000, it still has great power saving features, including being Energy Star rated. With a 240Hz refresh rate, a flurry of picture controls, and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, the 47LH90 reproduces vivid images and color saturation. Much like Toshiba and Vizio LCDs, LG’s set uses a scanning backlight technology that actually increases the standard 120Hz technique of doubling a 60-frame signal with a backlight that flickers arbitrarily. This differs from Sony and Samsung’s technology, which uses a distinctive method to achieve the 240Hz refresh rate, quadrupling the original signal.

The race to surpass the picture quality of plasmas continues, and LG’s 55LH90 sets its sights at doing just that. Boasting a slew of new features intended to bring consumers the best possible picture, LG has put a lot of effort into its LH90 series, but it doesn’t quite surpass the clarity and depth of most high-end plasma TVs. While the LED technology in the 55LH90 does provide astounding black levels and energy saving features, though it’s often hard to really notice the benefits of its 240Hz refresh rate. Most notably, there are no interactive features in the 55LH90 to speak of, a major differential in other recent high-end LCDs to come on the market, such as Sony’s BRAVIA KDL-52XBR10 or Samsung’s LUXIA UN55B9000.