Picture quality is good, although I had to mess with the color settings a lot (I'm still not sure I've got it 100% correct). There is some slight discoloration around the edges, but this is only noticeable when the TV is displaying one solid color.
I can't stand to have the smoothing option (called TruMotion) turned on. It's supposed to make TV look better, but I think it makes everything look like a soap opera. Luckily, it's easy to turn off (Menu>Picture>TruMotion). Note: you'll have to turn off TruMotion for each individual input. TV will look a little juddery without the smoothing, but it's a limitation of all 120Hz TVs, and it's a whole lot better than having TruMotion turned on (in my opinion).
That said, movies and video games look fantastic with the smoothing turned off. My Xbox 360 and PS3 games look great, as do Blu-ray movies.
I maxed out the 3 HDMI ports pretty quickly (Xbox 360, PS3, DVR), but I figure if I need another one, it'd probably be time to get a receiver anyway. It should be noted that there is only one set of component inputs.
Speakers are fine, nothing to write home about but they get the job done.
Remote requires you to point at a pretty specific spot (the lower-right corner of the TV). Kind of annoying, but I got used to it (I sit about 10 feet away).
The swiveling stand is nice (I turn it to face the kitchen when I'm making dinner), but it only turns about 20 degrees.
Overall, I'm very happy with what I got for the price I paid! LG 47LD520 47-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV
Since owning this television, I've since changed my "perfect settings" about 12 times.
What was throwing me off was the CONTRAST LEVEL. I kept wanting to pump it up to 100, and thought it was the means to the better picture. I was WAY off.
So try these settings out, let me know what you think:
Aspect Ratio: For things like computer input, set it to Just Scan. For things like TV, or Blu Ray, you can select Set By Program for smoother tru motion. (Basically, Just Scan sometimes finds lines on the outside edge, and this actually causes tru motion to look a bit choppy at times.)
Picture Mode: Expert 1
Backlight: 100
Contrast: 82 - THIS IS IMPORTANT. You must fight the temptation to push this higher. It will be worth it.
Brightness: 47 - 53 (set to preference.) Mine is at 50.
H & V Sharpness: 62 (again, set to preference.)
Color: 63
Tint: G6
Dynamic Contrast: Low (works very well with Contrast at 82)
Noise Reduction: Low
Digital Noise Reduction: Medium
Black Level: Low
Real Cinema: Who cares?
Color Gamut: BT709
Edge Enhancer High
Color Temperature: Medium
Gamma: 1.9
The rest can be default.
So why would Contrast at 82 matter? Well, if you read other reviews, you'll see that people bitch about the blacks. Specifically, the mid to upper blacks. Contrast takes care of this. At 82, with Dynamic Contrast at Low, you'll get a very smooth transition from the darkest darks to the lightest blacks. These "mid to upper blacks" are controlled by Contrast, and if you set Contrast to 100, you fade these black levels.
I've had this TV installed for a couple weeks. It was easy setup although upon first look it was not quite what I expect. That is 100% attributed to the fact that I didn't purchase any HDMI cables so I had to hook up my HDMI cable box from time warner using RCA cables. Let me tell you the picture is pretty bad if you aren't using HDMI cables. Once I bought those the next hurdle I had was Time Warner's HDMI channels were unviewable, they kept blinking on/off and was really strange. It wasn't until I called Time Warner and had them resync my cable box that everything came to life. Wholly canolies what a difference. CBS, NBC, Discovery... all the HDMI channels were awesome. It then took me an hour plus to go to all my DVR recordings and change from regular tv to HDMI channels. Even a basic news reports is dang near spectacular viewing via Hi Def. I have watched a few Netflix movies and DVD movies utilizing the 1080P up-convert on my DVD player and it is quite awesome however in comparison to my buddies Blue Ray player it's not quite the same. That being said I have no complaints at all, the TV looks great! I did purchase a new LG surround sound system to support the Fiber Optic Audio output being that the TV has just has adequate audio. The presets on video are good and the video wizard to help setup the video for your specific environment is good. For $800, no tax, free shipping and "same as cash financing" (with signing up for an Amazon card) I'm very pleased with this TV. Usually a purchase of this size brings buyers remorse but I'm still stoked :-)
Excellent product from LG. Ordering was easy, the delivery company was efficient, courteous, and professional. I've now been using this TV for a little over a month now, and have had no issues with it at all.
120Hz - The 120Hz feature, while not necessarily revolutionary, is still a nice evolution of display technology, although with two drawbacks that I've noticed with my short time using this feature. First, it took time for my eyes to adjust to the smoothing effect - older black and white videos appeared almost too smooth, while other more recently produced programs appear to have little difference between 120Hz and normal viewing modes. Second, when filling in blank frames to achieve the smoothing effect, the TV will occasionally "guess" wrong and the frame may distort slightly for an extremely brief moment (so brief I only notice it very rarely). As far as I can tell this is a natural drawback of the 120Hz effect, but occurs so infrequently as to be a very minor complaint. 120Hz can also be turned off
Stand - The display stand works well, with the left/right pivot feature being a nice bonus.
Sound - The TV's built in speakers work quite well, with above average sound quality and a nice range of volume.
Ports - A good range of ports with an extra HDMI, standard video, and USB on the side of the TV for extra convenience.
Picture Quality - Excellent. Absolutely no complaints with the picture on this TV. Colors stand out well and the viewing angle is great.
This TV is an excellent purchase when it is on sale or has special deals attached. Without those deals it seems the price/quality ratio is lessened, and other options may offer better value. - 1080p Lcd Hdtv - 47 Inch - 1080p - Hdtv'
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