Saturday, 30 January 2010

47 Inch


Summary - This is a good buy if you are looking for a LED Television with 3D and internet capability.



Background - This television is mounted on the provided stand and placed on top of a media chest. The television sits above the seated viewers. Replaces a 5 year old 40" Sony Bravida LCD panel. Connected to a HD TiVo and a Sony Blu Ray.



Set-Up - Fast and easy. The manual is adequate, but not excellent. The "Pro" video set-up is a nice feature and gets the picture looking its best quickly. The HDMI cables come out of the back of the television at a right angle on the left side rear. Placement is not optimal since HDMI cables have a tendency to be stiff and sharp bends are not recommended. There is enough room to make the gentle bend and align the cables, but tie wraps are a must for more than one cable.



Stand - Basic. Swivels right to left, but a tilt feature should have been included. See comments about 3D for explanation. A cable management slot on the stand would also have been nice to clean-up the cables for those who are not wall mounting.



Picture - Sharp and clear. No motion artifacts. Superior to the Sony it replaces, but this was expected due to the technology improvements since the purchase of the Sony.



Sound - Decent for ultra-thin panel televisions. If you are looking for audio quality, I recommend an external amplifier and speakers. For normal viewing, the sound is acceptable and voices are clear.



3D Blu ray - Comparable to my expensive active 3D television without the flicker and associated issues. Although the picture quality is not as high, I challenge most viewers to tell the difference. As stated in other reviews, there is some ghosting if the television tilt does not point the television straight at the viewer (A tilting stand would have been a nice feature for LG to add, but alas, it only swivels!). To the right and left of the television, there is no degradation of the 3D experience.



2D to 3D - This television does a superior job of converting 2D into 3D. It seems to excel when the film has depth of field and the less action, but the overall experience is very good. Based on my prior experience with my Active 3D television, I expected far less and found this to be a compelling 3D experience.



Internet TV - Linked to Amazon.com quickly and easily. Netflix was also excellent. Some buffering issues left me wishing that the television stored more of he content locally as the video streamed. Web Browsing was less than adequate and I did not find it a useful experience, with the television not always responding to the commands of the remote. Apps are limited and it made me wonder why someone does not develop an Android based television or a iOS based television so that there could be more Aps to access.



Remote - The standard remote is decent and well laid out, but unless you own LG components, you will have to have multiple remotes. A learning remote would have been a nice feature. Key back-light is dimmer than I would like.



Magic Wand Remote - Think Wii controller for a television. Similar to other people, I had trouble with the response of the remote and found it worked best when I was sitting straight in front of the television. I felt that the software could use further optimization and I don't see this currently as product differentiation and I would not buy this television for this capability alone.



Recommendation - I would recommend this television and I am satisfied with the purchase. LG Infinia 47LW5600 47-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV with Smart TV (Included: Four Pairs of 3D Glasses)

No Flicker / Wider Viewing Angle / Brighter Picture / Cheaper Glasses / No Recharging / More Fun with more Friends



Active 3D is already obsolete. If you don't believe me do a side by side comparison at your local electronic store. Yes, you do have half the resolution when viewing in 3D, but you will not be able to tell. The pixels are spilt in half from 1080 to 540, but you see both halves of a 540 image at the same time giving you that full HD illusion. It's amazing! I have 20/20 vision and sit 7ft away from my TV and I see no jagged edges. I have heard the bigger the TV the worse the picture looks in 3D with passive technology. I was sold after looking at the 55" at the electronic store. It is every bit of the 3D experience you'll find in an active 3D set if not better and more natural like the theaters. Check it out for yourself. I purchased this 47" lw5600 and am very pleased.



However, there is some negatives about this TV which is why I gave it 4 stars.



1) The magic motion controller is to horrible for browsing the web. It's worthless, think about having to point at every letter you want to spell, don't even get me started on scrolling down a page. I almost developed turrets syndrome trying to use this thing. I've given up trying, so I just connected my laptop to the TV so I can use my wireless mouse and keyboard to surf the web. -1/2 STARS



2) The stand is cheap. It looks good but the TV will wobbles when you move it. Don't worry its not going to break but LG could have just put a little more effort in this TV's stand. However, I do like that it swivels. -1/4 STARS



3) This TV must be at eye level. 3D images will start ghosting if you looking down or up at this TV. This is no big deal considering you have a huge viewing angle and you can view 3d when lying down. Also, It can be mounted above or below you if angled correctly -1/4 STARS

The passive 3-D works quite well, but you will want to be eye level with the set. (No above the fireplace mounting here) There is almost no ghosting at all, even on content which contains crosstalk on my 3-D plasma. Resolution IS reduced (I can easily tell) but it isn't that bad and as long as you sit far enough away from the set, you won't see scan lines. The 3-D from blu-ray 3D is bright and of course the polarized glasses are lightweight and easily replaceable. Directv's 3-D channels are bit softer on this set but still acceptable.



Is it as good as my active 3-D set? Not quite, as the active has better picture quality, but the passive set comes out on top even over the plasma as far as lack of ghosting/crosstalk goes. I think most casual 3-D viewers would be quite pleased. 2-D to 3-D conversion is probably the best I've seen also, though I would rarely use this feature.



I wouldn't call active obsolete (after all, 3-D content works on either kind of set, just as you can choose between LCD, plasma or DLP, you can choose active or passive) but if they can get the resolution to be better (full 1080p in both eyes) I would expect the market to go in the passive direction.



2-D picture is excellent, and the various apps and internet features are well executed.'


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