*Updated 7/9/11*
I've had this TV for about 4+ months now. The strongest feature is the picture quality which I would hope is also your number one priority. I find the blacks to be deep and the colors saturated and bright. This is an edge-lit LCD and does not have any sort of local dimming. But I can honestly say you won't miss it. There are plenty of options for a video-phile to get right down and tweak the heck out of the display, but most people will be blown away with just the Standard picture setting. One gripe is that I'm not convinced you can truly disable Dynamic Contrast. Even with it, "Disabled" I will catch it doing an unnecessary dimming in low-light scenes. I'm still on the fence with Tru Motion. I mostly leave it off. It's just a little too jarring for my brain right now. I was raised on 30/24 FPS. You'll see what I mean (And learn what the, "Soap Opera Effect" is). Smart TV is a nice diversion. You can browse the web, Facebook, etc. But take note that at this time they do not offer Pandora as an app which is a tremendous letdown. There is also no support for an external keyboard - so have fun navigating the web with the Magic Motion remote! (/endsarcasm) I find myself using Media Link frequently. Media Link is essentially Plex running on your TV. You just need to have Plex running on any Windows/OSX computer on your network and your computer will stream right to the TV. It's a great feature and is a tremendous piece of software. As a side note, LG includes a Wireless N adapter unlike Sony who makes you buy it separately for $100. Physically, the TV is very light and slim. The bezel isn't the thinnest I've ever seen, though, if that matters to you. The Magic Motion remote is only OK. It's nothing like a Wii remote. You'll find yourself constantly resetting it because the pointer floats off its original center point in a matter of seconds. I ended up using the normal remote mostly. Sound-wise, the sound/speakers are pretty low-end. They make noise and you can hear stuff, but that's about it.
All in all, this TV excels where a TV should excel: Picture quality. Go to your local retailer and see for yourself. I actually bought this TV based on what I saw with my own eyes. Despite some minor gripes, I feel confident recommending it to anyone on the market for an LED LCD that is fairly budget-friendly.
My Wishlist so far:
1. Not offering Pandora as a Premium App is inexcusable these days. It's the first app I looked for and it's really the only one I care about. And along those lines...
1a. ...If you're playing your iPod through the TV (Stereo mini-plug) to send to your receiver via the TV's Optical-out, the TV thinks there is no signal then shuts itself off automatically after a few minutes, effectively killing your iPod signal.
2. Add TruMotion to the quick menu. It's a very situational feature. I'd love to be able to just enable/disable without digging through the menu.
3. Would like to see release notes for updates. LG Infinia 55LV5500 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV with Smart TV
This is probably the best deal on a 55-inch LED TV for the price. Initially, I was going to buy the cheapest, largest LCD TV I can buy but I ended up buying this one because for 55-inch LED TV, this is cheaper than most LCD TVs plus the smartTV option was great for me since I don't really watch much real TV but I need my Netflix working.
Got my TV, hooked up the LG wifi USB stick, connected to Netflix within seconds and my kids were watching their favorite kid's movies off netflix and we still have no cable!
The TV is super thin, uses less energy than any other TV on the market, and the picture quality is great plus the screen is 55-inches, lovin' it. I used to have a 46-inch but this 55-inch is definitely a great addition to my home.
I know Hulu is coming soon through software update and when that comes my TV will be even better.
For those of you looking to spend around $1200-1400 on the biggest TV you can afford, this is definitely it.
And also I don't need 3D yet and this is good since it's not added to the cost of my TV, I rather wait 2 more years for that when 3D prices come down.
Overall, this is the best 55-inch LED TV you will find anywhere, great prices, and forget all those smaller 42 or 46 inches with 3D unless you are a 3D freak.
This is my first large screen HDTV purchase and I had a list of requirements that had to be met. It had to play a plethora of video codecs natively (so no need for a Blu-ray player) and formats (mkv, iso, avi, xvid etc..) and the viewing angle and picture quality had to be terrific (as in better than comparable models from the last few years). This TV certainly met my lowest requirements and was within my budget. My main video sources are over-the-air HD channels, HD mkv files off of my computer, and video content off of the apps the TV comes with.
Pros:
-Very thin frame. As with all LED-LCD frames, these TV's are just a few millimeters thick. It also takes very little energy.
-Great picture quality. No complaints here. I turned off Tru-Motion and did some calibration and it looks terrific. Absolutely comparable to Sony and Samsung with the right settings. There is some grainy-ness if you get really close up while watching over-the-air HD but this is the case with every set I've seen, whether LED or Plasma.
- While this feature isn't really advertised, 2011 LG Smart TV's come with "Plex" compatibility. Plex is a server you install on your computer and you can stream video/audio/pictures over wifi or wired LAN. It is MUCH better than DLNA in every way. I only use the Plex server, never DLNA anymore because the graphical interface is so much better and the stream connection seems to be more reliable. Plex will pretty much play every video file you throw at it in any resolution (MKV, AVI, ISO, XVID, even uncompressed BD-rips). There are some issues currently with DTS audio in anything other than 2 channel stereo however.
- I believe every unit comes with an IPS panel. There is no more panel lottery anymore with this model at least. Google 'IPS' panel for more info on that if you are unfamiliar.
-Magic Wand Remote. This TV actually comes with 2 remotes. One standard one that has a built in backlight and is laid out very nicely (big buttons). The second remote that comes with this TV is called the "Magic Wand Remote" and it's basically like a Wii-mote. It's a Bluetooth remote that you move to move an on-screen cursor. This makes typing on the on-screen keyboard easy and navigating through menus a breeze.
- Wi-fi is standard. This model comes with a wi-fi adapter standard, so you don't have to buy one. The TV also has a LAN (ethernet) port if you wish to go wired.
Cons:
-The biggest con for me isn't really a problem specific to this set, but wi-fi streaming in general. I have tried to stream 1080p MKV's that are 8-12 GB and above and my 802.11n LAN can't do it without buffering the video every minute or two. I have found that the biggest factor in whether or not a file buffers or plays smoothly over wi-fi is file size. My wireless connection is strong and there's no interference or distance issues. It's just not possible to send huge HD files over most wifi LAN's and have it play back without some buffering, which makes certain files unwatchable. With that said, anything under 5 GB (even HD MKVs) stream perfectly using Plex with no buffering and you have the ability to turn on the subtitles. A lot of the smaller MKV's that work for me still look great in HD (comparable to Blu-Ray). My next step will be to see if an external harddrive directly connected to the USB port on the TV would eliminate buffering. I will also try and get a better internal LAN speed with my N network as that is the main culprit in my buffering. I will update when I try this in the future.
-The speakers on this TV are terrible. I guess when you have a really thin TV you can't put anything better than oversized laptop speakers. Right out of the box, I thought the speakers were broken, they sounded so tinny and distorted, like they had blown out already. After tweaking the sound settings a little they sounded much more reasonable, but they are still very soft and you have to crank it up a lot. This is one area where CRT TV's trump the new flat screens. To truly enjoy this set, I would at least get a sound bar. Almost any external speakers would be an upgrade here.
- The YouTube app from LG (and for that matter the Plex YouTube app also) are useless. You can't view channel pages, you can't find specific videos and you can't watch live YouTube streams. You are pretty much subject to whatever they want to put up when you search for something and to make matters worse the app is VERY slow. I have a 12 MB internet connection and the TV is in the same room as the router, so the loading of whatever random video it gives you is fast but the app itself is unusable. With that said, once you actually get a 1080p YouTube video playing they look outstanding.
- All other apps in general are cumbersome and feel like they are in beta mode. Don't get this TV if you are interested mainly in internet connectivity and features. The built in browser is slower than dial-up and has no flash support. Plex has additional plugins comparable to the LG apps but they don't work either. Plex is best used as a server only but they may improve over time regarding their plugins (apps). FYI on the TV itself Plex is accessed through an app called "MediaLink".
-There is a tiny bit of flashlighting now and then but not really enough to complain about. There is no clouding that I have seen and very little edge light leakage (a good thing).
The only other thing I will mention is that this TV may have locked down functionality. I was reading through AVforums' user impressions of this TV and at some point in an earlier firmware version, apparently this TV had local-dimming settings which would lead me to believe it may not be an edge-lit LED. Don't take my word for it, I don't really know. There may also be built in DVR functionality if you hook up an external hard drive (which once again apparently disappeared with a firmware upgrade). None of these things are advertised and are features in international versions of this model. You can research more on that on your own but it's not really a pro or a con, just something to ponder.
LG's 2011 55LV5500 model is priced enough under Sony and Samsung's comparable LED-LCD's to take a good chunk of the market away from them. I was set on a Samsung or Sony but after researching this model and getting a great deal from another website, I went with the LG 55LV5500 instead and I am pleased. We'll have to wait and see if I get the longevity of a Sony TV. I give this TV 4 stars, with the major flaw being broken internet apps.'
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