HDTV Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Energy Savings’

LG 55LH40 55 Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV Gloss Black

The LH40 Series is a full 1080p LCD HDTV series featuring a TruMotion 120Hz panel and Intelligent Sensor technology along with LG’s Core technologies. The LH40 series also features LG’s Smart Energy Saving technology for higher energy conservation. Full HD performance, a robust feature set and energy savings make this series a standout.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Should be a Bestseller
I nearly pulled the trigger on a Samsung 55″ model but while chasing the cheapest price, ran across this LG at Best Buy for $1799. Detailed info is hard to find, but it was available for store pickup so I took a chance without seeing it first since I could return it easily. I am glad I did. I cannot imagine a better picture. Observations:

Container is 56-1/2″ x 40″ x 21″ with 2 hand holds on each end. Two adult males handled it without much difficulty. Comes with stand attached. Clip the bands, lift the bottomless box up and put it where you want it. I did not, but plan on 3 people to wall mount it.

You are not going to get home theater audio out of any unit without a subwoofer. It is simple physics. This one sounds pretty good for what it is. You can easily connect it to a home theater system with the Digital Audio Out or RCA ports. It has no separate Subwoofer Out port.

I read an article that expounded on the limitations of the human eye to distinguish contrast at any one light level. Think of waiting for your eyes to adjust to bright or dark conditions. The point made is that contrast specs are BS. Test eqpt might measure another TV as having more range than this one, but I don’t think your eyes would detect a difference. This TV has good black levels and maintains them as you crank up the brightness. I still think plasma has the best picture but can’t live with its shortcomings. I question the benefit of LCD LED backlight beyond reduced energy consumption and a skinnier unit. Maybe it improves black levels?

If you have digital cable as a primary source, don’t blame muddy dark areas on a TV. It is just excessive compression they use to save bandwidth. Sat TV is generally better. OTA broadcast is beautiful. Everything falls short of 1080P DVD. A gamma adjustment can help tweak this problem. This TV has some “expert adjustments” including gamma and black level. I haven’t played with them, yet.

One of the imaging engineers I work with gave me a chart that shows the limitations of the human eye with respect to HD. Per the chart, you have to get a lot closer than normal viewing distances to see the difference between 480, 720, or 1080 resolution. This TV is big enough that it might matter to some folks and it looks great up close. I start to see the screen door effect at about a 24″ viewing distance. Even with eagle eyes you would not see it at a comfortable viewing distance.

SD content looks very good but you can’t make it HD. The interpolation algorithms work well. NTSC (the old analog standard, what you get from a VCR) is 320 x 240. Standard DVD is 480P. This is an area where you could see big differences between products.

TV’s are moving toward becoming personal computers. I can see future units having a PDA for a remote and full capabilities. That will be cool. I can’t wait. This one doesn’t have any of that except a USB port for displaying pictures and playing music. It appears that computer capability is what makes a big difference in price. In my opinion, the most capable units are still pretty lame. This is the bottom of the line model but the only difference is the computer features. This TV has a PC port. Online streaming content is 480P, at best, and extremely compressed. I don’t think it looks good on a big screen.

Menus are well designed. This TV makes it easy to optimize to your preferences. I did not like the “Auto” setting for picture brightness. I wanted it brighter. Otherwise, the initial setup wizard did the job.

No S-video. Seems like it is being dropped by the manufacturers.

I would like to have 2 antenna inputs but the only TV I found that has two is Mitsubishi.

Since broadcast frame rates are around 30 fps and interlaced only refreshes half of the lines, I think the effectiveness of 120hz (240hz)refresh rate is pretty subjective and content specific. Same goes for the 24 fps movie source stuff on DVD. This TV has settings for these features. If I find them useful, I will update this review.

I could gush awhile, but I think I will watch the TV instead. When you read other reviews that gush, apply them to this one.

Thanks to all of you who share your opinions and experiences with us. It helps a lot. For TV, even visiting a store will not help much because they do not optimize the picture and the store lighting is usually green. So the brightest one tends to draw your eye.

5 Stars Very pleased with our LG LH40 55″ HDTV
We’re happy with the LG 55″, sound and picture quality are excellent, tho it now has an add-on sound bar and sub-woofer. The TV arrived on time, the guys carried it all the way to the room where it was to be installed; even concerned about the box getting the carpet diry in that room and asked for a blanket or towel. The delivery men removed it from the box and were willing and ready to hook it up for me, a service from them we didn’t need.

This is our first “big TV”, the biggest previous to this being 37″. We’re thrilled with the HD picture, even the looks of this TV.

5 Stars Beautiful Television
Great picture, decent sound quality, easy to setup. Worked right out of the box, no problems.

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LG 32LH40 32 Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV Gloss Black

The LH40 series is a Full 1080p LCD HDTV series featuring a TruMotion 120Hz panel and Intelligent Sensor technology along with LG’s Core technologies. The LH40 series also features LG’s Smart Energy Saving technology for higher energy conservation. Full HD performance, a robust feature set and energy savings make this series a standout.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Excellent LCD TV
While I’ve only had this TV for a few hours, I’m greatly impressed. The picture is wonderful and the sound is great in the small room the TV is in. Although I would like a headphone output, connecting it to a home theater system is easy. Having a USB connection for music and pictures is an interesting feature and the music sounds great. I recommend this TV to anyone looking for an excellent smallish LCD TV.

5 Stars Excellent quality, great price.
Mostly used with my PC. I had to go to a big screen due to my vision. I have an upgraded ATI graphics card and the picture is phenomenal. Also, go DVI from the PC to HDMI into the TV FOR THE BEST DEFINITION and make sure your card is set properly. While watching sports on a 120 Hz 32″ LCD you will see things you’ve probably never seen in the past.

5 Stars Great 2nd TV
This is a good size for a bedroom (where we have it), den, home office, computer monitor – but would be small for a main TV. Before we purchased we had the opportunity to see this LG side-by-side with Sony’s 32XBR9. Having done our research we were expecting to love the Sony. Wrong. The color is better on this LG (its 80,000:1 contrast is better than Sony’s) and the LG has less artifacts with fast action scenes; both the LG and Sony are 120hz but LG’s application seems to work better. Both are full 1080p. The bezel/frame is a bit shiner on the LG (Sony is more matte and nicer in my opinion), but the picture is the thing and we went with the LG. Better picture than the Sony, nice menu features, and even cheaper than the Sony!

5 Stars Better than average TV
This is a better than average TV. It’s much better than my last LCD TV. It has a nice matte finish for the viewing area and a glossy black border with a clear accent.

Pros

* Good contrast ratio and brightness for an LCD TV.

* 1080p resolution. The best you can get for HD TV.

* 120Hz TruMotion minimizes blur, which you mainly notice on scrolling text on sports or news shows.

* Better than average low shimmer and background noise on areas of similar colors, like the sky or walls with slightly different lighting.

* Minimal digital artifacts (jaggies) for fast moving pictures, like ocean waves and car races.

* Energy saving mode.

* The standby and power on lights can be configured to be off when the TV is in either mode.

* The TV can easily swivel on its base a few degrees either direction.

* The speakers point downward instead of the front, which is good for confined spaces.

* It has a screw hole in the back of the base to attach the TV to something sturdy. This helps prevents tipping when you’re concerned about little kids or earthquakes.

* In addition to simple standard controls for the picture calibration, you can also select expert mode, which has many configuration features, including color and tint for red, green, blue, cyan, yellow and magenta, which I’ve rarely seen on TVs. Most people won’t care about this expert feature that I liked.

* The top of the TV has a flat spot where the Wii sensor bar can rest

Cons

* It takes a few seconds to turn on, but it’s really mesmerizing seeing the power light pulsate on.

* It has no S-Video, but that shouldn’t be a problem for most people because of the other available ports.

Other technical features of note

* 4 HDMI ports (1 on side of TV)

* 0 S-Video ports

* 2 Component video ports

* 2 Composite video (RCA) ports (1 on side of TV)

* 1 Analog RGB PC port

* 1 Optical connection for surround sound.

* 1 Coaxial port for digital/analog cable or antenna TV

* 1 USB port on the back of the TV for photo and music playing. At least that is what the menu says.

3 Stars Beautiful picture with some compatibility issues
Bought mine two days ago after some research indicated it had a better picture than Sony XBR9. A quick comparison in store confirmed that. The first one I bought had a defect with the base. It would not go into the TV far enough to align the holes for the four screws. It went back the next day. The second one assembled fine and I had it up an running quickly with a standard def composite video signal from a Verison FIOS STB. The picture was stunning! Absolutely fantastic! Could’nt wait to get HD input connected. First thing was my Sony BDP-S350 BluRay. No signal could be detected by the LG. Works great on the Samsung Plasma. Next thing was my FIOS HD Box. Aaah, a picture, but no sound?!!!? Tried multiple selections/setups with LG customer service on the phone to no avail. It went back for the Sony XBR9. Connectivity is fine now, just wish I had the stunning LG picture!

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Samsung UN40B7000 40 Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

The 7000 Series of television build upon the success of Samsung’s first and second generation LED HDTV models. Each using LEDs as their primary light source, the televisions all feature ultra-high contrast ratios as well as slim depths that allow for more artful designs, plus increased energy savings.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars What “Depth” Really Means
When reviewers say this TV has more depth than others, what they actually mean is that it looks so crystal-clear and three-dimensional that you KNOW when a program is filmed on a studio set. This really takes some getting used to, since all other TV screens we’ve ever watched have conditioned us to see two dimensions only. My husband absolutely loves it for viewing football games, but I prefer the non-LED Samsung version of HDTV for movies and regular programs. (I’d rate this TV a 4.5 but didn’t have this option.)

I also haven’t linked it to my computer yet but look forward to doing so.

5 Stars Not Really LED-Backlit
I got this at ABT Electronics on a deal for 1408. It’s an amazing tv, I’m fully satisfied. But its not LED-Backlit (It’s a edge-lit led tv, the real local dimming ones are the 8000 series). This does cause a loss in image quality, and I knew this. But the features more than make up for it. I was considering this and the LG 47″ model with local dimming, but many of the local dimming tv’s have their own problems, and they didn’t have the style and features of the Samsung, plus the size was too big for my living room. So I ended up getting the Samsung and I’ve been extremely satisfied. The picture is amazing, most shows look TOO realistic, I’m actually bothered by it. It makes it look as though you’re actually on the set. The speakers aren’t too bad either. They’re not HD, but the sound is actually quite crisp and clean if you’re not too picky about all the audiophile stuff. The SRS-TruHD works alright, speakers sound just fine as long as you’re not picky. If you are, and you have the cash, just buy the Soundbar accessory (way overpriced….) or a real surround sound system.

3 Stars A good TV
This is a good TV overall. I like it. I did not connect it with internet yet (neither wire or wireless), so I do not know how is that working. The only thing that I am not pleased is that in the product description, it said there is a subwoof included in the TV, but it is not. I emailed Amazon about that, but there is no response.

4 Stars So Far Not So Good…
First let me say that I have bought hundreds of items from Amazon and have not been disappointed yet.

My first minor issue happened with the delivery. I had taken off the day the set was to be delivered. Later that day I called the delivery center and was told the set would not be delivered until the next day. Since I did not want to take the next day off I ask if I could pick the set up. The office was about 25 miles from me, they said yes. Well after driving to the office it turned out they did not have my set but another company did. So after a 2 hour ride in rush hour traffic, no set. It was finally delivered after work later the next day, so no biggy.

Second not so minor issue is the set does some strange things. First it cuts itself off and back on intermittenly.

Next I have the cable box hooked to HDMI 1 with an HDMI cable, and while watching the TV it will cut to the TV cable source and start searching through the channels really fast like someone has the remote button stuck down. Also at one point the TV was going into DEMO mode. I read in the manual how to reset to “Home” use and that seemed to work for awhile.

I have called Samsung service and they have scheduled a service person to come out, the 3rd party company called and said the parts will take 3 – 5 days to come in. I said no one has seen my set yet and she said that the desciption I gave apparently is so common that they know what parts to bring.

At this point I just want the TV to work as designed. I have a 55″ Samsung LCD that I have had for 18 months with no issues.

For what it’s worth when the TV is on, and not doing the strange things, it is great.

One other thing I forgot to mention is I have this TV in the same room as my computer and I have a 26″ Samsung monitor and every time I use the remote the monitor and the TV change. From what I can find out Samsung DOES NOT have any way to have the remotes communicate on different channels. Kind of pain. You would think they might consider this could be a problem.

TBC.. I will update the review after the service person comes and replaces whatever parts they have.

Followup: Repair person came bearing a new “main (the brains)” but did not fix the issue, he has now ordered a new “p-touch” he calls it.. controls the buttons on the front of the TV.. side note TV is now not watchable at all since it cuts out every few seconds. TBC2..

10/06/09 – Repair people called and can’t get out until 10/13/09 to try to replace the “p-touch” part. So this will be over a month since I bought the set and I still can’t watch it – not happy!

4 Stars TV is Beautiful and all features are also – BUT
This TV is everything that you read it would be – But the wireless internet connection has not worked for me yet.

I have had techs here and they don’t know why. If anyone out there has this TV working on wireless network let me know. I will write more once this is fixed.

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