Give your TV a new home from IKEA
- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Great picture and excellent value"
Pros: Terrific picture all around
Cons: Only one HDMI input; Gray side bars
Summary: We have wanted a flat screen TV for years, but pricing had always ruled them out of our budget. When prices came down this year (2006), we researched for months ? plasma vs. LCD ? which manufacturer, size, features, etc., and leaned LCD initially based on the research, especially to the Sony XBR?s, but for the money and quality of picture, and once we got to the stores to compare ? we went with the LG model 42PC3D plasma set ($1,709 at CC) and like it very much! It was almost half the cost of the new Sony 40? XBR2 ($3,029 at CC). I myself must have walked back on forth between this LG plasma and the Sony XBR over twenty times comparing picture quality, and while the XBR is a great picture, this LG plasma is every bit as good for our needs, plus it is a couple of inches larger. We initially thought a 37? or 40? would be as large as needed, but now that we have this 42? LG at home in the living room, it?s perfect size ? getting rid of the old 36? tube TV gained us an extra 18? in the living room.
The LG42PC3D is only 720p, but there is no content currently broadcast in 1080p (and I suspect it will be a few years before enough broadcasters upgrade to 1080p programs to make it worth owning a 1080p TV anyway ? even at 1080i, there are only a fraction of HD broadcasts). And regardless of manufacturer or how many times we looked at the different TV types and no matter what the research indicated, the plasma models always seemed to have a ?warmer? picture which was easier on the eyes vs. the LCD screens. LCD may be a sharper and brighter picture, but there is something about the plasma that makes it more pleasing to watch (except those w/ ?pancake? face ? see below). We do not do gaming, and since our TV viewing is mostly television shows, DVD movies, sports, etc., the plasma is excellent. We have watched numerous DVD movies on this LG plasma, and both new movie releases as well as the classic older movies look fantastic ? note this observation based on using a new ?upscan? DVD player. The local over the air broadcast of ABC, NBC, and CBS digital HD over the LG built-in tuner are all impressive. And the standard definition cable broadcasts are decent picture quality ? and this is where the plasma is better than LCD also ? 480i content is better viewed on plasma.
Other pro?s to the LG42PC3D is the two-year LG warranty, dull black frame (vs. Samsung?s glossy black trim that reflects glare), and the on-screen LG menu is simple to use. The LG ?EZ SoundRite? is a nice feature (on/off option) which enables the TV volume to be set at a uniform level no matter what the content ? this is especially nice for those annoying local Comcast cable commercials that blast multiple decibels louder than the main broadcast program ? this is one of the many annoyances of Comcast cable. With this TV purchase, we went with Direct TV to take advantage of the HD programming, and have been very satisfied so far with this dish.
Some reviews I read of this LG model indicated the speakers were ?okay?, but I think they are great for normal TV viewing. We have a Bose speaker system to use for the big movie productions. Finally, one aspect to some plasma TV?s that we found annoying is the ?pancake? face effect -- where the face of the actor appears to have too much ?pancake? make-up on ? we found this to be true of many of the highly rated Panasonic plasmas. We found no evidence of this in the LG42PC3D. This ?pancake? face issue was a big factor in our review of TV?s, and any TV?s that exhibited ?pancake? face were immediately ruled out.
One con for us on this LG plasma model is that there is only one (1) each HDMI input. These days, at least two or three HDMI inputs is best. There is no picture-in-picture, but we had this feature on our old 36? box TV, and never used it, so PIP is a non issue for us. LG does offer a higher end 42? plasma model with these and other features, but the cost was up to $2,200 (CC does not carry this model however). When setting the LG to view 4:3 aspect ratio, it displays gray sidebars, which would be better if black, to match the TV?s black frame construction. But when viewing programs via satellite, the satellite receiver can display different color side bars, making this a non-issue also. A slight con to the plasmas I found to be true is that they do put out some heat from the TV, but you only feel it if within a few inches of the set.
For price and picture quality, we highly recommend this LG plasma. CNET helped a lot on reviews ? thanks CNET! We hope our review helps you also ? try http://www.avsforum.com/ as another source. Good luck on your purchase.
