LG Infinia 47LW5600 user reviews

5.0 stars

"Great picture, loads features calibrate picture first!" on February 26, 2012 by FreddieGTX

Pros: + Great 3D picture, Easy To Setup, Impressive size
+ Great Picture Quality, Best looking TV out there.
+ Good streaming support - Comes with Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon VOD, and Vudu
+ Viewing angle is great for LCD
+ 4 HDMI inputs

Cons: - TV's sound is good enough for regular use
- Not a lot of streaming options or apps compared to Roku

Summary: I've had this TV for about three weeks, and have been very satisfied with my first LG product. I looked at quite a few TV's, but finally settled on this LG model as it seemed to offer the best picture and a large number of features that should prevent it from becoming obsolete too quickly.

After first setting it up and trying out a BluRay disc, I was amazed at the picture quality--much better than my previous 3 year old Westinghouse LCD HDTV. The picture while watching regular cable TV, however, was disappointing at first. There are five preset modes you can choose from: standard mode that is the default right out of the box, cinema, game, etc. I tried all of them but was not really satisfied. I noticed that there are two additional "expert" modes with complicated values in the setup screen that I didn't understand at first.

I checked CNET.com and found detailed instructions for calibrating this TV using the "expert" modes. After printing out the directions and changing the values in the expert mode according to CNET's recommendation, the quality of the picture while watching cable TV went from good to fantastic, and normal DVDs and BluRay discs are also superb. I strongly recommend that you calibrate this TV's picture using the directions on CNET to bring out the best in this set. The colors are the best I've seen--incredibly life like.

Turns out there are 2 "expert modes"--you could set one for all around viewing (which I did using the CNET directions), and use the other to dial in some other viewing experience (CNET has a recommendation for a second set of values as well). With the two expert modes and the five preset modes, you have a total of 7 choices -- you will undoubtedly find one that satisfies your needs.

I bought a 3D movie and was pleasantly surprised at the experience. Four of us watched "Pirates of the Caribbean" and everyone enjoyed the 3D movie. That movie's 3D experience was more like watching 3D "within" the screen as opposed to having images project into the room. I imagine that the "projection" style 3D experience has more to do with the disc than the television--I did see a demo with this unit where undersea creatures seemed to be floating outside the screen in the room. If you want to watch a 3D movie, you'll also have to buy a 3D BluRay player.

You can also convert normal 2D TV shows to 3D. That feature works ok, but is not the same full experience as a 3D BluRay disc. I doubt if I'll ever use the 2D to 3D feature (you have to put on the 3D glasses for that feature just like watching 3D movies). There are really only a handful of 3D movies for sale right now (mostly cartoons and sci-fi type movies)-- and they are about twice the price of a normal DVD, but that should all change as more 3D sets are sold.

The wireless internet feature works perfectly and was simple to set up--updates to the TV are installed automatically via wireless as well. You plug in a small wireless receiver which comes with the set into one of the USB ports on the rear of the set when you first set it up to get the wireless features to work.

The auto volume system that lowers the volume of commercials during TV shows is wonderful--no more fumbling with a remote to lower the volume while people are screaming at you to buy something. (If you like really loud commercials, you can turn off the auto sound feature.)

The LG apps left me wanting more. I downloaded a few to the set (I think you can store about 250 megs of apps onboard), but most are children's games or other things that I doubt I would ever use--a computer will allow you to do much more than the LG apps. (The weather app, for example, only lists major cities, so my town is not listed--the closest weather info is for a city 250 miles away). LG does seem to be adding apps to their library regularly, so you may find some you like. I don't subscribe to Netflix or HuluPlus, but those apps would be helpful if you are a subscriber.

You can also easily access your computer from this TV. Once you synchronize the TV with your computer you can wirelessly view picture and video and sound files, but you do need to designate ahead of time which files you might want to view on your TV--a very nice feature if you want to watch a slide show with pictures on your computer. I tried a short slide show and it worked well. I also tried hooking up a laptop to the computer--worked perfectly and you could also watch a slide show or surf the net or whatever using the TV as your computer monitor.

The set comes with two remotes--a fully featured infrared remote you point at the TV and operate in the normal manner by clicking your way through various options, and a smaller, sleek radio frequency remote that you don't have to aim at the TV to control volume and channels. The smaller remote controls basic options such as volume and channel changes--it also has a button for the Home Screen where you access all the TV's special features.....this button also activates an onscreen icon that you can use by pointing it at various screen options on the home page to make changes to setup or inputs, choose apps, play games, and other things. This system is much faster than using the full size remote. You will want to aim the remote at the screen while using this feature to point the icon around the screen at the things you want to control.

Since my old AV receiver finally gave up the ghost, I am currently using the TV's built in speakers and find them to be fine for most of my purposes. Obviously, the TV's speakers are nothing like my old surround sound system, but I don't have any complaints--dialogue is easy to understand, and music is ok as well. You can control treble, bass, etc. to your liking. Eventually, I'll probably get a sound bar with a subwoofer, but don't feel the need to rush out and upgrade the sound on the TV to cure a glaring defect.

There seem to be plenty of spaces in the back of the TV for attaching various components--at the moment, however, I only have a DVD player attached to this set and a monitor cable for those times when I want to connect a laptop as well.

I'm sure there are other features I'll find that I'm not currently using as I play with this TV more, and assuming this LG proves to be reliable, I think I'll be happy with this unit for quite a few years.

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Hope this review helps any of you thinking about purchasing this TV.