In addition to its flexibility with digital-media files, it's also worth noting that the LHT764 plays DVD-Audio discs as well as standard CDs and DVDs.
DVD video performance
While the ability to upscale DVDs to either 720p or 1080i resolution is a pretty standard feature these days, the LHT764 lets you toggle the output resolution on the fly with the press of a button, without the need to dig into any menus. We began testing the DVD quality with King Kong playing upconverted in 1080i. Considering that the 764 isn't a dedicated DVD player, the picture was pretty good. The jump from 480p to 1080i was immediately noticeable and provided a clearer, sharper image. While upscaled video can't compete with a native 1080i image--such as one from an HD DVD or Blu-ray disc--it can offer a picture that's more palatable on HDTVs that lack superior video processing. Moving to test patterns took the 764 down a peg--2:3 pull-down detection was subpar, for instance--but most real-world programming should be fine for casual viewing.
In terms of disc compatibility, the LHT764 performed adequately. With the exception of DVD-RAM discs and a dual-layer DVD+R in our collection, the vast majority of home-burned DVDs played without any problems.
USB media playback
We hooked up our aging Jens of Sweden MP3 player to the front panel's USB port, and everything worked just fine. The USB port allows for playing media off any USB capable storage device. The onscreen file navigation system is slightly clumsy and takes a moment to load. The interface is divided into three categories: video, music, and pictures. The LHT764 will play any DivX-encoded video file, and each of the test files--both AVI and MPG--looked very sharp. Digital-photo enthusiasts will appreciate the support for JPEG images, though some larger files took upward of six seconds to load. Music file playback worked perfectly well, though format support is limited to MP3 and WMA files (no AAC).
Any file playable via USB will also work if written to a CD, as the LHT764 can also take any compatible media through one of its five disc slots.
iPod playback
The LHT764 offers iPod control and onscreen display (OSD) for any iPod with a dock connection. The onscreen interface resembles and performs similarly to that of an iPod screen. The OSD offers all the functionality you'd normally get out of your iPod with a few exceptions. Depending on the size of your iPod library, navigating through the OSD will lag accordingly. Also, there is no way to skip down a few pages while scrolling through data. For example, if you have hundreds of artists on your iPod and you are trying to listen to Zebrahead, it's going to take you a while to reach it--a Page Down button on the remote would have been nice here. You may be better off ditching the OSD mode and switching to remote mode instead. This way, you can use your iPod manually to select the songs you want to hear. Additionally, displaying photos and videos onscreen will only work when in this mode.
Audio performance
The Good Shepherd DVD's darkly somber soundtrack emerged with surprisingly weighty presence. The tiny satellites, especially the center speaker, sounded reasonably full-bodied. It's not an action movie, but even so, its score's deep bass sometimes overtaxed the little subwoofer, even at fairly moderate volume levels. Turning down the volume eliminated the distortion, but the subwoofer's bass lacks definition, no matter the volume. Sure, compact HTIBs have their limits, but the LHT764 is just a little more volume challenged than most, so don't even think of using this one in a large room. Action flicks sounded dynamically flat, and the subwoofer's inadequacies were painfully obvious.
Next, the sound on the One Night With Blue Note jazz concert DVD had a hashy, brittle quality, especially on the drums. Some instruments, such as the piano and the trumpets, sounded fine, and we could play this DVD louder than we could The Good Shepherd. Still, the satellites' overall sound was grating, and the subwoofer's bass was muddy and indistinct.
CD sound, in stereo or in surround, wasn't much better, and the LTH764 sounded more like a table radio than a HTIB. We rarely have anything nice to say about HTIB sound-enhancing processors, but LG's XTS and XTS Pro modes improved the sound somewhat. Even so, the LG LHT764's sound barely manages to get a passing rating from us.
Conclusion
In the end, we were less than happy with the LHT764's sound quality, and we found its operational quirks mildly annoying. But if you're not fussy about sound, the system's dizzying array of features may well outweigh its sonic shortcomings.
Assistant Editor Jeff Bakalar contributed to this review.
What You'll Pay
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