Entered CNET Catalog: 01/18/2007
SKU: 719192171084
Manufacturer: LG Electronics U.S.A. Inc.
Manufacturer description
LG Electronics is one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, producing a large range of consumer electronics and IT products. LG has created reputation for progressive technology and innovation with the latest technological developments in consumer electronics, home appliances and IT products. PRODUCT FEATURES: 42" Plasma Integrated HDTV; Clear Filter Pro is an advanced thin film filter for improved brightness and contrast, reduced reflection and truer color reproduction; Extreme Contour Compensation (XCC); LG Simplink allows for convenient control of other LG SimpLink products using the existing HDMI connection; LG's Exclusive XD Engine; Image Sticking Minimization.Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 10/31/2007
User opinions
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2.5 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Poor sound, good picture at first, BUT .......
Pros: Great price, good picture, simple to use features
Cons: poor sound quality and not loud enough, picture started showing red in the black picture areas after about 18 months
Review: When new everything was great except the sound which was just ok. Then 18 months later I started seeing red appearing in the black parts of the picture. It has slowly gotten worse. Now when you turn on the TV before the picture comes on it shows a lot of red along the edges of the screen.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Great TV for over a year now
Pros: -Great colors (4 out of 5)
-Good HD image quality (3 1/2 out of 5)
-Good SD image quality (4 out of 5)
-Reliable (4 out of 5)
-Great price (5 out of 5)
Cons: -Potential Burn-In (Read summary for details.)
Review: I bought this set about a year and a half ago and it works like a champ. At this time i bought this tv the picture quality was great. Now that some time has passed the quality is not the best, but still good. Buy a calibration dvd (DVE, AVIA) for about $15 to really get the most out of the picture quality.
In the "cons" section I mention potential burn-in. As with all plasma tv screens this is possible. The good thing about this tv is the "white wash" setting that can clear your screen of temporary burn-in. I've played MANY hours of video games on this set and eventually noticed some temp burn-in. Set your TV in white wash mode for a couple min to get rid of it. It's a good idea to white wash your tv for a couple min every few days. The first 100 hours of usage on your TV are the most important, so treat it well. After that you should only have to white wash every few weeks or so.
Overall this set is great for the money. Anyone who is new to HDTV or is looking for a quality, affordable tv will enjoy this. I can't comment on the audio because I use surround sound. Just make sure to take my white wash advice and you will love this set.
In the "cons" section I mention potential burn-in. As with all plasma tv screens this is possible. The good thing about this tv is the "white wash" setting that can clear your screen of temporary burn-in. I've played MANY hours of video games on this set and eventually noticed some temp burn-in. Set your TV in white wash mode for a couple min to get rid of it. It's a good idea to white wash your tv for a couple min every few days. The first 100 hours of usage on your TV are the most important, so treat it well. After that you should only have to white wash every few weeks or so.
Overall this set is great for the money. Anyone who is new to HDTV or is looking for a quality, affordable tv will enjoy this. I can't comment on the audio because I use surround sound. Just make sure to take my white wash advice and you will love this set.
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 12 user reviews
good value for money
Pros: easy to set up Great picture on dvd good all round performer lots of inputs
Cons: quit touchy to get right on digital transmission(skin tones)
Review:
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Did not live up to expectations
Pros: ample connections, enticing price, sharp picture
Cons: mediocre sound quality, buzzing from the back, power consumption
Review: I bought this TV from Best Buy in September 07 because of the price coupled with the LG name (I have many of their other products). It turned out to be a lemon: by January I had bad image retention. A service tech tweaked some power settings and it went away for a few weeks. Since then the tech has been out 2 more times and has replaced 2 main components within the unit. He is scheduled to replace a third in a few days. If that doesn't correct the problem I will be working with customer service to exchange this unit for a different brand (probably a Samsung).
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 12 user reviews
This TV is a maintenance hog. Don't buy it.
Pros: Picture is superb.
Cons: Sound (bass) distorted. Up to 49 tries to get it ti turn on (power supply)
Review: Although this TV has many nice features, it's components are weak. LG has given up trying to fix it and has authorized replacement with a new one.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Good Entry Level Set
Pros: Blue Looks Great
Cons: Standard Definition T.V. looks poor
Review: I have had this set for only a few days but initial feelings are good. I do not yet have HD Satellite service so i can not comment on the quality of HD T.V. on this unit. Blue Ray however looks fantastic. This is a 720p set and to be honest I don't think I could tell the difference between it and a 1080p model sitting 8 feet (or so away). The Blue Ray image is stunning. Watching the BBC Planet Earth DVD set is amazing on this unit. Colour is very vivid and I had turn it down a bit following installation. Brightness and Black levels are very good and I'd say for $850 this unit was a good deal.
Updated on Dec 5, 2008Shortly after I posted my initial comments about this unit I upgraded my Directv service to HD and I am pleased to report that I am very happy with the display on this LG Plasma. As I stated, Blu Ray looks fantastic, and HD television broadcasts look pretty darn good too. The television has provided completely trouble free operation for the past 9 mnoths and I'm definately satisified.
Updated on Dec 5, 2008Shortly after I posted my initial comments about this unit I upgraded my Directv service to HD and I am pleased to report that I am very happy with the display on this LG Plasma. As I stated, Blu Ray looks fantastic, and HD television broadcasts look pretty darn good too. The television has provided completely trouble free operation for the past 9 mnoths and I'm definately satisified.
User Rating:
3.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Decent budget set
Pros: Nice picture via Blu-Ray/HD DVD
Cons: IR (image retention), lip-sync issue, buzzing, speaker popping noise
Review: First time plasma owner, here is my 2 cents-
If you use the 42PC5D solely as a monitor with a good hi-def source, then performance is acceptable. However, after 200 hours of proper break-in, IR is still present. The audio line output from the TV is out of sync with the sound from the TV's speaker set. The set also makes a buzzing noise, especially during bright scenes. There will be random pops and crackling noises during use of TV.
If you use this TV with a dedicated home theater system, then the TV is good as a monitor.
If you use the 42PC5D solely as a monitor with a good hi-def source, then performance is acceptable. However, after 200 hours of proper break-in, IR is still present. The audio line output from the TV is out of sync with the sound from the TV's speaker set. The set also makes a buzzing noise, especially during bright scenes. There will be random pops and crackling noises during use of TV.
If you use this TV with a dedicated home theater system, then the TV is good as a monitor.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Nice contrast, bad Image Retention and Lip-Synching
Pros: Deep blacks, bright whites, sharp picture, nice menus
Cons: Unacceptable image retention and lip-synching
Review: I bought this TV on a whim the morning of the big game. I loved it the first day, but then started to notice some problems. First and foremost was the image retention. I noticed that if I channel-surfed that when I stopped i could easily see that the area where the rather large channel indicator had been still contained a ghost image. If the menu was on for more than 15 seconds I could still read it on a black screen for a couple of minutes. If I watched a single network with a logo for an hour I could still see the logo for 5 or more minutes. I had all of my picture settings set low to break the system in but to no avail. I started going crazy and doing stupid things like limiting the amount of time I watch a single network, watching everything 4:3 in stretched mode. Then I got distracted by a different problem. I started losing QAM channels, 1 or 2 at a time. Rescanning would find the channels again, but then I noticed that as I was disabling channels in the set ones that I had previously disabled began reappearing. I finally determined that the scan had found more channels than the TV could handle and deleting the channels through the "Manual Scan" menu item stopped the problems. The last straw was the lip-synching (Think old Japanese movies) I encountered on HD stations. At first I thought it was just the TV station that was doing it. I talked to some friends that watched the same shows and they didn't see any lip-synching issues. Then I found that the audio timing for the TV speakers differed from the TV stereo audio out. I went to the store I bought the unit from and was able to reproduce the channel-dropping issue, so it wasn't just my TV. I exchanged the unit for a Panasonic and have been very happy since. The IR is practically non-existant on the Panasonic. I haven't seen a single occurrence of lip-syncing either. Thought I'd share my experience to help others avoid a lot of frustration.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
I love it.....
Pros: Price, picture, astetics
Cons: ummm...none so far
Review: I needed to buy a new TV for my family room and after buying the 32inch LCD version of this TV last year for my bedroom I decided to get this one for my family room. After doing some serious comparing of the Panasonic and Samsung equvalant I decided on the LG. I love the black level and the color reproduction. Very life-like skin tones and very bright and bold colors. Its only a 720p native display but for the size room I am in 42inch was as big as I could go and not be sitting on top of the TV. At 42inch 720p is more than enough since its pretty hard to see the differance between 720p and 1080p till you get to about 50inch. All in all I am very very pleased with the looks of the tv as well as the picture while its running. I use a 5.1 DTS surround system so I could not even tell you how the sound is since I have never even turnned it past 0 on the volume meter! This baby has two HDMI imputs and two componet imputs as well as the standard S-video and RCA crap...It also has a fiber in for simulated surround if you do not have a tuner...all in all I love this set and its performance is awesome for an entry level set at 720p
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Great buy at low cost
Pros: High contrast ratio, and picture definition.
Cons: Slight glare from outside light on glass sceen
Review: I was lost when trying to figure out what kind of TV to buy, LCD or Plasma. This question looms in the mind of many consumers looking for the right TV to upgrade too. I have never owned an LCD or Plasma, just admired my friends or a family members. After doing EXTENSIVE research, I came to the conclusion that for this paticular TV (which is in my bedroom) I didn't need 1080P or a 50". I looked at many 37" and 40" LCD's, but my wallet was stretched enough already. This TV has it all, 42", HDTV under $1,200.00. Picture quality is better than I thought and because I saved about 300.00 by buying this TV over a comprable LCD I will not complain. Moreover, I have owned many LG products and have only had a problem with a DVD player that was quickly replaced. For the price and all that it offers, this Plasma is by far the best bargain.
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Must see to believe!
Pros: picture quality, warranty, bang for the buck
Cons: none found!
Review: After reviewing other models the LG plasma series was a solid winner. The ultra crisp picture along with a 15,000 to 1 contrast ratio and a 2 year warranty make this set a hands down winner!
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 12 user reviews
Excellent Picture, OK Sound, Top Overall Value
Pros: Picture clarity surpasses more expensive 720p models, 2 yr. warranty vs typical 1 yr., robust menus, budget price
Cons: Audio lacks deep, rich tones, Remote programming libary is inadequate
Review: Summary: Mush to my surprise, the LG 42PC5D has proven to be an outstanding entry-level plasma TV. Side-by-side comparisons in a number stores revealed that the LG's images were more crisp, with deep rich black levels, than was found on other makes/models costing hundreds of dollars more. It is the best overall value for the first time Plasma HDTV buyer.
Picture: I remain impresses by the sharp images delivered by the LG. The 15000:1 contrast ratio is superior to most of the competition. When coupled to a standard signal from DirectTV, the images were reasonably well defined, though on certain channels, human faces appeared as though they were in a "claymation" movie. The preset color temperatures did not provide as much variation as I would have hoped, but all hover near the right color range, so this is not a significant detriment. When I hooked up my Samsung upconverting DVD player, I was blown away by the sharp images and vibrant colors. Very impressive.
Sound: This is clearly the weak link. The sound is not particularly crisp. Highs and lows are lost to the mid-range. The preset sound options, such as theatre, stadium, music, etc., fail to provide significantly noticeable changes in tone. If you are an audiophile, you will certainly want to hook up a home theatre sound system.
Remote: The remote is also somewhat disappointing. The code set for programming the remote to work with other devices is quite limited. Codes were not provided for two of the three devices I wanted to program in, and these were not arcane makes/models, either. The other issue with the remote is that whenever you press the "input" button, it cycles to the next available input (e.g. HDMI) rather than starting with the current input, and allowing you to then select the one you wish to use.
Bottom line: The LG 42PC5D is truly a best-value plasma HDTV, despite not being a recognized leader in the industry, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Picture: I remain impresses by the sharp images delivered by the LG. The 15000:1 contrast ratio is superior to most of the competition. When coupled to a standard signal from DirectTV, the images were reasonably well defined, though on certain channels, human faces appeared as though they were in a "claymation" movie. The preset color temperatures did not provide as much variation as I would have hoped, but all hover near the right color range, so this is not a significant detriment. When I hooked up my Samsung upconverting DVD player, I was blown away by the sharp images and vibrant colors. Very impressive.
Sound: This is clearly the weak link. The sound is not particularly crisp. Highs and lows are lost to the mid-range. The preset sound options, such as theatre, stadium, music, etc., fail to provide significantly noticeable changes in tone. If you are an audiophile, you will certainly want to hook up a home theatre sound system.
Remote: The remote is also somewhat disappointing. The code set for programming the remote to work with other devices is quite limited. Codes were not provided for two of the three devices I wanted to program in, and these were not arcane makes/models, either. The other issue with the remote is that whenever you press the "input" button, it cycles to the next available input (e.g. HDMI) rather than starting with the current input, and allowing you to then select the one you wish to use.
Bottom line: The LG 42PC5D is truly a best-value plasma HDTV, despite not being a recognized leader in the industry, and I would recommend it to anyone.
