Customer Reviews

LG 42PJ350 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Let me start by saying that I am not a videophile, but when it comes to purchasing a television I can be very picky. I went through the whole LCD vs. Plasma dilemma 3 years ago when I bought my Samsung 5084 (one of the best non-Pioneer plasmas at the time). That said, I was ready to supplement that unit this year with a 'smaller' LCD for the bedroom (didn't want to sweat IR, horizontal line bleed, etc). Needless to say, LCD options in the 'budget' range lack features that alleviate some of their drawbacks, forcing you to suffer through motion blur, clouding, and terrible black levels if you choose a set for ~$800).

Enter the 42" plasmas. For the sake of comparison, I decided to investigate the plasma alternative once again. This essentially brought me to the Samsung C450 due to my positive experience with the 5084 and glowing reviews for the C450. Unfortunately, users reported an audible buzzing noise from the Samsung (a noise I know full well from the 5084 and did not want to deal with on a bedroom set).

Enter the PJ350. I only became aware of this set after seeing it next to the Samsung at the store. From a design perspective, it tops the Samsung with an ultra thin bezel, very thin chassis, and no 'touch of red'. Furthermore, I heard no buzzing from the LG floor model, while the Samsung sounded like someone was digging honey out of a beehive. Since it is a brand new model I had no reviews to rely on, but I took the plunge.

Picture quality from this unit is superb for any sub-$1k TV, much less one at this price point. This 720p set rivals my 1080p plasma in most respects, most notably black levels. I have only had it for a few days now, but setting the TV on 'cinema' mode at 70 contrast and 50 brightness is really impressive (I recommend switching those two numbers for several weeks to break in the unit). If you place your head behind the unit, you can hear the typical plasma 'buzz', but this is completely inaudible at any reasonable viewing distance. While this goes without saying, all the benefits of plasma are apparent with this TV: cinematic quality motion (none of that chincy 120hz movement), 24p bluray playback, consistent backlighting, etc. I have noticed a tiny amount of false contouring, but less than my Samsung - hardly an annoyance. OTA video quality is, of course, superb. The reviewer who stated that colors are not as vivid clearly didn't recognize that picture settings are independently adjustable for each input. This TV does offer a settings wizard to help set the picture based on your unit and environment, but I prefer manual adjustment to suit my personal tastes.

If you're worried about not having 1080p, don't be. At this size, you will not detect a difference anywhere outside 4' from the unit. The screen is quite reflective, but if glare is your primary concern then you surely can settle for the inferior picture quality of a cheap LCD. While I have limited experience with my LG, I can honestly say that I am very pleased thus far.

Well, after suffering long enough with my fiance's 30" Philips tube set, I took the plunge and purchased the 42pj350. Let me preface this entire review by giving a little background here. I have worked for both Ultimate Electronics and American TV for a total of 4 years in the past and spend literally hundreds of hours looking at pictures on TV screens, adjusting them, using AVIA discs, etc... so I have a relatively solid base for judging picture quality here. I've loved Pioneer Elite projection sets and plasmas and sold many projection Mitsubishi sets on the basis of quality of the picture.

So...I set the set home and unbox it. Seven screws later, It's on the swiveling stand (yes, swivel stand on a $600 TV) and has taken the place of the bain of my television existence - the 30" tube. The only source I immediately have to try the set on is the composite Dish Network standard def feed, which really bummed me out. But, color me surprised when the channels, for the most part, look quite good from our 9' seating distance. Honestly, the little LG processes standard definition quite ok. After some quick picture adjustments (which I will talk about later), I start to surf around to find stuff to watch. NFL network has a game on - perfect for checking motion processing of a crappy 480i feed. Flawless. It looked damn good. I put the set in cinema zoom 1 (my fiance has had her old set in the same type of stretch/zoom ratio on her other set for years on standard def) and the picture quality is again more than passable for the signal. The deep blacks (compared to LCD sets I have owned) really allow the other colors on screen to pop nicely, even with contrast and color turned down. So far, standard def is a win.

Next night, it's time for some blu-ray lovin'. I drag my HTPC out from the bedroom and plug the HDMI in...presto...we've got an actually very readable desktop in front of us. I didn't even set the resolution to the native of the panel, I left it at the native for my 32" LCD in the bedroom and it was amazingly clear. The blu ray du jour of the evening is the biggest movie ever - the recently released Avatar. I get a warning about needing to update my player, which sucks because I don't have a network drop in the living room, but I decide to press on and take a chance. Holy hell..the 3 minutes of the movie that played looked fantastic. Compared to the 32" Olevia we have been watching movies on in the bedroom, this is a different world. Rich colors, sharp detail, noise free playback (no crawling dots like I have experienced on fairly recent Panasonic and Samsung plasmas) that looked amazing at our seating distance. After she is in bed, I break out the Xbox 360. Forza 3, Grid, and Left 4 Dead all look better than they ever have in this house. The kids have a 32" Vizio 1080p set in their room that we normally play on, but again, the deep black of plasma technology just pops the other colors off the screen. I felt like I needed to wipe the red from one of the Ferraris off of the screen because it just looked that wet. So far, so good with hi-def signals.

We spent much of Sunday (today) with cheezy sci-fi moves on SyFy network playing. My first foray into daytime viewing. I can't really complain. Yes, it is a giant piece of glass and does reflect things. News flash...tube tvs that we have been watching for 50 years are glass, too. We have a window to the left of the television and it wasn't a distraction at all. On a black screen, yes, you can see reflections. I can't see them as a distraction to most normal viewers. Our viewing is predominately night-time, but I will not limit daytime viewing because of a little reflection between commercials. It certainly is less distraction than the double reflections of my parents' 50" Panasonic with it's supposed AR coating. Reflections on that set turn into prismatic star shapes that apparently reflect off of 2 pieces of glass on the front of the set. After dinner, I drag the antenna out of the bedroom and rig it up for the misses to watch Desperate Housewives. Over the air HD looks stunning. It's truly amazing what 720p looks like on a 720p set. Yes, the native broadcast signal on ABC is 720p and it looks very, very good. I see no reason to spend twice the money at this screen size for 1080p and it's a damn shame that retailers are selling the 'you just HAVE to have 1080p' bill of goods to so many consumers when they would be blown away by the little LG that could. I'm a tough customer and have the box in the other room in case this set was going to perform like a $500 42" tv. It absolutely did not.

As far as picture adjustments go, it didn't take long to see what looked good, but I will AVIA this thing this week. I used Cinema as the starting point for out-of-the-box adjustments. Contrast is around 75, Brightness 50, sharpness turned way down at 30. I also set the color temp slightly cool - it looks good there with the Color Gamut set to Wide. Speaking of color..if you set the gamut to wide - turn the color itself down to compensate. I've got the dynamic contrast on low right now and it seems to work well. Normally, I would shut every picture feature off and go from there, but with the black level setting at dark, the low setting is in no way heavy handed in crushing shadow detail from what I can see so far. I turned the edge enhancement off, the dynamic color off (stange enough, this feature actually reduced saturation when turned on???) and the gamma is set at medium right now. True, there are much more detailed settings in the ISF modes, but I've got nothing but time to mess with them and the picture so far is quite good. Colors come off as damn accurate and that plasma black sets them off.

Inputs on the set are plentiful with no less than 5 HD inputs (3 HDMI, 2 component), an RGB 15 pin PC input, and composite for legacy devices. The set does lack S-video inputs or analog audio output - 2 things that can be forgiven for an entry level set like this one. Plasma buzz? Nope. Just a slight high-pitch noise that is less noticeable than what the CRT it replaced emitted. Image retention? Have not seen this happen yet. My parents also have a 50" Samsung (2008 model) and the IR is just unforgivable. 20 seconds in the DirecTV menu shouldn't leave an image up for 3 minutes after. I have been looking for it and didn't even see any after my unsuspecting fiance paused the DVR for something like 20 minutes before I woke up the other morning. The remote control and menus are both well laid out and intuitive. The remote is light years ahead of what Panasonic is sending out with their televisions. I swear they are off the same assembly line as their tube tv remotes from 10 years ago, which sucked big time, too.

Honestly, I'm a critical guy with this kind of stuff and expected much less from this panel. I used to run movie theaters in my younger years and have the consumer electronics background to boot. That is a perfect storm of criticism for almost any television that I watch. For a $540 street product (hell, even Sears is pushing this thing for about that price at brick and mortar) I can wholeheartedly recommend it at this screen size. Black levels are quite good, colors bright and accurate, and no screen door effect to speak of outside of 3 feet.

For those seeking a bargain in entry level plasma land - look no further.

Update 7/20:

After having the set for a couple months now, and upgrading my Dish Network to HD, I have a more in-depth experience with it. I am still very, very impressed. Sure, the black levels may not be Pioneer Kuro dark, but still leagues ahead of a standard LCD panel. Color reproduction is now spot-on after a couple weeks.

It's difficult to really convey how much better colors look on this set than the LCDs in the house. The only word that I can summon is 'glow.' The plasma panel's colors glow...they've got some luminance off the surface of the screen, whereas the LCD sets come across as less natural in color fidelity. This can be attributed to the fact that plasma panels produce their pictures using phosphor (like CRT sets did) to produce the light. LCDs use flourescent lighting behind the panel to do the same. The colors jump off the screen. Reds, blues, and greens just glow with realism.

This tv has really shaken my belief that 1080p is a must. My 9 foot viewing distance provides an excellent experience. Movies, TV shows, sports...they have all passed with flying colors. I would absolutely purchase this set again.

For those who care, LG produces a 'Zenith' branded version of this and the 50" model for Sears. The sets are identical, sans a couple video settings, the usb port, and a less full-featured remote. Generally, they retail for roughly $100 less than their LG counterparts. LG bought the Zenith brand name many years ago and break it out every once in a while to release more basic versions of their sets. I've examined them in a couple Sears stores and the picture performance is just as good as mine, almost 100% identical menus, and even has the swivel base.

Strengths: Many different inputs (including VGA), easy-to-use menus, good remote, thin design, very sleek looks.

Weaknesses: No native 1080p HD resolution (but it will display 1080p content as either 1080i or 720p), and no S-Video input.

Have owned this unit for 3 weeks and I love it!! Granted it is my first flat panel HD-TV, but LG makes good TVs and the price was very affordable. The picture quality is great, and that's what we are all looking for, right? There are plenty of every type of input (except S-Video), and even SD-TV content looks great from any source or input. Sound quality is very acceptable from built-in speakers, although I have a 5.1 surround receiver setup also. I love the fact that the bezel (frame around the screen) is so thin -- makes the TV look like it's just the screen itself. And the unit is so thin front-to-back, it's almost as thin as the new LED TVs! After viewing many TVs in stores and friend's homes, I prefer Plasma over LCD for the contrast, better blacks and shadow detail. Also, even with contrast and brightness set to moderate levels (i.e. 65% -- you shorten the life of any flat-panel display by running it at 100% all the time), the picture is still very crisp, very bright, and the colors and detail just blow me away. I would recommend this TV to anyone!!

I am a repair technician and seen many brands of sets come in for repair or do a cousrtesy call to show a customer how to use their new devices. As I said I have seen many sets in for repair, but very, very few LG LCD of Plasma sets in for repairs. This unit 42PJ350 is very hard to beat. This 720p vs. 1080p business well it it very hard to tell which display looks best. ABC uses 720p and thei images look like things are actually in the room with you not on a display panel. I hear no buzzing, no image retention, no kind of bleeding colors, just agreat image reproduction on a plasma panel for a price just out of this world. In fact a price that not long ago would have cost nearly $2000.00. LG makes very good products and being a tech I feel that I know what is what with electronic for consumers. I wouls not hesitate to buy and thing LG makes. This set has caused many a comment by visitors to our home about the picture, the frame being so thin. A couple of well to do folks bought another brand plasma which they both say the LG just blows theirs away. I whole heartedly recommend this LG PLASMA to any one. Try to get a better picture for more money no way. Black is black and the shites are white and all colors and shades in between. What a TV for what a (LOW) price. YOU GO LG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi. I'm from Venezuela, and since, over more than 1 year i was planning and wishing to buy a HDTV. It was almost like one of my dreams, one of those that thanks to god i could accomplish. My search was really minucious and extensive, i have analized every detail of my future HDTV; Details such as: HDTV type... Plasma, LCD? Size...42, 46 o 50? Resolution... 720p, 1080p? Brand... Panasonic, Sony, Lg, Samsung? Contrast, Aesthetic aspect, and so many factors that i will not surely mention here because may be ill forgot.

Im i mechanical engineer, and one of my hobbies is watching movies... so, i was really exited about having a HDTV, where i could play trough my pc, several hi-def movies that i have already downloaded, at least until i can buy my media player (Patriot Box Media Player). As i mentioned, one of my labors as engineer, if not the most important, is to choose the best quality at the best price; in order words... the best quality-price relationship! In your english terms, it would be BBB (the best bang for the buck), so i have analized and determined, over 6 months of research that...

1) I live into an aparment, where my living room is about 10 feet x 25 feet, but im going to watch my tv from 7 to 12 feet aproximatedly, so, my ideal tv size was 46, because 50 was like toooo big, and 42 slightly small, but acceptable. Then, it was 46 or 42? we'll see later...

2) HDTV type... Plasma or LCD? That was quite simple! Which has a better image quality for movies and sports? Which has deeper black levels? Which has a 0.00006 ms answer time? Which has a higher contrast ratio? For me, personally, and having seen several lcd tvs in other stores, the plasma tv beats totally the image quality on a LCD TV, its just amazingly better in every aspect, obviating the natural reflection of a plasma screen (glare). So, considering that actually almost all the Plasma TVs makers, have really improved every aspect of the plasma tvs, such as screen burning, screen life, produced heat, buzzing, glare and power compsumption, Plasma was just the best for me!

3) Resolution... 720p vs 1080p... lol... it was hardly difficult to me! Reading and reading, reviews, comments, oppinions, tests, and so... but just 1 mark the difference for me... the price! At this point i thought: 1080p is better, but it really diserves an extra 300$? Why 300$? My budget was buying a hdtv, from 42" to 46", 720p or 1080p" into a range of 500 to 800$. After a lot of research i found two fair options: The LG 42PJ350 (Plasma - 42" - 720p - LG) and The Sony 46EX400 (LCD - 46" - 1080p - Sony), both really BBB tvs, in my opinion; compared with many several others in their range. After all, i've decided for the LG 42PJ350, because for me, it was the really really BBB! Just 300$ less than the other option, of course sacrifying just the 1080p, but it doesnt matter to me because...

* I'll use to play 720p bdrips on my pc (and futurely in my Patriot Box Media Player); but with high bitrates, 5000-8000 kbps, approximatedly 8 Gbs per movie, wich gives me 2 positive things (Ultra high quality video, even being 720p and not 1080p, and less disk space compsumption, without forgetting that it could easily go into a DVD-9!

* On a 42" Plasma tv, at a more than 6 feet viewing distance, the difference between 720p and 1080p, at least for me, its almost unperceptible; not forgetting that its also a fair size tv for watching my hd movies!

* 300$ difference, its almost the half part of the price of its competitor.

* Lg, panasonic, sony, samsung? are all good tv brands, every one has good tvs, bad tvs, tvs for refurbishing, but they are all good and known brands, so LG was good for me, considering also the more of 20 positive reviews over my LG 42PJ350.

So my decision, was finally the LG 42PJ350... because of

* Cheap: just 500$
* Big: 42 inches
* Quality: LG
* Better technology for my purposes: PLASMA
* Aesthetic aspect: extremely beautiful, thin and just amazingly modern
* Lot of connetivity: 3 HDMI, RGB, AUDIO ETC... just missing the DVI input
* Image Quality: Totally beautiful thanks to its very high contrast and its dual xd proccessors
* Just the best outside in Tvs...

Thanks God for this purchase... It was one, if not the best bang for the buck of my entire life. Thanks Amazon!

The LG 42PJ350 is an awesome TV. The picture quality is first rate and is worthwhile to take some time to properly adjust the set.
Here are my suggestions: First use the picture wizard for an initial adjustment,then make the following manual fine-tuning picture adjustments. Sport mode: Contrast 59, Brightness 58, Sharpness 68, Color 62, Tint 0, Color temp. C5 Cinema mode: Contrast 64, Brightness 54, Color 50, Color Temp W8 Sharpness 53 Tint G1
Note: You have to go into the advanced settings to set the color temp.
Finally I made the following settings in Expert Mode 1: Contrast G2,
Brightness 50, Horizontal & Vertical Sharpness 50, Color G3, Tint G2
These settings have given me superb colors and accurate flesh tones on my LG, also I set the black levels to low, and they look superb. I'm very knowledgeable and adept on setting up home theater equipment. I looked at many TVs both LCD & Plasma in both 720 & 1080p and 60Hz, 120Hz, and even the new 240Hz LCD. Trust me LCD can't compare with plasma for viewing angle, fast motion and so forth. This LG plasma with it 6ooHZ tru-motion and all its other broad range of adjustments is the best 42 incher out their. 1080p is overhyped and unneccessarily expensive, besides the only Tru-1080p resolution currently available is Blu-ray. All HD broadcast stations televise in either 1080i or 720p. By this tv, you won't be sorry. Watching the Stanley Cup playoffs or any sports on this tv is incredible. Enjoy!

Pro's: Lots of settings and features that you do not find in most other plasma's regarding the color, contrast and different picture viewing settings.

Keeps up well on Blu ray movies and video games sort of (I will explain a little more in detail in a second)

Sounds great when watching HD channels, video games, and Blu rays (I've had five plasma over the past couple of years and this one does pretty good when turned up compared to the others)

Nice sleek thin look

Has USB port but make sure you know what formats you can use when doing things from your computer because I have never used the USB port on a television and doubt I will

Comes with a pretty decent remote and it even comes with a CD for instructions and etc

The other pro's have already been listed in other reviews but it truly is a great deal for the cash, especially when you consider the energy saving mode and different setting for the picture where most plasma do not get this in depth.

Con's:

The color and picture settings will definitely take some changing and adjust a good amount (if you are as picky as me). Their are a lot of settings for the picture color and settings and I've owned this TV two weeks and I'm still playing around with different settings.

This can kind of be a pro and a con but the touch controls on the screen in the bottom right corner are VERY sensitive. You will have to look at them kind of hard until you can get use to what touch buttons you are looking for.

I play a lot of video games and so far the TV has done okay in this area but I also have a 42 inch panasonic plasma and for some reason I can see the difference with how smooth the game plays with my games battlefield bad company 2 and grand theft auto. I also watched I am legend the blu ray on this plasma and another plasma and I saw the difference as well in the smoothness and how much the screen on the panasonic just felt like I was sitting the movie theatre.

Overall this a great plasma TV with a great picture after you adjust the settings to your liking. I am a VERY picky person when it comes to TV's but I did not feel like spending $1000 on a TV right now and I am not disappointed with my purchase but even with all the features I enjoy playing my video games and watching my blu-rays on my panasonic more so this TV is getting returned. Do not hesitate to buy if you are on a budget because you will not regret it.

First of all let me say that this TV looks amazing. This is one cool TV, it's extremely thin and the piano black trim is extremely slick.
The remote control is great. The Sound is impressive. It's easy to set up. It's got a great price (I purchased for $550.00 but later saw this TV priced under $500 so wait for it to get low!) The picture is beautiful...except for one small issue... a dead pixel - the first of 3 minor issues that keep me from being happy about my purchase.

1. Dead Pixel: The day after I unboxed and set up my TV I put in a movie which began with a solid white screen. Out of nowhere I noticed a tiny black dot on the screen just off the middle of the picture. I clicked through the channels hoping it would go away - but it was always there - an infamous dead pixel. Sadly, LG's warranty only replaced the TV if there are 7 or more dead pixels. Because this pixel is in such a central area, I can't help but notice it almost constantly while watching the TV.

2. Burn-In: After a few weeks of use I turned my TV on noticed that there were remnants of and old image on the current one. With minimal use, burn in developed and is very obvious after this short period of time.

3. Slight buzzing while Tv is On: Other reviews on Amazon mention this issues - The TV emits a quiet but noticeable sound that disrupts quite scenes of movies. I didn't think it would be an issue - but I do notice it.

Overall, this TV looked great, and in many respects is. However, a few issues on LG's part keep this TV from being great. I also suggest checking the retailers return policy ( I purchased from another company via amazon) because their return policies can be more strict. In this case, I'm unable to return the TV because the company I bought it from (through Amazon) doesn't accept any returns on TVs.

Recently purchased this LG 42PJ350 42" 720p Plasma TV online for under five hundred bucks delivered. (Amazon says this one year old model has been available "since 2003" ? An obvious misprint.)

We use it in our small (12' x 12') living room to mostly watch High Definition cable TV broadcasts, DVR recordings, and an occasional DVD movie. We watch a considerable amount of sports, and are not Blu-Ray collectors nor video gamers.

Plasma HDTV technology seems to be becoming less popular with many consumers compared to LCD/LED, due in part to potential video burn-in, screen reflectivity, and higher energy consumption issues. We're mostly concerned with motion blur, good viewing at an angle, and excellent HD rendition of cable TV. Plasma's strong points are lack of motion blur, higher contrast, and deeper black levels. And unlike LCD, the picture looks great from anywhere in the room; not just directly in front of the screen. Since nearly all HDTV is still broadcast at 720p, the 720 vs 1080 debate was a non issue for us, as the difference in picture quality (even with a 1080p source) is nearly indiscernible at typical viewing distances, and didn't warrant the extra $200 for a similar 1080p unit. (We are watching this set from approximately eight feet away.) Have not yet encountered any burn-in or image retention issues, even after pausing video for ten minutes, or after DVR programming sessions lasting five minutes. The plasma screen is made of glass, so yes, reflections occur on sunny days, but they also occurred with our old CRT TV. Fortunately, window blinds cost less than spending a few hundred dollars more for a similarly sized, non reflective, motion blur prone 120 Hz LCD HDTV.

We were initially interested in Samsung and Panasonic plasma units, but after reading of the dreaded Samsung 'Plasma Buzzing Noise' and the Panasonic faulty power supply's 'Seven Blinking Lights of Death' on several reviewer blogs ("the Google" can tell you more about these), we focused instead on LG. We've not encountered either of these problems with our new LG, nor have we read many similar complaints about their plasma TV's. This TV meets our needs, and its price was best in class.

The LG 42PJ350's 720p Plasma HD picture is framed by a beautifully sleek, thin bezel, and looks amazingly sharp and lifelike. The extremely wide array of colors appear vivid and deeply saturated. Contrast, blacks and whites are all well defined. The fastest action scenes have no blurring whatsoever. Viewing Standard Def broadcasts on this TV is somewhat less impressive (the light gray bars left and right of the picture that LG imposes when viewing 4:3 ratio programs seem bizarre and annoying. I prefer to use the 'zoom' function instead to fill in the screen.), but still an improvement over our previous 32" Toshiba CRT dinosaur. I strongly recommend using an HDMI cable if you are going to connect to a satellite/cable converter box or Blu-Ray/ DVD player. The upgrade in both video and audio quality compared to coaxial cable is remarkable. You'll be missing the absolute best picture this TV can show you without HDMI.

We did encounter one drawback to using an HDMI cable between this set and an HD cable box/ DVR; the HDMI cable also carries digital audio, and alters the TV's and converter box's usual audio functions. This LG TV's closed caption function is then disabled, as well as the Motorola Comcast digital converter box's volume control (Comcast box's 'mute' still works, however.). This means you'll have to use the Comcast remote to change channels, and the LG remote for volume adjustment. Installing the old coax cable instead from the TV to the converter box allowed the volume/closed caption to function normally, but then the picture quality suffered. Why buy a High Def TV to view a subpar picture? Oh well, bye bye closed captioning. Perhaps a universal remote would make this situation more tolerable? Or is this a problem with using HDMI connection for ALL new HDTV's, and not just this brand? I'd appreciate helpful comments from others who have encountered this problem, as the LG website offers little in the way of assistance. An online instant chat with one of their techs yielded an odd, somewhat defensive, less than useful comment of "That's the way LG TV's are made." (Maybe I was really chatting with 'Ask Jeeves', in his new gig ?)

Audio from the PJ350's speakers is acceptable for a medium/small room (at 20 watts, they're loud enough, but have minimal bass, and seem to be aimed at the BACK of the set?), and there is an audio setting to enhance voices, but I plan to add a soundbar and a small powered subwoofer to complete our inexpensive home theater. And the LG "Infinite Sound" stereo wide feature was also disabled while connected with an HDMI cable.

The included remote control is a bit awkward to use. The 'arrow' function buttons often need to be pressed more than once, due to their concave shape and slippery, hard plastic (not rubbery) feel. LG's menu seems logically laid out, and there are many options to adjust both video and audio settings.(Their "Picture Wizard" function helps adjust picture settings close to optimal. It gets close to where we like it to look, but your mileage may vary. I used it first, and then set the TV to 'Standard' with the following levels: Energy Saving = minimum for daytime, medium at night, Contrast = 100, Bright = 50, Sharp = 40, Color = 34, Tint = 0, Color Temp = W20, Dynamic Contrast = low, Dynamic Color = low, Noise Reduction = medium, Gamma = medium, Black Level = low, Color Level = wide, Edge Enhancer = on.) The rectangular stand is, like the TV frame, a glossy piano black (fingerprint magnet). It feels sturdy, swivels left/right, and was relatively simple (four included screws) to attach to the TV.

I'd rate this TV higher than four stars on the merits of its beautiful picture, attractively slim frame, and excellent value, yet don't feel it deserves five stars because of the closed captioning/audio glitch. If it turns out that HDMI causes similar problems with closed captioning on every brand of HDTV, then I'd gladly rate this LG five stars.

I bought this tv a week ago, it took me months to research, read reviews talk to sales reps, the whole 9 yards. I was seriously considering the Samsung, but after seeing the price for the LG, and comparing the designs between the 2 tvs, I decided to go with this one. Although it's 720p, and not 1080, this will do just fine in the bedroom, although for now, it holding up in the living room.

The tv was very easy to setup, first I tried connection with the cable wire, image was horrible, then I tried it with the audio visual wire (red, yellow & white) I'm still in awe! The first few days, it was a little difficult to watch, getting used to the realism of the picture, the detail of the skin tone, the richness of the color, the detail in the wood on a door, how deep the blacks look, I know this baby will look even more awesome once I get the HDMI cable.

Very easy to go through the picture wizard, but when watching regular channels, I have it in Vivid Mode, with just slight adjustment to the brightness, contrast, and sharpness, and when watching movies I switch to Cinema Mode, the picture is totally amazing!!! The screen does have some glare to it, but all I do is turn off the lights and I'm good!

I have the tv, the cable, and the DVR plugged into a Surge Suppressor 2160 joules, for that added protection. I know some reviewers report a buzzing noise, but I don't hear anything unless I put my head against the back panel, and it's only a very faint noise. The tv does get hot, but not as hot as some reviewers report.

All and all I'm very happy with my purchase, and am definitely going to get the LG 50 or 60 inch for the living room. I WOULD recommend LG to anyone looking for a good plasma on a budget.

Update 10-17-10
I finally got my hdmi cable, and WOW!!!! My Comcast hd dvr's highest setting is 1080i, and if this is how a 720p set looks, I can't wait to get the 60" 1080p set. The realism of the everything is unbelievable. The skin texture, and tone, the blacks, and colors are so realistic, the sound from the set's speakers for now is just fine. I want to go and re-watch all my favorite movies all over again. I've seen in some reviews where tend to have some problems, but I have none, in fact I have no problems what so ever, I'm very happy with my purchase, and will definitely keep buying LG. LG has really done a good job on this set, and would again recommend it to anyone. I hope my review has helped you in making a decision.

Update 03-04-11
I got the Yamaha YHT-493BL 5.1 Channel 500 Watt HTiB system.

Setup is easy, mounting the speakers on the wall was very easy I only used 1 screw, the bass is good especially when watching movies. Since its a small woofer you wont get all the bass ranges but it really does a good job. There are so many features and options for you to set to get that perfect sound you're looking for, its owesome.

What really blew me away was when I ran my Comcast HD Dvr through it with hdmi cables, it seems to have improved the definition of the picture, the deepth blacks, the colors, the skin tones, the contrast, the vividness and realism of the picture seem to just jump off the screen. The picture quality before had me in awe, but now I'm totally blown away.

What can I say, if you're looking for a HT system for your apartment or a small tv room, to compliment this tv, look no further Yamaha has done a great job on this one.