LG 50PQ30 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

by LG

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.4 x 48.2 x 31.1 inches ; 84 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 88 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B001THBKQG
• Item model number: 50PQ30
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,540 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

What do you want in an HDTV? Do you want your sports events to look like you're watching from the good seats? Your action heroes to look like they might jump off the screen? If that's what you're looking for, and who isn't, this TV delivers. With a 600Hz refresh rate, it's perfect for fast action. With 2,000,000:1 Mega Contrast, bright colors and dark scenes are brought to life. This is a television you'll have to see to believe.

Innovative Technologies Capture Every Moment See sports, fast action and video games like never before. The 600Hz refresh rate displays rapid motion in crystal clarity. (Learn more) You Won't Believe Your Eyes 2,000,000:1 Mega Contrast lets you see colors in every beautiful shade and dark scenes with greater picture detail. (Learn more) View It in the Right Light Every room has different colors and lighting. Intelligent Sensor automatically optimizes the picture to your room's unique conditions. (Learn more) Core Technologies Audio Should Be Heard, Not Seen The slim-silhouette Invisible Speaker System delivers a look and audio that are equal parts clean and polished. (Learn more) Hear Every Whisper Hear audio the way it was meant to be heard. Clear Voice II enhances and amplifies the frequency range of the human voice to help keep dialogue audible when background noise swells. (Learn more) The Perfect Fit Sports, cinema and video games can all be heard and seen as they were meant to be with AV Mode II. (Learn more) Other Features Smart Energy Conserve money and energy. With an Energy Star 3.0 rating, you can be green and save green. (Learn more) Watch Like a Pro It's ISFccc Ready for professional calibration. A more personalized viewing experience awaits, if you're so inclined. (Learn more) Memories Brought to Life View family photos and listen to MP3 files right in the comfort of your living room with USB 2.0. (Learn more) Connected with Crystal Clear Color. Hook up your HD devices and get the Full HD experience. 3 HDMI V.1.3. Deep Color inputs give you the rich hues and HD picture you want. (Learn more) All In One Having a hard time keeping track of your remotes? With SimpLink™, all your LG devices can be controlled with just one remote. (Learn more) A Real Stunner Plasma televisions come in larger sizes, deliver a beautiful picture and are perfect for viewing sports and fast-paced action. (Learn more)

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Learn More

600Hz Sub Field Driving Sports. Action movies. Video games. Nothing is too fast for LG. 600Hz virtually eliminates flicker and blur. See realistic movement like never before.

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Intelligent Sensor Automatically examines and optimizes the picture to the lighting and color conditions in the room for a more enjoyable viewing experience — and can also save energy and money.

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Invisible Speaker System You won't believe what you're hearing. Fine-tuned by renowned audio expert Mr. Mark Levinson, LG TVs utilize a unique, hidden speaker system that delivers a clean, polished look with a wider sound field. Where some sound systems and speakers only project their best audio towards the center of a room, the Invisible Speaker System projects great sound throughout.

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Clear Voice II Automatically enhances and amplifies the sound of the human voice frequency range to help keep dialogue audible when background noise swells. Can also be personalized with a new 12-step adjustment level — putting you in control.

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AV Mode II Quickly and easily select from one of three AV modes for "Cinema," "Sports," or "Games" to enjoy optimized HDTV picture and audio quality easily set with a convenient button on the remote control.

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Smart Energy Saving In addition to adhering to the new Energy Star 3.0 guidelines, LG HDTVs have energy-saving options like the ability to choose settings for different types of programming, "video mute" or engaging exclusive Intelligent Sensor Technology that automatically dims the backlight when lighting conditions are reduced. Now you can save the world from the comfort of your couch.

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ISFccc Ready LG's ISFccc Ready HDTVs contain the detailed standards necessary for professional calibration of brightness, contrast, tint, sharpness, color levels and much more to meet local lighting conditions for both day and nighttime viewing. Settings are added to preset modes for easy access from your LG remote.

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USB 2.0 Now reliving that fantastic family vacation can happen in the comfort of your living room. Easily connect your external USB devices to enjoy JPEG photos and listen to MP3 files—all at the same time if you want.

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HDMI V.1.3 with Deep Color Make installation of any enabled device a snap. Get 10.2Gbps of bandwidth for deeper colors and more to take advantage of the best Full HD experience. HDMI V.1.3 connectivity lets you prepare yourself for tomorrow's technology today.

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Simplink Are your remote controls taking over the living room? Now with SimpLink™, you can easily set up and control all of your HDMI™ connected LG devices with just one remote.

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Why Plasma?
Plasma displays generate their own light to produce a stunning contrast ratio and smoother, crisper, high-motion video. This is one reason why some consumers prefer plasma displays to LCDs for watching sports and action movies. Plasma displays are also known for their deep, rich blacks, and incredibly precise colors, making them ideal for watching movies—where dark scenes are more common.

What's in the Box
LG PQ30 Plasma HDTV, Remote control, Owner's manual

Product Description

THX display certification sets this series apart. 50" PDP HDTV, 1365 x 768 Resolution, 20,000:1 Contrast Ratio, 1,500:1 cd/m2 Brightness, ATSC/NTSC/Clear QAM - 1 Tuner, SRS TruSurroundXT, 3 HDMI input. USB 2.0.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the price, it's a true winner, June 1, 2009

By 

B. Lee "Zombie Troubadour" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG 50PQ30 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

Pros: Rich, vibrant colors; full complement of inputs; extensive color calibration and menu system; inky plasma blacks

Cons: Ineffective anti-reflective coating; basic remote; jerky motion on panning

Summary: This year's bargain plasmas - the Samsung 50PNB450, Panasonic TC-P50X1, and the LG 50PQ30 here - can all be found for around the same price. Each set has its strengths and weaknesses, but in my opinion this LG set comes out the strongest of the pack to be the best big-screen value in 2009.

This set looks great. The swivel stand is a gentle oval in front but tapered in the back to allow you to push it close to a wall - thoughtful. All the inputs are well labeled and easy to find, and LG includes a full batch of cable ties and routes for your convenience - thoughtful. There's also a handy microfiber cloth to polish the shiny bezel - thoughtful. Out of the box, it's a great experience.

Once plugged in to an HD source (I have a Scientific Atlanta HD cable box, a XBox 360, and a Samsung BD-P1600 Blu Ray player), the colors in Standard mode are much better than on the Panasonic plasma I also own. LG generously included two "expert" modes which allow full tuning of each color channel as well as adjustments for greyscale, gamma, etc - this set easily bests the competition from Panasonic and Samsung, with the added bonus that 95% of viewers will plug it in, think it looks great, and never touch any of that stuff. There are energy saving modes which dim the set according to prevailing light conditions as well, and the set automatically turns off if there's no signal.

I will add that this set does not buzz, or at least buzzes much less than my Panasonic plasma. I can hear the Panasonic from my seating position of 10 feet away, but only if I rest my head on the LG do I hear anything. This feels like a better constructed all-around package than this year's Panasonics.

The speakers are nicely hidden underneath the set, and LG includes several sound enhancement modes, two of which - the ClearVoice and auto-volume - are actually useful. It's more than enough for late-night viewing when we let the receiver rest and relax.

There is very little sign of image retention on this set. The only time I've seen it is from the bright white and red menus of the Netflix interface via Samsung's blu-ray player. It went away after a quick white wash. The set has a pixel orbiter which should mean no worries whatsoever with regards to burn in as long as you don't leave a DVD menu up all day.

As for the reflections, I think it's a combination of a coating less effective than Panasonic's as well as this just being one humongous piece of glass. It's easy to live with as long as you make sure there are no lights or windows within the same line of sight of you and the set (the swivel base is very helpful in minimizing reflections as well).

Once the movies get rolling, it's clear you've made a good decision. The set's pixel grid and screen-door effect are, of course, visible within 3 feet, but once you sit back 5 or more feet it disappears and you're left with a sharp, lifelike, colorful window onto the world. It's a marvelous set, the best I've ever seen in my house and I've paid over $2000 (34" CRT HDTV) for TVs before. Blacks are black, whites are white, and everything else is right.

It's hard to go wrong at this price with any of this year's sets, but the LG is the most stylish and best-priced of the lot. Given its natural color, solid build quality, full feature set, and fantastic image quality, the set recommends itself. Buy with confidence.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Bang For Your Buck !, April 18, 2009

By 

Kenneth E. Carpenter (Youngstown, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LG 50PQ30 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

For a 50" TV at this price point you cannot find a better one. The colors pop out at you. I went to Sears to compare this set with Panasonic and Samsung and this TV provides the best picture out of the 3. It has a lot of features and settings found on more expensive sets. Don't spend more money because a set has 1080p if you cannot tell the difference. I cannot tell that my TV is 720p at the distance I watch it, so why pay for it. This set has lush colors and good brightness and contrast. The skin tones are remarkable not orange or red like my 42" LCD. I watch TV and not specs. Do yourself a favor and go to Sears or another retailer and check this set out and then order it online if you can find a lower price.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Deal !~, July 18, 2009

By 

MC (ROWLAND HTS, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LG 50PQ30 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

After getting burn 3x with our Toshiba 62HM95 DLP(has a class lawsuit for the defected light bulbs that only last 6 month), we thought is time to give up the DLP and shop for a new set. With tight budget, we set our target to under 2K, 52' Plasma or LCD, while we debating between a Vizio 55"120Hz 1080dpi 550XVT1A or Samsung 52" 120Hz 1080dpi VP550XVT1A...we spot this LG 50" plasma..$799 @ Costco right next to them. We stood in front of this 3 sets for 15~20 min. seriously couldnt see any big difference, the color is more vivid than the Vizio, but has almost the same contrast than the Samsung..yet..price tag is +$1k difference!!...bought it home, rushed and set up with my Toshiba upscaling DVD player with HDMI..wallah!!.....plays the movie beautifully, black has so much detail on it, we have a very bright living room ( long windows from all side, plus high ceiling) this TV still does great job..if you dont want to pay for arm & leg for TV, this is a great choice..!