49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
Great TV For the Price - Maybe better for the avg joe.
Bought this TV for $999.99 from my local yellow-tag retailer. I've had the tv for almost 3 weeks now and over-all, I am happy.
Pros:
1. The menu system looks nice and is very easy. No confusion even for the most tech ignorant user.
2. Energy saver feature is nice, maybe a little gimicky but nice.
3. Very light weight and easy to install...
39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
great picture with minor issues.
This tv has a great picture with good colors,very sharp,and a nice hd and blueray picture. The overall picture quality(because of the sharpness and color) is even better than my more expensive samsung ln-46b630.
I had some issues with the lg though. The audio through my hdmi from the direct tv reciever would not match the video(lips moved then sound)On my blueray...
This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
Bought this TV for $999.99 from my local yellow-tag retailer. I've had the tv for almost 3 weeks now and over-all, I am happy.
Pros:
1. The menu system looks nice and is very easy. No confusion even for the most tech ignorant user.
2. Energy saver feature is nice, maybe a little gimicky but nice.
3. Very light weight and easy to install.
4. 4 HDMI inputs are great.
5. Physical appearance in-home is very nice.
6. HD picture is amazing unless very fast motion is involved (see below).
Cons
1. Standard definition picture can be poor. This was almost always remedied by putting the picture on "Game" mode.
2. Fast motion does result in blurring. It's not all the time and usually only lasts a split-second but it can be VERY noticeable. This is not my first HD TV but is my fist LCD. I expected much less blurring for 120HZ but to be honest, don't know how much blurring could be considered normal for an LCD. So far I have only experienced the blurring with TV and movies both through the cable box and my AppleTV. My Xbox 360 seemed fine but I have only tried 2 games, neither of which were sports games. I have not yet tested PS3 or BluRay.
This next thing could be considered good or bad. For me, it is a plus.
The TV uses "TrueMotion" which will drastically change the way movies and shows appear. If you look-up judding or anti-judding on google you'll find out exactly what this means. In short, you'll notice camera pans and movements that you would've never noticed before. I actually like it and feel like it makes the picture more realistic however, it can change the way a director intended for a scene to be shown. Also, I know some people that really hate anti-judding. As I said earlier, I like it. I'm not sure if this can be avoided if you don't use any of the 3 picture modes but plan to test that soon.
This was kind of an inpulse purchase. I was planning to buy a 42" LCD that matched most of these specs. However, I walked into the store just to see what they had and do some research or see what they had as an open-box deal. This TV's picture stood out among the others and looked better than many TV that were more expensive and would be considered nicer. Obviously, the LED TVs blew this away but that's a given. I'm pretty happy but I do have a little buyers remorse due to the blurring. However, for your average joe that's just gonna throw this up on a wall, that may not be a concern. As a long-time Samsung fan, a small part of me wishes that I just held out and picked one of those.
I think the price-point makes this an over-all good purchase. That's essentially what drove me to make the impulse buy in the first place. I do have to admit though, I feel like the old saying, "you get what you pay for" applies with this TV....and that isnt such a bad thing.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
This LG product is a snap to set up; no configuration necessary. Once set up, you can adjust everything and anything with their super simple menus. The picture is perfect, especially with Blue Ray application. The up conversion from DVDs - to - regular TV reception is also extremely good. The sound is great (for TV speakers) - much better than my old Sony. This is also a new product from LG, so I was a bit hesitant to purchase without seeing any reviews. We were orginally going to buy a Samsung - but with all the benefits compared, this was a great buy! I would recommend the LG 42LH40 to anyone! Everyone who has seen this TV has complimented on its style and great picture!
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
This is a spectacular TV.
As my first HDTV purchase, I did a lot of research going in. Plasmas are a bit cheaper, but due to concerns about burn-in (as I'm using the set with a Home Theater PC, which has a number of static elements that are often on-screen) I decided I wanted to go with an LCD panel. Then came the questions of brand, size, and features. LG is very well-reviewed, looked great in the store, and has a better reputation than, say, Phillips or Vizio. (This is not to say all the panels from the latter manufacturers seemed poor, but they definitely appear to use cheaper components.) 42" is a great middle-high size point, not so huge that it won't fit in a smallish apartment like mine, yet big enough to really feel sizable. And, as for features, this really has most of the bells and whistles one could ever want, including 120Hz playback for Blu-ray content.
The TV has a nice smattering of inputs--I have it hooked up via HDMI to my HTPC--and looks great. It has a very subdued aesthetic, with a glossy bezel (that, yes, will attract fingerprints, but wipes off easily with the included cleaning cloth) and a fairly unobtrusive idle/power light. The on-screen display is very well thought out and easy to navigate, with coherent groupings of the various settings, and quick access to some of the more commonly accessed on a special "Quick Menu". The built-in sound is good for a TV, but they're still built-in speakers, so don't expect anything mind-blowing here (or on any TV, really).
And, lastly, it looks great. It has a wonderful built-in calibration program that really has resulted in a very balanced picture. It also has good energy saving and brightness features, easily accessible via a dedicated button the remote, so you can drop down the brightness to 25 or 50% if it's too bright. It also has an auto-sensing feature for brightness (much like the feature seen on Apple laptop displays), though I found I tend to prefer it a little brighter than the auto-sensing feature would dictate.
All in all, an easy five stars. Highly recommended, especially given the 120Hz proofs you for the future. And, as an aside, don't waste money on a 240Hz TV. You've already got 5:5 pulldown with Blu-ray (24p, which divides into 120Hz evenly but not into the usual 60Hz). It took a while for me to be sold on 120Hz as a worthwhile factor in making my purchasing decision, but 240Hz really is more of a marketing ploy than anything.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
This tv has a great picture with good colors,very sharp,and a nice hd and blueray picture. The overall picture quality(because of the sharpness and color) is even better than my more expensive samsung ln-46b630.
I had some issues with the lg though. The audio through my hdmi from the direct tv reciever would not match the video(lips moved then sound)On my blueray the audio was fine? secondly there is a slight light leakage out the back of the tv. It lights up the wall when the room is dark? The truemotion setting must be turned off, If turned on you will see motion blur when watching dvds.(same with my samsung) 120hz effects are a problem for me. Also the contrast is good but not great. Overall the price and sharp bright picture make this tv a good choice. The samsung i exchanged for, the audio matches the video.no light leakage out the back, great contrast, colors and sharpness are not as good as the lg. But overall i like the samsung better, more $$$$ though.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
As an owner of a previous LCD and a Plasma, I have to say, this HDTV completely blows the others away in all aspects. The speaker system is pretty amazing (most things can be watched in the 20's volume range - this set goes up to 100!), and it's virtual surround sound isn't bad at all (when watching movies, I put the sound on Cinema mode, with the treble and bass turned all the way up). The auto-volume is also a nice feature. No more crazy-loud commercials! This feature fixes that issue by normalizing the commercials to a lower volume.
I want to draw special attention to the 120hz function of the TV, which is buried in the expert settings of the video options. LG advertises this feature as 'TruMotion 120hz', but the option in the menu simply states "120hz." This can cause some confusion for some people. Let me explain what is going on. This TV will refresh at 120hz, no matter what - which is exactly what you want it to do. The 120hz option in the menu that I am referring to has nothing to do with that - is not really turning 120hz on or off. The name of the option is misleading. It really should be called "TruMotion" (as LG calls it, rather than just "120hz" - which implies that you are changing the refresh rate. Samsung refers to the feature as "Auto Motion Plus.") To make a long story short, this feature has to do with frame interpolation, not refresh rate. You will find that this setting should be OFF for films (unless you want the frame rate to look "weird" and more like video instead of film) and either on LOW or HIGH (depending on your preference) for sports and video games - basically, you want the feature on for things that are shot at 60 frames per second, and off for films, which are shot at 24 frames per second. There are some times when the 120h setting can be tolerated on LOW for films, but after a while, you will just find yourself thinking that it looks a little too "weird," and too realistic - NOT film-like. Keep the RealCinema option on (which makes 24-frame film look better). The TV will know if something is 24fps or 60fps, and will adjust accordingly. So, don't think that you have to turn that feature off when you're watching sports. You don't. Just keep it on and the TV will know when it needs to use it.
This TV only needed some MINOR calibration to make the brightness/colors what they should be. I had to heavily calibrate my other HDTVs, but this one only needed a little calibration to have perfectly accurate colors. It has 4 HDMI ports (more than I would ever need!), an optical audio port, and some analog ports (which I won't ever need to use, considering it has 4 HDMI ports!). I can't wait to purchase a Blu-Ray home theater system to compliment this new TV, but LG has decided that Europe and Korea are the only places that deserve their RESPECTABLE Blu-Ray home theater in a box systems. The two they released here in the US do not play DivX or MKV files via a USB stick (the standalone LG BD390 does, but I want the feature to be included in a home theater system, like they have released overseas). Hopefully LG will release the good systems in their 2010 lineup.
Now, back to the TV. I really don't have too much else to say, because everything else is pretty perfect. The menus are easy to navigate, switching inputs is easy, and there is a "quick menu" button on the remote that makes it easy to switch between video and audio modes without having the giant menu on the screen while you do it. I want to stress how happy I am with the speakers, once more. While I need to have surround sound when I get my inevitable Blu-Ray player, I have no problem with the built-in speakers. They are easily the best built-in speakers I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Did I mention that there is also an option that makes the human voice higher than the background noise (for those films with poor audio, or those people watching that don't care much for bass and just want to hear the dialog). This feature disables the virtual surround sound (which I believe was also disabled by default, so make sure you go and turn that on if you want to really enjoy the speakers) because it lowers everything that is not on the same frequency of the human voice. I was skeptical at first, but it really works, and it works well. But, since my hearing is good, I don't need to use this feature yet, so I will stick to the built in virtual surround sound system that the TV comes with (which, on cinema mode with the bass and treble turned up all the way sounds really amazing).
In closing, amazing LCD HDTV. I highly recommend this item.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
Very happy with this TV after three weeks of use. Wanted a decently priced LCD for my family room which gets a good amount of sunlight (even with blinds closed). LG 42LH40 didn't disappoint! We primarily use the set for television (AT&T Uverse) and Xbox 360 games/Netflix. HD sports are outstanding and Xbox games are razor sharp. I've seen virtually no motion blur from either input.
Setup was simple, plug in the HDMI cables and go. Training the Uverse remote to control the set was painless. Colors were outstanding out of the box in "Natural" mode and the automatic tuning wizard was very easy to follow.
Only small negative so far is mediocre black level. It's noticeable at night when watching a movie, but I've never been distracted by it. Several "professional" reviews knock this set for black levels but I honestly don't see the big deal. If you want deep blacks, buy a plasma.
Definitely recommend this set to anyone looking for a great value in the 40" LCD range. Amazon ordering and shipping were great. Shipping company called to confirm my selected appointment and showed up on time.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
I've had this tv for about 4 months now and it is everything I wanted in an HDTV. The picture is crystal clear out of the box and even though you are suppose to calibrate these tvs, I haven't had a need to do so. I wanted at least a 42 inch HDTV, LCD (to avoid plasma glare), 120 HZ to avoid motion blur, and under $1300. I looked at a few Samsungs and Sonys but both brands go from 40 inches to 46. I also considered a 46 inch Sharp but wasn't impressed with the video quality. So the LG 42LH40 is what I bought.
The screen is bright and beatiful and sports in high-def look amazing. The menus are clear and intuitive which makes changing settings a breeze. The remote isn't anything fancy but I do like the large input button that allows you to quickly switch between devices by displaying large icons that represents your inputs with the active inputs in color. The tv has a on off indicator on the lower right hand side that glows blue when off and red when on. This light also does a little Knight Rider type animation when the tv has been turned on and is warming up. Blue-Ray movies give you the best picture, then high-def tv, then upconverted dvds, then standard-def tv. Standard-def looks pretty crummy but that is to be expected on any large HDTV. Sound is also pretty darn good to be coming from built speakers.
Overall
Pros - Picture, menus, # of inputs, sound, style
Cons - Remote isn't backlit
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
I was looking at Samsung and Sony but quickly realized that they lack some features i really want. LG has an excellent matte screen that works well in a bright room, it has EXCELLENT built in sound for a flat screen TV, and the Intelligent Sensor feature really works as the TV adjusts to ambient light to provide a good picture not matter what time of day. Other cool features that actually work are the auto commercial volume leveler and the clearvoice thing that makes voices stand out more so you don't have to worry if someone on your favorite show/movie is whispering. I was surprised how much I love this TV but am totally sold and plan to buy more LG LCD in the near future.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
In looking for a 42" LCD, my first choices were the Sony and Samsung. I quickly found that Samsung makes only a 42" plasma, and Sony has only one model in a 42" which does not have the 120mhz motion feature. Accidentally, I came across the new 42" LG LH40 model in my local Best Buy store. What a revelation. This set had all of the features I was looking for: 120mhz, quick response rate (2.7), 70K contrast ratio, 10-bit panel, and a self-calibration feature called picture wizard. In addition, the quality of picture was outstanding in side-by-side comparisons with 40" Samsung's and Sony's. I purchased this set and have not been disappointed. In my area, I cannot receive Dish satellite broadcasts for the local channels. So I attached an inexpensive power amplified inside antenna ($25) directly and surprisingly receive stunning HD pictures for the local channels that equally match the HD quality via the satellite channels. I have a Panny BD60 Blu-ray player attached that provides tremendous HD for movies. The setup for this set was very intuitive and easily accomplished. I've been using the factory set 'standard" picture mode which has proven to be ideal - no adjustments required. The picture wizard feature allows you to basically calibrate your own picture. I haven't used this feature as yet. I would highly recommend this LCD. It appears to be comparatively a lot of bang for the buck.
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This review is from: LG 42LH40 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Gloss Black (Electronics)
Pretty much everything has already been mentioned by other reviews, so I will mention something new/updates.
1)The HDMI audio sync issue was a big concern when I decided to buy this TV, but LG seems to have fixed this with a new firmware. I am using a comcast HD DVR box and a DVD player through HDMI, and audio/video syncs properly.
2) Picture quality is BAD without adjusting the picture settings. The colors (look washed out) and the rendering will really disappoint you, but dont judge this tv until you tweak the settings. Google "xxlh40 setting" and try out a few variations. I either use the cnet settings for LG xxlh30 or a hometheatremag setting for this tv. Picture looks AMAZING with these changes. (fyi: dont associate brightness with good picture quality!)
3) I found it annoying that I have to change PQ settings for EACH input, but its not a big deal once you have done all your tweaking.
4) Trumotion 120hz. I only use this at "Low" for sports. Never use this setting for movies...it just looks weird.
5) There is no headphone out. I use a AV-to-3.5mm converter, which was $2-3.
6) Some people are complaining about the sound quality. I am guessing that they are comparing it to their home theater setup. This tv has excellent speakers! I use my HT setup only for movies now.
7) I think this tv is better than my friend's samsung ln650 in every area except "blackness." Blacks looks much better on samsungs, but I paid half of what he paid!
Hope this helps.
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