LG 47LA660V - My first impressions

Droolinggimp

Droolinggimp

Droolinggimp

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16 May 2004
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Right then. After debating what new TV to get and looking at various models on display at various outlets I opted for this beauty.

Before I get on with my basic review I just wanted to say I really didn't get any feel for LEDs when I was looking at them demoing whatever was being demoed.. All I saw was pixilation around fonts on screen and lots of blur and general artifacts. I went into Currys on Boxing day and I saw the same issues again. As I walked around I noticed whatever they was streaming was being inputted via Componant. I know its carries HD signal but I knew HDMI is better. So with that in mind I disregarded those issues. Also I know these places are pushing to sell the higher end TVs that cost more so I presume they would have the 'better' TVs showing stuff via HDMI and I was right. One TV was showing a demo and it looked stunning, A Samsung iirc.

Anyway...

I went in with a budget of £400 for a 42" Full HD TV. I wasn't bothered about SMART and 3D to be honest but if I came across a TV that had either or both and I liked the TV it wouldn't bother me having them. After having a look at one LG 42" I saw a bigger 47" LG TV and thought for an extra £200 I have a bigger screen which is just right for my room and sound system, having 7.1 HD audio viewing on a small TV just isn't right :p (I had a 42" Plasma) hence the purchase of the this 47" beast. Not only did it have a bigger screen but it was SMART and had 3D, not a big fan of 3D but will no doubt use it at some point as I do have a few BluRays that come with the 3D version of the film I got. I just need to get a 3D player.. That's later next month, along with new speaker setup and new AV receiver.

The TV:

Its light, very light compared to my Plasma. I took the Plasma off the wall and took off the two brackets that was screwed on the back to hang it on the wall. Put those on the new TV and plugged in the HDMI and power cable and slapped it on the wall bracket. 5 mins and job done. Turned everything on and went through the setup for area, region and wifi etc. The wifi was a bit of a pain. It saw my router and wouldn't connect. I changed the routers name and it connected first time. Strange :confused:

Once the setup was finalized I just messed around with the SMART hub, testing all the on demand stuff and generally clciking on everything. The Magicremote is good, responsive and accurate. Very surprised by it. The normal remote works but has buttons in the wrong place as most remotes do. I have never had anything with a remote that is right for me.:(

Anyway I finally switched on SKY and put BBC HD on...:eek: I was amazed at how good it looked, my previous TV was a HD ready TV this if FULL HD I was blown away. That was just the news that was on. The News studio set looked awesome and I could have watched it all day haha. I surfed the HD channels and I couldn't get enough. even my missus noticed the VAST difference and as we all know women can't tell the difference between HD and SD. Well most anyway.

The news ticker along the bottom of the screen was smooth as hell. Not one judder, the news logo was artifact free and no pixilation at all. SD channels looked very good, not as sharp as HD obviously but still very watchable. I began to flick through the channels more and I didn't come across anything like I saw in the stores, no issues at all. I have heard of motion blur and this juddering but so far so good. (all settings are Factory settings I have not changed anything at this point)

I booted up my Xbox 360 and sorted the settings for that. Put on Forza 4 and was gob smacked how detailed it was and smooth, again no issues.

Bluray. I had Harry Potter in from the night before. Booted it up and skipped a few chapters to get to some action. Again. I was in total awe of this TV. It looked unreal (Soap Opera effect, some like some don't I am 50/50 at the moment) smooth and fluid. However I did notice a little ghosting and/or blurring but nothing to be upset about. I then proceeded to alter a few settings and that went away. It was perfect. Stuck in Transformers with original settings again and WOW..:D I then changed it to Game mode and it was more like a movie than a TV show, but I couldn't help but put it back to Soap Opera mode:D it looked so real it was unreal.

Next it was Netflix via the TV app and not my Xbox. Same again, not one issue. The app loaded quicker than the 360 and picture was brilliant. The menus are fast on the SMART HUB.

next up it was streaming from my PC. I got all that setup by downloading some app for my PC. It scanned my PC for videos and Music. It streamed Music very well better than my Xbox as that cuts out music every now and then which annoys me. The TV doesn't, it plays through 100%. I have not watched any movies from the PC yet but will do later once I have sorted them out.

Bit of a naff right up but it is my first.:p

over all my summary is this.

Looks:
9 - Very nice looking TV, light , slim and only a small bezel around the screen. Would be nice to have it all screen but I guess you pay a premium for that

Picture:
8 - (Out of the box) Factory settings was fantastic. No issues like I have seen before on these TVs in shops.
9 - After messing with modes and a few changes here and there. Nothing major had been altered. I think I can get it to a 10 once I get to grips with it.

Sound:
0 - No idea as I have sound through my amp. I have heard its not the best. Why anyone would watch a TV like this with Blurays and other stuff without a dedicated sound system is beyond me. A basic system will cost no more than a few hundred quid or even better still a package with a player and sub, speakers etc you can have for a few quid over £100 nowadays, not what I would use but Mr and Mrs Jones might like it.

Over all I love this TV. I has brought more life back into my movies. In my opinion, before I always said a good sound is 50% of a movie and when I got my HD amp and watched stuff in DTS Master and True Dolby that changed everything again. I had to watch all my movies again just for the sound. Now it is having to watch them all for the picture. I dread to think what Avatar looks like.:cool:

Oh and these movies made by Pixar and Dreamworks, you know Nemo, Cloudy with meatballs and Cars etc.... they looked SICK:D
 
Ok I have just stream a Video from my PC. It was an .mkv file @ 2000 kbps video 5.1 dolby sound and it played it flawlessly. I cannot wait to try out others.
 
i have this tv, i love it, i paid £900 for it though back in March. It'll do me till 4k comes down anyway, then i'm going bigger.
 
Got this myself the other day, love it and it's a nice upgrade from the 42" 3D LG I had before.

Found the TruMotion took some finessing, I actually like it on about 2/3 with TV and films, but anything above that and stuff looks truly bizarre. First time I turned the TV on I had Indiana Jones on BBC HD, and wondered what on earth was happening as the default smoothing was on. Now I understand what the "soap opera effect" is.

It does seem to help a lot with 3D stuff though, which I've noticed is much clearer on this set.

I was also impressed it saw all my Plex stuff straight away and has streamed 3 films faultlessly so far, so much so I've disconnected my Roku.
 
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Nismo.. Are you connecting your TV to your router via wireless or wired? I am currently using the wireless capability of the TV but it sometimes drops connection. Yesterday I was streaming a film from my PC and 10 mins from the end of a 2 hour long film it rage quit :-p I had to restart my TV and fast forward the film to the point where I was. I have googled this and most of the people who experience this is with older TVs from LG and dated 2011 and perhaps a year before. I did find out maybe changing my router channel to a less busy one may help. Would it being wired stop the drops?
 
There are sooo many factors that can affect a wireless signal - but thats one for another thread.

yes - wiring it will help for everything other than youtube - that just tends to run like a bag of spanners at the best of times anyways :(
 
Ok cheers for that. Whats the best way to connect my TV to my router? Do I need to to buy another 15m long network cable or is there such a thing as an hub/switch/splitter? My modem is upstairs and that is connected to my router in the same room. My PC is connected to the router via a 15m cable as I dont have wireless on my PC (PC is downstairs along with my TV). Can I get anything that allows me to do this for instance:

Modem>Router>hub/switch>PC+TV

I dont really fancy having another cable running down the stairs. So if I can use the current cable and split it between the PC and TV I will be happy.
 
Droolinggimp said:
Ok cheers for that. Whats the best way to connect my TV to my router? Do I need to to buy another 15m long network cable or is there such a thing as an hub/switch/splitter? My modem is upstairs and that is connected to my router in the same room. My PC is connected to the router via a 15m cable as I dont have wireless on my PC (PC is downstairs along with my TV). Can I get anything that allows me to do this for instance:

Modem>Router>hub/switch>PC+TV

I dont really fancy having another cable running down the stairs. So if I can use the current cable and split it between the PC and TV I will be happy.
Click to expand...

Yeah just plonk a 5-port switch on the cable you've already got downstairs. This will allow you to connect another 5 devices to that one network cable already coming down the stairs bud ;)
 
I was looking at this tv the other day. It is a strong candidate for my next tv. They can be had for £600 now. I will pair it with a Yamaha YSP-2200.
 
Set TruVision /TrueVision to Off.

That's the first step with any LG tv. From there on, it's down to your preference.
 
Droolinggimp said:
Nismo.. Are you connecting your TV to your router via wireless or wired? I am currently using the wireless capability of the TV but it sometimes drops connection. Yesterday I was streaming a film from my PC and 10 mins from the end of a 2 hour long film it rage quit :-p I had to restart my TV and fast forward the film to the point where I was. I have googled this and most of the people who experience this is with older TVs from LG and dated 2011 and perhaps a year before. I did find out maybe changing my router channel to a less busy one may help. Would it being wired stop the drops?
Click to expand...

I streamed 2 720p MKV files wirelessly with no issues, but then switched to a wired connection as I freed a powerline socket up by taking my Roku box out.

As said above though, there are many factors that affect wireless, where my TV is in relation to the router it's a pretty strong signal even at 5GHz.
 
MarkeR said:
Guys, posted this in another thread, but you have to get this app and have plex server installed in your streaming PC.

https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/89004-simonjhogans-plex-client-for-lg-smart-tv/
Click to expand...

I've been keeping my eye on this, TBH so far I've found that the default way the TV picks up my Plex server actually works faster and is quicker to navigate.

OK, you don't get the movie/programme info, but you do still get cover images, and you don't have to dig around the LG apps screen to find it, you can just go to the input list. It will also be better once it's submitted to the store and you can download it to the local memory, rather than keeping a USB stick inserted. I've not found a way to "sticky" the app to somewhere more accessible, but I could have missed that?

I'll give the very latest version a go later as I believe now you can at least access the TV settings whereas you couldn't before which meant the picture/sound options where unavailable.
 
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Well I got myself a switch box for my home network and wired up my TV and tried it out with some 1080p movies and they loaded super fast, fast forward super fast and restarted without buffering. It has certainly made a huge difference. just need to play a 2hr + movie to see if it rage quits or plays to the end. If it still quits then its got to be something to do with my pc. Can't see it myself.
 
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