LG LED TV Review

LG TVs are one of the most popular brands on the market today and this LG LED TV review will explain the technology that puts LG LED TV models right up there as some of the very best TVs available today.

Televisions are now much more than a display for simply watching TV and movies on. This is something that has LG has recognised by introducing technologies such as LG LED 3D TV, LG Smart TV and a range of connectivity options including Wi-Fi and DLNA for connecting all your home media devices. The outcome is that LG consistently come out on top in many of the LG LED TV reviews that they receive.

The advanced technology behind LG LED TVs is what sets them apart from other brands. In fact LG LED televisions are the only ones to achieve THX certification. This is no easy task as in order to be awarded with THX certification LG LED televisions must pass rigorous testing which analyzes every aspect of their picture quality before they can display the THX badge.

LED TVs in general use different variations of LED lighting to illuminate the LCD panel. LG LED LCD TVs incorporate three different methods of LED lighting systems across their TV line-up. The different methods have been developed to cater for the wide range of display sizes and price brackets available throughout the range of LG LCD LED TV models. The different methods of LED lighting methods and their pros and cons are outlined below.

LG Full LED Slim-This is LG’s most advanced lighting system which utilizes an LED full array which uses individually controllable LED segments located across the entire area behind the LCD panel. It is the technology which is primarily responsible for LG LED TVs being awarded with THX certification.

It enables LG’s most advanced features including local dimming which delivers more intense levels of blackness and contrast by being able to control the brightness of the backlight in specific areas of the display to provide the appropriate level of lighting. If an onscreen image contains areas which are both dark and bright at the same time, the corresponding segments can be simultaneously controlled to provide the correct intensity. This is something which isn’t possible with conventional CCFL LCD backlights and other LED lighting techniques where the whole backlight is controlled as one and not as individual segments.

LG LED Plus - LG LED plus is an enhanced version of standard edge-lit LED TVs. As the name suggests edge-lit LED televisions locate the LED lights around the perimeter of the LCD panel.

How LG LED Plus TVs differ is that the edge lighting is divided in to sectors which can be individually controlled to provide local dimming which improves contrast levels. It does not offer the same control that the full LED array does in the LG Full LED Slim method, but it is better than many other LED backlight systems that do not have any local dimming capabilities.

The major benefit the LG LED plus systems has over Full LED Slim is that because the LEDs are placed around the perimeter of the LCD panel and not to the rear, the thickness or the TV is reduced considerably. Also other benefit of LG LED Plus TV models is that because they do not use as many LEDs as in a full array, they use less power and they are not as complex or as expensive to manufacture which is reflected in the end-user price.

LG LED - This is LG’s ‘standard’ LED edge-lit technology which locates the LED around the perimeter of the LCD panel. There are no local dimming capabilities with this LG LED HDTV technology but it still produces incredible colors, contrast and brightness as well as an ultra-thin display.

In addition to the different lighting methods of LG LED TVs there are a number of core technologies that are responsible for the stunning results produced by LG TVs. Below is an outline of LG LED TV technology, how it works and the benefits it brings to home entertainment.

IPS is an abbreviation for ‘In Plane Switching’. It is the newest generation of LG LCD panel which uses ‘wide field of view’ technology. Deficiencies in previous generations of LCD panel meant that wide viewing angles would reduce the color and brightness of images by approx 40%. Also older LCD displays suffer from afterimages when pressure is directly applied to the screen. Although this is not a big problem with TVs, it is a restricting factor for touch-screen technology.

The wide viewing angle of LG LED LCD TV IPS Panels

LG IPS LED TVs eliminate both these problems as well as having other significant benefits. IPS solves this problem by fundamentally changing the way the liquid crystals polymers in and LCD panel work. With previous LCD panels in order to alter the properties of the light directed from the backlight, the liquid crystals were aligned vertically (pointing outwards towards the viewer). This results in a narrow viewing angle which although it can be improved by using a corrective coating on the panel it is still reduces visibility by up to 40% for wide angle viewing.

LG LED LCD IPS technology is different because the liquid crystal polymers are aligned horizontally meaning they can be viewed from a wide angle with only a 2% reduction in brightness and color.

Other benefits of the IPS technology used in LG televisions is that the response times of the LCD panel are reduced by up to 50% giving them the ability to display fast moving images with vastly reduced blurring and judder. The energy efficiency of IPS panels is also improved by 30% and the production costs are also reduced because of the simpler pixel structure, both of which reduce the total cost of ownership to end-users.

LG 3D LED TV models use FPR (film-type pattern retarder) technology which does not cause screen flicker. In recognition of this, LG LED 3D TVs have been awarded ‘flicker free 3D TV’ certification by the TUVRhineland Institution.

Unlike the active 3D TV shutter glasses used by most other TV brands which alternately display images for the left and right eyes, LG 3D LED TVs simultaneously display both left and right sided images to the viewer using the FPR 3D TV panel. The display separates the left and right images by means of the patterned retarder film situated in front of the LCD panel along with the polarized 3D TV glasses which filters the images intended for the left and right eyes resulting in uninterrupted flicker-free 3D TV images.

Additional benefits of the FPR technology contained in LG 3D LED TVs is that because the 3D images are continuously visible to both of the viewer’s eyes there is little reduction in brightness unlike with active 3D TV where the shutter glasses are alternately restricting the vision of either the left or the right eye at all times.

LG FPR 3D TV Technology eliminates 3D crosstalk associated with Active 3D TV shutter glasses..

As well as being the cause of the reduction in brightness, active 3D shutter glasses need to be synchronized with the TV so that shutters open and close at exactly the right time. Unless perfectly in time this can introduce 3D crosstalk when the left and right sided images overlap giving the appearance of a ghosting effect. As the FPR technology used in LG 3D LED televisions uses polarized 3D glasses which don’t need synchronizing the cause of the ghosting is eliminated. Also because the 3D glasses do not contain shutters, circuitry and batteries, they are much lighter to wear and cost a fraction of what active shutter 3D glasses do.

One final benefit of FPR is the improved handling of high speed motion. Because active 3D TV displays alternate images for the left and right eyes, it is in affect reducing the refresh rate by half. This is in contrast the FPR method used by LG 3D LED LCD TVs which display the full refresh rate for both eyes. The benefits of this are particularly noticeable when viewing images containing high speed motion (such as movies and sports), active 3D TVs on the other hand may exhibit judder and blurring because of the effective reduction in the refresh rate.

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Samsung UE46ES8000

Page 1: Picture Quality Page 2: More Picture Quality Page 3: Features and Verdict User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

There’s a huge amount of good news to report about the Samsung UE46ES8000. It's a fantastic-looking 46in LCD TV with great picture quality and oodles of features. But we’re going to start off this review with a moan, for it’s yet another Samsung TV that sells itself short out of the box with its crazy default picture presets.

None of the four main picture presets provided get even close to delivering a really satisfying all-round picture - or rather, a picture that actually shows Samsung’s LCD panels off to their best advantage. Even the Movie preset on the Samsung UE46ES8000 uses backlight and contrast settings that are far too high. And as always, driving these two key picture components too aggressively reduces black level response, increases incidences of backlight inconsistency, makes colours look over-aggressive, and exaggerates source picture noise.

Presumably, Samsung favours its aggressive presets because it wants to make its pictures look vivid, bright and bold. But while this might show off one dimension of the brand’s LCD panel talents, it sells them seriously short in other ways. Certainly if you’re a movie fan like we are, basing picture settings around such aggressive presets means the whole picture tone is built on a fundamentally flawed foundation.

This all looks even more inexplicable given that the Samsung UE46ES8000 has separate Shop (for displaying in high street retailers) and Home modes. Hmm. Not for the first time it occurs to us that it might benefit Samsung to follow the lead of its Korean rival, LG, and seek the endorsement of the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) so that it’s better equipped to cater for the tastes of hardcore AV enthusiasts.

It might seem like we’re labouring the point a bit here, but it’s a simple fact that the vast majority of people who buy a TV never look beyond its picture presets. Which means that arguably most people who buy a Samsung TV don’t ever get the best out of it. And that can’t be good for either consumers or Samsung.

The good news, thankfully, is that provided you’re not afraid to make some actually very straightforward adjustments to the picture settings yourself, you can transform the Samsung’s performance in an instant. Seriously, all you have to do is reduce the backlight to somewhere between its 6 and 8 setting, and get the contrast down to somewhere around 70-75 percent, and suddenly you can truly see the goodies the panel is capable of delivering.

While working out these settings it did occur to us that it would be nice if Samsung provided more backlight options than the 20 steps currently on offer, to allow you for more subtle adjustments. But even using the values described above you suddenly find that the picture enjoys much deeper, richer black colours with minimal shadow detail crushing; suffers only marginally with backlight consistency problems; and enjoys a more subtle, expressive colour range.

In short pictures go from being intense-but-flawed to subtle, believable and far more immersive/less distracting. This means, too, that you’re better able to appreciate all the other things the UE46ES8000 gets right in picture terms.

For instance, the TV sports a clearly much improved dynamic contrast system, over last year’s Samsung models, due, we presume, to the TV’s introduction of dual-core processing. This enables the TV to study twice as many segments of the picture as last year’s equivalent models. This more localised picture assessment means that the TV’s impressive black levels depths can be accompanied within the same frame by bolder, brighter light elements than you got with last year’s panels.

We’ve seen suggestions that the Samsung ES8000’s contrast performance is actually worse than that of the D8000 series, but this doesn’t ring true to us. For while just sticking a contrast measurement device on the screen might deliver a reduced result, the much more accurate application of the TV’s dynamic contrast controls means that in truth, the minute by minute contrast performance of the screen strikes your eye as being much better than last year’s models. A fact that’s easily confirmed by looking at the UE46ES8000 side by side with a D8000.

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Toshiba 46YL863

Page 1: Design and Features Page 2: Features and first picture thoughts Page 3: Picture and Sound Quality User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

At its recent 2012 product launch, Toshiba had plenty of new TVs to show off. But these imminent new sets did not include any replacements for Toshiba’s current flagship TVs, the WL863 and YL863 models.

Driven by Toshiba’s proprietary, high-powered CEVO Engine processing, the 2011-launched YL853 and WL853 models represent the brand’s most concerted attempt to bring some of the huge processing power used in its Japanese Cell Regza TVs to the UK. So presumably Toshiba believes that for now, at least, these flagship TVs are still able to hold their own against the newer sets starting to arrive on UK shores from rival brands.

Naturally we decided to put this Toshiba theory to the test by putting one of these flagship sets, the Toshiba 46YL863, through its paces.

The first thing that strikes you about this 46in LCD TV is how good looking it is. Toshiba has employed the design talents of the Jacob Jensen Design Studio for these top tier TVs, and the results are genuinely lovely. Its silver, metallic finish, elegant lines and extremely trim bezel and rear both shout ‘flagship TV’ at the top of their lungs. What’s more, the brushed aluminium chassis is remarkably well built.

The 46YL863 continues to live up to its flagship status with its connections. Its got four HDMIs for digital, HD and 3D video feeds, which should be enough to cope with even the most extreme user demands. Multimedia playback, meanwhile, is supported by two USBs, a LAN port and, best of all, built-in Wi-Fi.

The USBs can be used for playing back a healthy though not exhaustive selection of music, video and photo file types from USB storage devices, while the Wi-Fi/LAN options are there to access files stored on networked DLNA-enabled PCs or for going online with Toshiba’s Places ‘smart TV’ system (which we’ll come back to later).

The inclusion of Wi-Fi as standard is significant, since all the research we’ve seen shows clearly that consumers are hugely more likely to use a smart TV’s online functionality if they can do so without having to hardwire their TV into their network.

There is one further significance to the LAN connectivity too, in that it’s there as required support for the set’s inevitable Freeview HD tuner. The 46YL863 also, intriguingly, has a satellite tuner on board. But since this isn’t compatible with the ‘Freesat’ packaging exclusive to the UK, it’s of very limited interest on these shores, so we won’t dwell on it.

The CEVO Engine inside the 46YL863 should on paper be able to deliver much more powerful and, crucially, speedy picture processing than you get with other Toshiba sets, hopefully leading to boosts in everything from colour and detail to contrast and motion response. Particularly eye-catching is the way the CEVO Engine can control an impressively sophisticated ‘local dimming’ system for the edge LED lighting.

Obviously local dimming with edge LED lights is not quite as accurate when it comes to localised levels of brightness as it tends to be with local dimming on direct LED TVs. But we’ve certainly seen edge LED TVs with local dimming start to deliver much more sophisticated results in recent months than the first locally dimmed models tended too, so hopefully the CEVO Engine’s power will continue this positive trend. Certainly the set’s 7,000,000:1 contrast ratio claim is mighty impressive.

The 46YL863’s powerful processors further enable it to offer a very unusual set up feature: an auto calibration system. Cough up around £250 on an optional TPA-1 package, and you can bag yourself a colour meter that plugs into one of the TV’s USB ports and then hangs over the screen so that it can take readings from a series of built-in test signals and automatically calibrate your TV’s settings.

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Finlux 42F7010

Page 1: Design and Spec Page 2: 3D Performance Page 3: 2D Performance User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

Finlux TVs are like buses, it seems. You wait years for one, and then three come along at once. The first two of these Finlux, um, buses, the 55S6040-M and the 32H503, have both proved actually a bit better than we’d frankly expected them to be. But they stuck to 2D. The 42F7010 in front of us today has a stab at 3D.

This has to be considered a brave move, to be honest, given that budget attempts at 3D have tended to come a bit of a cropper. Let’s hope the bravery doesn’t start to look like foolishness once our testing is done.

The home for Finlux’s 3D debutante is rather run of the mill aesthetically. It’s essentially just a plasticky black frame sat on top of a pre-attached plasticky black base. Finlux has tried to liven things up by piling on the gloss for both the bezel and the stand, but actually this extreme gloss ultimately just makes the TV look even more cheap. Barak Obama’s infamous ‘lipstick on a pig’ analogy comes to mind...

The 42F7010 does start to go up in our estimation, though, when we run our eye over its connections. Particularly surprising is the set’s combination of four HDMIs - three on the rear, one on the side - with a pair of USBs. The HDMIs can, of course, receive full HD 3D signals from 3D Blu-ray players, while the USBs can either play back film, music and photo files, or record video to USB HDDs from the integrated digital tuner. Impressive.

Rather less impressive is the fact that this digital tuner only receives standard definition Freeview broadcasts. We guess this is a cost-cutting measure, but while we felt able to tolerate the same situation on a big screen like the 55in 55S6040-M, which we could imagine being bought simply as an affordable monitor to go with a separate tuner/home cinema system, not having Freeview HD seems tougher to take on the 42in 42F7010, which we would imagine being more likely to be used as a straight TV rather than a monitor.

One last point about the connections we should cover before moving on is that many of them face directly out of the TV’s rear - a potential headache for anyone thinking of hanging a 42F7010 on a wall. Though to be honest, the rather huge depth of the 42F7010 probably makes wall hanging it a non-starter anyway.

The £449.99 price attached to the 42F7010 seems pretty aggressive when you consider that LG’s 42in 42LM660T passive TV is around £1200 and Panasonic’s L42ET5B passive 3D TV is around £900. You can get other budget 3D TVs for less, such as the £400 Logik L423ED11 and Cello C42T71dvb. But neither of those TVs were anything special in performance terms, so there’s plenty of room for the 42F7010 to justify its slightly higher cost.

Probably the most concerning competition for the 42F7010 is the Toshiba 42VL863, another passive TV with a very solid performance that can at the time of writing be had for under £550. Still, the 42F7010 does its damndest to underline its value credentials by currently shipping with no less than eight pairs of passive 3D glasses.

The panel at the 42F7010’s heart is a full HD affair, driven by edge LED lighting. It’s got a dynamic contrast system and claims a respectable ‘native’ contrast ratio of around 1400:1.

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Finlux 55S6040-M

Page 1: Design and Specs Page 2: Features and Picture Quality Page 3: More Picture Quality User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

Finlux. Finlux. Finlux... Hmm. Nope, the name’s familiar, but having scanned both our addled brains and our files of past reviews, it would appear that no previous Finlux product has found its way into our reviews database. Despite the brand having being in and out of the UK market on a number of occasions since the brand name was first properly used in 1971. And yet here we have the 55in Finlux 55S6040-M.

Owned by Turkish AV outfit Vestel since 2009, Finlux is now back in business in the UK, with its own direct-sales website (www.finluxdirect.com) and even a quirky new TV advertising campaign featuring an eccentric but happy Finnish man. In his pants.

Predictably enough, Finlux has chosen to set out its UK stall based predominantly on price. For instance, the Finlux 55S6040-M we’re looking at today delivers its 55in of LED-lit pictures for the very reasonable sum of £848.99. But actually, the very fact that this is a 55in TV suggests that maybe Finlux is wanting to become a more ‘serious’ player than it has previously; certainly a set of such size can’t be considered a ‘casual’ purchase in any way, regardless of how affordable it might be relative to most other 55in TVs in town.

The Finlux 55S6040-M’s design makes it impossible to treat casually, too. Surrounding the already-huge screen is a pretty hefty amount of bezel - not far off two inches of glossy blackness frames each of the TV’s four edges. This fact, coupled with the entirely rectangular, flourish-free nature of the set’s sculpting, means that the TV ultimately looks like the budget set it is. But at least it’s pretty well built.

It’s better connected - in some ways - than we might have expected too. For instance, there are four HDMIs when two or three would have been acceptable for the set’s money, and there are two USBs when we might frankly have anticipated none. Even better, these USBs can record video to USB HDDs from the TV’s Freeview tuner, and play video, photo and music files. Supported formats including MPEG 1 & 2, H.264 (in an MKV container), .avi files, .mp4 files (including Xvid), MP3s, JPEGs, and .bmp files.

You might have noticed that we only said "Freeview" tuner earlier, not Freeview HD, and this was no slip of the keyboard. The lack of HD tuner will immediately make the TV a non-starter for anyone who wants to be able to feed their large TV an HD signal but doesn’t want to have to pay a subscription to the likes of Sky or Virgin.

If you do need an HD tuner, you’ll need to look at the Finlux 55S6040-M’s sister model, the 55S6040-T, which adds a Freeview HD tuner for an extra £120. But here lies the clue as to why we believe the 55S6040-M’s lack of HD tuner might not be the disaster it would likely be with a more expensive, mainstream set.

For when you’re talking about a TV as large as 55in, we can definitely imagine an audience of fairly serious AV fans with Sky or Virgin boxes - or just looking for a respectable Blu-ray movie monitor - who just want to maximise the screen size they can on a tight budget. And for these people, saving £120 for a tuner they don’t need makes all kinds of big-screen sense.

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Finlux 32H503

Page 1: Design and Specs Page 2: Picture Quality Page 3: 2D Picture quality and Sound User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

As people who have been knocking around in the AV world for far too long now, we can easily remember the days when you could find yourself coughing up as much as £1500 for a 32in CRT TV. So it’s actually quite hard to comprehend the Finlux 32H503: a 32in LCD TV that can be yours for just £228.99.

Not surprisingly such a furiously price-driven TV isn’t particularly over-burdened with features. There’s no online functionality, no DLNA networking support, no fancy picture processing (not even 100Hz), the native resolution of the 32in panel is an HD-Ready 1366x768 rather than a full HD 1920x1080, and the built-in tuner is only Freeview standard def rather than Freeview HD.

But really, when you’re talking about forking over under £230 for a 32in TV, such feature omissions are kinda beside the point. All you can really hope for at such a price point is a decent picture and sound performance.

We’ll get onto finding out if the 32H503 very soon, we promise. But in the mean time, for all its inevitably stripped back nature, Finlux’s entry-level 32in TV does have one or two tricks up its sleeves.

The most useful of these centre around the USB port tucked away down its rear left side. For this can both play back video, music and photo files stored on USB-based memory devices, and record from the Freeview tuner to USB HDDs. Both of which can be classed as impressive tools on such a preposterously cheap TV.

Tucked away within its bright and colourful, if rather cheap-looking, onscreen menus, meanwhile, is an adjustable noise reduction feature; a quartet of backlight settings, including a reasonably clever ‘auto’ one; a sliding bar that lets you shift the colour between enhanced red and green saturations, and a ‘True Black’ option for the set’s HDMI ports that boosts the black level depth of HDMI sources.

It’s a pity, perhaps, that there are only two HDMIs on the 32H503. But then we guess it’s not totally unreasonable for Finlux to figure that people buying such a phenomenally price-driven TV will either be looking for a set to go in a second room where there will be less sources, or else they’ll likely only have a fairly limited selection of digital video sources.

What's also disappointing about the 32H503’s connections is that most of the important ones face straight out of the TV’s rear, making wall hanging the TV more problematic than it would otherwise be.

Again, though, in reality we don’t see many people really wanting to stick a 32H503 on a wall. For a start, it arrives already attached to a desktop stand. But also, with its rather wide black, angular bezel and chunky (by today’s standards) rear end it’s not exactly up there with a Monet in terms of something you’d want to adorn your wall with.

Starting out our tests with a selection of HD sources, it’s soon clear that as with the brand’s recently reviewed 55in model, the 32H503 is quite a bit better than expected.

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LG Infinia LV5500 Smart LED TV Review

If you’re looking for a top, big brand LED Smart TV at an affordable price, then the LG Infinia LV5500 fits the bill. It offers big screen entertainment, with a full compliment of technical specifications including a 120Hz super thin display, Wi-Fi and Smart TV.Not bad considering it’s one of the cheapest big name TVs in this class.

Read the rest of this LG Infinia LV5500 review to find out more.

LG Infinia 42LV5500 – 42 Inch LED TV
LG Infinia 47LV5500 – 47 Inch LED TV
LG Infinia 55LV5500 – 55 Inch LED TV

The LG Infinia LV5500 is available in three different display sizes. This LG LV5500 review is applicable for all the models in the series as it is only the display size which differs, other than this all of the technical specifications are identical.

The LG LV5500 series video performance on the whole is very good considering its small price. As a whole the color reproduction and gamma levels are very good once configured optimally. This is something I have found to be one of LGs strong points, you are able to achieve a great setup using LG”s advanced settings. Also LG’s out of the box Cinema mode produces goods results.

The LG LV5500’s ability at producing dark blacks is good. If you compare it to a more expensive model it won’t come out the winner. But lets be objective here, the LV5500 is an edge-it LED TV (without local dimming) which is reflected in the price, so taking this in consideration it does a good job in producing decent levels of blackness.

Whereas I have described the LV5500’s abilities at producing the dark black levels as good I am rather more enthusiastic about it color reproduction. With a bit of tweaking the LG LV5500 color reproduction is stunningly accurate. The colors it produces look very realistic and the LG doesn’t produce any un-natural hues or tints as I have seen exhibited in other models in this class which can look a bit artificial.

What can I say about the LV5500’s design? Its black and rectangular and I like it! Like so many other models of TV in this price range, it is looks good without being spectacular and there’s nothing wrong with this. LG have and other brands have attempted more unconventional designs in the past and failed. The LG LV5500 is rather stylish in my opinion.

It has a high quality glossy black finish to the bezel and a small thin silver trim around its edge. The LED panel depth measures 1 inch in depth which is thin, and so it would look great when wall mounted. Also the swivel stand which it sits on feels reassuringly sturdy when you need to rotate the display.

The LV5500 has many different cool features and settings which can be adjusted through the menu system, something which is typically a strong point with LG TVs. For users who want a quick and easy way to get the best out of their TV, LG has included an innovative ‘picture wizard’ which allows the less technically minded user to configure their TV how they like it with ease. It results in a better picture setup than the in-built standard preset modes do, so in my opinion this is a great addition.

As well as this feature the LG LV5500 has a 10-point calibration system for more advanced users to twiddle with. Other features include de-judder for those viewers who like their movies to appear smooth (no to everyone’s taste) and a 24p Real Cinema Mode.

Now, on to one of the LV5500’s many good points. As you would expect this LG comes with a conventional remote control, which does the intended job well. However, it also comes with a second remote control which LG has named the ‘Magic Motion’ remote. As the name suggest it a point and click motion sensing remote control which works much like a Nintendo Wii controller by pointing it at the display. The Magic Motion remote also works with the LG Smart TV menus and functions. All of the re-designed menus for settings and Smart features are thoughtfully laid-out and easy to use. I love this method of operation combine with LG’s menus because it makes the TV breeze to control.

On a final note, the LED display has a matte finish to the surface which means there is little or no glare from surrounding light sources.

The LV5500 includes a generous selection of connectivity options and doesn’t leave anything out. Importantly it has 4 HDMI inputs, 2 USB ports with a Wi-Fi dongle included as well an Ethernet connection for Internet connectivity. As well as this the LV5500 has a PC video connection, 2 composite inputs and 1 component input.

As already mentioned above this TV comes with both wireless and Ethernet connections meaning it can be hooked up to the Internet however you please. Combine this with the Magic Motion remote control, the slick menu system and a complete range of Internet services and you definitely have one of the best Smart TV models in this price bracket.

LG Smart TV provides you with all of the major Internet Apps and services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, Vudu, Facebook and an integrated web browser.

If your interested, you can also hook up your other media (video, music and pictures) from laptops, cameras and removable memory by either using DLNA in conjunction with the network connectivity or by connecting storage devices to one of the USB ports.

I don’t know what this TV runs on but it uses less power than all of the competitors in this class, so you can rest your conscience safe in the knowledge that you aren’t destroying the environment using this TV! It will save you a few bucks on your electricity bills also.

Solid picture, one of the best Smart TVs available with a complete App suite, great connectivity options with Wi-Fi included, slick menu system and settings, innovative Magic Motion remote control and I’ll save the best bit until last – it one of the cheapest LED TVs in this class!

For massive discounts on the list price of this TV use the following links.

LG Infinia 42LV5500 42 Inch LED TV
LG Infinia 47LV5500 47 Inch LED TV
LG Infinia 55LV5500 55 Inch LED TV

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Kogan LED55

Page 1: Design and Specs Page 2: Picture performance Page 3: Performance Continued User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

The vast majority of the TVs we see come from somewhere "out east" - Japan, Korea, Taiwan or China. But today we’re heading south. Way south. For the Kogan brand behind the Kogan LED55 KULED551HDAA TV on our test benches today is actually Australian.

Kogan has dabbled its toes in UK waters before, but only this year has it really made a full-blooded assault on our infamously tough TV marketplace, setting up its own online retail website and launching a surprisingly full range of TVs. And sitting right at the top of this range is the Kogan LED55, a 55in TV with a Freeview HD tuner, 100Hz processing, and a surprisingly slender design made possible by its use of edge LED lighting.

The home for Kogan’s UK flagship screen - which remarkably only costs £749 - is a passably attractive one, thanks to a high-gloss finish and some respectable build quality. The TV’s lines are a bit ‘standard’, it has to be said, and its bezel is wider than we’re becoming accustomed to seeing, making the Kogan LED55 quite a dominating presence. But at least its rear end is quite trim for a budget TV.

Connectivity is perfectly decent too. HD fans should be satisfied by the provision of a trio of HDMIs, for a start, while there’s also a D-Sub PC port so the TV can double up as a computer monitor; an Ethernet port; and a USB jack that’s able to play video, music or photo files using the AVI, MP4, DivX4, DivX5, XVID, MP3, WMA, JPEG and BMP file formats.

The USB port can also be used, impressively, for recording from the HD tuner, with USB drives up to 1TB supported. This sort of functionality certainly goes beyond what you would normally expect to find on such an aggressively-priced 55in TV, and raises hopes that the Ethernet port might extend to such "value added" functionality as DLNA streaming or even online Smart TV functionality.

Sadly - if predictably - this does not prove to be the case. The Ethernet is there simply because the inclusion of the Freeview HD tuner demands it. It doesn’t provide a pipeline to your PC or any wider online services. Oh well. Such is budget TV life.

If you’re the sort of person who tends to tremble in fear at the very sight of a few onscreen menu options, the Kogan LED55 could be the TV for you. For its onscreen menus are just about as basic as basic can be, in terms of both their presentation and the limited amount of functionality and adjustments they contain. The only surprise is an elementary colour management system, which lets you tweak the balance of the red, green and blue image components.

While the Kogan’s onscreen menus are straightforward, though, trawling through them is not. This is because the set’s remote control system is really pretty horrible, with rubbery buttons, a vague layout, and worst of all, a far-too-narrow effective reception range that prevents the TV responding to your remote commands unless you’ve got it pointed at the screen from exactly the right angle. Very annoying.

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Panasonic Viera TX-L42ET5B

Page 1: Design and Features Page 2: Features Page 3: Picture Quality User Reviews Comments Specs Photos

If you’d said to us a couple of years ago that a Panasonic range debutant would use passive rather than active 3D technology, and LCD tech rather than the brand’s beloved plasma, we’d have laughed in your face.

Yet here we are at the start of Panasonic’s 2012 TV launches with the Panasonic L42ET5 sat on our test benches: a 42in LED TV with passive 3D technology onboard. Wowza.

Basically, it would seem Panasonic has had to wake up and smell the coffee. For while plasma still has a well-deserved following, you just can’t deny the commercial reality that many people can’t think beyond LCD, even where large screen sizes are concerned. And while we have plenty of sympathy with qualitative arguments in favour of active 3D, there’s a large and entirely justified market for the simplicity, affordability and comfort of the passive 3D format.

Panasonic has even confessed to a technical/commercial reason for going the passive 3D route. Namely that it’s become increasingly convinced that you can’t do active 3D using a 100Hz panel (something borne out last year by Sony’s disastrous EX7 series). Which effectively means you can’t do active 3D on a really affordable LCD TV.

This explanation, or excuse, for going passive sounds a bit odd given that the Panasonic L42ET5’s spec sheet claims a "300Hz" system. But as with many such apparent fast refresh-rate claims, the reality is that the screen’s native refresh rate is 100Hz; the 300Hz bit comes from the way this combines with a blinking backlight.

We should add here that Panasonic hasn’t given up on its core values in any way. Far from it. It has an extensive and radically improved plasma range coming our way too, and the ET5 series is its only passive 3D offering, with multiple series of active 3D models elsewhere in the brand’s range. But it just so happens that the ET5 is the first new set to explode out of Panasonic’s warehouse, so let’s find out how this out-of-the-comfort-zone model shapes up.

It starts off very well, thanks to aesthetics that rank among the very best Panasonic has delivered. The smoky grey colour of the bezel makes a pleasant change, but this is given extra lustre by the application of a nice high-gloss finish that extends slightly beyond the main bezel to deliver a cool little transparent outer trim.

The set is surprisingly well connected, too. Particularly welcome is an integrated Wi-Fi system - though the set also has a wired LAN if you don't have a wireless system set up in your home. There are also four v1.4 HDMIs, a D-Sub PC port and a handy trio of USB ports through which you can play a fairly good selection of video, music and photo formats. These include JPEG, MP3, .mov, .qt, .divx, .avi, .mkv. wmv, .m4a and most MPEG-related file types.

It’s worth adding, too, that the L42ET5 has an SD slot, so you can play the same multimedia files from SD cards if you prefer these to USB storage devices. And still more good multimedia news finds the Panasonic L42ET5 able to stream files from networked DLNA PCs.

All this and we haven’t considered yet possibly the most key component of the L42ET5’s multimedia functionality: its Viera Connect platform. For the first time with a Panasonic TV, this includes a (rather hidden away, slightly buggy but well presented) Web browser rather than just restricting you to Panasonic’s ‘walled garden’ of content.

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Panasonic Viera TC-PST30 Plasma 3D TV Review

The Panasonic Viera PST30 series is available for under $600 and it is a serious content for best TV of the year.

It is 3D TV capable, has internet connectivity and most importantly produces stunning pictures.

To find out everything you need to know, read my Panasonic Viera ST30 series review to find out why the ST30 is one of the most popular TVs of the year.

The Panasonic TC-PST30 series is available in six different display sizes, in all other respects their specifications are the same. Therefore this review can be applied to all models in the series. The models are as follows.

Panasonic Viera TC-P42ST30 3D Plasma TV – 42 Inch Display
Panasonic Viera TC-P46ST30 3D Plasma TV – 46 Inch Display
Panasonic Viera TC-P50ST30 3D Plasma TV – 50 Inch Display
Panasonic Viera TC-P55ST30 3D Plasma TV – 55 Inch Display
Panasonic Viera TC-P60ST30 3D Plasma TV – 60 Inch Display
Panasonic Viera TC-P65ST30 3D Plasma TV – 65 Inch Display

For its overall video performance the Panasonic TC-PST30 Plasma TV does an exceptionally good job, it is actually on a par with its more expensive THX certified bigger brother the Panasonic GT30! And when compared to rival plasmas in the same price bracket from LG and Samsung, the Panasonic ST30 is a serious contender for the best-in-class title.

If there is one criticism of the ST30 it is that for bright room conditions it would be nice to be able increase to brightness a bit further. However, do not let this put you off the ST30, in normal lighting conditions and especially for dark room conditions the ST30’s display brightness levels are more than adequate. And to be honest, if I hadn’t mentioned this, it would go unnoticed by the average user. But in a side-by-side comparison with other brighter (and more expensive) TVs, it can look a bit dim in brightly lit rooms. Sorry, but I’m probably being over critical here!

The good thing is that the ‘Cinema picture preset’ mode produces the best picture results with its default settings right of the box, so no need to fiddle with complicated picture settings here to achieve optimal results.

Anyway don’t let any of this take anything away from what has already been stated, the Panasonic ST30 produces seriously good pictures and is arguably one of the best TVs in its class. Don’t forget that the price of the Panasonic ST30 price starts at less than $700 !!! see for yourself – the best price can be found here.

Continuing this Panasonic ST30 review, I’ll get a little more specific about the various aspects of picture quality starting with the levels of blackness.

The Panasonic ST30 does a great job at producing deep and perfectly consistently blacks. It is as good as the more expensive Panasonic GT30 and the Samsung UND6400 in this respect. Black parts of images appear wonderfully dark and outperform the LG and Samsung plasma in this class. The ST30’s superior black levels and gamma allow it to bring out ultra fine shadows and finer details in the images on display.

Right out of the box the ‘Cinema preset’ mode produces the best results for color accuracy. Though the ST30 over-performs when it comes to levels of blackness by matching the more expensive Panasonic GT30, with regards to color accuracy, as you would expect the ST30 doesn’t quite match the GT30. However it still produces good color saturation with images appearing natural and vibrant.

The Panasonic ST30 3D TV picture quality is actually very good. Panasonic has invested heavily in the success of 3D TV. Panasonic uses active 3D TV (as opposed to passive 3D TV), and so the ST30 produce ‘full HD TV’ (full resolution 1080p 3D TV).

The ST30 produces very little 3D crosstalk (3D crosstalk is a ghosting effect and is bad), and despite its smaller price tag it compares well to the more expensive GT30. The ST30 does lose some of its levels of contrast to compensate for the active shutter 3D glasses by increasing the brightness, but this is something that most makes and models of 3D TV also exhibit.

The Panasonic PST30 doesn’t come with any Panasonic 3D TV glasses included as standard. You might consider this to be a good or bad thing, depending on your stance. If you’re not interested in 3D TV then you probably won’t be bothered and would rather not have to pay for 3D TV glasses that you will never use. But if 3D TV does interest you, then unless you can find a promotional deal that includes 3D glasses, you are going to have to pay extra for them.

However one good thing about Panasonic 3D glasses is that they are backwards compatible. Panasonics new redesigned 3D glasses work with previous generations of the Panasonic 3D TV (and vice versa old 3D glasses work with the ST30).

For me, design is an aspect of TVs which is over-hyped. Yes, it is very nice if a TV has a stunning design as well as producing great pictures. But, aesthetics aren’t at the top of my list of priorities when choosing a TV, they are an added bonus, picture quality is my top priority. This is not to say I would buy a TV with an awful design. Its just that there aren’t many TVs with outstandingly attractive aesthetics, most TVs look rather similar barring a few exceptions (Samsung LED TV for one).

So, what can I say about the Panasonic PST30 design. It’s absolutely fine, it won’t be winning any beauty contests any time soon, but it has a high quality, plain black design which exhibits Panasonic’s high build quality.

Job done as far as I’m concerned! In fact I am rather a fan of such understated TV designs (reflects my personality to be honest), ‘substance over style’ sums the ST30 up quite well!

The Panasonic menu design and layout is very good. In fact the same can be said about the remote control, which is good because together the make operating the ST30 a breeze. The menus look a bit plain in comparison to Samsungs (not necessarily a bad thing depending on your preference), the Panasonic menus are simple to navigate and Samsungs menus might be a bit overcrowded for some peoples tastes.

The ST30 comes with five picture preset modes, as already mentioned the Cinema preset produces optimal picture quality without any adjustments. The ‘Custom preset’ gives you the full range of picture adjustments including grey-scale, gamma and de-judder if you so require.

Connectivity options are fairly standard, there are 3 HDMI inputs, 1 component and 1 composite connection. A possible a minus point for some users is that there’s no PC video input. However, on the plus side the ST30 has a SD memory slot, an ethernet port, two USB ports and it includes a Wi-Fi dongle, saving you from having to purchase one for $80 (not all TVs at this price range include Wi-Fi).

Overall Panasonics Viera Connect (the name Panasonic gives its internet suite) is very usable. Panasonic redesigned their internet TV in 2011, prior to this it was a bit sparsely populated. The same can’t be said anymore.

Panasonic includes an almost complete range of all the major internet Apps including Netflix, Amazon Instant, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Twitter and Skype but not Vudu and Hulu Plus. One notable addition which you may like is Shoutcast internet radio.

Considering the Panasonic TC-PST30 starts at $700, it offers unbelievable value. The picture quality is excellent with perfect uniformity, deeps blacks, vibrantly accurate colors and robust video processing. With solid 3D TV performance and slick internet capabilities thrown in to the mix, for me, it really is the complete package and easy to see why it is regarded as one of best HDTVs of the year!

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Panasonic Viera TC-PGT30 3D Plasma TV Review

The Panasonic TC-PGT30 produces stunning picture quality. Firstly, unlike an LED TV which requires backlighting which is prone to producing an unevenly lit display, you would expect a top plasma to produce a perfectly uniform illuminated display, in this regard the GT30 does not disappoint. It produces deep blacks which act like a canvas on which super fine details can be painted and the GT30’s color reproduction is vibrant and natural.

With their new neo–plasma panels the performance of the PGT30 has been enhanced compared to previous generations of Panasonic Plasma TVs. The faster reaction times of the Neo plasmas means that fast paced action is now even more super-smooth and any 3D crosstalk has been virtually eliminated so that no ghosting of 3D objects occurs.

The following will run through all aspects of the Panasonic GT30 video performance, read on to find out more.

The GT30 produces fantastically black levels that are on a par with the Panasonic GT25 which was the previous top-rated model which the GT20 replaces. It also very marginally out-performs the Panasonic ST30 by producing slightly darker blacks (as you would expect because the ST30 is slightly cheaper).

Overall the levels of blackness are very dark and even which enable very detailed contrast to be displayed.

I found the color reproduction of the GT30 to be very good, it is very adept at producing wonderfully natural and vivid colors. Combined with the deep blacks it results in some ultra impressive viewing which is pretty much as good as anything I’ve seen. I unable pick out any unwanted bias or hues of green or red which I have seen present in other inferior plasmas.

As already mentioned the faster reaction times of the GT30’s new Neo Plasma technology have had a positive effect on reducing 3D crosstalk so that becomes virtually undetectable. It compares very well to both the equivalent 3D LED TVs and other 3D plasmas.

For those of you who don’t know, Panasonic use active Full HD 3D TV technology (as opposed to passive 3D), this means you will get the full 1080p resolution in 3D mode. The down side to this can be that the active shutter 3D glasses can cause a dimming effect which is counter balanced by upping the brightness. Sometimes this causes 3D content to appear slightly washed-out with poor contrast levels. However, in this regard the GT30 faired very favourably, as the levels of blackness still remained very dark.

As mentioned in the Panasonic ST30 review, the 2011 Panasonic Plasma TVs don’t include 3D glasses as standard. If you have no intention of using the 3D capabilities of the GT30 3D TV then this could be considered a plus point (what’s the point of paying for the 3D glasses if you don’t use them). However if you do want to use its 3D capabilities, if you shop around there are offers to be found which include the 3D glasses in a bundled deals from 3rd parties.

Also the good thing about Panasonic 3D glasses is that they are inter-compatible with previous generations of TVs, so if you already own a Panasonic 3D TV you should be able to use your existing 3D TV glasses.

The design of the GT30 is a big improvement on past generations of Panasonic plasmas which were rather plain and unimpressive. Now, there will still be some critics who regard the GT30 as having an unspectacular design. Whilst the GT30 might still be a bit unspectacular, you certainly couldn’t describe it as lacking quality and style. The GT30 has a thin profile of only 1.5 inches, the bezel around the display measures 1.5 inches also, and it has an impressive overall build quality typical of Panasonic TVs. The black minimal design with silver trim oozes class in my opinion. Finally the swivel stand has a low profile and feels very sturdy.

The menu system of the GT30 are uncomplicated and fairly logical, you shouldn’t have any problems navigating around them when used with the remote control which could also be described as functional and well designed.

The display of the GT30 is coated in an improved antireflective film which seems to reduce any unwanted reflections and improve darkness and contrast levels.

Features of the GT30 include THX certification which can be activated using two of the GT30’s 6 preset picture modes, one preset for each of 2D and 3D THX viewing. Panasonic have added a Motion Smoother setting which basically adds the ability for de-judder processing (a feature that divides opinions). There are also preset modes for color and gamma along with gray-scale control.

As is the case with the ST30, the GT30 also has all the connectors you should ever need, including 4 HDMI inputs, 1 composite input, 1 component input, RF and optical.

As well as this the GT30 has a SD memory card slot for viewing your digital media (movies, music and photos). There are 2 USB slots, PC video input, ethernet port and 2 x USB connectors. The GT30 includes a Wi-Fi dongle (saves you having to spend $75 buying one!) so that you can connect to the internet using either ethernet or Wi-Fi whichever suits you best. This leads me nicely on to the next part, internet / Smart TV.

So you’ve hooked your TV up to the internet, what services can you access with the GT30? The answer is a lot more than you could with last years Panasonic internet TVs. Panasonic have redesigned (and rebranded) their internet suite so that there is now an almost complete set of Apps to choose from. Viera Connect as it is now called, provides connectivity to Netflix, Amazon Instant, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, and Skype to name the big apps here. Other notable additions include Fox sports, Shoutcast internet radio, Picasa, Napster to name just a few.

It’s also worth mentioning that the GT30 (at the time of writing this) includes a free Skypecam which was previously an optional extra.

In summary, I find Viera Connect Internet TV to be massive improvement. It uses well designed, logical menus which are responsive and as your can see from above it is has a wide range of apps and widgets to choose from. Oh, and the free SkypeCam and Wi-Fi dongles are a real bonus!

The GT30 produces picture quality which is up there with the best TVs in this price bracket. It produces deep blacks and natural colors. The 3D TV performance is better than most of its competitors thanks to the improved NeoPlasma technology. The Smart TV features are at least as good as Samsungs and better than the rest of the pack. The only negative is that it doesn’t include any 3D glasses, but then again you can probably find deals from 3rd parties that do include them, and the free Wi-Fi and Skype-cam make up for this anyway. In my opinion, if the GT30 is within your budget you’d hard pushed to find a better way of spending your cash.

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Sony Bravia XBR HX929 Review

There are only a handful of LED TVs that use full array LED backlights with the ability to provide local dimming on the market today. This is not because the more common edge-lit LED TVs are superior, it is due to the high costs associated with this method. The full array with local dimming is primarily responsible for the stunning visual results that the Sony HX929 produces. The full array works by locating the LEDs directly behind the LCD panel rather than around the perimeter of the display. The LEDs are divided in to many ‘zones’ which can be independently controlled to simultaneously provide different intensities of light in different areas of the display to correspond with the images being displayed.

The HX929 is available with 3 different display sizes, other than this they are identical in specification.

Sony Bravia XBR-46HX929 - 46 Inch display

Sony Bravia XBR-55HX929 - 55 Inch display

Sony Bravia XBR-65HX929 - 65 Inch display

The 55 Inch Sony XBR-55HX929 has list price of $3799.99 at Sony

For a massively discounted price follow the link below.

The Sony XBR HX929 is one of the best LED-LCD TVs available today in terms of its picture quality and video performance. The Sony Intelligent Peak LED backlight with local dimming that this TV possesses outperforms edge-lit LED TV models producing superior levels of black and vibrant, accurate colors.

Some instances where on-screen blooming (bright areas that affect the surrounding dark areas) is noticeable as well as some reduction in picture quality when viewed from wider angles (this is an unavoidable characteristic of LCD-based TVs). Neither of the above issues are in any way a big problem because they are hardly ever noticeable during normal usage, but to retain a balanced stance they are worth a mention.

However, as a whole the Sony Bravia HX929 is more than capable of holding it own in terms of video performance when compared to any of its directly comparable LED-LCD rivals as well as most plasma TVs also (other than a select few of the most expensive top-of-the-range models).

The calibration controls for customizing the picture quality are adequate thanks to the balanced image quality the Bravia HX929 produces as standard. Greater control over the color management would have been a nice touch, but because of the HX929’s stunning standard performance which requires little or no tweaking, the ability for more extensive controls isn’t required (or of interest for the average user). Generally speaking the Sony HX929 performance is a big improvement over last years HX909 model which it supersedes.

The Sony XBR HX929’s local dimming LED backlight means that the ability to display the darkest blacks is an area where the HX929 excels. The levels of blackness produced are more what you would expect from a top plasma TV than an LCD based TV. Its superior performance in this area dramatically enhances the whole cinematic experience produced by the HX929 especially when viewed in dark conditions where its qualities are highlighted.

The blooming effects mentioned above is a problem that occurs when a brightly lit area of a picture affects an adjacent dark area. It is only a very slight problem with the Bravia HX929 and not one which affects normal viewing. If you are intentionally looking out for instances of blooming you will spot them, but for normal usage they go un-noticed.
To a certain degree the Sony HX929’s ability to display such dark blacks is what contributes to the blooming effect, if the black areas weren’t so dark in the first place it wouldn’t be an issue. So from this point of view, it’s a case of having to take the good with the bad (or lots of good for a very little bit of bad). But don’t be put off by this, as already stated it is only under the most extreme circumstances that the blooming is even slightly noticeable, for the vast majority of viewing conditions no blooming effects are present. It is a case of the advantages far, far outweigh this small disadvantage, the Sony is more than a match for most plasmas let alone other LED-LCD TVs when it comes to producing the deepest blacks.

Many of the video processing related features and adjustments of modern TVs produce results which are subject to personal preference. For some features you will just have to ‘experiment’ with them to establish what works best for you depending on the application and content source. As is the case with many other brands of televisions, whilst some features may be very technically intelligent, sometimes introduce an unnatural processed appearance to the pictures and so many users prefer to leave them disabled or set to low.

One such feature where the Sony XBR-HX929 works well is with its handling of motion picture films, where 24 frames per second content must be converted in to 60 frames per second handling the content without problem. The Sony HX929 comes packed with many video processing features for you play with, the benefits of which are more noticeable with lower quality or older content.

The video processing of Sony’s MotionFlow feature, is what makes the active 3D TV work in this model. Without this MotionFlow the 3D flicker makes for an unpleasant viewing experience, but with it enabled flicker is eliminated. Sony’s MotionFlow may not be a feature that is to everyone’s liking, in standard 2D mode you may prefer it to be disabled because it artificially smoothes out motion films, but for 3D TV it is essential.

The active 3D glasses of the Sony XBRHX929 work well, they exhibit very little crosstalk and are comfortable enough to wear for longer periods of time.

Unlike with plasmas which typically don’t have as bright displays as LED TVs do, the HX929 produces great 3D results in all room lighting. The dimming effect caused by the constant opening and closing of active shutter 3D glasses can cause some plasmas 3D pictures to appear overly dull in bright room conditions thus requiring them to be used in dim/dark lit rooms. This is not the case with the bright LED screen of the Sony HX929 which works well even in brightly lit rooms.

An area where LED-LCD TVs have come in for criticism is with the deficiencies seen in the uniformity of the brightness of backlight levels. The Sony HX929 favours well in this area because of it full array backlight. Whilst it is not quite perfect it fairs better than other LED TVs. The uneven lighting and hotspots that are occasionally visible are not so obvious that they become a distraction. When seated in the ideal viewing position, central to the screen at a medium distance, then the uniformity is close to perfect.

As is typical with LCD-based TVs the wider your viewing angle the greater the unwanted effects become, the darker and black parts of the picture become s little washed out and any blooming becomes more noticeable. However the above issues are only mentioned for the purpose of providing a balanced review, in normal viewing conditions you will have little or no problems with the picture quality of the XBR-HX929. No TV is perfect but the HX929 gets a lot closer to achieving perfection than most other TVs.

The Sony HX929 stylistic design satisfies the high standards that a top of the range TV demands. It is manufactured to a high level of quality that you would expect from Sony and in terms of aesthetics only the high-end Samsung LED TV models surpass it. For a full-array backlit LED TV it has a very slim design which is almost as thin as other edge-lit LED TVs. The front of the display consists of a single darkened glass pane bordered at the very edge by a thin metal strip. It has a minimalistic sturdy metal swivel stand.

The design of the onscreen menu interface of the Sony HX929 has been given a facelift since last year’s models. The menu options are represented by icon images along the bottom of the display. The name of the menu options are only displayed once an icon is selected, once you do so the menu’s sub-options appear on the right hand side of the display. The bottom and side menus share the screen area with a reduced sized image of the TV content you’re viewing so you don’t miss any action whilst using the menus. The icon design of the menu system can take a little bit of time to get to grips with, but once you become familiar with its layout it works very well.

The remote control is also very well designed, the buttons which are illuminated are well arranged have a certainty to their touch when they are depressed which allows for quick and easy operation. The design of the HX929’s remote control as a whole is logical and you will find yourself using it without having to look at your fingers once you become familiar with its friendly layout.viewing so you don’t miss any action whilst using the menus. The icon design of the menu system can take a little bit of time to get to grips with, but once you become familiar with its layout it works very well.

The Sony Bravia XBR HX929 comes with some new features including a nifty built-in camera, and integrated Wi-Fi (which is not an optional accessory as with some other models of TV). The camera can act as a motion sensor which can adjust the sound and picture to suit the distance the viewer is positioned in relation to the TV. Also a ‘distance alert’ feature can be enabled to emit an alarm signal and turn off the picture if a child is detected viewing the TV from too close a distance. Lastly, a more common feature also present in other brands and models of TVs is the ability to power off the TV after the sensor detects that there is no-one present in the room for a pre-configured period of time.

As you would expect from Sony’s Smart TV, the HX929 comes loaded with a range of internet apps to suit all tastes. All the favourites are included – Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Skype and Social media apps which come implemented in the form of Yahoo widgets including Facebook and Twitter.

Sony has applied its own ‘standard’ interface for Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu rather than using each of their individual interfaces. If you’ve not used them before, then this will make your life easier because you only have to get familiar with the Sony interface rather than several application specific interfaces. There are also many other, apps and widgets for a wide range of music, video and photo services.

The Sony HX929 does come with a built in web browser. Though it does allow you access the internet, it’s usability is on a par with the web browsers seen in most other brands and models of Smart and Internet TVs. Their operation isn’t particularly slick compared to using a home PC or laptop for browsing the net.

The Sony HX929 comes out on top of the energy-efficiency ratings thanks to its LED local dimming. The HX929 only consumes 25% of the power that the best big screen plasmas do, and it even out performs most edge-lit models.

The HX929 will save you $50 per year in electricity costs compared to a plasma which should be enough to impress you on its own, but if you consider that the Sony HX929 outperforms the majority of most plasma competitors using a fraction of the power it becomes even more impressive.

Positives – Everything that is good about the performance of the Sony Bravia XBR-HX929 stems from the full array LED backlight with local dimming. The levels of blackness it produces are as good if not better than any other LCD based TV on the market. The local dimming brings out wonderful colors, contrast and fine details even for the most demanding movie scenes. The HX929’s 3D TV performance is solid and produces almost no crosstalk (something which can’t be said about many other brands of active 3D TVs). It has plenty of technical features, integrated Wi-Fi and is loaded with internet apps and widgets. And of course the HX929 has looks to match with a slim and classy design.

Negatives – It’s hard to find much wrong with the Sony HX929. To be hyper-critical, you have to say that it does suffer from a small amount of blooming and wide-angle washout, both of which are minor problems which rarely occur under typical viewing conditions. It is not the cheapest television on the market but you have to remember you are paying for a TV with a full-array locally dimmable backlight, without this it’s superior video performance wouldn’t be possible.

Summary – To say the Sony HX929 is genuine competition for the best plasma TV models is no exaggeration, it is simply one of the very best LED TV models available.

The HX929 is available with 3 different display sizes, other than this they are identical in specification.

Sony Bravia XBR-46HX929 – 46 Inch display

Sony Bravia XBR-55HX929 - 55 Inch display

Sony Bravia XBR-65HX929 - 65 Inch display

The 55 Inch Sony XBR-55HX929 has list price of $3799.99 at Sony

For a massively discounted price follow the link below.

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