Roundup: 9 HDTVs : LG 42LH30
By
Digital Versus,
published on June 21, 2009
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2. LG 42LH30
Our scores in the blink of an eye
| Black levels: | 0.16 cd/m² |
| ANSI contrast: | 927:1 |
| White levels (Max): | 340 cd/m² |
| Gamma (Av): | 2.24 |
| DeltaE on PC: | 8.9 (*) |
(*) this poor score does not reflect images obtained with other sources (tuner TV, DVD, Bluray)
We take these measuements using the best settings for watching a movie. Whether Cinema, Home Theater or Film mode, the majority of TVs have a preset for this. Wherever possible, we set the white levels at 150 cd/ cd/m², although, obviously, we measure the maximum brightness of white separately.
- 42LH30 42" LCD TV...
Along with being based on an older 60 Hz panel, the 42LH30 lacks a USB port and SD Card slot for reading photo or audio files. However, the rest of the connectivity is sufficient, with 3 HDMI sockets and a digital optical audio out. You’ll also note that the 42LH30 has a much more sobre design than some other LG sets, with an entirely black casing. The remote is identical and has the small rapid brightness settings button.
The color temperature, as on all TVs, is best when you set it to “Warm”. We deactivated all the interference filters and all the other artificial settings that often spoil the natural image.
The SD performance is not nearly as good as it could be. Quite a bit of detail is lost and it is better to carry out the upscale directly on your DVD player (if your DVD player has upscaling functionality).
Strangely, when connected to a PC, the 42LH30 loses a great deal of color saturation and you almost get a black and white image. The deltaE of 8.9 clearly shows this problem. What’s worse is that it isn’t possible to adjust the saturation when you use a PC as an image source. Only the brightness, contrast and backlighting are adjustable. To be frank, you really can’t use this TV with a PC and expect it to work properly. This is a pity because the image itself is well-framed without misplacement.
The color loss with a PC shows a clear lack of saturation. Greys remain natural. Despite the poor performance with a PC, images from the internal tuner or external sources such as DVD or Blu-ray are entirely normal. To conclude our evaluation of image quality, we also tested ghosting and jerkiness. Because of the lack of 120 Hz and TruMotion settings, it’s no surprise to see a bit of both. You can see these faults on characters or detailed objects that slowly exit the screen. However, in 90 percent of cases they aren’t perceptible to the human eye.
Lastly, and this is something you get with almost all LCD and plasma TVs, the sound quality is pretty poor. Most of the sound coming out of the TVs speakers is flat and unclear, this should be expected in most TVs currently on the market.
| LG 42LH30 | |
|---|---|
| Pros | Cons |
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A TV without any great pretensions, neither good nor bad, but will impress the least demanding user. Others will opt for a model with at least a 4 star rating.
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I have two flat panels, a Samsung 50" DLP and a Samsung 46" LCD, both a couple of years old. Both had lots of advertising that they were 1080P in the store, but a year later, when I went to install my first Blue Ray (Sony PS3), I found out that the only 1080P input source was the Computer VGA socket. HDMI and RGB inputs are limited to 1080i input. Needless to say, I'm rather disappointed in this, and I hope this is not the case with current gear.
^
Wow you bought a 50" and a 46" tv and didnt research the inputs and outputs. I guess that was a lesson hard lived.
Test the turners for over-the-air performance. I purchased an Olevia a couple of years ago based on Consumer Reports recommendation. The turner is very poor - and Olevia is in severe financial trouble.
Reviewers also need to test the turners properly to evaluate over-the-air performance.
RE: "HD Ready displays come with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, while “Full HD” TVs pack a 1920 x 1080 resolution screen"
HD Ready implies NO HD TUNER INSIDE. It has nothing to do with resolution!
I have this and I love it.