Best Buy HDTVs Reviews

32LH30

LG does’nt get enough praise.

Just bought this TV for the sake of it being an IPS panel and for its apparent adjustability (and also 1080p). Plus this tv is so easy to calibrate; the ‘picture wizard’ is extremely helpful.

The amount of menu options is jaw-dropping, as is the style of the set. The LH40 model looks neat with the plastic square along the bottom of the panel, but I like the more minimalist look of the LH30, and I do not like the 120hz or the $100 price jump of the LH40.

I made a comparison to my sony 32M4000 (which I have now given to my father) and there are some interesting differences (many are polar opposites):

-The sound is far superior on the LG.

-Black levels are very close, sony’s is a bit deeper and maintains black colors better at angles.

-The whiteness of whites is slightly better on the sony, but colors and mid tones definitely have more of a ‘punchy’ factor on the LG.

-Color is amazing; rich and saturated; best ive seen on any LCD, period.

-Color does not wash out at all from different angles, only very dark colors and black tend to become discolored (blue or red depending on the angle).

-Of course there are far, far fewer picture options on the sony.

-My sony has a ghosting problem with dark colors, not so on the LG; motion blur and lag is also reduced too.

-OTA HD channels look decent enough, not as sharp as the sony, but the better color makes up for it imo.

What was the main factor that made me get this LG?..its S-IPS panel.

Samsung is an excellent maker of lcds, but I steered clear of them this time, as buying a tv from them is like playing the lottery. They use 3 different panels with differing levels of color and contrast quality; you are not essentially getting what you pay for:

You may get Samsung’s own S-PVA panel, the best quality (if you’re lucky).

An A-MVA panel from Taiwan’s AUO (a notch worse than S-PVA).

Chinese company Chi Mei’s S-MVA panel (worst of the three).

Panasonics IPS Alpha panels are decent, but on some panels dark colors appear far too blue from different angles.

That narrows it down to LG’s S-IPS panel; its color saturation, vividness, and response time are worth the slight sacrifice in contrast and black depth (at least in my opinion).

This tv is not perfect, however; I spotted 3 dead pixels right out of the box (2 bright, 1 dark), right around the middle of the screen. They are practically invisible without being a foot from the screen and looking hard for them, however.

Viewing angles demonstrate some darkening of the picture, but its not too bothersome (swivel stand helps).

No other flaws I can think of at the moment, I recommend this tv!

My calibration settings use color adjustments from cnet.com along with some of my own tweaks, try them out!

Picture menu:
Aspect ratio: Just Size
Energy Saving: Off
Picture Mode: Expert 2
Backlight: 60
Contrast: 88
Brightness: 58
H Sharpness: 60
V Sharpness: 60
Color: 50
Tint: 0

–Expert control menu
Dynamic contrast: Off
Noise reduction: Off
Gamma: Medium
Black level: Low
Real Cinema: On [grayed out]
Color Standard: HD [grayed out]
Color Gamut: Wide
Edge Enhancer: Off
xvYCC: Auto [grayed out]
OPC: Off
Expert Pattern: Off[grayed out]
Color Filter: Off

White balance: Medium
Method: 10 point IRE
Pattern: Outer
IRE: [see below]
Luminance: 137 (100 Luminance only, 90 through 10 are preset)

– 10 point IRE calibration
IRE: [Red, Green, Blue results, respectively, for each IRE point]
100 [-8, 1, -40]
90 [-13, -5, -40]
80 [-20, -12, -40]
70 [-17, -14, -33]
60 [-17, -12, -31]
50 [-17, -13, -26]
40 [-13, -12, -19]
30 [-6, -4, -8]
20 [-6, -4, -10]
10 [2, 3, -1]

Color management system
Red color: 2
Red tint: 0
Green color: -1
Green tint: -7
Blue color: 2
Blue tint: 7
Yellow color: 0
Yellow tint: 1
Cyan color: 0
Cyan tint: 0
Magenta color: 0
Magenta tint: -2

Reviewed by Is It Dead Yet,  May 6, 2009