• Overview
• 
• Review
• 
• Specs
• 
• Compare
• 
• Images
• 
• User Reviews
• 
• Discuss
• 

By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Aug 03, 2007

There are consumers who purchased flat panels for their daily soap opera fix, and others as yardsticks of their social status. The latter egoistic lot has even prompted strong words from a CNET Caucasian reader and an unprecedented record-long email. Whether you are a discerning home-maker with an exclusive taste for high fashion or an attention seeker, the latest LG Design Art series is definitely a lifestyle-oriented TV designed to turn heads. But how does it stack up against the similarly crafted Samsung Bordeaux Plus? Read on and find out for yourself.

Design
Almost every TV manufacturer is blinging out but only a handful of non-boutique brands such as LG have ventured into the all-round glossy realm. To differentiate its pilot Design Art lineup from its fellow compatriot's offering, the Korean company has a couple of new tricks up its sleeve. New on the plate are a unique ring-shaped swivel stand and a silver-accentuated, wave-inspired bottom. These complement the mirror finish and are key elements of the series' overall "black pearl" design, though we felt it’s a little too plasticky for our liking.

	A unique ring-shaped swivel stand. (Click for larger image)

To give the front a minimalist appeal, a near-invisible "dimple" speaker array is deployed along the base, angled toward the floor. This stealthy approach is well-extended to the overly recessed left A/V inputs and right onboard controls. In our humble opinion, this compromises usability over fine aesthetics. Life would definitely be easier for impromptu hookups if those jacks were situated closer by the side. Nonetheless, a simple plastic anchor is fortunately available to deal with the snaking cords and cables on the panel's rear.

The ergonomic LB7RF's remote has made a comeback, albeit with a shimmering but stain-prone face. This, as noted in the earlier review, has multifunctional capability which does basic video playback with over 110 brands of DVDs and VCRs. The rest of the buttons, on the other hand, are generally responsive and spaciously laid out. There is definitely sufficient real estate for dedicated input keys but these are currently off LG's radar. So you will have to settle with a TV button for off-the-air broadcasts and an A/V equivalent for video toggling.

Faring better is the software menu which has most basic video settings covered. These are accessible only under user1 and 2 factory presets, while the rest such as Standard are non-user-customizable. Diving deep into the structured menus, we even landed ourselves a couple of advanced variants for the XD processor's operations. That said, tweaking options are sadly limited to simple On and Off, with nothing close to the elaborate settings found on some other midrange entries. If you care less about fine-tuning, just simply set these on automatic.

• Most Popular

• Upcoming

What's Hot

 

Latest Downloads