By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
12/09/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0,39037585,43755848p,00.htm

The LG PG60-series plasma HDTVs are truly unique in Asia with their integrated HD broadcast reception capability. They're also precious gems in the connectivity department, offering up to four HDMI ports to cater to a dazzling array of compatible HD equipment. You could, for instance, hook up a digital video recorder, gaming console and Blu-ray player to the panel with room for either an HD camcorder or laptop.

Design

If you are tired of the usual protruding panel frame, the 42LG60D's frameless bezel will be a refreshing change. Cut from a single sheet of glass and comparable to the flagship Panasonic PY850s, LG's award-winning "single layer frameless protection" design delivers a seamlessly smooth panel surface. Like most of its siblings, it also features the Mark Levinson-tuned invisible speaker system. This keeps clutter to a bare minimum and blends well the red tinted bottom that is arched inwards, while the entire TV is held upright by a sturdy swivel stand in a matching glossy hue.

While we're glad that the side HDMI and A/V ports are a lot more accessible mounted on the left edge, the same cannot be said for its onboard TV controls. Instead of a clear view of these buttons, they have now gone undercover below the chassis and are troublesome to operate. That said, the TV does have a proper cable management system which makes use of a detachable cable tie and bracket. These are wide enough to manage a bundle of cables, routing them neatly along its rear perforated metal chassis. Furthermore, there's no audible noise from the set as it runs silently without a cooling fan.

Believe it or not, LG has being using, fundamentally, the same remote design since 2006. The version for the PG60 has minimal physical variation beyond a couple of new keys for its digital TV tuner and a fresh coat of glossy paint. You will still get multifunctional VCR/DVD playback controls even with non-LG boxes, though dedicated input buttons have been elusive so far. A solution to facilitate input device selection using software filtering and hardware detection would have been better. On a positive note, the controller does offer a comfortable grip and matching responsiveness.

Another key area which needs an overhaul is its software user menu. Aside from the interface's uninspiring look and feel, the spread of video and audio options are hardly comprehensive. You have the basic controls to tune settings such as color and sharpness, plus extras to manipulate its proprietary XD picture processing. All these are captured in one of the two user-customizable video modes which are tied separately to the TV's inputs. For those too lazy to toggle with the video settings, there are three more locked Dynamic, Standard and Movie modes, pre-optimized for different room lighting conditions. What's missing is a sensor-based option which is becoming increasingly common nowadays.

Features

On paper, this HD-compatible XGA (1,024 X 768-resolution) panel is neck-to-neck with all other high-end plasmas in the contrast department. It has an ultra-high 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast and 30,000:1 native contrast which is comparably superior compared to the G8 Pioneer Kuros. Other interesting technical specifications include a long 100,000-hour lifespan and a moderately effective anti-reflection coating. In other words, this TV is expected to be quite long-lasting and should function well even under ambient lighting.

For those who have a special preference for plasmas, this LG is one of the few Integrated Digital TV options out there. Already considered mainstream in countries like Japan, Europe and the US, IDTVs come with integrated DVB-T digital TV tuners and MPEG-4 video decoders for out-of-the-box HD broadcast reception. In other words, you could tune to the free-to-air Singapore HD5 channel in all its high-resolution grandeur and 5.1 surround sound without having to add an additional set-top box. Furthermore, there's also an electronic program guide which gives a one-glance TV program schedule.

Another rather interesting but gimmicky addition is its 150Hz True Motion picture engine which the company claims can cut down onscreen response time to a flicker-free 0.001 second. In this respect, the TV did deliver stable images throughout our week-long evaluation. Having said that, it seems the True Motion feature has negligible impact on suppressing judder. Nonetheless, the LG panel is loaded with a powerful Genesis FL8548 video chip. This has integrated DCDi Cinema processing which is renowned for its jaggie-free DVD upscaling, a feature commonly offered only on high-end disc players and A/V receivers.

If you are not impressed so far, the 42LG60D also comes with four HDMI 1.3 inputs which should cater to all your HD needs with room for expansion. You'll also have native film 1080p24 signal-compliancy to match the latest Blu-ray players and the company's proprietary Simplink function for one-touch control across compatible LG products. It's just a shame that LG has downgraded its dual component-video compatibility to 1080i format. Rounding up the list of connections is a PC input and Dolby Digital-enabled digital optical audio output.

Performance

The 42PG60D was simply brilliant when it came to native HD broadcasts. In fact, it produced one of the best images we've seen so far. On the whole, Singapore's MediaCorp HD5 reception is stable with sharp and clean visuals. Switching to the regular digital channels, there was a visible drop in sharpness, though everything else still stacked up well. Unfortunately, the situation was quite the opposite for some analog stations. Not only was clarity average, video grain was clearly visible compared to our reference Pioneer LX Kuro.

Well, it was a swift reversal going through the synthetic Avia test patterns with strong showings of perfect grayscale tracking and color decoding. The former was counterchecked using our copy of Blade 2 DVD which revealed intricate shadow details during the dark warehouse ninja assault scene. As expected, the DCDi-assisted HD upscaling churned out some clean and smooth pictures. Russell Crowe's rounded shoulder armor plates in Gladiator were convincingly rendered with little jaggies, while his many close-ups yielded plenty of facial features.

Going 24-frame full-HD pushed the performance envelope further by boosting the overall image fidelity. It worked best for film-based materials such as Casino Royale that showed up in vibrant colors (albeit slightly skewed skin tones) and good blacks. Disney's Cars was equally enjoyable except for slight softness due to screen internal reflection, occasional judder and jaggies for text. It was smooth sailing for HD-HQV with most benchmarks expertly tackled, except for the film resolution lost test which indicated an issue in resolving full 1080i details.

There were two issues we picked up when we were gaming on this LG. First, there was visible temporary memory effect after only slightly over ten minutes of Ridge Racer 7 on the PS3. The 16:9 LG panel also does not support the display of edge-to-edge full-HD materials, resulting in graphics being cropped from the screen edges. On the flip side, sharpness was spot on for both 1080i component and 1080p HDMI from an Xbox 360. We were not impressed by its PC performance which delivered soft text images at native XGA resolution as well as light diagonal/circular banding on our standard color chart.

Honestly, we weren't bowed over by the Mark Levinson-tuned audio system. There was a healthy dose of mid-bass and articulated vocals, matched by decent stereo imaging and ample reserved power to go loud. What we felt lacking was the average treble and SurroundMax virtual surround sound. Taking everything into consideration, the LG 42PG60D is a feature-packed and attractive plasma TV which justifies its above-average S$3,299 sticker price. Picture quality-wise, the LG is understandably not on the same level as the Kuro, though it compares well with the competition.