The LG 42LV4400 LED HDTV performs well overall, but lacks some necessary features you may see in competing televisions.
Menu
The menu is that the same one LG has been using for some years now. Pushing the “home” button brings up choices for changing picture/audio/parental/time/channel settings etc. These sub-menus are simple to navigate because of footage and huge text. whereas the organization of the menus are nice, the breadth of the options offered is disappointing.
Picture
The picture on most LCD’s is very smart lately. The LG 42LV4400 ranks right up there with any mid-range HDTV. The blacks might be much better, however with some smart tweaking within the regular menu settings, you’ll achieve fairly tight color accuracy and ‘pop’ (the sensation of depth and realism). as with most LCD’s, the brightness is quite abundant, creating it an honest TV for any area. It also contains a matte end, that makes it difficult to check reflections.
Aesthetics
The bezel of the TV is 1″ on top and sides but virtually 3″ on the bottom. The bezel and stand are a high-gloss black with terribly easy contours and slightly rounded edges. Overall, it’s plain but conjointly attractively understated. it might be a decent alternative for knowledgeable atmosphere likewise as a home.
Build
The LG 42LV4400 is fairly light-weight, creating it simple to setup by oneself. The stand appears durable enough, but somewhat additional weight would have been comforting. The stand doesn’t provide any tilt and does not swivel too well. The inputs are…streamlined: there’s one component input and no composite inputs besides; no dvi. The three HDMI inputs are ample though and also the USB port could be a sensible addition. The buttons on the TV aren’t in the most convenient place, being recessed on the side by two.5″. The buttons feel low-cost, however are responsive. most of the people can use the remote anyway, that is a lot of of a similar. The remote feels low cost moreover, however appearance okay and works fine. Since there are not a large amount of options on this TV, the remote is straightforward enough. there’s no ethernet nor wi-fi.
Motion Handling
One option I forever hunt for right away is smoothing out motion (sometimes separated into blur and judder). Most LCD’s have problems manufacturing clear, smooth, flowing video of motion. this is often a significant disadvantage vs. plasma, which doesn’t suffer constant drawback. The refresh rates (120Hz or 240Hz instead of 60Hz) are used to adjust the approach your eyes see the motion on the tv. in the best TV sets, the video is processed so there’s no stuttering and also no “Soap Opera effect,” a haul introduced when there’s too much processing that may build any video look unnaturally smooth as the processing tries to correct the conventional variations in speed that us living things tend to try to to such a lot once we move regarding. unfortunately, with the 42LV4400, you have got nearly no management over the motion handling, apart from selecting a picture mode (Cinema, Game, Sport, etc). In Game mode, the motion handling is turned off to cut back input lag. In Sport mode, it’s turned all the far, so you’ll see a soccer gliding from the quarterback to receiver while not too much choppiness.
Calibration
If you propose to calibrate this TV yourself, you will be sorely disappointed. My older 42LH90 has settings for 10-point IRE grey scale and color/tint settings for primary and secondary colours. Such options as those could solely interest videophiles with a spectrometer at their disposal, but the 42LV4400 fully lacks the ability to adjust the gray scale. Most other TV’s I’ve bump into in the last few years a minimum of have a 2-point IRE gray scale adjustment. I assume additional calibration settings are offered in the service menu, but i have never found how to access that, despite reading through the manual on the included CD.
Other options
The picture menu lacks some vital settings, but does let you create a fairly convincing image overall. See the tip of the review for my settings (though every panel is different). Parental controls are well laid out. the sport mode appears to work well enough to play FPS, though a game like Rock Band should want some adjustment in-game. Sound is okay, however i would advocate using external speakers with any TV. sadly, the USB access can solely let you read pictures. you cannot view movies or hear music from the USB port such as you can on some other LG models. Also, I did run into a peculiar issue where this TV didn’t input any signal from my DVDO video filter. both functioned normally when paired with different devices.
Conclusion
The 42LV4400 lacks the options necessary to be considered a high-end TV, but it’s capable of producing an excellent image that may rival any mid-range TV. i would recommend this model to anyone making an attempt to urge the best picture for the smallest quantity of money. it might best fit a shopper who generally doesn’t trouble adjusting the settings on their TV and isn’t bothered by the method some LCD’s poorly handle motion. it’d even be a great fit for skilled settings, like a conference space or waiting space.
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