LG 52LG60 LCD TV Review

LG 52LG60 may be a view for sore eyes, with its special sleek design, but you should not let yourself impressed by the looks. Like it is said, “it’s what’s inside that counts”, and the true value of this statement can be tested for this LCD model. While certain qualities do apply for LG 52LG60, its disadvantages are difficult to overlook. The TV set shows a good overall picture, quite accurate colors, and its 120Hz processing is an advantage for those who like Blu Ray movies at 24 FPS (1080p/24). Its anti-glare capabilities are not to be neglected, and a large range of picture modes for the user to choose from recommend it. Now, looking on the not so bright side, its black levels could use improvement, as other LCD models already have, and the uniformity and viewing angle are far from being the best.

Main Specifications

• Screen size: 52 inch (designated by “52″ in 52LG60)
• Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080p / Full HD)
• Contrast ratio: 15000:1

Other product specifications can be seen on the manufacturer’s website.

Picture Quality

Performance of an LCD TV can be evaluated especially through the picture quality it is able to provide. That is why the stylish design of LG 52LG60 (with red backside and a not to miss hole in the frame) cannot quite make up for the inconsistency of the black levels. For people that do not care too much about differences between this model and other LCD’s or plasmas, this may not be such a big issue, as long as accurate colors are displayed on the screen, which is something that LG 52LG60 does quite well. We have already mentioned its anti-glare capabilities, which means that you can watch this screen in a well lit room without getting a lot of glare.

Black levels

Considered to be one of LG 52LG60 weak points, black levels are not something to come easy for this LCD TV. Users can easily find this especially annoying, when watching a movie, in which shadows and dark pictures are abundant. All these images will not be great and there is no amount of tweaking that can make it look as good as other television sets. When we think that LCD’s are many times bought to be used for video games, that is not a good thing about LG 52LG60. Many action based games tend to be quite dark, which makes a not so good experience with this LCD model. In all fairness, it must be said that LG 52LG60 does not fail to reproduce details for shadowy areas, but it is still far behind other models.

Color accuracy

In order to get more of LG 52LG60 in terms of color accuracy, you will need to tweak a little with the settings. Luckily, this LCD comes with a wide range of picture settings, and you can choose one to your liking. As you may well know, LCD TVs and plasma TVs have default settings that make the picture look good in electronics stores, but, for your living room, that is a whole different story. Calibrating your video settings is not very complicated, and you will soon enjoy the accurate colors LG 52LG60 boasts about. Even if it is not as popular as other HDTVs, people that bought it seem to be very pleased about their acquisition, and about the quality of the picture.

Screen Uniformity and Viewing Angle

Here, LG 52LG60 also has some issues that make it fall behind other HDTVs. Although this is not as bad as for the black levels, for the keen eye, it can represent a problem. Also, the viewing angle is less competitive than for other models, which makes for a somehow washed out image when seen from an angle. The issue related to screen uniformity is also magnified by the inferior black levels, and, for scenes with a lot of dark content, you can notice that the sides tend to be brighter when compared with the middle of the screen.

Standard Definition (SD) Content

This is one area where LG 52LG60 does well. Regular DVD’s can be watched on this LCD TV at a good quality, and noise reduction is also an area where LG 52LG60 performs fairly good. This means that you will not encounter problems when you want to watch SD content from television programs, or your DVD’s. Sometimes scaling can cause diagonal lines to appear, but that nuisance is removed on the most part, by LG 52LG60 upscaling capabilities. If you want to get an image as free of noise as possible, you can adjust the selector according to your needs.

Overall Picture Quality

While it does provide a pleasant image, LG 52LG60 encounters some issues that for the user who wants the best from its HDTV may seem serious obstacles for such a purchase. Yet, there are others that are pleased with LG 52LG60 performance, and especially its special design. For those that want to complement their living room with a stylish presence (although the design may not be to everyone’s liking), without looking for the best in a HDTV, this can be a good choice. Let’s not forget that image calibration is easy, due to the picture modes LG 52LG60 comes with, which can be a great plus for those that do not want to fiddle too much with technicalities.

Anti-Glare Performance

LG 52LG60 has good anti-glare capabilities. If you want to watch TV in a room washed out by sunlight, you will find that LG 52LG60 performs better than other HDTV models. There is no wonder why many prefer the matte screen of LG 52LG60, above the shiny screens that other LCD TV models have.

1080p/24 Performance

Blu Ray discs can be displayed on LG 52LG60 with good results. Users that have tried this LCD consider that the quality for watching true cinema is pleasing, and that the image looks almost 3D. Its special advanced feature, called 24P Real Cinema, allows for a good performance when the video content is provided in 24 frames per second, exactly how it was filmed. The 120Hz refresh rate helps a great deal with showing Blu Ray discs at 24 FPS.

120Hz Performance

As mentioned earlier, this LCD TV has 120Hz video processing capabilities, which represents an improvement from 60Hz models, and makes for smoother images when fast moving scenes are displayed on the screen. The TruMotion 120Hz helps smoothing the picture, and reduces the judder for that type of video content. But all is not so great about the 120Hz capabilities of LG 52LG60. Some artifacts appear on the picture in some 120Hz modes, like High mode, and the general appearance has to suffer, as the movie scenes tend to look unnatural. Sports are also not the great experience to watch, as blurring and artifacts become present when the de-judder setting is set the lowest. So, all in all, while for some modes, the 120Hz refresh rate can show some enhancement, the artifacts it shows for other modes can be really annoying and difficult to watch.

More Features

Advanced features contribute to the embellishment of LG 52LG60 reputation. TruMotion is the name of the game for doubling the refresh rate, from 60Hz older versions of LG LCD’s, and de-judder capabilities also can be listed as features of this model.

Controls

LG 52LG60 has seven picture modes, and that, in itself, says a lot about what control means for this series manufactured by LG. This gives the user a lot of control, and ease of use, as well, in order to obtain the best picture quality. Many users appreciate the variety of picture modes, as it gives them easy access to tweaking, without being technology savvy. One user can store up to 70 different settings, as, along with the seven picture modes, this LCD also offer 10 different input to play with. This type of variety make of LG 52LG60 a good choice. Color temperature adjustment also falls on the good part for LG 52LG60, that complements well other adjustments like gamma correction and noise reduction.

Connectivity

This LCD TV does have a USB port, which makes it easy for the user to connect USB drives for displaying pictures on the screen, or listen to MP3 music stored on such a device.
The big minus for the model designed by LG is the lack of an S-video input. LG 52LG60 has three HDMI ports in the back, and one to the side, and it also has an input for VGA connection (so you can connect your PC to the TV and play video games), and another one for cable. There is just one AV composite video input, and that’s about the whole set of connections that LG 52LG60 can hold.

LG 52LG60 vs Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR4

When compared against Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR4, LG 52LG60 loses big points for black levels. While LG 52LG60 has inferior black levels for an LCD, Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR4 gains through comparison, and not only, as its black levels are considered to be truly amazing. On the other hand, both models, that boast about their 120Hz video processing, still present artifacts and some issues, on matters like reduction of blur for fast moving sequences. Even if such issues may not seem that annoying, this is a little something that still leaves LCD’s behind many models of plasma TV. In terms of screen uniformity and viewing angle, Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR4 does better than the LG model, so these can be counted as reasons for choosing the first over the latter.

Bottom Line

While LG 52LG60 represents one step forward from older models, it still seems that LG could not shake the reputation of not being able to reproduce better black levels in their LCD models. As the company tries to make up for the drawbacks in picture quality, when compared with other LCD TV’s, with the help of exterior design, and a set of features that makes tweaking easier, a picky customer may not find it among the best deals. On the other hand, features such as TruMotion, and the ability to reproduce SD content at a fairly good quality may seem enough to recommend a purchase. That being said, if you look for an end-of-the-line product, this is not for you.