lg pq70 - initial reactions/doubts/questions

[filmguy]

hey guys

this is a great forum and its great to see so many hi-fi enthusiasts in india. i've been trying to register for a month now while deciding my hdtv purchase. but for some reason i wasnt able to get to the confirmation page. i finally tried on another computer and now i was able to. wierd!

anyways after alot of thought, indecision and research i finally bought a lg 50pq70 last week (i was considering the 47lh90).

havent really put the tv thru all its paces especially coz i've kept settings at 35 for the break in period but initial reactions is positive. i was pleasantly surprsied that SD looks really good. i was expecting to be disappointed after my last tv (54" rptv) but at my viewing distance (12") SD (tata sky) looks v good.

havent tried HD yet as i dont have a player but will connect my laptop via rgb and try that soon.

i have a few questions/doubts though which i hope you'll can help me with:-

1) when i play divx movies through usb i cant access the aspect ratio and picture options which means that i cant change the brightness/contrast which i especially want to keep low for the break-in period. also for the avi files which are 4:3 i cant stretch to full screen. the files which are originally 16:9 but with smaller dimensions then the screen can be zoomed to fit the screen but not the 4:3 stuff. is there any work around for the same?

2) after reading the reviews in avforum etc i was excited that the tv offered a wide variety of calibration options but i was disappointed to see that the version available to us dont have alll the options that are avialable on the pq3000/6000(color gamut/color managment etc). at first i thought it may be a cost saving reason (like they dont have the optical out on the pq70) but just yesterday my dad bought a 32" lg lh20 (their base model) and i was surprised to see that it had all these options! so why is it not there on the more expensive models??

3) even with settings kept real low (35-45%) there is quite a bit of IR esp. where the channel logos etc are. now i know that alot of people say that its very difficult to get permanent burn-in but after i got that on my rptv i am a bit paranoid and was wondering if this will improve after 150 hours?

4) its said somewhere on this forum that if i go into the service menu (to check no of hours ) i may void my warranty. will this happen only if i do something to mess up the settings or is there some sort of log which the service guys can access later if it comes to getting some service issues attended to, in which case they'll know that i accesed the service menu ?

5) if i connect my laptop thru vga cable and watch hd videos on vlc will this quality be any lesser then if i were to buy a ps3/wdtv and watch thru hdmi? and will blu-ray/720p movies played thru ps3 look any different as compared to 720p movies from files played thru laptop ?

6) lastly, when i was considering between plasma and lcd a few technicians/salesmen said that lcd is more durable than plasma. is this true? esp since i stay right near the sea so during monsoons i face a lot of issues with my electronics coz of the humidity etc. will this affect plasmas more then lcd's or is it humbug. that's one of the reasons i paid a little more and bought the tv from croma so i could get the extended warranty. i was getting the tv cheaper from a local dealer but if i calculated the cost of AMC vs extended warranty then the croma price was a bit cheaper.

phew that was a long post. thanx for bearing with me and for all your help. :clapping:

 

[allajunaki]

hey guys
1) when i play divx movies through usb i cant access the aspect ratio and picture options which means that i cant change the brightness/contrast which i especially want to keep low for the break-in period. also for the avi files which are 4:3 i cant stretch to full screen. the files which are originally 16:9 but with smaller dimensions then the screen can be zoomed to fit the screen but not the 4:3 stuff. is there any work around for the same?

Yeah, its a kind of bummer. I noticed that too. Moreover the Divx decoding is not that great on the TV (as compared to ffdshow codec + Windows Media in my laptop).
However, one tip is that, the divx player sort of carries the same setting as your previous input had. So if you were in AV1 and your settings were xyz before hitting xstudio, then divx will be played with the same setting.

2) after reading the reviews in avforum etc i was excited that the tv offered a wide variety of calibration options but i was disappointed to see that the version available to us dont have alll the options that are avialable on the pq3000/6000(color gamut/color managment etc). at first i thought it may be a cost saving reason (like they dont have the optical out on the pq70) but just yesterday my dad bought a 32" lg lh20 (their base model) and i was surprised to see that it had all these options! so why is it not there on the more expensive models??

Unfortunately those were PQ7000 series, ours (the ones in India) is PQ70R. The 'R' series lack the advanced controls. However, you can still get to these settings by going via service menu route (though newer firmware of tv blocks this access). You can give my settings a shot though ( Its available under T/V settings thread under televisions http://www.hifivision.com/television/6648-tv-settings-thread.html).

3) even with settings kept real low (35-45%) there is quite a bit of IR esp. where the channel logos etc are. now i know that alot of people say that its very difficult to get permanent burn-in but after i got that on my rptv i am a bit paranoid and was wondering if this will improve after 150 hours?

Yeah, LG's are still a lil more prone to IR than other brands. However, you can enable "orbiter" by going to Options -> ISM Methods. This will pixel shift the image by 2 pixels every 2 mins. This will alleviate, if not eliminate the IR issue. However, if you are feeling bit paranoid you may use the color wash or white wash from ISM.

4) its said somewhere on this forum that if i go into the service menu (to check no of hours ) i may void my warranty. will this happen only if i do something to mess up the settings or is there some sort of log which the service guys can access later if it comes to getting some service issues attended to, in which case they'll know that i accesed the service menu ?

This is dependent on what you might change from service menu. If you just go in check and get out, then I dont think there is way for them to ascertain if you have accessed the menu or not. However, be advised that this menu is no longer accessible by Menu+Menu or Ok+Ok combination (firmware v3.7 and above).

5) if i connect my laptop thru vga cable and watch hd videos on vlc will this quality be any lesser then if i were to buy a ps3/wdtv and watch thru hdmi? and will blu-ray/720p movies played thru ps3 look any different as compared to 720p movies from files played thru laptop ?

VGA is still analogue signal, whereas HDMI is purely digital. So some conversion loss is to be expected. However, if you employ all your processing power of the system in enhancing the video ( Try ffdshow ),the depending on how well you can fine tune and horsepower of your rig, you might get better PQ off your computer. If you can do HDMI from your laptop, then nothing like it

6) lastly, when i was considering between plasma and lcd a few technicians/salesmen said that lcd is more durable than plasma. is this true? esp since i stay right near the sea so during monsoons i face a lot of issues with my electronics coz of the humidity etc. will this affect plasmas more then lcd's or is it humbug. that's one of the reasons i paid a little more and bought the tv from croma so i could get the extended warranty. i was getting the tv cheaper from a local dealer but if i calculated the cost of AMC vs extended warranty then the croma price was a bit cheaper.

Dont know much about this, but my gut instincts tell me that both should be more or less equally weighed on this matter. Both have quite a bit of electronics in them. However, Plasmas have Glass panels, so perhaps they are more susceptible to condensation on the surface. (Strictly my theory. I might be very, very wrong on this issue )

 

[Gunner]

I havent got the TV yet (was out of stock), so would be able to add very little to this discussion as of now, one suggestion would be to use a HDMI cable over the VGA (If there is a provision in your Laptop), avoid gaming, static images and preferrably give a break every 3 hours, for the first 15-20 days.Well these were my experiences from my old 42LG plasma.

Re. PQ70 Since you are from Mumbai, where did you get it from and for what price?

 

[filmguy]

thanx allajunaki

did you buy your set recently? is this the firmware that you have or can you still access the menu on yours?

my laptop only has vga does ffdshow make much difference. i use vlc for most files and i only see ffdshow activate when i play .mpeg files via WMP.

hey gunner
i bought it from croma for 64k (+1.8 for 2 years extended warranty). it seems i paid alot more than what i have seen others on this forum pay (+/- 55k to 60k!!) for it but i wanted the extended warranty. where did u buy yours from and how much did u pay? how long have u been waiting for delivery?

 

[allajunaki]

Hi,
Unfortunately in my insistence for a non-display unit, my showroom guy freaked out and got me an absolutely new piece that was part of last month's consignment. Hence, I have one of the newer firmware (with no access to service menu ).

VLC's post processing is strictly average in my opinion. Enable these in ffdshow video's configuration to see a marked improvement in your video.

Postprocessing-> (under that) set slider to full , disable "Automatic Adjustment"

Enable the Accurate Deblocking and Full Luma range.

If you feel the need, take a look at the resizing and noise options. They help at times.

ffdshow settings are discussed to death in manyforums like doom9 etc. My use is restricted to mostly postprocessing the divx and Xvid files.

 

[Gunner]

filmguy, Haven't bought the TV yet, the VS Sales guy just confirmed, they have 7 new pieces of the PQ70, he quoted me 58k with scope for further reduction. Would check them out this weekend. I was also looking out for the HB954TB HTS, which they don't have atm, looking out a deal for around 95k for both.

 

[allajunaki]

filmguy, Haven't bought the TV yet, the VS Sales guy just confirmed, they have 7 new pieces of the PQ70, he quoted me 58k with scope for further reduction. Would check them out this weekend. I was also looking out for the HB954TB HTS, which they don't have atm, looking out a deal for around 95k for both.

Why dont you go in for PS3 (or Philips BD player) with Onkyo 3100 or 3200 or Yamaha YHT-195. Should give you better bang for the buck

 

[Gunner]

Why dont you go in for PS3 (or Philips BD player) with Onkyo 3100 or 3200 or Yamaha YHT-195. Should give you better bang for the buck

Those speakers are like Hot Black (No Racist) Seductive Chicks, Its the looks that has drawn me towards them, I auditioned the Scarlett HTS at a LG Showroom, they were damn good, Infact they were more than what I actually wanted soundwise, I have a 12 year old Akai 150W HTS in my bedroom, that itself suffices my Audio needs.

Yaa, the price is kinda steep, but the looks are worth the bucks.

 

[allajunaki]

Those speakers are like Hot Black (No Racist) Seductive Chicks, Its the looks that has drawn me towards them, I auditioned the Scarlett HTS at a LG Showroom, they were damn good, Infact they were more than what I actually wanted soundwise, I have a 12 year old Akai 150W HTS in my bedroom, that itself suffices my Audio needs.

Yaa, the price is kinda steep, but the looks are worth the bucks.

Hehe... I can understand Anyways, tech2 has given favourable review on these units. However they did mention that its not for the audiophile group.
Personally, Im planning to hookup my tv to my Altec Lansing ATP-3's for the time being.. (and get One of the above mentioned AV receivers when money permits )

 

[filmguy]

filmguy, Haven't bought the TV yet, the VS Sales guy just confirmed, they have 7 new pieces of the PQ70, he quoted me 58k with scope for further reduction. Would check them out this weekend. I was also looking out for the HB954TB HTS, which they don't have atm, looking out a deal for around 95k for both.

thats a real good price dude

 

[Gunner]

thats a real good price dude

How Ironical, now that my fav. sales person did a complete u-turn on me yesterday. The MOP is now 65k, He is offering me the Set at 59k, whats more he quoted me 48k for the HTS, which makes it a total of 107k and way above my wish price, he finally was ready to get them down to 100, but myself decided to wait. FML.

 

[allajunaki]

How Ironical, now that my fav. sales person did a complete u-turn on me yesterday. The MOP is now 65k, He is offering me the Set at 59k, whats more he quoted me 48k for the HTS, which makes it a total of 107k and way above my wish price, he finally was ready to get them down to 100, but myself decided to wait. FML.

Well,

Tv             59k
Philips BD     17k
Onkyo HTS 3100 20k
Your Cost      96k

Even more reason to seriously think about this combi. Please note that ppl have got HTS 3100 for as low as 16k. My HTS setup is not gonna be very far off from what I have quoted above (except for the BD player, which is gonna be a PS3 for sure).

 

[filmguy]

quick update -
i connected my laptop to the tv thru vga and played a few hd videos (720p trailers, docus) and a tad disappointed.

this is not a criticism of the tv's PQ but HD's PQ. the image was clear and sharp and all but didnt feel like that much of a jump over a good quality dvd seen on a good crt. my 54" rptv was v gd with original dvds connected with pioneer dvdp (component).

i hope that its a case of the laptop/vlc being the culprit and when i buy a ps3 i'll then understand all the fuss abt HD

 

[BLASTO]

pq60/70 owners,

Is there a configuration option for turning off the "Smart Energy Save" feature or is it 'on' all the time?

In the LCDs, I think we can set it in discrete levels..

 

[allajunaki]

pq60/70 owners,

Is there a configuration option for turning off the "Smart Energy Save" feature or is it 'on' all the time?

In the LCDs, I think we can set it in discrete levels..

Eco Mode :

• OFF
• Intelligent Sensor
  • Low
  • Medium
  • High
• LOW
• Medium
• High

Intelligent Sensor : Adjust panel's max brightness based on ambient lighting.
So in short, Yes we have an OFF option (or Torch mode )

 

[BLASTO]

Eco Mode :

• OFF
• Intelligent Sensor
  • Low
  • Medium
  • High
• LOW
• Medium
• High

Intelligent Sensor : Adjust panel's max brightness based on ambient lighting.
So in short, Yes we have an OFF option (or Torch mode )

Demoed the Torch Mode today.
In torch mode, The TV is REALLY almost as bright as the LG Jazz LCD nearby even in the brightly lit showroom.
The Picture quality eats the LCD for breakfast. (Eating electricity for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the process )
SD picture quality is also good.

The reflection is also greatly minimised. White is great. Black suffers as usual.

In short, The 2009 LG models have incorporated this ECO mode which can be set to the above settings. When set to OFF, they become power hungry and bright as the 2008 LG plasma models.

Do the panasonic X10s have these features?

 

[BLASTO]

Bought an LG 42PQ60 (PQ70 was not available for few months from now )A happy man now.

Samsung does not have any intention of selling their plasmas and so be it!

Panasonic guys did not keep their word. Quoted 3.5k more for finance and withdrew the 50 DVD offer and offered lucky draw which had a watch as the least draw.. I got pissed off.

Frankly I do not think/feel the X10 is worth 12k more than the PQ60 whatever way you look at it (period)

First impressions :

1) 42" is BIG. it looks much bigger in house than in the show room. I mean it.

2) Cinema experience with HT is awesome. The TV plays all the files I have in a 320GB external HD. Pictures, Music and Videos. The pictures of models I had never look so sexy in my laptop hyeah:

3) I don't miss the headphone out! The Audio out is volume controlled by TV's amplifier. Need to hunt for the adapter.

4) The Hathway digital cable looks GREAT. Will post some pictures tomorrow. Showrooms have junk signals! I have dropped any idea of moving to DTH, the first time I saw the pictures. SD is where this thing truely excels. No pixellation what so ever. (Few signals are weak and the TV cannot do anything about it )

5) The Reflection/Brightness issue is definetely over-stated. In my house, I see no reflections and the screen is bright enough. I have no windows facing the TV but there is a tube light right accross the TV. The picture is too bright with power saving off and A/V mode normal. I had to tone it down. Showrooms with bright lights are what are killing the plasmas.

6) The integellet sensor does a good job in controlling brightness depending on ambient light. If you abruptly switch off the light in the room, You can see screen dimming (in multiple continuous steps) a few seconds later. You will notice nothing in normal room conditions.

7) With minimal viewing, I personally feel, removing the colourless sheet attached to the frame minimises the reflection. Will confirm later.

8) Sound is good. Not great but good enough with good bass. These will be last few days I will be using the TV sound as I have no A/V cable to connect the TV out to HT at the moment when playing via USB (STB and DVDp are already connected to HT and so i did not need the TV out all these days ). I even watch news with HT connected.

9) No 720p material yet. Don't even have a source yet. (The USB in the TV does not play HD )

10) My 29" CRT is sad that I neglect him.


Questions to owners:

1) Should I get an upconverting DVD player?

2) What 720p/1080p materials are available outside of bluray? Can I get 720p material to play in normal HDMI/Upscaling DVD player (If I get one?)

3) My laptop has a good graphics card and high end processor. Given than I can run MKV files from the laptop in 1024 x 768 (native resolution of the panel), Do I need an external player?

4) Which DVD player does the best job in up conversion + Can play MKV/DivX HD files through USB?

6) Is there a DVD player which does upconversion to 1024 x 768 ?

5) Is there a setting for the 600Hz sub field drive which I can switch off during slow moving scenes or is it 'ON' all the time?

6) Are you guys going to office after getting this beauty?

 

[addagalla]

Bought an LG 42PQ60 (PQ70 was not available for few months from now )A happy man now.

Samsung does not have any intention of selling their plasmas and so be it!

Panasonic guys did not keep their word. Quoted 3.5k more for finance and withdrew the 50 DVD offer and offered lucky draw which had a watch as the least draw.. I got pissed off.

Frankly I do not think/feel the X10 is worth 12k more than the PQ60 whatever way you look at it (period)

First impressions :

1) 42" is BIG. it looks much bigger in house than in the show room. I mean it.

2) Cinema experience with HT is awesome. The TV plays all the files I have in a 320GB external HD. Pictures, Music and Videos. The pictures of models I had never look so sexy in my laptop hyeah:

3) I don't miss the headphone out! The Audio out is volume controlled by TV's amplifier. Need to hunt for the adapter.

4) The Hathway digital cable looks GREAT. Will post some pictures tomorrow. Showrooms have junk signals! I have dropped any idea of moving to DTH, the first time I saw the pictures. SD is where this thing truely excels. No pixellation what so ever. (Few signals are weak and the TV cannot do anything about it )

5) The Reflection/Brightness issue is definetely over-stated. In my house, I see no reflections and the screen is bright enough. I have no windows facing the TV but there is a tube light right accross the TV. The picture is too bright with power saving off and A/V mode normal. I had to tone it down. Showrooms with bright lights are what are killing the plasmas.

6) The integellet sensor does a good job in controlling brightness depending on ambient light. If you abruptly switch off the light in the room, You can see screen dimming (in multiple continuous steps) a few seconds later. You will notice nothing in normal room conditions.

7) With minimal viewing, I personally feel, removing the colourless sheet attached to the frame minimises the reflection. Will confirm later.

8) Sound is good. Not great but good enough with good bass. These will be last few days I will be using the TV sound as I have no A/V cable to connect the TV out to HT at the moment when playing via USB (STB and DVDp are already connected to HT and so i did not need the TV out all these days ). I even watch news with HT connected.

9) No 720p material yet. Don't even have a source yet. (The USB in the TV does not play HD )

10) My 29" CRT is sad that I neglect him.


Questions to owners:

1) Should I get an upconverting DVD player?

2) What 720p/1080p materials are available outside of bluray? Can I get 720p material to play in normal HDMI/Upscaling DVD player (If I get one?)

3) My laptop has a good graphics card and high end processor. Given than I can run MKV files from the laptop in 1024 x 768 (native resolution of the panel), Do I need an external player?

4) Which DVD player does the best job in up conversion + Can play MKV/DivX HD files through USB?

6) Is there a DVD player which does upconversion to 1024 x 768 ?

5) Is there a setting for the 600Hz sub field drive which I can switch off during slow moving scenes or is it 'ON' all the time?

6) Are you guys going to office after getting this beauty?

Congrats! It finally happened.

BTW, why is pana x10 more by 12K? I guess it's around the same price as LG right?

Do post the pics with hathway signal and let us know the tv performance once you test some HD media.

 

[allajunaki]

Bought an LG 42PQ60 (PQ70 was not available for few months from now )A happy man now.

Questions to owners:

1) Should I get an upconverting DVD player?

2) What 720p/1080p materials are available outside of bluray? Can I get 720p material to play in normal HDMI/Upscaling DVD player (If I get one?)

3) My laptop has a good graphics card and high end processor. Given than I can run MKV files from the laptop in 1024 x 768 (native resolution of the panel), Do I need an external player?

4) Which DVD player does the best job in up conversion + Can play MKV/DivX HD files through USB?

6) Is there a DVD player which does upconversion to 1024 x 768 ?

5) Is there a setting for the 600Hz sub field drive which I can switch off during slow moving scenes or is it 'ON' all the time?

6) Are you guys going to office after getting this beauty?

As for point 3:
When you connect TV to laptop, the laptop should auto-set the resolution to 1368x720. DVD rips of movies looks pretty awesome in that mode
IMHO, Laptop will play the movies a lot better than any stand alone player. Simply beacuase Laptops have mighty processors (compared to the Standalone players) and we can use em to post process the pic ( I use ffdshow+WMP11 pretty awesome results). I use this combo to play movies ( I dont use the bultin USB simply because tv cant postprocess the movies to a level that I like).

 

[multifaced]

2) What 720p/1080p materials are available outside of bluray? Can I get 720p material to play in normal HDMI/Upscaling DVD player (If I get one?)

3) My laptop has a good graphics card and high end processor. Given than I can run MKV files from the laptop in 1024 x 768 (native resolution of the panel), Do I need an external player?

2) HD material are available outside blue ray. for testing purpose you can get HD videos from Microsoft. they are legal and free

WMV HD Content Showcase

another option is illegal download, mainly P2P. but discussing such things are prohibited here

3) you can play mkv files using your PC/laptop. even my four year old PC plays them well. using DVI/HDMI converter you can connect it to your TV. you will get decent quality. I use a WDTV for the same. in my experience it gives better PQ.