I recently bought the LG LCDLED TV, 42LH90QR. Below is my review of it.
How did I decide to buy this TV
During my search, I had at times considered, Samsung 650/750/LED LCDs, Sony V and W series and of course, LG Jazz/Scarlet/LED. What I found is that in the same price range none of the TVs significantly out-peform others. Each has its own pros and cons.
Sony V/W: Skin tones looked natural, whites were good and overall PQ was very good. In V series, the lack of 100Hz was clearly visible in news channels with scrolling text. I found W series to be too expensive for what it offers
Samsung: I think Samsung has done a really stupid thing by over promoting their LCD/LED against their own Series 6/7 LCDs. I was really inclined towards 750 LCD, but they are not available. The 650 was quoted in range of 70K+. I could not even audition samsung Series 6/7 LCDs as they are not displayed in most stores. The LCD/LED PQ looked good, for a Samsung, they are expensive.
Panasonic Plasmas PV8/C10: Colours looks rich and PQ was very good for SD content too. Very attractive prices. Finally dropped them because of power consumption and retention issues (I game a lot on PS3).
LG LH90 : Good compromise and attractive price. Very good in power consumption (just 150W or so). Colours looked rich and image is bright. TruMotion made a good difference in scrolling text and fast moving scenes.
Of course, different from US model with missing THX and some calibration options.
How much did I pay and where did I buy it
Bought at E-Zone, Marathahalli, Bengaluru. Paid 68K without dvd player & movies. However, got a free Digital Photo frame (Sensei brand, Future group's promoted brand).
Buying, Delivery & Installation
Luckily everyone in the chain kept their promises. Bought on Thursday, Delivered on Friday and installed on Saturday (yesterday).
The TV package contained the TV, remote, manual (horrible common manual for 20 different models), a CD, a RF connector and some instructions.
The LG service personnel who installed the TV were very professional and courteous. However, not so much can be said about the knowledge, during calibration he suggested to leave everything standard. Did not ask for a tip, neither did he decline when I offered him a tip. I did not wall mount for the moment, so the installation took 15 mins only. Later, the LG Call center called promptly and sought feedback
Review Setup
Hathway Digital Cable, Some DivX material on USB drive, PS3, One "Nature Wonders" Blu Ray
Ok, here goes...
Overall, the PQ is excellent, deep blacks (the best I have seen), rich colors (as much as a Plasma), bright screen, very good handling in fast motion scenes, excellent on power consumption (my 800VA UPS did not complain when I simulated a power cut, TV and PS3 ran with just 50% load, same as my earlier CRT TV).
SQ is nothing to talk about, except I liked the voice processing, speech sounded crystal clear inspite of backgound music/noise.
Matte screen is excellent in handling reflections and bright light.
The first thing I did was to auto-tune the Analog channels. I wanted to check this. I expected a very bad PQ, but was pleasantly surprised when even the Analog cable turned out to be passable, not good, but passable. It actually looked quite ok from 10 feet.
Next connected the Hathway digital cable. It look very good, very good upscaling, almost comparable to HD Ready models in Panasonic Plasma I had seen earlier. The blacks looked very good, scrolling text very readable without eye strain. The best part in the audio is voice processing, voice sounded very clear inspite of bandground music/noise. Other than that Sound is nothing special, very ordinary.
Next, DivX with in-built USB port
It was an animation movie, it looked really good, I was spellbound with the colors and the way the TV handled motion. Picture look very crisp and real.
Later I played the same movie via the PS3 (connected to TV via HDMI). The
PS3 upscaling is slightly better, but the TV did not do a bad job either.
Next Blu-ray via PS3
Was thrilled with the full hd PQ. Image looked almost real, excellent details and accurate colors. Rendered the colourful video of deep sea life excellently. In one of the scenes, the fire embers looked so real that I missed the heat from it.
Regarding Calibration
As already pointed out in various reviews, lots of calibration options available. Some options missing wrt to US versions. One of them is IRE, which I later found to be just pre-configured RGBs, instead Indian version has the RGB values directly. Missing Picture wizard too. I will post some pictures later.
My Satisfaction Index
I dont like to rate a product, rather I would put it as my satisfaction Index, it will be 9 out of 10. The 1 deduction from 10 is because of the audio, the fact that they released a different model in US and the user manual (which is total garbage, common manual for about 20 models).
Questions welcome. Please post questions, dont PM me.
Edit 21-Nov-2009:
Potential buyers, please read this: http://www.hifivision.com/television/7040-facing-problem-my-lg-lh90-attn-prospective-buyers.html (now solved by LG)
The review still remains valid, in spite of the potential software issue above.
How did I decide to buy this TV
During my search, I had at times considered, Samsung 650/750/LED LCDs, Sony V and W series and of course, LG Jazz/Scarlet/LED. What I found is that in the same price range none of the TVs significantly out-peform others. Each has its own pros and cons.
Sony V/W: Skin tones looked natural, whites were good and overall PQ was very good. In V series, the lack of 100Hz was clearly visible in news channels with scrolling text. I found W series to be too expensive for what it offers
Samsung: I think Samsung has done a really stupid thing by over promoting their LCD/LED against their own Series 6/7 LCDs. I was really inclined towards 750 LCD, but they are not available. The 650 was quoted in range of 70K+. I could not even audition samsung Series 6/7 LCDs as they are not displayed in most stores. The LCD/LED PQ looked good, for a Samsung, they are expensive.
Panasonic Plasmas PV8/C10: Colours looks rich and PQ was very good for SD content too. Very attractive prices. Finally dropped them because of power consumption and retention issues (I game a lot on PS3).
LG LH90 : Good compromise and attractive price. Very good in power consumption (just 150W or so). Colours looked rich and image is bright. TruMotion made a good difference in scrolling text and fast moving scenes.
Of course, different from US model with missing THX and some calibration options.
How much did I pay and where did I buy it
Bought at E-Zone, Marathahalli, Bengaluru. Paid 68K without dvd player & movies. However, got a free Digital Photo frame (Sensei brand, Future group's promoted brand).
Buying, Delivery & Installation
Luckily everyone in the chain kept their promises. Bought on Thursday, Delivered on Friday and installed on Saturday (yesterday).
The TV package contained the TV, remote, manual (horrible common manual for 20 different models), a CD, a RF connector and some instructions.
The LG service personnel who installed the TV were very professional and courteous. However, not so much can be said about the knowledge, during calibration he suggested to leave everything standard. Did not ask for a tip, neither did he decline when I offered him a tip. I did not wall mount for the moment, so the installation took 15 mins only. Later, the LG Call center called promptly and sought feedback
Review Setup
Hathway Digital Cable, Some DivX material on USB drive, PS3, One "Nature Wonders" Blu Ray
Ok, here goes...
Overall, the PQ is excellent, deep blacks (the best I have seen), rich colors (as much as a Plasma), bright screen, very good handling in fast motion scenes, excellent on power consumption (my 800VA UPS did not complain when I simulated a power cut, TV and PS3 ran with just 50% load, same as my earlier CRT TV).
SQ is nothing to talk about, except I liked the voice processing, speech sounded crystal clear inspite of backgound music/noise.
Matte screen is excellent in handling reflections and bright light.
The first thing I did was to auto-tune the Analog channels. I wanted to check this. I expected a very bad PQ, but was pleasantly surprised when even the Analog cable turned out to be passable, not good, but passable. It actually looked quite ok from 10 feet.
Next connected the Hathway digital cable. It look very good, very good upscaling, almost comparable to HD Ready models in Panasonic Plasma I had seen earlier. The blacks looked very good, scrolling text very readable without eye strain. The best part in the audio is voice processing, voice sounded very clear inspite of bandground music/noise. Other than that Sound is nothing special, very ordinary.
Next, DivX with in-built USB port
It was an animation movie, it looked really good, I was spellbound with the colors and the way the TV handled motion. Picture look very crisp and real.
Later I played the same movie via the PS3 (connected to TV via HDMI). The
PS3 upscaling is slightly better, but the TV did not do a bad job either.
Next Blu-ray via PS3
Was thrilled with the full hd PQ. Image looked almost real, excellent details and accurate colors. Rendered the colourful video of deep sea life excellently. In one of the scenes, the fire embers looked so real that I missed the heat from it.
Regarding Calibration
As already pointed out in various reviews, lots of calibration options available. Some options missing wrt to US versions. One of them is IRE, which I later found to be just pre-configured RGBs, instead Indian version has the RGB values directly. Missing Picture wizard too. I will post some pictures later.
My Satisfaction Index
I dont like to rate a product, rather I would put it as my satisfaction Index, it will be 9 out of 10. The 1 deduction from 10 is because of the audio, the fact that they released a different model in US and the user manual (which is total garbage, common manual for about 20 models).
Questions welcome. Please post questions, dont PM me.
Edit 21-Nov-2009:
Potential buyers, please read this: http://www.hifivision.com/television/7040-facing-problem-my-lg-lh90-attn-prospective-buyers.html (now solved by LG)
The review still remains valid, in spite of the potential software issue above.
Last edited:
hyeah:
