shaiju_o_thomas
Well-Known Member
Review of LG 55LM6700
Recently I had a chance to demo some of the LED LCD displays from LG, Sony, Samsung and Pansasonic. Let me begin by stating there is nothing more statisfying and fun than doing a demo. I will post my impressions of LG 2012 series, the 55LM6700. It is a mid-range television in series of 6200, 6400, 6690, 6700.
Some key features are:
1) 120Hz TruMotion (as claimed by LG).
2) Cinema screen design.
3) Passive 3D including 2D to 3D conversion. Full HD 3D (as claimed by LG).
4) LED Plus backlight (of no use, will disable most times).
5) Smart TV with Magic Motion remote supplied.
Pros:
1) Cinema screen design: Display is a stunner, both on and off. Though I am not a fan of the the silver stand. It reflects a bit too much screen light and is a distraction at times. The black brushed stand on the higher 7600 should refelct less light and give an impression of the display floating (the purpose behind the stand's design). The silver trim aroud the bezel is well done. So is the "hardly-there" bezel thickeness. Good job on the design. Display itself is very (if not super) slim. For the exact dimensions and weight refer to the LG India site.
2) Passive 3D including 2D to 3D conversion: 3D is enticing on 55" display. Anyone buying TV for 3D usage should look at bigger screens. Smaller dimensions just cannot justice to 3D format. 3D operation on this TV is fuss free. Light weight glasses and good depth. I tried 2D to 3D conversion on few 2D blu rays like Avatar, Tron, Toy Story 3, Unstoppable The Dark Knight. They looked decent. I had not expected the conversion to work this well though there is nothing great shakes about the 3D depth and feel. It worked seamless, hence my excitement. Proper 3D sources are very good. The images are flicker free and bright. The glasses are light weight and forgot that I had it on. There are 3D setting that you can tweak though deviating from the default depth and viewpoint setting causes blurry double images. I did some test on both bright and dim lit scenes and found 3D depth of 1/2 and Viewpoint to -1/-2 to be good. Fiddle with both the settings to avoid ghosting of images.
3) Smart TV: Well laid out and easy to navigate. Connecting to WiFi works like a charm. Not sure if there is a setting to persist the connection but I had to authenticate each time my WiFi was detected.
4) Decent pictures: Blu ray and high def contents looks really good on the 55". Colors are beautiful with decent contrast. Day light scenes looks bright and stunning. So does the animated films. I did the usual run of Lost, Atonement, Casino Royale, Toy Story 3 and The Dark Knight. All of them were well presented whenever there are outdoor scenes.
5) Good viewing angles: I watch from 8-9 ft away. Shifting left or right from this distance does not cause any color/contrast drop off. I did not have chance to test at wide angles but can conclude that display does hold up rather well . Vertical viewing angles are more finicky. The screen looks rather misty bluish/purplish as soon as I stand up (but that's rarely how you watch television).
Sadly, the cons far out weigh the pros. So a short-lived honeymoon.
Cons:
1) Weak blacks, gimmicky LED dimming: For LG it looks like black is blue or purple. The set totally fails when it comes to dim lit scenes. Everything looks hazzy and bluish. It as is there is layer of mist over the display. Here are few blu ray demo materials:
a) Underground tunnel chaperts from The Dark Knight.
b) Last chapter from Atonement (brilliant movie) where an aged Briony confesses.
c) Most of Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides have dark scenes
d) Some night scenes from Lost season 1, disc 1.
In none of the scenes, I could see blacks. More blue/purple tinted pictures which ruins the experience. I just couldn't get this set to display black on any of the test scenes. I watch movies in a dim lit room (in fact some times with no light), thus aggravating the problem to unbearable extent. This is where Samsung and high end Sony scores over LG. In a lit room, the display shows better (perceived) blacks. Note that people with well lit room will find not much trouble with blacks, though it gives rise to another problem - reflections. There is an option to enable LED local dimming (uh?). At the Low level it does not offer any real benefit, turning it to Medium does show slight improvement. However, it does something really unnatural to people's faces, it gives a plastered feel as if the makeup is going to fall off any time. Fine details such as wrinkles are lost.
2) Backlight bleed: Okay, so in a well lit room (with perceived blacks) there will be almost no backlight bleed. Turn down the lights and the screen shows pools of light from almost all corners. What is more irritating is the fact that it the problem is very much visible on letter-boxed / Cinemascope movies. The extent of backlight bleed / flashlight may differ from one unit to another. However, I think that weak black with minor backlight issue is enough to prove as major distraction. Clouding is another major problem.
Again, the last chapter from Atonement is a very good test material. There is nothing on the screen except Briony's wrinkled face. On this scene you see pools of light and the uneveness on edges of the screen is quite an attention grabber.
3) Terrible motion: This is really surprising since the TV is 120 Hz. The camera pan on the first chapter of Atonement reveals so much judder. Even animated Toy Story 3 shows judder (what the hell?). Camera pans are littered with judder. Even the shake of head/waving of hand is enough to cause trouble.
Enabling TruMotion at low setting does nothing to clean up, whereas the high settings introduce shredding and soap opera effect. I wonder if this model is 120 Hz as advertised. If you are a fan of sports then you will see lots of blurry faces and motion trailing. I watched replay of cricket match on Tata Sky HD (1080i/50Hz) and the motion trailing on cricket ball was evident than other LED LCD. If the camera is still, the screen shows beautiful 1080 picture. Trouble starts when there is action. Please do a thorough demo of sports channels before you buy LG TVs. I am sure this can be resolved by high TruMotion setting but then you get shredding and stuttering pictures all over. Some people many be less troubled by these issues but I state that this is one of the worst motion I have seen from a reputed manufacture on a mid-range display.
4) Lost shadow detail: Weak black, uneven backlight results in very poor shadow detailing. Many dark scenes (or even dark colored clothing) looses all dynamics. Only blob of dark greyish mist is visible. This could be a problem inherent to the panel within LG lineup. It is really sad not to see the details and pictures looking more like greyish-holes.
5) Dirty screen: This may differ from unit to unit but LG does have a problem with Dirty Screen Effect (DSE). Watch cricket and you'll see DSE immediately.
6) 3D not full HD: Hmm... this is documented everywhere. Not too much of a deal breaker but it is call false advertising. The problem is evident when you see subtitles, scrolling text, well contrast scenes (most animation). Switch on the TataSky HD menu and you'll see the line structure clearly.
7) Smart TV: This is more of a novetly that will die down in few days. You'll hardly use it as connecting a laptop is much more of a trouble free experience.
I have given a short review of my experience with LG LED LCD. The problems I stated may not hold true for others. So do a demo and make your decision. However, do note that the LM6700 will perform well in the bright showroom floors. It is deceiving. It is unfortunate that the good looking display does not perform nearly as good in a home enviornment. I did a demo of the 55" version. 42" users may see lesser issues due to reduced sized though I don't see how blacks, motion and shadow deatails will improve on smaller screen. Also, you will loose the 3D effect for which the TV is priced at permium.
Sony HX series puts up a better picture for sure though the 3D is a let down. Panasonic ET5 was equivalent to LG thought the picture looked more cinematic and a bit too warm. I'll post a review when time permits.
As I mentioned, it is a short review and I may have not gone in to writing all details and open for discussion.
Recently I had a chance to demo some of the LED LCD displays from LG, Sony, Samsung and Pansasonic. Let me begin by stating there is nothing more statisfying and fun than doing a demo. I will post my impressions of LG 2012 series, the 55LM6700. It is a mid-range television in series of 6200, 6400, 6690, 6700.
Some key features are:
1) 120Hz TruMotion (as claimed by LG).
2) Cinema screen design.
3) Passive 3D including 2D to 3D conversion. Full HD 3D (as claimed by LG).
4) LED Plus backlight (of no use, will disable most times).
5) Smart TV with Magic Motion remote supplied.
Pros:
1) Cinema screen design: Display is a stunner, both on and off. Though I am not a fan of the the silver stand. It reflects a bit too much screen light and is a distraction at times. The black brushed stand on the higher 7600 should refelct less light and give an impression of the display floating (the purpose behind the stand's design). The silver trim aroud the bezel is well done. So is the "hardly-there" bezel thickeness. Good job on the design. Display itself is very (if not super) slim. For the exact dimensions and weight refer to the LG India site.
2) Passive 3D including 2D to 3D conversion: 3D is enticing on 55" display. Anyone buying TV for 3D usage should look at bigger screens. Smaller dimensions just cannot justice to 3D format. 3D operation on this TV is fuss free. Light weight glasses and good depth. I tried 2D to 3D conversion on few 2D blu rays like Avatar, Tron, Toy Story 3, Unstoppable The Dark Knight. They looked decent. I had not expected the conversion to work this well though there is nothing great shakes about the 3D depth and feel. It worked seamless, hence my excitement. Proper 3D sources are very good. The images are flicker free and bright. The glasses are light weight and forgot that I had it on. There are 3D setting that you can tweak though deviating from the default depth and viewpoint setting causes blurry double images. I did some test on both bright and dim lit scenes and found 3D depth of 1/2 and Viewpoint to -1/-2 to be good. Fiddle with both the settings to avoid ghosting of images.
3) Smart TV: Well laid out and easy to navigate. Connecting to WiFi works like a charm. Not sure if there is a setting to persist the connection but I had to authenticate each time my WiFi was detected.
4) Decent pictures: Blu ray and high def contents looks really good on the 55". Colors are beautiful with decent contrast. Day light scenes looks bright and stunning. So does the animated films. I did the usual run of Lost, Atonement, Casino Royale, Toy Story 3 and The Dark Knight. All of them were well presented whenever there are outdoor scenes.
5) Good viewing angles: I watch from 8-9 ft away. Shifting left or right from this distance does not cause any color/contrast drop off. I did not have chance to test at wide angles but can conclude that display does hold up rather well . Vertical viewing angles are more finicky. The screen looks rather misty bluish/purplish as soon as I stand up (but that's rarely how you watch television).
Sadly, the cons far out weigh the pros. So a short-lived honeymoon.
Cons:
1) Weak blacks, gimmicky LED dimming: For LG it looks like black is blue or purple. The set totally fails when it comes to dim lit scenes. Everything looks hazzy and bluish. It as is there is layer of mist over the display. Here are few blu ray demo materials:
a) Underground tunnel chaperts from The Dark Knight.
b) Last chapter from Atonement (brilliant movie) where an aged Briony confesses.
c) Most of Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides have dark scenes
d) Some night scenes from Lost season 1, disc 1.
In none of the scenes, I could see blacks. More blue/purple tinted pictures which ruins the experience. I just couldn't get this set to display black on any of the test scenes. I watch movies in a dim lit room (in fact some times with no light), thus aggravating the problem to unbearable extent. This is where Samsung and high end Sony scores over LG. In a lit room, the display shows better (perceived) blacks. Note that people with well lit room will find not much trouble with blacks, though it gives rise to another problem - reflections. There is an option to enable LED local dimming (uh?). At the Low level it does not offer any real benefit, turning it to Medium does show slight improvement. However, it does something really unnatural to people's faces, it gives a plastered feel as if the makeup is going to fall off any time. Fine details such as wrinkles are lost.
2) Backlight bleed: Okay, so in a well lit room (with perceived blacks) there will be almost no backlight bleed. Turn down the lights and the screen shows pools of light from almost all corners. What is more irritating is the fact that it the problem is very much visible on letter-boxed / Cinemascope movies. The extent of backlight bleed / flashlight may differ from one unit to another. However, I think that weak black with minor backlight issue is enough to prove as major distraction. Clouding is another major problem.
Again, the last chapter from Atonement is a very good test material. There is nothing on the screen except Briony's wrinkled face. On this scene you see pools of light and the uneveness on edges of the screen is quite an attention grabber.
3) Terrible motion: This is really surprising since the TV is 120 Hz. The camera pan on the first chapter of Atonement reveals so much judder. Even animated Toy Story 3 shows judder (what the hell?). Camera pans are littered with judder. Even the shake of head/waving of hand is enough to cause trouble.
Enabling TruMotion at low setting does nothing to clean up, whereas the high settings introduce shredding and soap opera effect. I wonder if this model is 120 Hz as advertised. If you are a fan of sports then you will see lots of blurry faces and motion trailing. I watched replay of cricket match on Tata Sky HD (1080i/50Hz) and the motion trailing on cricket ball was evident than other LED LCD. If the camera is still, the screen shows beautiful 1080 picture. Trouble starts when there is action. Please do a thorough demo of sports channels before you buy LG TVs. I am sure this can be resolved by high TruMotion setting but then you get shredding and stuttering pictures all over. Some people many be less troubled by these issues but I state that this is one of the worst motion I have seen from a reputed manufacture on a mid-range display.
4) Lost shadow detail: Weak black, uneven backlight results in very poor shadow detailing. Many dark scenes (or even dark colored clothing) looses all dynamics. Only blob of dark greyish mist is visible. This could be a problem inherent to the panel within LG lineup. It is really sad not to see the details and pictures looking more like greyish-holes.
5) Dirty screen: This may differ from unit to unit but LG does have a problem with Dirty Screen Effect (DSE). Watch cricket and you'll see DSE immediately.
6) 3D not full HD: Hmm... this is documented everywhere. Not too much of a deal breaker but it is call false advertising. The problem is evident when you see subtitles, scrolling text, well contrast scenes (most animation). Switch on the TataSky HD menu and you'll see the line structure clearly.
7) Smart TV: This is more of a novetly that will die down in few days. You'll hardly use it as connecting a laptop is much more of a trouble free experience.
I have given a short review of my experience with LG LED LCD. The problems I stated may not hold true for others. So do a demo and make your decision. However, do note that the LM6700 will perform well in the bright showroom floors. It is deceiving. It is unfortunate that the good looking display does not perform nearly as good in a home enviornment. I did a demo of the 55" version. 42" users may see lesser issues due to reduced sized though I don't see how blacks, motion and shadow deatails will improve on smaller screen. Also, you will loose the 3D effect for which the TV is priced at permium.
Sony HX series puts up a better picture for sure though the 3D is a let down. Panasonic ET5 was equivalent to LG thought the picture looked more cinematic and a bit too warm. I'll post a review when time permits.
As I mentioned, it is a short review and I may have not gone in to writing all details and open for discussion.
albeit with a disclaimer that it may not apply to others).
