JUST RIGHT
Having a parade of big-screen TVs march one after another through your living room sounds a bit like a dream, but it can spoil you. It is also entirely unfair because you tend to compare the TV you have now with all the TVs that have come before it. So, although it’s unfair, it is in the same way that life is unfair.
The last plasma I reviewed was a 42-inch model, a size that is now very popular at my local Costco. That TV, coming after several rear-projection behemoths, was derided as “inchtiny” by my 7-year-old. The rest of the family was, sad to say, equally underwhelmed by the size and the features of that plasma, so much so that when I mentioned I was bringing home a new plasma television I got a rather unenthusiastic response from them.
After I set up the LG 50PX4DR 50-inch plasma HDTV with a built-in 160-gigabyte digital video recorder (DVR), my wife spoke for the entire assembled family. “Kore ga iijann,” she said, which roughly translates to “this is just right.” That was a sentiment I returned to over and over when watching this LG plasma. It wasn’t the biggest, but it was plenty big at 50-inches. After watching this set for a few minutes I found myself wondering how anyone would settle for a mere 42-inch television. Eight more inches should not have made such a big difference but perhaps it was a combination of the bigger screen size with a superior picture. Plasmas don’t always have pictures as sharp as a DLP rear-projection television, but this set was so good that it was hard to find fault with it.
I tortured this display with my quiver of tricky movies, forcing one of my teenage girls to run from the room saying, “Daddy is watching Lawrence of Arabia, again,” while clasping her hands over her eyes, seared apparently by the brilliant sands of the desert. Of course, I found where the orange sands went a bit flat on the plasma. I would have been stunned if they were perfect and crisp, but overall the performance was excellent. This same daughter tortured the screen herself with the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban PlayStation 2 video game. This provided hours of fun for her and her vacant-eyed and slack-jawed friends, who positively drooled over the LG. Then again, perhaps they are always drooling; it is hard to tell, being that they are teenagers and all.
What sets this excellent screen
apart from others in its size category—aside from its great picture—are some
great behind-the-glass features. First of all, this TV has an excellent built-in
tuner that receives both standard and high-def signals. I hooked up a small,
portable antenna and after a short scan of the airwaves, the tuner pulled in
dozens of channels more than the last tuner I hooked up in the same location in
my house.
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| After several TVs––both big and small––had paraded through the Grindall’s living room, the family finally found the one for them: the LG 50PX4DR. Ken’s wife declared “Kore ga iijann,” which roughly translates to English as “this is just right.” |
The quality of the HDTV signal the tuner receives forced me to become a devotee of several PBS shows that I never was too interested in before. But now, they are just so … pretty. I don’t have a compatible cable service, but the digital-cable-ready plasma can accept a CableCard, which allows you to make a direct cable connection. Its a pet peeve of mine that you spend thousands of dollars for a plasma that is four inches thick and then have it sit on a pedestal filled with AV equipment about 2 feet from the wall, greater than the depth of the average rear-projection TV. A flat-panel TV should be mounted cleanly on a wall, with no dangling wires marring the presentation. This is the first plasma that I’ve seen that had enough going for it to fulfill that promise without sacrificing features.
For example, this plasma has some great connectivity features. You can connect the FireWire (IEEE 1394) signal from your MPEG 2 video camera (not MiniDV or Digital8) and watch your own videos directly on the TV. You can also connect this port to an external HD recorder, like a D-VHS or future Blu-ray recorder. There are two HDMI, one that supports a DVI adapter, so I had no problem connecting my PowerBook. There is also a VGA-type input for analog computer video connections.
For digital still-camera owners the set has multiple card slots to accommodate memory cards from virtually every camera on the market today, which can be a great way to present your photos. It is even possible to load a card with MP3 files and play them through the TV. This brings us to the speakers, which are good but not great and not removable, so you will have them even if you route the sound to better external speakers.
Most promising of the 50PX4DR’s features is its integrated 160 GB
DVR. This has storage space for 13 hours of HDTV programming, or about 36 hours
of standard video. The recording quality of digital and high-definition TV is
essentially perfect, as the recorder stores and replays the broadcast bits
exactly as it receives them. The Gemstar TV Guide Onscreen electronic program
guide, on the other hand, is not entirely perfect. It is difficult at first to
learn how to use the recording features, and the remote is not entirely up to
scratch. It should have a one-button record feature right on the remote that
could start recording the show I’m watching if I have to go off in a hurry. The
only problem I was able to find with the LG was that on two occasions the remote
stopped working entirely and I was actually forced up, out of my chair to change
channels. In once case, the remote started working after a while, but in another
instance, I had to restart the TV. In the days of the iPod and simple
interfaces, this is annoying.
Generally speaking, the remote control doesn’t
utilize the feedback of the screen as much as it could. When it does use the
screen—such as selecting recorded programs for playback and when in the TV Guide
system—it was adequate. It is not nearly as easy as TiVo, however, but then
again it is a free service that works well with broadcast and cable TV, even if
it doesn’t support satellite. I suppose with time the DVR would become second
nature. Without a doubt, though, the rest of this brilliant plasma is just
right.
RATING: ELEVATED
Description: LG 50PX4DR 50-inch plasma HDTV
High Points: Built-in HDTV tuner
with great reception; 160 GB digital video recorder; FireWire connections for
camcorders and external digital recorders
Low Points: Recording shows is a
bit difficult; remote didn’t always work
Contact: LG, 800.243.0000
www.lgusa.com
Price: $5,999