Why You Can Trust CNET LG 37LH35FD review: LG 37LH35FD
The LG 37LH35FD is a solid 1080p television delivering crisp and rich images, but if you can stretch your budget there are better options available.
Only a few years ago, a 37-inch television cost close to AU$6000 and was considered a fairly big screen. Nowadays, the prices have fallen considerably and 37-inch sets are now in the small screen category. While the LH35 series is in the low end of units LG has on offer it still accomplishes excellent image quality while sitting at an affordable price.
LG 37LH35FD
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Design
With a glossy black bezel and stand, this unit doesn't deliver any revolutionary design factors but the sleek lines along the bottom of the bezel and the curved power switch certainly make it look quite attractive. It uses LG's "invisible speaker" technology, so the bottom bezel is a little thicker than most TVs since the speakers are both behind and a part of the bezel itself.
The 37LH35FD has three HDMI ports, one component, two composite and a PC connection. It doesn't offer as many connection options as other similar units on the market but it should be enough to satisfy most users.
Features
This is a budget model so it isn't exactly feature packed. Being natively 1080p, it is ideal for watching Blu-ray films and it is 24p compatible allowing it to play films at 24 frames per second. Meanwhile, it doesn't have any 100Hz modes or anything similar and it doesn't have an SD card or USB slots for media playback.
The "invisible" speakers have a well-rounded sound without any distortion at high volume. It also has what LG calls "clear voice", which adjusts the audio when watching a movie to make the dialogue stand out from the background effects.
One of the great things about all LG televisions is the calibration wizard which takes you step by step through the process of achieving optimal image quality. It is an excellent way to set up the panel to be the best it can be.
Performance
To reflect the same image quality the average user would see, we used the calibration wizard before running our tests. These consisted of a series of Blu-rays at 1080p and DVDs in standard definition. During the Blu-ray tests, we found the image quality was reasonably good but not without its flaws. We instantly noticed a little backlight bleeding in the bottom corners of the screen and as a result the black levels tended to appear a little washed out. The problem could be adjusted using the on-screen calibration options but in order to reduce the impact of the backlight you will need to sacrifice some contrast. The colour reproduction was excellent and the level of detail on 1080p content was superb with crisp edges and no image noise.
Standard-definition content was handled well. There wasn't much image noise and the scaling (from 576 to the native resolution of 1080p) didn't introduce any unwanted artefacts. There was a little discolouration in darker areas of the image and some 480p content didn't fare too well with slight pixellation on some edges. However, on the whole, DVD performance was excellent, so if you own a large DVD collection you will be happy with how the LG makes them look.
Conclusion
The LG 37LH35FD won't blow you away with its feature set but it's a solid 1080p television that can deliver crisp and rich images in both standard and high definition. It isn't perfect but considering its cost, its performance is quite good. If you are on a budget this may be a television to consider, but if you can stretch your budget there are better options available.