The LG 47LV5500 is one of the poorer LCD entries from LG this year as it's afflicted by an uncontrollable LED backlight, which means it's not competitive at its price point.
Ty Pendlebury
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
We tend to give prominence to the "hero" models here at CNET, but there is an expectation that some of the technology found in high-end TVs will appear in some form in middle and lower-end models. Like the slightly more expensive LG LW5600, a TV we really liked, the LG LV5500 has an LED backlight that selectively dims parts of the image. However, pay that little bit extra for the LW5600 and you'll be rewarded by a better picture, as the LV5500 doesn't render black as well.
The LG LV5500 is one of the least expensive LED-based LCD TVs on the market, yet despite an excellent Internet suite and a cool motion-control remote, it doesn't stand out at its price point.
The LG is edge-lit, which affords it a slim profile.
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Design
The TV is piano-black but the metallic edge looks a little strange.
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Connections
Four HDMI ports and two USB are typical, but the bundled wireless adapter is a boon.
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Smart TV
The home screen is uncluttered yet friendly--one of the unit's best features.
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DIY calibration
Like most LG TVs, the LV5500 has a straightforward setup routine, but the results aren't very accurate.
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Streaming services
With Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Instant onboard, most viewers should be able to find something they want to watch.
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Apps store
The apps store currently contains simple point-and-click games; most of the "must-have" apps like streaming services and social media are already installed.
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Advanced setup
The LG offers a 10-point calibration system for viewers who are confident about what they're doing.
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Picture quality
Setup is one of LG's main strengths, and using the TV's advanced menu we were able to get relatively accurate colors and deep blacks (for LCD). The LG LV5500's picture quality was relatively good for the price but its black levels were lighter than those of the competition when the local-dimming backlight was in play. Given the LV5500's price, it's worthwhile paying a bit more for models like the LG LW5600 and Samsung UND6400--both of which offer much better picture quality as well as the option of 3D.
