Why You Can Trust CNET LG 47LX9500 review: LG Infinia 47LX9500
While you wouldn't buy it for the 3D mode alone, the LG 47LX9500 is capable of excellent image quality in a home cinema environment.
- Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Though we won’t see the model here, when it comes to 3D televisions LG has made what we believe is one of the best 3D systems we’ve seen yet. It’s a passive 3D TV — similar to what you’ll find in the cinema — which Sky TV in the UK bought by the container load for local pubs, but unfortunately won’t be sold in Australia.
LG 47LX9500
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Instead, LG is offering this — its flagship television — the LX9500. In addition to 3D it does a number of other buzzwords as well, but can it take the competition to leaders Sony and Panasonic?
Design
LG's latest "Infinia" range has taken the company’s borderless concept almost to the limit — there is very little bezel or frame to speak of at all. Most TVs need a bezel to hide connections and so on, but here there's barely anything to "design".
You could argue that the TV shares a similar look to Samsung's 8 series from last year, with its crystal edge giving the TV a sophisticated air. The crystal accents continue down to the see-through stand.
The TV has a number of technologies that enable it to remain slim, but unlike Samsung's televisions this hasn't necessitated a phalanx of adapters to plug stuff in — just one component adapter.
The remote is a little different to the one shown off at CES 2010 in that it's no longer a magic wand but a normal, piano-black one. It’s fairly easy to use and we appreciate the big red "3D" button, which makes it easy to change settings.
Features
In terms of features, only Samsung and Panasonic can hold a candle to this LG: it's pretty much got everything bar last year's Time Machine recording feature. But it's arguably 3D that will help shift those units, and the TV comes with a pair of glasses that support 3D movies, PS3 games and Multi-Picture Format photos. Further glasses will set you back AU$99, which makes them the cheapest rechargeables on the market, and half the price of Panasonic's coin-battery models.
The Infinia 47LX9500 is full of non-3D tech as well, and it features an LED backlight that can be dimmed locally for greater contrast, a claimed dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1, and the company's TruMotion 400Hz technology that's designed to smooth motion.
The television also offers internet connectivity with the biggest drawcard being the BigPond Movies service, which will eventually be extended to something Telstra is calling "BigPond TV". Other video services such as YouTube and weather are also available with the click of your remote control. LG is reportedly in talks to add further content in the future.
Connectivity is a strong point of the TV with four USB slots, two USB ports (for playing back content on USB disks), three component slots, three AV ports and a VGA.
Performance
Having now seen LG's local-dimming LED technology we can see why the company is so proud of it. Forget plasma and Sony's HX800, this TV has one of the highest levels of contrast we have seen, barring OLED. Blacks are so deep, that during a black scene it's hard to tell if the TV is on at all.
However, the local dimming does come at a small cost: there is a tiny amount of blooming around contrasting images. Depending on how pitch black your lounge room is and how close you sit to your TV this may or may not be a problem. It can look a little unnatural on CGI material such as King Kong, though. While you can turn the effect off we found that the extra levels of contrast were an acceptable compromise, plus there’s no delay or "iris effect" from transitioning from a dark screen to a light one.
The backlighting system of the LX9500 (right) is capable of better blacks than an edge-lit TV (left) but it's not quite pixel-by-pixel lighting yet. (Credit: Ty Pendlebury/CNET Australia )
Thanks to the on-board wizard it's easy to get a high quality image that displays DVDs and Blu-ray with equal aplomb. Blacks are intense, colours natural and not-oversaturated, and detail is rapier-sharp. Image processing is also tip-top with a lack of noise and moire patterns in our test material. Pity about the TruMotion 400Hz engine, though, as despite the higher numbers it's years behind the competition. There were "haloing" artefacts and jerkiness on even simple scenes, which would've been best left alone.
As we found with the Sony HX800, picture quality is actually best in low light or total darkness. This contradicts what some salespeople will tell you about the differences between LCD and plasma — LCD can work in the dark too! In a well-lit room we had a similar problem to what we found with the LG 47LE7500 in that the screen is very reflective. If you watch dark movies in a bright room you may find that "blacks" come out "grey", but it’s a relief that the TV is so talented in the dark.
You may notice that we’ve held off talking about 3D until now: in effect, it's not very good. While you do get a 3D effect without the flicker that some competitors have, there are spoonfuls of crosstalk that mean extended sessions can lead to eyestrain. While it’s nowhere near as pronounced as Samsung’s execrable 3D attempts so far, we wouldn’t buy this TV simply to watch 3D movies.
Finally, sound quality is also a little hesitant, and voices can sound clear though a bit throaty. There is plenty of high-frequency detail but not as much slam as a dedicated speaker system will give you.
Conclusion
Despite a couple of minor faults, it seems that LG has ended its poor showing so far by releasing the LX9500. If you treat it with care, not only does it look great in your lounge room it looks great when turned on. If LED local dimming is this good now, we look forward to what future versions bring.