Review of the LG 42PX5D HDTV Plasma Television
Despite winning prestigious awards for design and all its jam-packed features, LG’s 42PX5D 42” XGA HD Plasma TV has entered the market at a reasonably modest price. Design |
| Earlier this year the 42PX5D won the RedDot Design Award and there is no wondering why. Its caliginous, devilish frame is made from recyclable aluminium as is the interior. What’s more is that LG have expertly slipped any controls out of sight making it a pleasure to watch without the normal distracting clutter. The integrated swivel stand comes in handy when changing the angle of this large lump of a TV (1252W x 653.5H x 99D mm to be precise). The 15W speakers are permanently mounted on both sides but by no means impair the 42PX5D’s good looks. |
| Features |
| Safety is boring but it is also paramount so the first feature to mention is the electromagnetic shield. LG have guaranteed safe viewing by installing a protective shield between the viewer and the electromagnetic waves emitted by the TV. So, now the safety video is out of the way let’s have a look at what this modest set can really do. It’s HDMI giving you the latest and greatest picture performance available. This is also achieved through the integrated digital and analogue tuners. It’s mixture of a 1024x768 native resolution and 5000:1 contrast ratio is also a reasonable recipe for success. It offers all the usual fun features like Picture-in-Picture and Twin Pictures, for example. Sound doesn’t have to be any less fun either, not only does the 42PX5D have Bass Booster Effect (BBE) and TruSurround XT, but it has six sound settings including sport, movies, music, flat, SRS and user. We liked the elegantly named ‘cable management system,’ (also known as a cable tidy in the real world) admittedly it did come in handy. For an entry-level Plasma TV the connectivity is average. It comes with a scart, component, HDMI input, analogue VGA input, and PC input. Enough connections to have a little taster of everything but we would have preferred to see more, at least two HDMIs. However, we like the X-Studio feature that allows you to retrieve images and music from different memory cards. Most connections are situated at the rear with the exception of a few at the side. |
| Performance |
| First of all we tried out a Xbox game thinking we would save the best till last (HDTV of course). Unfortunately for LG, we weren’t wowed by any means by this below average performance. Moving swiftly one we watched a standard definition broadcast – not particularly impressive but a big improvement from the Xbox game. Colours were good after a few adjustments and black levels were deep giving it that extra detail which we have come to expect. Last but by no means least was a HD programme – truly spectacular. The black levels were superb, offering more detail than we had expected. Motion was expertly handled; admittedly, it really did tick all our picture performance boxes. As for sound, we found some dialogue was ever so slightly muffled on occasions but to the untrained ear it probably wouldn’t exist. The volume can however be cranked up to some very high levels so watch out for the neighbours. |
| Overall Opinion |
| With a not so amazing but completely acceptable picture performance and good sound, in our opinion the 42PX5D is a winner. It is hard to come by a large Plasma screen for this price, especially one that is worth watching. |
| By Lisa Malyon |
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Pros + Electromagnetic safety shied + BBE and TruSurround XT + 5000:1 contrast ratio |
Cons - Standard Definition viewing and gaming is disappointing |
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Sound Quality 8/10
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Picture Quality 7/10
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Connectivity 5/10
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Future Compatibility 6/10
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Ease Of Use 8/10
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Overall Rating 
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By Lisa Malyon
5/10/2006 at 2:18:14pm
5/10/2006 at 2:18:14pm
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