Passive viewing
The panel itself is built around LG’s proprietary LED Nano diffuser. Working in conjunction with variable local dimming tech, this screen-wide plate evens out the light from the LED clusters behind, minimising hotspots and halos. Unfortunately it’s only moderately successful and there remain issues regarding backlight uniformity, particularly on darker scenes.
EPG
That said, motion resolution is top notch. LG attributes this to an MCI (Motion Clarity Index) of 1000Hz. I’ve long since given up trying to understand frame rate nomenclature, so what this refers to is anyone’s guess. All you really need know is, that with the TV’s TruMotion function turned on, detail is crisp all the way to 1080.
Unfortunately, this clarity also comes with motion artefacts, seen as smudgy disturbances around the edges of some moving objects; still the set does have a manual De-Judder setting to dial most out. Generally, colours are spectacular and the set offers immense contrast, albeit at the expense of shadow detail. Daytime TV looks great!
Slim and stylish
3D is a particular strong point, with LG’s Passive FPR panel providing immersive dimensional viewing. With a screen this large, there are inevitable compromises in picture sharpness when you use Passive tech, but when viewed head-on there’s no crosstalk double imaging to worry about either. Included in the box are seven pairs of inexpensive polarising glasses, enough to keep family and friends happy.
Works with cheap, passive 3D glasses and there are dual specs included to take advantage of split viewing for gaming
As an offshoot, the screen also offers Dual Play. By wearing specifically polarised Dual Play glasses (there’s a colour-coded pair included in the box), you can view the split screen output from a two-player console game as two separate, full-screen images. This is obviously a wizard wheeze although in practice there’s quite a noticeable breakthrough between viewpoints. In a road racer, where players share the same track, this may not be too noticeable, but on a FPS such ghosting can prove fatal.
Verdict
Overall, the 55LM960V can be considered a superior flatscreen with a fabulous feature roster. But there are caveats that prevent its picture performance rating higher than a B+ when you consider the asking price for the set. Close then, but no best-of-breed cigar. ®
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LG 55LM960V 55in Smart TV
COMMENTS
Just one question.....
...just how good does 1080p look at 50"+?
Thats getting pretty low on the old DPI. I can imagine 1080p looking okay up to 42" 5 years ago but surely its looking a little crappy on the larger screens?
Wouldn't 1440p have been a better top end standard?
Question
To an average consumer who watches normal TV (HD+SD) and streaming services like Netflix rather than lots of blu-ray movies, would there be an obvious difference between watching a £500, a £1000 and a £2000 TV? Are we talking very subtle videophile-level differences, or something you'd walk into the room and go "wow that's amazing"?
Input lag
No mention of input lag - important factor if being used for gaming.
For London Olympics
I'm considering this TV for the 2012 London Olympics. I couldn't find anything that has this kind of picture quality and 3D depth control. A masterpiece combination of technology and design with smart apps.
The magic remote is just like the PC mouse. I always had hard time getting used to a new TV's remote but this one was pretty easy I think LG definitely anticipated that when they came up with this. Well worth for the money. I love it….
