LG 52LD550 52-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV, Black with Internet Applications Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)(I edited this review on 10-31-10.)
I bought this TV because I thought that it had very good specs for the price. But, the picture really isn't that great. Given the specs, I think that it must be a software problem, and I'm guessing that it is a likely problem with all large screen LGs. The settings out of the box for normal HD programming (I have FiOS and put the set-top box settings at 1080i because that is what the TV handles best and is the highest resolution setting available from my cable provider, as 1080p is not an option) were really terrible. Watching football was originally a borderline nightmare due to the pixelation that was very difficult to get rid of with the wider field shots.
To LG's credit, it does allow the user a lot of options to calibrate the picture. I believe that I have my set optimized, and my settings are vastly better than the default settings innate with the TV. But honestly, the picture still occasionally has a lot of pixelation, especially with lower quality HD feeds, which, unless you watch almost exclusively Blu-ray movies, is what the average person watches the most.
I consider myself a sophisticated user. This is my second 52" HD TV and my third HD TV brand. (I had to buy another 52" HDTV because my other one was a Samsung, which broke. (I have had two Samsungs, both were lemons and broke in less than two years' time. That is another story. But, if you want to get a Samsung, good luck.)) Because I'm thinking that the way this LG TV handles the lower quality HD feeds is a software problem, I'm hoping that LG fixes its pixelation issue for the lower quality feeds with a firmware update. (I also have the wireless dongle, which is the most convenient way to get firmware updates.) If it does, I will update this post. Until then, I can't endorse this TV. (Whoever at LG is creating the picture settings, please look at the field for an American football game. The dancing pixels are insane. I have messed with every setting imagineable and can't fix it.)
Also for those of us that also bought the wireless dongle and have a Netflix subscription, options to calibrate the picture become inexplicably limited when attempting to calibrate the picture for the instant watch movies. This has got to be a super-easy firmware fix for LG. I will also post whether LG corrects this issue. (Update: This is still a problem. Though LG just upgraded it's netflix interface to match the new PS3 upgrade, which is nice. I will say that having netflix and youtube available at a push of the button on the remote is really a nice feature of this TV.)
(New paragraph: This TV has some interesting software decisions on it. The options to calibrate the picture for normal TV viewing are a mile long, which on some level you need because the factory settings are so terrible. The TV comes with a picture wizard that is actually somehow counter productive, at least in my case, because my best picture came by ignoring most of the settings that I created from the picture wizard. The picture settings can't be adjusted when using the Youtube app. One decision that affects my enjoyment of the TV is that LG removes audio options when you plug devices into the headphone jack. I plug high quality computer speakers into that jack in order to have a subwoofer, but often the background sounds are too loud and speech too soft: both of these problems would be solved by a single setting in the audio options, which is available when my speakers are not plugged in.)
Finally, the apps available with the wireless dongle are VERY limited. I hope that LG plans on adding more to justify purchase of the seperate dongle. The dongle accesses firmware updates and five apps: instant watch Netflix, Vudu (instant HD rentals), youtube, Picasa, and one other app that I forget because I don't use it.
(Update and clarification: Overall, I like this TV, but I don't love it due to the aforementioned issues (i.e., software decisions and handling of lower quality, high-definition feeds). I feel like I get a lot out of this TV as the focal point of my media set up. I have my HDMI slots taken up with (1) my set-top box, (2) blu-ray player, (3) Xbox 360, and (4) Desktop hard drive. When you add in the Netflix and Youtube apps that are instantly available at a touch of a button on the remote, I feel like it has all of the features needed to be the focal piece of my media center. It also handles high, high-definition very well, so watching Blu-rays and playing Xbox 360 look as beautiful as they should.)

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This HDTV is Internet-ready. To view Internet apps on this TV, you may also need:

Broadband Internet service
A router
Cabling
A Wi-Fi adapter (if there is not one built in)
A PC for subscriptions or payments

To learn more about Internet-ready HDTVs, visit Internet-Ready TV 101.
Great for sports and fast action, the 52-inch LG 52LD550 LCD HDTV offers 1080p Full HD resolution for crystal-clear detail, TruMotion 120Hz technology for virtually no motion blur, and a super-quick response time of 2.4ms (milliseconds). With LG's NetCast, you get access to TV shows, movies and more, streamed directly from the Internet to your television screen. And the LD550 series also provides compatibility with Wireless 1080p Connectivity (wireless media kit required and sold separately).
Other features include an amazing 150,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for more stunning colors and deeper blacks, two USB ports for connecting external drives for playing back MP3 audio, JPEG photo and DivX HD video files, stereo speakers with 20 watts of power and Dolby Digital decoding, and four HDMI inputs.



NetCast Entertainment Access NetCast Entertainment Access brings the best Internet services direct to your TV--no computer required. Instantly access movies and TV shows, news and weather and the world's largest library of HD movies in 1080p. (Note: Internet connection & subscriptions required and sold separately.)




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