LG 50PJ350 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV Reviews

Review by M. Dietert for LG 50PJ350 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
It was finally time to upgrade from my old 32″ 720p lcd and I, for the first time, began considering plasma. I found an amazing deal on this set for $610 after tax and jumped at the opportunity. So far I am very pleased.

VIDEO:

Picture quality absolutely destroys my old lcd. The colors are vibrant while watching HD content and the black levels are so much more redeemable. SD content looks noticeably more pixelated at close distances than the smaller set but that is to be expected.

AUDIO:

I haven’t given the speakers much of a test as I use a 5.1 audio system but they sounded adequate for the first few minutes I heard them.

APPEARANCE:

Set will produce noticeable glare if in a well-lit room but that is to be expected. The bezels are sleek and very thin which I love, the stand is easy to assemble, swivels and works as expected. The set is super thin!

OVERALL:

While I am still in the break-in period, I am thus far impressed by this set. It was a huge, affordable upgrade for me and I can’t wait to give it a run with some games and blu rays.

Review by jpmist for LG 50PJ350 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
I’ve only had this a few days so there’s a lot I’ve yet to adjust to, but I wanted to write up some quick notes for anyone interested in this set.

#1 Overall, I like it a lot. I use it for my standard def ancient Replay DVR, Wii, PS3 and computer.

#2 The remote is a lot better than I’d hoped for. It could be heftier with a better balance, but LG has taken pains not to put more on it than you need.

#3 I like the menu system a lot. No deep sub-menus to dig thru and a very useful Input button on the remote makes switching sources painless.

#4 The screen is very very very shiny. I have floor to wall south facing windows at a 90 degree angle to the set and during the day the reflection of my back wall on the screen is distracting. I’m gradually getting used to it, but I wish it weren’t as prominent. Of course, at night, no problem.

#5 The picture wizard for adjusting the picture is very cool. You get two custom settings that can be saved and assigned to individual imputs. Nice.

#6 The only sound output is an optical plug. No headphone, RCA or anything analog. Bummer, cause I have no way of getting the sound out to my current stereo where I’d rather have it. The speakers on it aren’t bad, but not much bass to speak of. Big thumbs down here, I thought I’d read that it had analog output.

#7 Anyone thinking of hooking up a Mac Mini, by all means do it! The Mac Mini will output HDMI via monitor converter plug plus audio from the headphone jack and you’ve got one heck of a HiDef Mac monitor. Umpteen screen resolutions to pick from (1920 x 1080 down to 800 x 600) and Netflix streaming looks fantastic! Just be sure to manage your screensaver and desktop so you don’t burn in the menu bar and icons.

#8 I get quite a few local HDTV channels via antenna and the picture is pretty amazing. However coming from a Sony DLP set the standard picture settings have far too cartoon-like over-saturated colors for my taste, but the contrast and sharpness is much better than my old DLP. There are “Expert Settings” in the menu that seem quite comprehensive so I imagine eventually I’ll get it adjusted more to my liking.

So to recap, thumbs down on the shiny glass and lack of sound outputs, but price, features, menu and picture are great.

Review by Kevin Boehning for LG 50PJ350 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
Ordered this on Monday, and it had an estimated delivery of next Monday, but it arrived in 2 days which was a very pleasant surprise. I must commend the shipping company, Pilot, on their courteousness and efficiency. 2 guys brought this tv in, unboxed it for me, and attached the stand upon my request. They asked a couple times if I needed help hooking up all my devices, but I knew what I was doing so I politely declined. Good job Pilot!

I have yet to do any in depth calibration, but as soon as I got that sucker plugged in I had my xbox connected through HDMI and set the TV on game mode. Picture was amazing right off the bat and there was zero lag on CoD MW2 which is a huge plus for me. Everything looked very crisp and smooth and with 50″ I could actually see many details on the other side of the map without a problem.

Once I finished that I switched to Movie mode and put in a Blu Ray of District 9. Wow. I upgraded from a 32″ 60hz LCD, and once I saw the video on this new TV my jaw dropped. I was halfway tempted to get a 1080p version of a 50″ plasma, but at an extra $300-$400 it was not worth it. I set up my parents 1080p TV right next to mine and from about 8 feet away you cannot tell which is 1080 or 720. Very happy I made the decision of 720p, but any larger than 50″ 1080p would be worth it.

This TV is also incredibly thin, at a inch or so around the edges then gets slightly thicker to 1.5 or 2 in the middle. It definitely looks like a $1000+ television, but at $702 this was a steal.

Very happy customer!

Review by Craig Dale for LG 50PJ350 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
Bought this tv from local competitor paid 625. Debated going for the 1080p version but couldnt justify the extra 300. The picture on this tv is awesome even on SD channels. I use this tv to play xbox 360 and I leave the orbiter on with contrast and brightness down and the picture is still amazing. Couldnt ask for a better tv.

Review by Dawn Harris for LG 50PJ350 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
Just wanted to post a short review, to say a few things that havent been said up to this point with this TV.

1. The value is GREAT. Cant beat the price for the size and working thru Amazon is great as far as customer service, delivery, etc. Second to none right now at 50 inches.

2. That being said, the picture quality really isnt there. If you dig deep online you will see reviews placing this TV in an “average” catagory. I think that is a bit of an overstatement. I have owned several HDTVs and this one is likely the least satisfying from a picture standpoint. Its not the color, which can be adjusted. Its really a “crispness” issue, not really sharpness or brightness, just something lost at the color transitions and edges. It is likely a software issue more than anything – IMHO. I wont be sending it back tho – it still looks good enough for me and the family – but I wont be using it for a formal Theatre setup