LG Electronics 47GA6400 47-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Google TV and Four Pairs of 3D Glasses

Sooooo close…., May 28, 2013

The LG 42GA6400 is a mixture of solid performance and underdeveloped promise. At the time of this review (May 2013), the 42GA6400 is a 4-star television. I put that disclaimer up front because I firmly believe that some thoughtful software fixes could definitely bump this TV up to 5-stars.

HARDWARE
I’ll start with the physical specifications of the television first. Assembly of the stand is pretty typical for LCD sets, and I had no problem attaching the 8 screws required to get the TV in an upright position by myself. I would have preferred a base with a standard X pattern, but the two “arms coming out to hug you” stand is stable enough and doesn’t take up a huge footprint. It’s somewhat of a bummer, but the stand lacks a tilt/rotation capability. There are 4 HDMI inputs on the side of the TV, a headphone output, an optical out, USB inputs, and some 1/8″ jacks that allow you to plug in composite and component in cables via the supplied adapters. There is an additional 1/8″ jack for the IR blaster adapter (also supplied–it’s a Y-adapter with two IR blasters connected to the same jack). There is also a coax cable input for direct standard cable signal or an over-the-air antenna. The 3-prong, grounded power cord is attached to the opposite side of the TV from the inputs. Unfortunately, I feel like the power cord could be a good 1-2 feet longer. The frame is about an inch in each direction around the screen, and is made of a pretty slick, metallic-looking gray plastic.

PICTURE
The 42 inch panel on this TV holds up well against similar $750-900 competition (obviously scale up the cost on 47-55 inch models). It’s a full 1080p LED backlit screen. There is no microdimming from the LEDs, and as a result the best black it can produce is a dark, dark gray. I didn’t have any issues with lighting bleed around the bezel or at the edge of the screen. Still, the black levels and contrast are consistent with panels in this price range. You’ll have to drop another couple hundred to get better contrast. I do find the color reproduction to be very good compared to similarly priced sets. Reds and greens have an appropriate amount of saturation, but due to the limited dynamic contrast the overall picture just lacks a little bit of vibrancy. I watched NBA and NHL playoffs on the set, and I was pleasantly surprised with the ability of the 120Hz refresh to keep up with most of the action. Hockey still had some noticeable digital motion blur, but by no means was it bad. Overall, the screen slightly exceeded my expectations for this price range.

3D
I don’t watch much 3D because content is limited and there are rarely any live sporting events that transmit a 3D signal. This LG comes with 4 pairs of passive 3D glasses (similar to the glasses you get in a movie theatre). Since my 3D options are somewhat limited, I fired up Green Lantern in 3D (yes, I know the movie is awful) and put on the glasses. Wow. For a TV the 3D effect was solid and I never experienced any cross-signal. The 3D viewing angle isn’t that wide, but you can maintain a quality depth effect if you’re sitting 30-45 degrees away from straight-on. Again, I was surprised that I wound up preferring this passive 3D effect over my active-shutter 3D glasses I use with my Samsung ES7500. It’s also nice that you don’t have to worry about putting batteries in the glasses as well.

REMOTE
If you’re reading this review the reason you’re considering this TV is because it’s a Google TV. Well, really, the GoogleTV software goes hand-in-hand with this iteration of the LG magic remote. LG made an incredible remote for this TV, however, they also annoyed me to no end by not going the extra mile and including a couple simple, intuitive features. First, the good…the keyboard works great and is so much better than trying to type out search phrases in a SmartTV with a D-pad. The pointer works very well. It’s basically a poor-man’s version of a Wiimote. Some of the features, like holding down the gesture button and air-drawing semi-circles to zoom in can be next to useless, but for the majority of the GoogleTV interface this remote is a wonderful match. Unfortunately, the remote has problems whenever I try to use my Comcast DVR. There are times when I want to use my DVR’s channel guide (see below) and unfortunately, this remote does NOT have page up and page down buttons. This problem could be alleviated if LG can fix the firmware and allow a single click of the scroll wheel down to send a “page down” signal to the DVR through the IR blaster. The other issue is that, amazingly, there is no STOP button. There is a separate play and a separate pause button, but no stop. Why not make one button PLAY/PAUSE and the other button STOP? When I’m watching DVR video I need the stop button to get me out of the program I’m watching and give me the option to delete it. Instead, all I can do is…

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Bitter Sweet Purchase – REVISED to ROCKIN PURCHASE, May 18, 2013

Customer Video Review Length:: 1:27 Mins

I work for Intel and was excited to finally see the joining of Google and a HDTV with the benefits of having a Dual Core Processor. The Picture is AMAZING!!! 2D – 3D works very well, and the 3D is clear as a bell. This is by far the best video ever produced on an LCD. Again.. Amazing

NOW, for the Bitter part!
There is something wrong with the OS. The Buttons on the remote will pull up the Guide, but it immediately shuts down. The Voice Search will record your search, but then shut down immediately after finding the results, same with the app store and any other apps it runs. The menu is shows lines next to the icon and will change from place to place, no issue with the actual screen, just the code for the OS.

All in all, the purchase was bitter sweet to say. I have contacted LG and they are going to send someone out to look at it. Hopefully they will find the issue and resolve it or replace the set. I will update the post after their visit, or delete and re-post.

*** REVISED Update****

OK Folks, here is what you have wanted to hear.
My TV was replaced by Amazon. I contacted their support and they shipped out a new TV the day I called, it was received the next day. It works just fine, and everything is wonderful. The features are just as expected. The Dual Play is a great feature as I am a console gamer and it makes a huge difference having the full screen to see and not just a portion of it. Netflix, HBOGo, Etc open without any error, and again the picture using the apps is greatness. I cannot tell you how much this TV rocks. What many people don’t mention is the “Spotlight” app. I fond in there many sites that are formatted for the Google TV. It was a big surprise to me. If there is anyone out there with any doubts about this TV you should put them to rest right now. The screen is reflective, and I have a lot of ambient light that shines in the room, but the set is so bright that there is no issue.

I LOVE THIS TV!!!

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