LG Electronics 60LA6200 60-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Smart TV and Four Pairs of 3D Glasses

Excellent TV….almost perfect., June 17, 2013

I purchased this TV to replace a 42″ LG in my master bedroom (which replaced a 40″ Sony XBR6). (FWIW, both of those TVs were purchased from Amazon. I have purchased six 40-47″ TVs from Amazon and have never had any shipping problems or damage.) I originally started with the 42″ version of this TV which was returned to Amazon due to some screen uniformity issues (more later). Due to the LA6200’s thin bezel, the 47″ worked in my space. I’ve had it for 4 weeks and I’m quite pleased with it overall. If I could give half stars, I would award it 4.5. I can’t and on balance I thought it was more fair to give it 5 than 4.

APPEARANCE:

This is an impressively styled display. The dark gunmetal bezel is quite attractive. I was glad to see LG left off the silver accents that are creeping into more of their models. I view those as unnecessary styling elements that detract somewhat from the overall appearance of the set. LG designers did a great job on the LA6200.

Several have commented this TV is much thicker than some of the very thin models on the market. That is necessitated by the back lighting system LG utilized on this model line. All LED TVs have LCD panels. LCD panels, unlike plasma displays, are incapable of generating their own light…they must be back lit to produce a visible picture. The very thin TVs are edge lit. The LEDs are placed on the left and right or top and bottom of the panels and mirrors reflect the light onto the panels illuminating it to provide a picture. This configuration allows for a very thin TV, but there are compromises. The primary concern is called flashlighting. If there was a scene with a bright moon against a dark sky, the LEDs on the edge of the panel would have to light up the moon. As the light is being reflected, some displays will show a beam of light, not unlike the pattern of a beam of light from a flashlight, going from the edge to the illuminated object…in this case the moon.

The LG LA 6200 series are direct lit meaning the LED lights are arranged along the entire back of the panel and not just the edges. A full array back lit set has a great number of these LEDs mounted relatively close to the screen. Full array sets are found in the upper tier models and tend to be quite expensive. The direct lit system LG used utilizes less LEDs. To properly illuminate the panel, they are positioned farther away from the panel resulting in that thickness. Direct lit sets don’t have problems with flashlighting, but they can have issues with dark screen uniformity and light bleed. Both my 42″ and 47″ LA6200s had/have light bleeding…the 47 far less than the 42. This is why I would deduct 1/2 star, if possible. The issue actually seems to be getting a bit better as the TV breaks in and I’m only seeing it on some dark screens, not all.

SET-UP:

The TV was very easy to set up. Mine is mounted to a stand (VESA, M6 bolts) so I did not use the included base, but that looks very simple to attach. After you turn on the TV, you go through a brief set up…home or store use, zip code, time zone, etc. and then to Picture Wizard II. This is a calibration tool LG includes to help you adjust the TV for home viewing. After going through it’s procedure and then later using the Disney Wow Blu-ray calibration disc, I was impressed how close to that mark the Picture Wizard II settings were.

You definitely want to do this. TVs are set up in stores to be as bright as possible as studies have shown in a big box store setting customers are drawn to the brightest displays and perceive those to have the best picture. In a home setting, especially with controlled lighting, those store settings will look horrible.

LG has already released a firmware update for 6200 series, so you’ll want to update the software through the TV’s menu system.

REMOTE:

The 42 and 47 come with ONLY the standard remote. It is well laid out, but unfortunately not back lighted. The correct Magic Remote is the AN MR400. It is fully functional with the 47, including voice functions, and makes it far easier to access the TV’s smart functions. It is well worth purchasing in my opinion.

SMART FEATURES:

Relax, Amazon Instant is on the way. LG has been rolling out updated firmware in waves to provide this app. They started with 2011 models and have finished both 2011 and 2012 models. They are now working on updates for 2013 models, so it shouldn’t be much longer.

The only app I use now is Netflix….streams without buffering or other problems (Verizon FiOS – hardwired.)

The LA6200 has full internet capability. It’s workable with the Magic Remote, but I don’t use this very often….not far enough along the learning curve, perhaps.

PICTURE QUALITY:

Other than the light bleed issue, it’s very difficult to find any fault in the picture…

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 Comments (19)

Fantastic TV, March 29, 2013

By 

Hans J. Storoy “Hans” (Cranston, RI, USA) –

  

I bought this TV (the 47″) to replace an older LG 42″ LCD that I broke. I was looking to stay with LG since my last TV was great, and I preferred the passive 3D just because I don’t want to pay an $50-$90 for a technology that will be lightly used at most. The 2D to 3D up-convert is just a bonus that makes it more usable.

Pros and Cons below, but one feature I was not prepared for that has been great, LG Cloud. Its a free 5Gb video, 2GB photo service. I can upload videos (including xvid) from my computer or phone and play via the cloud on my TV. Absolutely love that.

Pros
– Fantastic picture quality. Great blacks, very smooth.
– TruMotion, when used for stuff like sports and other high motion video (this is also a con, see below)
– Passive 3D with 2D to 3D makes this usable right out of the box.
– LG Cloud
– Huge collection of Smart TV Apps (Please add Amazon Instant)
– Price. I called and got the price dropped $120 to match BestBuy. Well worth it when you pay no shipping or tax (Prime)

Cons
– No Amazon Instant (at least not on the 47″)
– No Magic Remote, which was in the description, but not with the 47″ at least.
– TruMotion was on by default. It makes regular TV look kind of like a Soap Opera, that kind of cheesy looking filming, can’t think of a better way to explain it. I turned it off.
– Picasa App doesn’t seem to work, every time I click on an album the app closes.

Overall, the cons are about what I thought was included based on the description and 1 setting very easily turned off. The TV is a great, inexpensive Smart/3D TV. Nothing really I can complain about. Glad I stuck with LG.

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