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I am VERY pleased with this LG ! I am writing this review to help you decide whether or not this TV is worth upgrading to from you current set, how things look, sound, work, what needs improvement and what is totally cool!
Interested? Then read on McDuff! But first just a bit of backstory.........
I purchased the LG 47LM7600 to replace my 2 year old LG 47 LE5400 which is now 'old tech'. I wanted a larger screen and I wanted better overall picture quality. The 3D , Web Browser and Apps were not a consideration for me, but this television IS fully loaded and I am glad to have them.
This is my 2nd LG television and I was 90% happy with my LE5400 but the flash-lighting and screen uniformity issues were nagging at me with every Blu Ray I watched and finally I decided it was time to move on up! I have a 3D Oppo Blu Ray player that had never seen a 3D disc and I thought this was finally the time to jump in.
Also, I watch A LOT OF TV folks! Home theater is my passion! I knew what I wanted to see from this new LM7600 and was very anxious to find out if I had made the right choice. (and with Amazon's 30 Day no cost return policy you are pretty much able to do this with no worries)
You have already seen pictures of this television. It looks even better in person. Build quality seems nice and solid and with or without the included stand it is a joy to behold. While no longer featuring a matte screen, the reflective aspects are nowhere near as bad as my Kuro was and actually adds to perceived picture quality. The 55 inch with stand comes in at around 55 pounds which is safe weight for most TV stands. Mine is sitting on an OmniMount Echo 63-Inch Video Table and seems perfectly stable and safe with a very good viewing height for 3D content.
The stand, while heavy plastic designed to resemble metal, is extremely easy to put together and is the most stable of any TV stand I have ever had. It went together quickly and is solid as a rock. I wish it could tilt forward a bit as well as from side to side, but otherwise I like it very much.
Be aware the HDMI jacks are in the side and close to the edge of the TV. If you don't want to see cable sticking out from the side of your 7600, then get some right angle HDMI cables. Speaking of HDMI, I have noticed the HDMI Handshake time is VERY quick compared to any other TV's I have owned. It 'plays nice' with all my other equipment, including an iScan Duo and Oppo BDP-93.
ON to the testing and my initial conclusions!
The first thing ANYONE want to know is "HOW DOES IT LOOK" ?? Right out of the box the 7600 gives you a pretty good picture and after even the most basic calibration for contrast, back-light and brightness levels you can dial in a real jaw dropping image! I started with Digital Video Essentials for my rough adjustments and then moved on the the Speer and Munsil Blu Ray for more precise settings. For the technically challenged I would recommend the Disney Worlds of Wonder Blu Ray for easy and effective basic calibration. Detail is noticeably enhanced from my LE5400 as are color accuracy and screen uniformity. Bothersome flash-lighting has almost been eliminated with just VERY small amounts peaking out the corners when no program material is being viewed. Truly, it hard to believe this 7600 is edge lit at times and it's performance is more than adequate to satisfy anyone other than the totally hard core purist that will tolerate NO flash-lighting. Motion handling is smooth and not artificial looking. I used Star Wars, Star Trek , and Lord of the Rings all on Blu to put this to the test. While no current LCD/LED television can do motion as well as a top grade plasma or the Sharp ELITE, this is so close to being there that I can happily live with it and not suffer any buyer remorse. The more I watch, the more I have come to believe that motion is rendered so close to perfect that any real world improvement would be negligible for most viewing conditions.
Unless you can afford a fully backlit LED set with full local dimming, this TV can give you the best picture for your dollar. It is bright, sharp, detailed and pops. The LED Plus DOES make a huge difference, coming from the LE5400.
I was just watching a PAL Columbo DVD (an old 1971 episode) and was thinking to myself about how great this TV can handle standard DVD resolution. A good trick is to engage the Mpeg Noise reduction to the "LOW" setting (found in the Picture options sub menu) and make sure your super resolution is turned on. I have been able to get near HD results from standard DVD'd doing this. Great digital tool box in this TV and at no extra charge!
Bottom line for PQ? I AM TOTALLY STOKED! If I could afford a new ELITE from Sharp I would buy one, but this LG television is at the top end of my price range and I feel it is a very good buy for my needs, providing a real solid upgrade in picture quality. The on-board processing upcoverts even SD to a whole new level, with 720p looking better than I ever thought it could! Classic movies on TCM have taken on a new visual level of quality now. COOL!
Also, LG's passive 3D tech really works. The picture is sharp, bright and involving. The glasses are lightweight and easy to replace. The 2 to 3D conversion is a little strange, but more than usable for a lot of different things. The kids are gonna love it and that includes 57 year old kids like myself! My 82 year old Dad liked watching ESPN 3D on MY set so much he now sits in front of his OWN Brand New LG Cinema screen 3D TV.
Audio is another area that has been improved and VASTLY from my LE5400. It is nowhere near as tinny or weak sounding and more than good enough for casual viewing when I don't wish to fire up the 5.1 system. If you purchase this set, be prepared to at least plunk down a bit more for a decent sound-bar or home theater in a box system, and with a full blown 5 or 7.1 system connected you will find yourself in your own home theater. The optical audio output will pass 5.1 Dolby Digital (the display on my Denon amp confirms this) The media player and software/hardware has been updated to include DTS core as well and THAT is a major improvement. However be aware this is ONLY the case while playing back 'local media files' via USB. All other audio is passed out the optical jack in STEREO ONLY even if your DVR or Disc Player is sending 5.1 ! Bummer! Seems the hardware is there, but the software is not allowing it to happen for some reason. Best to run your audio directly to your amp and bypass the TV in that regard for now. The only file formats I have not been able to play are FLAC and ISO files. Even videos that my Oppo/iScan Duo combo have trouble with are easily rendered going straight into the LG via USB. VERY NICE!
Connectivity is good with this set. Besides the prerequisite 4 HDMI connection you also get a dedicated HDMI audio return channel and an optical audio output. LG has bumped up the number or USB inputs to 3 and you can now connect a USB hub for all your external USB drives, one used for apps and one more for good measure. If your computer doesn't have HDMI you still get an RGB input. You can still connect via component video (although it is being phased out now) so your old gear is still viable. You can use the onboard wireless for your DLNA stuff or wire up to the LAN port. The combinations are pretty well thought out and there are enough options to accommodate most anyone's equipment. I feed this display from an Iscan Duo which processes all my external devices but have my Fios HD DVR connected directly to the LG to eliminate an extra HDMI handshake and the LG video processing is totally up to the job.
Where I live we can not be reached by over the air signals so I can't comment on how the onboard tuner behaves. The scaler in the TV is pretty good and again it is much improved from just 2 years ago for upscaling to 1080p from your DVR or USB file source. The first time I tested the on-board media player I was floored by the image quality. I didn't expect it to be so good!
Playing media files from DNLA or a USB drive is effortless with a nice well thought out on screen file browser. I have found one of LG's strong points is the sophistication and functionality of their operating systems. I like them! A LOT!
The main complaint I have about this LG is the Magic remote. I DOES work and with practice it gets easier and then it gets pretty quick, but I would prefer LG would ship this with a standard remote in addition to the Magic one. I use a Logitech Harmony One for everything except cursor functions and for me that is a better way to control things. Rather than go with a wireless connection, I connected the LAN port to my Fios router and get a pretty snappy performance from Apps and the Net Browser. When I say snappy, I do NOT mean fast! While featuring the same interface as the next two models up, the 7600 sports only a single core processor and as such between the TV OS and the apps the overall app/browser performance is sluggish. I think some extra RAM would clear things up and am hoping for a firmware update that will allow an external USB stick to be used as such. Otherwise, there is a very good chance that you will be disappointed in the performance of the both the apps and the browser experience. I do not use Netlfix anymore and can't comment on how well it works. I plan to attach a camera for Skype and will post as to my results at a later date. (I am notorious for updating my tech reviews) ALSO, the included manual and even the online manual are just NOT very comprehensive and leave a LOT to be discovered by trial and error. If you are tech savvy at all this will be a non issue.
So is this TV a safe bet? That depends how obsessive compulsive you are about your video quality. If you are willing to trade a very small amount of black level for what is most likely the best 3D around and and don't mind a semi reflective screen, then YES for the money this LG 7600 is a killer TV. It looks good, sounds good, has plenty of features, options and is upgradable via USB. I can play all my media files easily, MKV's and Xvids play and look great, SD is much improved and HD video is out of this world plus the LG's user interface is well thought out with some pretty mature software implementation. 10 years ago a television that looked this good and had this high level of function would have cost 20 thousand dollars or more. This is truly a great time to be a movie fan!
I am guessing a very large percentage of buyers will be totally happy with this TV.
As of now, I have ZERO buyers remorse and can recommend this LG with confidence.
If any issues arise or I find new things that are notable I will edit my review.
Cheers! Marty G
***A word about Flashlighting, Vertical Banding, Clouding and Dirty Screen Effect. These are the artifacts or 'defects' that plague ALL edge lit LCD/LED panels. Some brands are better than others for keeping them at bay. The exact same model of TV may vary widely from unit to unit. My TV may have more artifacts present while another may not.
Basically you need to evaluate your own TV for what you might consider an 'acceptable' level of any or all of these things. By the very nature of an edge lit displays design you just can not escape this, but manufacturing tolerances vary greatly and although you may need to possibly return one or more units you can eventually end up with one you can live with.
My 7600 has some VERY slight flash-lighting in the top left hand corner. On horizontal pans of light background material you WILL see Vertical banding of varying degrees. I have found the more local dimming you use, the worse it will get. I also have SOME dirty screen effect (Google it) and just a BIT of clouding depending on the program material.
Just be aware that ALL these things are inherent in Edge Lit displays. If you just can't live with them (in my case, hardly ANY but still....) then you need to consider a plasma or a full array backlit LCD/LED not an edge lit TV. Also, THOSE types of TVs ALSO have problems, just different ones. (halos, screen uniformity issues, stuck pixels, buzzing, excess heat, burn in, etc.)
BOTTOM LINE: With the exception of possibly the new Sharp ELITE models ( more than 5k to start) there is currently no such thing as a perfect display. Do not set your expectations higher than the technology will allow for. I am VERY pleased with this 7600. It offers an increased level of fine detail that was not present in my Pioneer Kuro Plasma from 4 years ago. The color accuracy is REALLY good and motion handling is the best of ANY TV I have had so far. (I have had 6 including Plasma, DLP, CRT and LCD in the last 7 years)
A word about adjusting your picture: As a rule of thumb, RESIST THE URGE to put your backlight to 100! The mistake many people make while trying to get a good picture is not understanding how to properly find the 'sweet spot' on their TV settings. You want to leave yourself plenty of 'headroom' and not clip the visual dynamic range and end up with everything looking positively radioactive!
Put your backlight down around 50 and crank up the contrast to around 85 , and play with your brightness control so that things are neither too dark or washed out. The more brightness you use, the more color intensity is needed, but adjust them in SMALL increments and test them on all types of material. Your cable box/dvr will need a different setting from your Blu Ray player. Every device sends a differently calibrated signal with different ideas of what constitutes a 'nominal' value. I STRONGLY urge you to invest in the Disney Worlds of Wonder, Digital Video Essentials or the Spears and Munsil calibration disc. Do the best job you can , then let the electronics 'burn in' for around 100 hours or so and do it again. It is a tedious process but you will be rewarded with the best picture quality on your block and a much more enjoyable viewing experience! I am currently enjoying overall the BEST picture on ANY HDTV I have ever owned and can thank the Spears and Munsil disc for much of it.
**As always, there ARE a small % of tech failures in electronics and purchasing an extended warranty would be a smart move as no matter how expensive something is, electronics DO fail and at the worst possible times.
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