LG 42LW5700 3D TV

LG, one of the biggest brands in the flat panel TV market has recently launched their Cinema 3D line of TVs. Close on the heels of LG 47LW6500, LG introduced their all new sleek 42LW5700 3D TV. At first, the only difference seemed that it was a much smaller version of LW6500 as this one too, not only supports 3D compatibilities, but also Smart TV functions. In this review, we wanted to see if the 42LW5700 was as good as its predecessor.

HDMI And USB Connectivity

Design and Built
There are no drawbacks in the design department. The 42LW5700 is pretty attractive and looks classy. The TV has a glossy black finish and a thin clear plastic bezel along the sides. All the buttons are placed at the back of the TV, which adds to its sleek and stylish look. The 42LW5700 has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080p, is 106cms in length and 29.9mm in width. Like other Cinema 3D TVs in its line, the 42LW5700, too has back-lighting. There are four HDMI and two USB ports, on the side of the TV. The other ports, which include headphone out, digital audio out, RGB in, antenna in, AV in and a PC audio input are placed at the back of the TV.

The 42LW5700 can be wall mounted, as well as set up on the bundled stand that has a glossy black finish and a futuristic look to it. Though it weighs in at 15.7 kg it is not very sturdy and tends to wobble if not placed properly. It also does not have a full 360 degree rotation, which came as a real disappointment to us. The remote control is made of hard plastic and looks really sleek with coloured ones for different features like Power, Home and energy-saving, while the rest are grey. The buttons though, are tough and not as responsive as we’d like them to be. Apart from these features, the 42LW5700 is equipped with 3D glasses. These glasses are passive, which means there is no need for any power. The glasses are light-weight and very comfortable. Overall, the LG 42LW5700 design was really impressive like we had mentioned earlier, however like the LG LW6500, there were some backlighting issues on the left and right edges of the screen. Apart from that the TV really impresses in terms of design.

Multiple connectivity ports

Features

The design of the LG 42LW5700 is good, but is not enough to impress us. We would've liked it to be loaded with a variety of features as well.

Lightweight and Comfortable

The TV is 3D capable, and does allow 2D to 3D conversion, which was really quick and smooth. We also tried watching a few HD Blu-ray movies and the picture quality was really good. This saves a lot of money, which would otherwise be spent in purchasing expensive 3D movies. The LG 42LW5700 has a smart TV function, which allows you to browse through the several apps on the Home screen. You can also browse the Internet and play a few simple games like Spot The Difference (not the best game), Sudoku, and a few others. LG’s Magic Motion Remote Control can also be used with this Cinema 3D TV. You can also view a number of news channels apps, as well as a few social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter etc. All the apps can be accessed using a LAN internet connection. The LG 42LW5700 has a Media Share feature, where you can connect your portable Hard Disk Drives, cameras and mobile phones and make viewing pictures and videos, more fun. The overall interface of the 42LW5700 is quite simple and not as impressive as the 55-inch Samsung TV that we had reviewed earlier.

Sleek Black Finish

Performance
We were impressed with the 3D and 2D performance of the 42LW5700. Blu-ray content looks great, but it’s not as crisp and vibrant as LW6500 TV and even Samsung’s Series 8 UA55D8000 TV. We connected the TV to a PC with an HDMI cable to test it using DisplayMate. Colour intensity blocks show accurate gray colours, but the backlighting doesn’t look great. Increasing it makes it pale. We also noticed some colouration on the left and right bottom corners with a black test screen. Colours look pretty natural, except for a few places where a fine line of blue could be noticed, along the edges of blue. Bright reds have a tint of orange while gradients of blue and red aren’t very clearly seen. This doesn’t really affect the movie playback, though as it isn’t obvious while watching movies. 

The 3D playback on the larger LG LW6500 was pretty impressive and we’re glad to say that there’s no visible flicker on this TV. Getting closer than 4ft does add a bit of shadow effect, where there’s some overlapping. But at a distance of 5ft and more and in any direction, the images appear clear. Colour saturation in the 3D mode seem higher than usual. Trying to adjust any of the settings means you need to turn off the 3D mode. This can be a little annoying. The glasses, themselves are light and therefore, extremely comfortable to wear.

Verdict
The LG 42LW5700 is priced at Rs. 94,990, which is not the cheapest LED TV around. Although in comparison to the LW6500, it shows better value for money.  If you’re looking for a great TV for only HD movies, you’re probably going to find a standard LCD TV or an LED-backlit one, for cheaper. This is only for those who want decent 3D performance, with little to no fatigue and don’t mind spending a bit more for it.