With standard-definition TVs, the rule used to be that viewers would feel comfortable watching a set from a distance of 3 to 6 times the screen size in inches. With HDTV, the resolution is so much better that you can sit closer to a larger TV without noticing the pixels. So with HDTVs, the rule tends to be you can sit anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the screen size (in inches) for the best experience. If you know the size of the room you have already, where you want to sit, and where your new HDTV should go once you get it, you can figure out the size HDTV you should get. Minimum size = Viewing distance/3 Maximum size=Viewing distance/1.5

LG 42LD550 42-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV Review

This is my first HDTV, so keep that in mind – I was bound to be wowed by HD, no matter what the TV. But I really like this one. It has excellent specs (high contrast ratio, 2.7ms response time, 120 Hz) and a ‘picture wizard’ that seemed to do a great job in calibrating the picture settings. It supports the latest HDMI specs, and has some nice features like Real Cinema (which maintains film’s 24 frames per second when watching a movie with a compatible source), and also the ability to tweak the settings of TruMotion, LG’s image interpolation system.

Interpolation is what ‘smooths out’ video on HDTVs – it actually creates additional frames on the fly to fit between the existing frames of the source, and it’s what can give HD material that documentary/soap opera quality. Sometimes that’s desirable, but other times it just looks bad and cheesy. This TV has Low, High, and User settings for this feature. I was able to tweak the User setting to a good compromise, that smooths out some of the blur and ‘judder’ effect of normal video, but doesn’t make it look artificial. There are lots of other settings to tweak, for audio (downmix preferences, dynamic range, etc.) and everything else. This brings up the user interface. The menu system on the TV is very user friendly, and graphically attractive. The remote control is one of the best I’ve used – it has just enough buttons, while being well-laid out and thin and light, and fits nicely in the hand. The ‘arrow pad’ to move left/right etc. has comfortable buttons and works well (remotes often screw that section up, for some reason, but not this one).

My favorite feature has to be the networking/Internet capability of this TV. When I bought this TV (at a store) it came with a free Wi-Fi USB stick, so it was a good deal, but be aware that on its own the wi-fi stick is an unreasonable -80, and you can’t just use any old USB adapter, it has to be a special LG one – at least it seems to work very well and it’s N or G capable. Or, you can also use the TV’s wired ethernet port – even a 50′ ethernet cable would be cheaper than the wi-fi stick. In either case I think it’s well worth the cost to unlock the TV’s networking capability. Built into the TV are the streaming Netflix interface, VuDu, YouTube access, and more, including Yahoo Widgets – this lets you access your Yahoo account and any associated widgets, like Twitter, weather info, stock feeds, whatever. I only really use Netflix and VuDu in this section, but it allowed me to eliminate my Roku box and remote. When you already have a computer or laptop in the room, the Yahoo Widgets thing seems a little superfluous – this TV is NOT a replacement for a computer with internet by any means, but for some people, being able to quickly check the local weather or movie showings, etc. on the TV could be valuable.

The best part about the networking feature is that it will let you stream media from any computer on the network. You just need to install some included Nero software – which, by the way, is actually small, un-bloated and simple, unlike any other Nero product – and voila, your PC is a media server. You designate a folder (or however many you want) to be your media folder, you put videos, music or photos in it, and you can access them on the TV. It really works well and it’s very easy to do, literally just a few clicks of the remote. I found that even streaming a 1080p mkv file wirelessly from my PC worked fine and looked fantastic. There are a few caveats – for one, it only supports mp3 for music (why not FLAC, or iTunes format?). It supports a lot of video formats (mkv/mp4,avi, divx, and more), but not all of them, and even for supported formats it may be finicky with specific files. Usually, converting the file to another format will solve the issue and make it playable; this is annoying but it’s only happened a few times out of dozens of videos, for me. Occasionally, fast-forwarding or reversing through a video streamed from your PC can be confusing and slow (you backtrack 15 seconds, hit play, and it plays about 2 seconds before where you started). This and the other issue could have everything to do with improper video encoding, and nothing to do with the TV, I don’t know. But given that the TV will automatically update its firmware through the network, one might expect these bugs to be gradually worked out. Hopefully, they will even add support for more file formats with future updates; it’s just a matter of adding more codecs to the firmware, which seems like it should be easy to achieve.

The styling of the TV is subtle and not cheap-looking, unlike some brands (*cough*Vizio*cough*). It’s just a clean piano-black border around the picture, with a tasteful LED ‘bar’ light that stylishly fades from red to blue to indicate power. The stand is easy to assemble (just install some screws) and looks nice while supporting the TV adequately. The screen has a matte surface, so glare, while not totally eliminated, is not an issue. The typical buttons (power, channel, input) are on the right side, out of sight when viewing from the front. This TV has plenty of inputs – 4 HDMI, two component, two old A/V (the red, white and yellow kind), and normal cable input. It also has an optical audio output, which will let you consolidate all sources into one stream. This is great, because I no longer have to switch my AV Receiver between sources – cable, Blu Ray, VHS and Wii all go through the same input on my receiver.

There’s only one feature I really miss – the ability to control my receiver volume from the TV remote. My old tube TV remote could do this, so why not this new juggernaut? Like all flat TVs, the built-in speakers on this one are adequate but not much more. You’ll definitely want a home theater setup, or at least a simple receiver with a pair of speakers, to do the big, beautiful picture justice in the sound department. (BTW, Blu Ray looks stunning on this TV!)

I’m really quite delighted with the LG 42LD550. It’s one of the few major products/appliances I’ve owned that met and exceeded my expectations, and I have to dig pretty deeply to criticize it. Even these criticisms are happily brushed aside, given how much I like everything else. My only regret is not splurging on the 46-inch version. You can buy Cheap LG 42LD550 42-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV Online!