Seeking Nerdvana

The lure of the big-arse tele grows stronger every day thanks to booming screen sizes and falling prices.

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LG 37LP1D High-Definition LCD TV

The lure of the big-arse tele grows stronger every day thanks to booming screen sizes and falling prices.

If your lounge room is crying out for a slice of widescreen, high-definition viewing pleasure, there are now plenty of options around. LG Electronics' 81, 94 and 106cm LCD TVs are some of the first to come with built-in analogue/SD/HD tuners and are compatible with up to 1080i high-definition signals. They feature a host of inputs including composite, component and s-video along with RGB and HDCP-compatible HDMI - the latter combining high-definition audio and video in the one cable. They also sport analogue and digital audio in and out, so you can connect the digital tuner to your surround sound amplifier.

The 94cm model (37LP1D) is probably as large as you'd want to go in a small to medium lounge room. The first thing to do is remove the plastic shell on the back - which hides most of the inputs and outputs - and find somewhere to store it, because you're not likely to put it back on if you're the kind of person that's constantly connecting and disconnecting devices. This is where the stand's 30 degree swivel is a blessing, without which it would be extremely difficult to access the connections on the back. For the same reason you probably wouldn't want to wall mount this TV. Other vendors get around this problem by locating all the inputs and outputs on a break out box which connects to the display via one cable, making it easy to connect new devices but not leaving a line of ugly cables snaking down your wall.

Powering up the 37LP1D for the first time triggers the channel-tuning wizard and most of the other options are very simple - far less than you find on a high-end plasma, for example. Many options have an auto setting, such as the Intelligent Eye which adjusts the picture settings on the fly to allow for the room's lighting conditions.

The dual tuners allow for a wide selection of Picture in Picture options, such a monitoring four channels at once. One channel takes up two-thirds of the screen and the other three are crammed into the remaining third - with the smaller channels only playing one at a time for a few seconds.

Other vital statistics include a 178 degree viewing angle, 1200:1 contrast, 600 cd/m2 brightness and an impressive 8 milli-second response time. RGB and DVI (via HDMI) inputs also let you use the 37LP1D as the mother of all monitors, up to 1280x768 resolution.

The difference in clarity between the analogue and SD digital channels is obvious at even a glance, but the difference between SD and HD is far more subtle. Watching Bert Newton's Good Morning Australia in HD you can see the guests' individual eye lashes and even see the sparkle in their eyes - fine detail which is lost when you flick back to SD.

At their very best, high-definition displays have such clarity and depth that it's like looking through a window. Those expecting such viewing bliss from LG's 37LP1D will be disappointed. This is surprising because the 37LP1D uses an LCD panel based on Super In-Plane Switching (S-IPS) using 10-bit colour processing. While the fine details of people's skin is clear in HD, the actual skin tones look a little lifeless. With its fast 8ms response time, the 37LP1D is probably better suited to content that requires low blur - such as sport - more than a high quality image.

Switching to DVD, using the LG's DF9921P player, saw a loss of fine detail in the shadows even when using HDMI. Switching to a Sony RDR-HX710 DVD/HDD recorder made a significant difference, but imperfections were still there if you went out of your way to look for them.

Those who aren't obsessed with looking for image imperfections would probably prefer the faster response time anyway. The 37LP1D also compensates by offering a wider range of features than you find in most televisions. One stand-out feature is a 9-in-2 memory card slot, which will appeal to the ''digital lifestyle'' crowd looking for products that blur the lines between PC and AV devices. They let you access MP3 and JPG files from Memory Stick/Pro, SD, MMC, Smart Media, xD, CF I/II and Microdrive memory cards. Images are slow to load but look excellent on the big screen, with options to zoom, rotate and run slideshows with fade or slide effects. MP3 playback is acceptable but lacks bass - it's fine for background music but it will never replace a decent home stereo.

If you're looking for the ultimate high definition viewing experience you'll need to look beyond LG's 37LP1D. If you just want a big-arse TV with a decent picture and lots of features then it's worth putting on your short list.

Adam Turner

CONTACT LG Electronics

PHONE 1800 725 375

ONLINE au.lge.com

PRICE $AU3999 (81cm)

$AU4999 (94cm)

$AU6999 (106cm)

INTENDED MARKET Everyone

PROS HDMI, memory card reader

CONS lacks high-end detail

VERDICT 3.5 / 5

First published in APC Magazine (April 2006). This is the unedited copy, so it might vary slightly from what's in the magazine.