LG 37LF7700 Review

Panasonic has had the Freesat TV market to itself for too long: now it’s LG’s turn to get on board, its elegant new 37LF7700 offering sleek styling, a solid spec and cracking value for money.

As with other Freesat TVs, the 37LF7700 features both Freeview and Freesat digital TV tuners, the latter being the option of choice for anyone with an eye on free-to-air HD broadcasting.

Wire it up to a suitable satellite dish, and you’ll get two channels of free-to-air HD plus a high-quality standard-definition digital TV picture – it’s notably better than the Freeview tuner, in fact.

Standard specs
In other respects, the LG is competitively specified, but not necessarily at the very cutting edge. It’s a Full HD 1920x1080 panel, as is the norm these days, but it’s only a 50Hz chassis – curiously, LG reserves 100Hz scanning for the bigger 42in and 47in models in the range.

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And, while there’s a USB 2.0 socket, there’s no sign of DLNA-friendly Ethernet. However, as with many similar LG sets, the 37LF7700 does boast stealthy, Mark Levinson-tuned loudspeakers that deliver a rich, smooth and full sound.

Impressive Freesat
Watching via Freesat, the LG’s image is eye-catchingly dramatic – perhaps a shade too much so, in truth. Of course, you can dial that down with some careful fine-tuning of the picture, and the 37LF7700’s other strengths – clarity, depth and competitive contrast – are certainly appealing.

As you’d expect, it looks best with 1080i HD content: it’s just a shame there’s not more of that around as yet. 1080p Blu-ray works best of all, although here, motion handling could be smoother: the LG judders slightly where some rivals appear silky smooth. Set against that is the staggering value on show – we’ve seen this set for under £700 via some online retailers.