LG 47LB2RF review

In case you hadn’t already noticed, black is most definitely back. LG is the latest TV manufacturer to turn to the dark side with this 47in specced-up monster. Sleek, glossy and eye-catching with a stand to match, it’ll send the style hounds barking mad. But at over two grand and minus a digital tuner, it’ll have to do more than just look good in the corner.

The set is bang up to date where specification is concerned. Its Full HD 1920×1080 resolution is able to handle 1080p HD in its native form, and there’s ample socketry easily accessible at the rear of the set. True, the menus might be a little convoluted, but they’re easily navigated with the logical remote – all of which means the LG can be set up swiftly and without fuss.

Tuning troubles

Used as a television through the onboard tuner rather than hooked up to a set-top box, the LG disappoints. Picture noise is all-but constant, and the image softens and smears when fast-moving action is on display.

Ironically the high-gloss frame comes back to bite it, serving only to emphasise the paucity of true, clean black on the actual screen. And even though the LG’s contrast isn’t all that bad, white tones could still be a lot cleaner and punchier.

Hi-def makes the difference

Switching to some HD material brings immediate relief, but not such a dramatic improvement as to offer a challenge to the best screens in this class. Edges calm down significantly, detail sharpens up, and motion – though not perfect – is conveyed more realistically.

Despite the improvements, there’s still a suggestion of sepia to what should be bright white scenes, and even now the LG can’t rival the deep, dark blacks of the top sets of its kind.

In most respects  – price, spec, design and even sound (which is no thinner or readier than most rivals) – the LG makes a determined case for itself. But ultimately its poor picture quality lets it down.