LG LE5500 LED LCD TV Review

!±8± LG LE5500 LED LCD TV Review

With any LED LCD television it's important to remember that they are LCDs using LED backlights instead of the traditional fluorescent tube lighting. The panels remain the same and still employ the liquid crystal diode technology where the crystals are 'twisted' to regulate the amount of light through the screen.

In terms of appearance, the LE5500 is built in a rose wood colour, which personally I'm a fan of as they look great in traditional homes, but may not suit a modern or contemporary room. The unit is very sleek at only 1.2 inches in depth and weighs in at 63 pounds (just less than 30 kilogram's) without the stand. The heavy solid stand rotates up to 20 degrees from the centre and supports the TV firmly.

Being LED lit, the panel features a local dimming option, where bulbs can be dimmed or brightened in different areas independently to improve on black levels. Unsurprisingly then, the black levels were very good and potentially better than some plasmas on the market right now.

Light emitting diodes also use less power than fluorescent bulbs, which is great news for your electricity bill. LG makes the most of this low power consumption by including energy saving features such as the ability to turn off screen when listening to music and an intelligent sensor function that automatically adjusts the brightness and color of the picture as the light in the room changes.

Connectivity wise, the unit has four HDMI inputs, USB 2.0 access, two component inputs and a 15 pin D-sub computer input. It also features two 15 watt internal speakers, which did sound a little tinny and hollow but no more than other TVs in its class.

The panel features TruMotion 240Hz - a super fast refresh rate that works great for sports viewing. However, this will did require some judder reduction and motion blur adjustment to work well. While this isn't too hard a task, this could be a major drawback for the less A/V literature consumer.

Unfortunately there's no direct remote control button for turning the TruMotion feature on or off either, which can mean arduous series of menus as you switch between sports and normal viewing.

The color rendition was very impressive and images are realistic with deep colors from a wide color gamut. The viewing angle was also impressive with contrast degradation appearing around 45 degrees of centre, which was a good result.

The TV also features wireless connectivity with a range of video sites, including Netflix, and YouTube, and is Skype integrated, allowing you to make free internet calls without the use of a PC.

At around 00 for a 42 inch, the LG LE5500 is priced in the mid-range and suitably so. It is an attractive TV with some great features such as LED edge lighting and a range of internet connectivity. While its picture quality, black levels and color ranges aren't cutting edge, they are very good for the average consumer and compete well with its closest competitors, the Samsung UN55C6500 LED TV or the Sharp LC-52LE820U.