LG sees the big picture

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Product: LG 32LC2D HD LCD Television
Website: WWW.LGE.COM
System Requirements: N/A
Price: £540

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MY OLD CRT TV has been slowly shuffling off its mortal coil, so much so that I've practically had to nail it to a perch to get it to work sometimes. I decided to take the opportunity of the post Christmas sales to upgrade to an HD LCD TV and after some research I finally settled on the LG 32LC2D. I was aiming at spending about £600 but with a bit of digging I snagged one for just over £560 including tax and delivery, which I was pretty happy with.

When it arrived I knew my new friend Randolph de Boite would be disappointed by the drab brown cardboard box the unit came in, but then again this product is aimed at the more budget conscious so I guess it can be forgiven.

All boxed up

There were several features that contributed to my choosing this model. The first was the price and the second was its looks. I will take function over form any day of the week, but if you can get the features you want and it looks good, then so much the better. The TV has a very understated look, which may not suit everyone's taste, but I really like it. The main casing is a subtle dark grey and the screen is framed in a matt black border and the buttons and the fourth AV input reside discretely on each side.

Out with the old…

And in with the new

Getting the TV set up was a pretty standard affair, with plenty of connectors available, which was another reason I chose this model. The 32LC2D packs in RF in and out and three SCART sockets, one of which can be used for input and output. There are also HDMI/DVI and component connectors for HD input as well as RGB, component plugs as well. For sound there is optical S/PDIF output as well, which was a further selling point to me as it means I can easily connect my surround sound speaker system. Some people may be put off by the single HDMI connector, which is unlikely cause many problems now but once more and more high-def devices become available this may become an issue.

Along with the remote, batteries and manuals, in the box you'll find a stand as well as the bits and bobs you need to wall mount the unit if that's how you want to do it. Weighing in at 25kg I strongly suggest getting someone to help and to make sure that the wall will support it, if that's the route you're taking.

So many choices

With the exception of sorting through the mass cabling my entertainment system creates, setting up the TV was a doddle, essentially as it did it all itself once I fired it up for the first time. The menu is very clear cut and easy to navigate although there are a lot of acronyms that had me hunting through the manual to decipher. This model packs in a Freeview Tuner as well, so you can get digital TV as well as the standard available TV channels. There is even support for a range of Picture-in-Picture options so you can swap between two separate channels at your leisure, great for skipping adverts without missing when the show starts again.

Nice simple menu, if you can understand it

The remote is pretty hefty, but well laid out and easy to use and can be configured to control other entertainment devices such as your DVD player or Hi-fi to help eliminate the need for multiple remotes.

SD picture quality is pretty decent, but does suffer from the ill effects found in most LCD TVs - namely background noise and jaggies. LG does pack in the latest version of its XD engine to help eliminate this but it doesn't seem to work quite as well as the marketing would have you believe. But that's no real surprise. If you bear in mind the price of this TV, then the SD picture quality is actually quite impressive. It's when viewing HD content that this TV really shines, once again you'll find even better performance from other makes and models, but they'll also cost twice as much. Comparing the display to other TVs in this price range this unit is one of the best around with a good depth of field and vibrant colour and contrast. I would highly recommend taking the time and fiddling extensively with the display settings to find the best setup for your environment as this can make a substantial difference to the perceived quality of the display. From what I've discovered the quality of the black is a good litmus test and in this case the black is about as black as a… very black thing.

The XD engine has a demo mode to show you how it works

Compared to my old TV, playing games on the Xbox360 is an entirely different experience. The colours and detail are just so much sharper. Watching a few downloaded HD clips was also impressive and I'm now looking forward to the rolling out of more and more HD content. The amount of DRM controversy surrounding copy protection of high definition content still bothers me, but that's another story altogether.

Sound quality from the inbuilt speakers is not exceptional, but what you'd expect from something in this range. At higher volumes you can get some distortion, but at lower volumes sound quality is more than adequate for general use. Given that the TV comes with two other audio outputs, including the afore mentioned optical digital output I would advise connecting up some better speakers, particularly something with a sub, to help improve the whole experience.

One thing I do miss is the lack of a proper power switch. There is a power button that puts the TV into standby mode, but I'm one of those people who turns appliances off properly when not in use. A quick trip to the hardware store to buy a switch and ten minutes of basic electrical tampering to fit it to the power cable and the problem was solved, but it doesn't look nearly as elegant as it would if it was already installed. In the current age of eco bashing I'm surprised this is lacking, but as the unit only pulls 3W in standby mode it obviously meets its 'green' targets.

In Short
This is not the best HDTV out there, but it is certainly one of the best in its price range. If you're looking at spending about £600 on a new HD LCD TV and your measurement needs can be met with 32-inch of viewing pleasure then this TV should certainly be on your list of potential candidates. You may also want to consider the Sharp LC32GD8E or the Samsung LE32R74BD.

The Good
Excellent quality for the price
Wide range of connection options

The Bad
SD picture can suffer from background noise

The Ugly
No proper off switch

Bartender's Report
Four of out Five Pints