LG 42LH20 Television Review – Good Considering The Price, But Has Some Issues

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Plenty of picture adjustment settings, USB input for music playback and pictures.

Thumbs Down:

Glossy exteriors, bad picture quality.

Inside the Trunk:

Power cables.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

42 in – Widescreen, Panel without stand – 40.6 in x 3.5 in x 25.8 in x 34.4 lbs, Panel with stand – 40.6 in x 11.7 in x 28.2 in x 38.4 lbs
Color – Gloss black
TFT active matrix, Resolution 1366 x 768, Display Format – 720p, LCD Refresh Rate 120Hz, LCD Pixel Response Time 5 ms, Image Aspect Ratio – 16:9, Dynamic Contrast Ratio 30000:1, Widescreen Modes – Just, 16:9, Cinema, Zoom, Conventional 4:3, Color Temperature Control, Viewing Angle – 178 degrees, Viewing Angle (Vertical) – 178 degrees, Display Menu Language – French, Korean, English, Spanish, Backlight Life – 60,000 hour, V-Chip Control

TV Tuner
Tuner Qty – 1x analog , 1x digital
Digital TV Tuner QAM, ATSC\
Analog TV Tuner – NTSC
Stereo Reception System – MTS
Secondary Audio Program (SAP)

Video Interface
HDMI, Component, Composite

Input Video Formats
720p , 1080i , 1080p

Other features
Parental Channel Lock, Closed Caption Capability

Speakers
2 x Right/left channel speaker – Built-in – 10 Watt, Total Output 20 Watt, Surround Sound, Dolby Digital, SRS TruSurround XT, Audio Controls – Bass, Balance, Treble, Sound mode
Additional Features – Auto volume adjustment , Invisible Speaker System

Connector Type
1 x USB , 2 x HDMI input (19 pin HDMI Type A) , Composite video/audio input (RCA phono x 3), , 1 x HD component input (RCA phono x 3), 1 x VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)), 1 x Audio line-in (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm), 1 x Digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK), Audio line-in (RCA phono x 2), 1 x Serial (9 pin D-Sub), 1 x Composite video/audio input (RCA phono x 3) – Rear

PC Interface
VGA (HD-15)

USB Port
Media card reader

Remote control
Infrared

1 year warranty

Razzle Dazzle:

Looks wise, LG 42LH20 is just like a standard television and doesn’t have anything out of the box in the looks department. The exterior of the TV is all glossy which attracts a lot of finger prints. But we don’t mind a glossy LCD because you don’t touch it that often and even if you get finger prints on it, you will clean it up using a cloth. Fingerprints on glossy panels don’t go well with people who like cleanliness, but they won’t complain much you seldom touch a panel. The prettiest part of the TV is down on the right where the power indicator resides. It peeps it way from the exterior of the screen and the lighting and placement look great.

Inside Dope:

LG 42LH20 is a product from LG which is for people for stiff budgets and still want a HDTV for their homes. The TV is one of the least expensive panels that you will ever come up against and we found it good for the features that it offers. This same panel comes in sizes of 37, 42 and 26 and other than the size of the screen nothing is different.

The TV swivels on the stand; something that we were glad was accommodated in an entry level TV. But swiveling will come at the cost of touching the TV and getting your finger prints all over the exteriors.

We were looking forward to checking out the USB input of the TV. Yes! The TV, at this price range has a USB port in it so you can put music and pictures on a thumb drive and play it on the screen. Once we heard of this feature we wished there was video support too, but that is not possible at the moment. You get a preview for the pictures on the screen and further see them on a full screen mode. Watching full size pictures on this screen was gorgeous, but it cannot match a 1080p screen.

We are not complaining that this screen is not a 1080p because of the small size of the screen. Full HD resolution would not have been much pretty on a small screen like this. Full HD is in all its glory for 47 inches or bigger screen.

There are lots of settings for picture adjustments and you can play around with them for better picture. Again, we were surprised to see a budget TV like this have so many settings to play around with.

The back panel of the TV is crowded like in other TVs but it is all for your attachments. There are the standard yellow, white and red cables for AV input on the sides and also the USB port that we talked about earlier. Other than that there are two HDMI connections on the back of the panel and also a VGA port for PC.

When it comes to performance we must say that we have seen better. Firstly this panel is not a full HD panel, it can give video out put of 720p which is standard resolution. But again it would be crazy to ask a full HD panel at this price. All we are saying is that picture quality is not good. The issue is with lighter black levels and the picture looks relatively washed out. But this screen was good by the standards of a 720p TV.

LG does it two bits for keeping the planet green. The panel has settings for Energy Saving which make the backlight dim and thus you save on power consumption.

Nitty Gritty:

The TV is good considering the price it is offered for, but it is not Full HD so watching movies on a Blu-Ray player will not be much of treat for your eyes. We liked the picture adjustments settings that the TV had in it, it is rare to find so many settings in a low end panel. Among the drawbacks we must mention the inferior picture quality. If you don’t need a full HD panel, this is the best TV that you can get at this price.

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