LG 37LF66 Review

37in LCD

Picture
Sound
Features
Usability
Value

Outstanding HD picture quality tempered by average black levels and negligible Full HD benefits.

HD Ready:

yes

Resolution:

1920 x 1080

Rating:

85%

Reviewed: 15 August 2007

Design

Until recently, LG have had a rather cheap and cheerful reputation, offering great value LCD and Plasma TV's with a rather clunky look and feel and a little off the pace technologically. Rather like an outsider creeping up the rails however LG are steadily closing the gap on premium manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic.

An indication of the changing nature of LG as a flat panel producer is the design of their latest LCD and plasma screens which they have farmed out to a Milan based studio. It seems that overnight LG has been transformed itself into the embodiment of chic European style. Ultra thin profiles with glossy black frames and top notch build qualities will surely tempt consumers who would not previously have given LG a second glance.

Features

Although LG's 37LF66 boasts a Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) it falls just short of the Korean manufacturers LY range in terms of specification. The 37LF66 is equipped with an 8-bit rather than a 10-bit panel and as such loses the 'Wide Colour Gamut' of the top end LY series.

Screen: 37in 16:9

Tuner: Digital

Sound System: Nicam

Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Contrast Ratio: 5,000:1

Brightness: 500cd/m2

Other Features: XD Full HD picture processing, Intelligent Eye, Simple Link, comb Filter.

Sockets: 2 HDMI, 2 Scart, S-video, component video, composite video, PC input.

The LG 37LF66 may not get top billing, but this is still an impressively specified machine. A Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 is accompanied by 1:1 pixel mapping which allows sources such as standard or high definition pictures from Sky (1080i) to be mapped pixel for pixel to the screen.

Additionally, the 37LF66 boasts 2 HDMI inputs, 2 SCARTS (1 RGB) along with composite, component and s-video inputs.

Picture processing technology on the 37LF66 comes in the shape of LG's proprietary XD engine which in its latest guise is dubbed XD Full HD, the Full HD a reference to the fact that it has been optimised for the 1920 x 1080 resolution panels. The 37LF66 also sports an enhanced noise reduction function and a Digital Comb Filter.

Designed to enhance the general quality of the viewing experience, LG's 'Intelligent Eye' has been designed to automatically adjust the picture depending upon current lighting conditions.

Simple Link technology (HDMI-CEC) technology allows you to control all LG-compatible equipment through a single remote control.

Performance

The LG 37LF66 is a superb High Definition (HD) performer offering levels of performance to match anything in the £750 price bracket, with stunning levels of detail and sharpness. We can't help thinking that Full HD resolution on a 37in screen is overkill however, especially since we had the chance to compare this screen alongside one of LG's lower spec LC55 series. Such comparisons are very subjective, but we didn't notice any great difference with the HD performance of the two panels.

Colour performance from the 8-bit panel is very good, but not quite up to the standard of LG's new 10-bit panels which offer that extra little bit of vibrancy to on-screen colour. Saying that, the LG 37LF66 is an improvement on previous LCD TV's from LG which have suffered from over saturated colours. The 37LF66 displays an impressive realism to difficult areas such as skin tones that indicates the indicates that inconsistent colour tones are a thing of the past.

The only real negative aspect of the LG 37LF66's performance are its black levels. As you would expect, not so noticeable in daylight conditions, turn the lights down however and darker areas show a hint of greyness. Shadow detail to a degree is retained, but not to the level of the class leading best.

Not so long ago we would have been impressed with the Standard Definition (SD) performance of the LG 37LF66 but the likes of Sony and Panasonic have significantly raised the bar in this respect. The SD performance is good, and it doesn't detract too much from the overall viewing experience, but there was some video noise on terrestrial freeview. Fast motion capabilities of the 37LF66 were impressive however, and showed very little evidence of motion smearing.

Acoustically, the LG 37LF66 is a solid performer with the twin 10w speakers delivering quite an impressive level of bass and a surround sound system (Surround MAX) that actually delivers a surround sound effect.

Conclusion

The LG is a good all round performer, and despite the makeover and technological wizardry it still offers the traditional LG quality of excellent value. However, we can't help thinking that the LF66 series is attempting to fill a niche that isn't really there between the even better value LC55 series and the more technologically advanced LY series.