LG 50PK590 Review

Mention the word “Plasma” in the context of HDTV display technology, and most people’s minds are likely to turn to Panasonic or Pioneer, who have produced some of the most celebrated models over the last few years. Most people looking for bargains are fairly well served by smaller LCD TVs, which typically results in LG’s Plasma displays being unfairly ignored. Unlike Panasonic, who are not shy about communicating the generally superior quality of Plasma, and Samsung, who fly the LCD flag high, LG take a slightly more “tech-agnostic” approach and advise buyers to consider Plasma displays for affordable big-screen sporting fun, and LCD televisions for more general purpose usage.

The LG 50PK590 is a 50-inch display which sits in the middle of the company’s Plasma TV lineup. Working our way down from the high end, what useful features are missing here? From comparing specifications sheets, nothing obvious. At this level, you’ll get a Full HD (1920×1080) panel, ISF calibration controls, THX certification, a DVB-T2 (Freeview HD) tuner, and 4 HDMI inputs. This leaves wireless connectivity, Bluetooth, a slightly sleeker design, and a “TruBlack” filter as the strongest points of models costing nearly twice as much.

At this rate, the LG 50PK590 is shaping up to be something of a bargain and at the very least, it should be a welcome break from all the Liquid Crystal that’s been passing through HDTVtest lately. Time to unbox the LG 50PK590 and put it through its paces!

Note: While we did not review the 60-inch LG 60PK590, most of the picture performance findings should still apply given its nearly identical specifications to the LG 50PK590.

Design

The 50PK590 doesn’t feature the premium “INFINIA” branding reserved for LG’s higher-up Plasmas, so you won’t find a chic “one sheet of glass” design here. Instead, LG have gone for a design that’s much plainer, but every bit as functional. In fact, the LG 50PK590’s understated looks wouldn’t look out of place on a mid-range Panasonic display. The standout design feature is the so-called “RAZOR FRAME”, a marketing feature alluding to the fact that the frame surrounding the screen measures about 2.5cm on each side. This incredibly thin border makes the 50″ display feel larger.

LG 50PK590

The stand is also styled in gloss black, and allows the LG 50PK590 plasma panel to swivel to the left and right. The only thing worth mentioning here is that we wish LG would add some recessed hand-grips to the back of its Plasma displays. These can be quite heavy, and lowering them onto the tabletop stand would be considerably easier (and less messy) if we didn’t have to grip the bezel whilst doing so. Still, this is a one-time irritance rather than anything severe.

Connections

The LG 50PK590 features 4 HDMI inputs in total. As is often the case, one of them is on the recessed side panel with the remainder being nearby, on the back of the TV. There’s also one set of Component inputs, a single SCART terminal, and a PC “VGA” input. The side panel also features 2 USB inputs and a set of Composite video/Stereo audio jacks. Naturally, there is also an aerial connector to feed the DVB-T/DVB-T2/analogue PAL tuner, for receiving TV broadcasts.

Rear connections on LG 50PK590
Rear: 3 x HDMI, VGA, component, SCART, aerial, ethernet, RS232C & audio out
Side: HDMI, Composite video, 2x USB, Common Interface

Operation

LG’s recent HDTVs have featured very attractive user interface design. 2010’s models make a small cosmetic change, and feature purple and grey styling instead of the previous red and grey “company logo” colours.

Pressing the MENU button reveals a series of icons which are clearly labelled and visually described. Selecting one of these icons then takes the user to a more typical menu screen (pictured). As with previous LG displays, the menu on the 50PK590 is jam-packed with picture setup and calibration controls.

[Picture] menu [Expert] menu
[Picture] + Expert menu 20-point Greyscale control

The first LG-specific control here is called “Picture Wizard”, which launches a picture setup assistant. It displays built-in test patterns with on-screen instructions, which guide the user through the process of setting up Brightness, Contrast, Tint, Colour, and Sharpness. It’s an excellent touch, and helps users perplexed by the amount of controls to gain high picture quality from their new HDTV.

However, it may actually be unnecessary, because as the [Picture Mode] screen reveals, the LG 50PK590 features two THX viewing presets. Long-time readers will probably be familiar with THX presets from Panasonic’s Plasma displays, and their purpose is the same here: to bring high quality, accurate video with minimal effort on the part of the user. The THX preset is essentially what the 50PK590’s default settings should be – to borrow a phrase, “it just works”. Alongside this, and the usual dazzling but low quality showroom floor modes (“Vivid”, “Standard”, etc.), there are also two ISF-approved “Expert” modes, which unlock the full range of picture configuration options.

There’s also a “THX Bright Room” mode on the LG 50PK590, which uses a higher Contrast setting as well as a different Gamma curve in order to make the image more visible with ambient light present in the viewing room. Because the LG 50PK590 doesn’t feature any sort of specialised anti-glare coating, we recommend that prospective buyers treat their rooms to avoid sunlight falling on the plasma TV and washing out the picture.

The “Expert Control” menu contains most of the features we’ll be working with during calibration. In here, the most useful controls include a [Gamma] adjustment (which allows the user to pick from one of three built-in gamma curves), a [Film Mode] On/Off switch which allows the user to disable film cadence detection, Red/Green/Blue colour filter modes, 2-point and 20-point Greyscale calibration controls, and a Colour Management section which allows the user to control the intensity and tint of all six primary/secondary colours. LG were quick to recognise the added value that extensive calibration controls bring to their users, and in fact it is other manufacturers who have been playing catch-up in this area.

Calibration

Note: Our LG 50PK590 review sample was calibrated using Calman Professional, the industry-leading video calibration software.

Greyscale

Before we tried to calibrate anything, we let the LG 50PK590 warm up and then measured the picture quality of the THX viewing mode. After all, the entire point of this picture preset is to provide accurate video for the average user, who (hopefully) wants to watch high quality images “as the director intended”, but probably doesn’t want to pay for video calibration – or more likely still, doesn’t know that such a service exists.

The results are below:

Pre-calibration CCT
Pre-calibration CCT in [THX Cinema] mode
Pre-calibration RGB Tracking
Pre-calibration RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)

This pre-calibration result is fairly consistent with most manufacturers’ “Movie” or “Cinema” modes. As is often the case nowadays, for users who will not be having their HDTVs calibrated (something which probably becomes more and more likely the cheaper the display), this preset mode will provide a very satisfactory viewing experience. The correlated colour temperature hovered near enough around the desired 6,500K mark to make grey tones (and the colours overlaid on top of them) look realistic, without the characteristic “freezing blue” effect that uncalibrated displays tend to have.

Post-calibration CCT in [ISF Expert1] mode
Post-calibration CCT in [ISF Expert1] mode
Post-calibration RGB Tracking in [ISF Expert1] mode
Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [ISF Expert1] mode

LG offers two ways to fine-tune Greyscale tracking (and thus wring marginally more realistic pictures out of the 50PK590). The first is the standard “two-point” set of controls that’s now seen on almost every display, where the user can control the amount of Red, Green and Blue in both darker shades as well as lighter ones. The 20-point control works in the same way, but allows individual adjustment of each stimulus level in jumps of 5%. For example, instead of a single “low end” control which adjusts the overall balance in the 0-50% region, 20-point adjustment would allow peaks or dips to be ironed out at any point inbetween.

We started by using the standard 2-point control, and were able to improve Greyscale tracking further. Switching to 20-point mode allowed things to be levelled out even more, but the controls did not always act as expected (as is often the case with 20-point Greyscale calibration options). Often, we were unable to get the Green and Blue controls to do anything at all, leaving us to rely solely on the Red control to make improvements. We also had to be careful not to push the levels too far and introduce banding artefacts (which became visible on Gradient Ramp test patterns during our first couple of attempts).

We arrived at the end result depicted above after some amount of trial and error, and were very happy with the realistic look that it gave the on-screen pictures.

Gamma curve in [ISF Expert1] mode Gamma tracking in [ISF Expert1] mode
Gamma curve in [ISF Expert1] mode Corresponding gamma tracking

Gamma tracking was very accurate on the LG 50PK590, allowing the tonal distribution from dark to light to look smooth and natural, without any under-represented (or grossly over-represented) shadows or highlights.

Colour

Out of the box, the [THX Cinema] viewing mode produced near-optimal colour. When we switched to the [ISF Expert1] preset, we initially used the “Blue Only mode” and a colour bars test pattern to set the basic [Colour] control as best we could by eye, to get an idea of how users attempting do-it-yourself calibrations without expensive calibration equipment would get on. This actually turned out to be a bad idea, because the LG 50PK590 has non-standard colour decoding which, by default, leaves blue under-represented on screen. In other words, trying to calibrate the TV with the “blue filter” technique rather than a measuring device resulted in the other five main colours being slightly too bright.

By default, the [ISF Expert1] mode featured a slightly widened and less accurate colour gamut (most notably, green was pushed out of the bounds of the HDTV Rec.709 standard). Using the built-in Colour Management controls in the “Expert Settings” menu, we were able to bring the colours closer into spec:

Post-calibration CIE chart in [ISF Expert1] mode
Post-calibration CIE chart with reference to HD Rec.709
Post-calibration Luminance levels in [ISF Expert1] mode
Post-calibration colour luminance (coloured bars = targets; black bars = measured values)

The colour management system on the LG 50PK590 allows the user to control Saturation, Hue, and Luminance, but not all independently. Each colour has a “Colour” and a “Tint” control, the “Colour” control being a combined Saturation/Luminance adjustment and “Tint” controlling the hue. More control would be ideal, especially in perfecting Yellow, which required us to undersaturate it to get its Luminance correct (you’ll notice that on the second chart, the amount of Yellow is basically perfect). After the calibration was done, though, everything on-screen looked suitably realistic.

Frankly, there was not a huge on-screen difference when we compared THX’s “one size fits all” calibration attempt to the tune-up work we did in the “ISF Expert1” mode. The biggest difference is that in the THX picture mode, all of the video controls are locked out – even basic adjustments such as Brightness and Contrast. When we did our own calibration, we had to raise the Brightness by 3 notches to reveal the optimal amount of shadow detail, because the THX mode (with its locked-in setting of Brightness: 50) was clipping video levels 0-20 into absolute black. Video black is defined as level 16, so when we calibrated the LG 50PK590, we made sure that everything above this level was barely visible, rather than being missing like it was in the THX mode. In addition, during our own calibration, we changed the Gamma mode to “High” and lowered Contrast slightly to achieve the smoothest Gamma tracking. We tested both modes with the newly transferred version of “Gladiator” on Blu-ray Disc (note: this is hugely superior to the old version, which recycled an old video transfer!) and noted that our own calibrated mode was slightly “punchier”, and had smoother highlight transitions than the THX mode.

Benchmark Test Results

Dead pixels One in bottom-centre, not always visible
Screen uniformity Perfect
Overscanning on HDMI 0% with [Aspect Ratio] set to “Just Scan”
Blacker than black Passed
Calibrated black level 0.09 cd/m2
Black level retention Stable in [THX Cinema] and [ISF Expert1]
Primary chromaticity Very Good in [THX Cinema] and [ISF Expert1]
Scaling Very Good
Video mode deinterlacing Very effective jaggies reduction
Film mode deinterlacing Failed 2:2 PAL (but passed 3:2 NTSC)
Viewing angle Excellent (> 150°)
Motion resolution 900
Digital noise reduction [Noise Reduction] effective, low panel noise
Sharpness Below average: Forced edge enhancement
Image retention Yes, but clears quickly
Posterization Very mild, static
Phosphor trails Less than Panasonic 2D displays
1080p/24 capability Accepts 1080p/24 video signal; no telecine judder
Input lag 51ms compared to lag-free CRT
Full 4:4:4 reproduction Yes

Power Consumption

Default [Auto Power Save] mode 227 watts*
Pre-calibrated [THX Cinema] mode 296 watts
Calibrated [ISF Expert1] mode 306 watts
Standby 1 watt

* In the out of the box configuration, the LG 50PK590 defaults to the “Auto Power Save” picture mode. This mode constantly varies the peak light output of the panel in order to match the room’s surroundings, and is essentially a more eco-friendly variant of a “Dynamic” mode, with blue-tinted Greyscale, high Sharpening, etc. As a result, the energy consumption of this mode is highly dependent on the TV’s surroundings.

All measurements taken with 50% grey screen. The power consumed by a Plasma TV varies according to the brightness of the pictures being displayed.

Picture Performance

Black Level

When we measured the LG 50PK590’s black level as hovering around 0.08 to 0.086 cd/m2, we were surprised, because darker areas of the image still looked somewhat more pleasing than on most LCD TVs we see with lower measured black levels (Samsung and Sony’s latest efforts have managed around 0.03 – 0.06 cd/m2).

The reason for this is uniformity. While this budget Plasma television cannot produce quite as dark a black as some of the better-equipped LCD TVs, darkness is consistent across the entire screen without any lighter patches, and also remains just as dark regardless of the viewer’s position (since Plasma HDTVs do not have any viewing angle issues). Keep in mind that LCD TV black level measurements are taken from the middle of the screen, with the measuring device at 0° facing the panel. The average black level seen by most LCD users will only be this good if they, too, are watching the panel face-on, and it’s not uncommon for the edges of LCD screens to be a little brighter.

In any case, we found the LG 50PK590’s black level to be very acceptable. While it’s not as impressive as Panasonic’s budget Plasmas (which can go down as far as 0.02 cd/m2), dark scenes did not look overly “misty”. Interestingly, LG’s own specifications state that the panel in this mid-range display is capable of the same contrast ratio as their flagship model (the PK990) – at least when ambient light isn’t taking its toll on the image.

Image Retention

Out of the four recent Plasma manufacturers (Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung and LG), offerings from the latter two have suffered the most from a phenomenon known as image retention. The easiest way of describing image retention is to think of it as “temporary screen burn”: where a shadow of a static image (a TV channel logo, fixed on-screen clock, video game score counter, etc.) will persist on-screen for a while, before eventually disappearing. LG offer two screen cleaning modes on the 50PK590, “White Wash” and “Colour Wash”, which help alleviate the issue.

As it happens, all phosphor-based displays suffer from image retention. CRT TVs and all Plasmas exhibit this issue to some extent, but LG’s are especially susceptible. The fault is as much with broadcasters who abuse their viewers’ equipment as it is with LG’s technology, although it is possible to buy Plasma displays which are almost entirely resistant. We really wish that more channels in the UK would respect their viewers’ HDTV sets more and follow the American route of using transparent “watermark” type logos, rather than outputting solid-coloured eyesores.

Motion Resolution

During the review, the LG 50PK590 produced excellent motion clarity which was visibly better than any LCD TV (100hz/200hz assisted or not). The test charts on the FPD Benchmark disc allow us to review motion resolution in a more objective manner, but because Plasma displays have naturally excellent motion, it can often be quite difficult to give exact numbers while looking at the chart by eye (compare this to the performance of most LCD TVs, where the shortcomings are blatant). The LG 50PK590 displayed around 900-1000 clear lines with the scrolling chart, which is an absolutely excellent result – just what we’d expect from a Plasma HDTV.

Standard Definition

When we checked out some over-the-air SD Digital TV broadcasts on the LG 50PK590, we were pleased with how they looked both before calibration (using the THX Cinema mode) and after. We did notice what appeared to be a shortcoming in the TV’s deinterlacing capabilities, because detailed high frequency areas like finely textured striped shirts and horizontal window blinds had a tendency to show flickering. In spite of this, the LG 50PK590 did well in the HQV test disc’s Diagonal Interpolation test.

Sadly, like Panasonic’s comparable Plasma TVs, the LG 50PK590 doesn’t detect the PAL 2-2 film cadence, which means that films input from a standard definition source (such as Freeview Digital TV or an older, non-upscaling DVD player) display with a small amount of flickering in finely detailed areas. This issue can be side-stepped by using a capable upscaling DVD player or other video pre-processor, although this isn’t an ideal situation.

Standard-def programme

Scaling quality is good, with SD and lesser HD (720p) material looking clear and crisp. Edges in the SMPTE RP133 Resolution Test Chart we use to detect scaling issues were clearly defined, and all of the pixel-thin horizontal and vertical lines were present, instead of being smudged into a single grey tone (something that older Panasonic plasmas were guilty of). There was a little bit of ringing around edges, but this is nothing that posed a problem during actual viewing.

One other thing to note is that LG’s “Noise Reduction” control was surprisingly effective in dealing with MPEG compression artefacts (blocking and mosquito noise). Although we’re now using Digital transmission in the UK, video noise can still creep into the chain from various sources, which hampers the MPEG compression process – especially given how many channels are crammed into the system. LG’s Noise Reduction control tackles both of these issues, as it is a combined spatial/temporal filter. This means that it effectively smooths out mosquito noise and blocky edges, as well as analogue-type moving background noise. Naturally, it does wipe out some detail, so many users may still prefer to leave it off.

High Definition

During the calibration process (which we do primarily with 1080p/24 test patterns), we noticed that sadly, the LG 50PK590 partakes in the same forced edge enhancement as the LG’s premium 2010 model, the PK990 series. A quick recap for those who haven’t read about this elsewhere online: the TV performs its own additional Sharpening (edge enhancement) to the video signal, which adds “glowing”/”ringing” artefacts around high contrast edges. Lowering the TV’s Sharpness controls doesn’t get rid of the problem; instead it simply blurs the already sharpened image, further obscuring fine details. The only way to avoid the error (and instead to replace it with a very subtle but less noticeable blur around certain edges) is to label the input as “PC”, but this only works if the video type is 60hz, so there is no “get out of jail card” for 50hz-based European TV broadcasts or 24hz Blu-ray movies – in other words, the vast majority of content that those of us living in Europe (and Australasia) are likely to watch.

As it happens, the LG 50PK590 does have a control called “Edge Enhancement” inside its “Expert Setting” menu. The forced sharpening occurs even when this control is set Off; turning it On adds even more ringing. LG were notified of this issue several months ago, but as of yet no firmware update to remedy it has surfaced.

LG 50PK590

Fortunately, the rest of the news relating to the LG 50PK590’s performance with HD signals is good. Although we have unwanted video processing to contend with, the image quality benefits afforded by the Plasma panel are, of course, still present, and not all content will expose the ringing. There’s still deep blacks, an essentially unlimited viewing angle, clear motion, very accurate colour reproduction, and excellent Greyscale quality to enjoy.

Console Gaming

Previous generation LG Plasma displays have performed fairly well for gamers, but 2010’s models drop the performance down a notch. We tried everything we could think of to reduce the input lag on the LG 50PK590, including labelling inputs as “GAME” or “PC” and using the “Game” picture mode, but the shortest delay we could get squeeze from the plasma remained a somewhat hefty 51ms. While this is generally acceptable for slower paced games, first person shooters (which there is no shortage of right now!) are best experienced on a HDTV with faster video processing. Of course, some users have reported that they find lag of 100ms or more acceptable, so your mileage may vary.

Conclusion

It’s been a while since we reviewed an LG Plasma HDTV here at HDTVTest, and since then, the company has taken both forward and backward steps with its plasma range. The black level performance of the 50PK590 is considerably better than previous LG Plasmas (which portrayed dark scenes with an unmistakable greyish mist), but unwanted video processing now means that 1080p HD material doesn’t look as naturally detailed as it does on the best Plasma screens. Additionally, input lag has taken a turn for the worse, which will irritate gamers.

With this said, LG forcing unwanted Sharpening on HD video signals is going to mean little for average consumers who just want a large-screen TV for a comparatively small amount of money. The trouble here is that a large Plasma TV is more likely to appeal to videophiles who will be annoyed by the artefacts that this process causes. In such a fiercely competitive market, we can’t understand why LG’s engineers would deliberately shoot themselves in the foot with this sort of meddling.

Our biggest complaints relate more to what the LG 50PK590 could have been (a no-holds-barred recommendation), rather than what it is. As it stands, it still offers tremendous value for money when you remember that for £700, you’re getting a large Plasma display that puts out a very respectable image. This sort of price range is typically the domain of LCD TVs, and to review a HDTV at this price level which is free of LCDs’ many flaws, is very refreshing. We don’t feel that the less-than-perfect HD performance should drop the LG 50PK590 down to “Average” level, because there is still a lot to like, especially given the plasma’s bargain pricing. It’s the fact that LG are not alone in the “budget Plasma” arena that stops it from receiving a hearty Recommendation, but buyers who want to go large on a budget are advised to check it out.

Qualified Recommendation

51 comments

  1. This was interesting about the black level looking as good as the lcds, although the blacks measure lighter.

    I’ve heard this before from US reviewers over at Cnet- they constantly give the nod to deeper blacks with the plasmas, even though the measuring equipment doesn’t beat some of the better lcds.

    Guys, where is the G20 review, along with this year’s budget model from Panasonic? :)

  2. Haha, just found your G20 review. The C2/X20 plasma would be nice to see reviewed, too.

  3. Nice that you review also lg plasma, will you review samsung plasma anytime soon? That would be very interesting, i think they are closer to panasonic than lg plasmas….

  4. Nice review!
    Full 4:4:4 reproduction: Yes – is it true for all modes? Any restrictions for HTPC monitor usage except edge blur (and 51ms lag for games)?

  5. It’s true in all modes, except that because of the forced edge enhancement, you probably wouldn’t notice it anyway because of the detail loss. In the PC mode which bypasses the sharpening, you can clearly see the full chroma resolution.

    No big limitations for HTPC use, except for image retention and the fact that the Colour Mangement options don’t work in “PC” Mode.

  6. Wow, a plasma. Nice review David.

    It’s interesting how the Panasonic 50VT20 and the 50S20 use 30% less power than this LG model.

    The input lag is a bit disappointing as well.

  7. ISF Tech control

    Black level PK 590 is 0.03 CD/m2

    NO 0.09 CD/m2

    mackenzie sponsor Panasonic !!!!

    LOL mackenzie !!!

  8. @ ISF Tech control: Before accusing someone, why not provide some credible evidence to back up your claim?

  9. Hi ISF Tech control:

    What’s your source on 0.03 cd/m2? We did a black level calibration with the Klein K-10 and then measured the TV. Klein’s software reported 0.086 cd/m2 which we rounded up to 0.09 for the Benchmark section.

    Unfortunately for my bank balance, neither myself nor HDTVTest are sponsored by any Japanese (or Korean) conglomerates!

  10. David,

    Its very strange that some reviewers get 0.04 black level and some 0.09… is it possible that the tv has black level fluctuations?

    The new Panasonics have fluctuations… They have a picture brightness treshold, which means the black level will go from 0.02 to 0.05 when shadowy scenes get a lil brighter. This is basicly an algorithm which will prevent aging Plasma PDP panel from missfiring cells. The 2009 line up like S10 G10 V10 had a different algorithm which was “more annoying” … because there was no fluctuations during a movie but after 1000 hours your TV set just suffered from one day to another from shity black levels!!!

    Here is a different review where 0.04 is stated
    http://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php?subaction=showfull&id=1269254363

  11. That’s the high-end model though, which could have some differences. Taking that out of the equation, it’s not impossible that adjusting the Gamma to hit 2.2 raises the minimum luminance level.

  12. Adjusting gamma has absolutely no effect on MLL on my 60PK550. It measures between 0,076-0,08cd/m2. I am going to buy a 50PK250 and test whether the PK550 series has a some sort of “black-level-bug” going on (like the US PK750)

  13. Alex the reason it is different is because they are comparing different tvs this one is for LG 50PK590 and the link you have if for LG 50PK950 which is a better and more expensive model !

    I have just ordered this tv which is my first ever plasma and am really hoping that the image retention doesn’t p*ss me off too much !

  14. FlatpanelsHD black levels should be taken with a pinch of salt they always seem to get them wrong.

  15. Just bought the tv yesterday and am extremely happy with tv viewing quality and am pleased that the dreaded image retention i heard so much about (first time buying plasma) is nothing as bad as i first feared.

    But as for gaming oh my god, i play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on my xbox and within 5 seconds of a private match i noticed it really bad, i am a hardcore gamer and excellent at this game, but i was getting owned, the reaction time is so slow.

    I was playing with my American friends from California last night which means yellow bar lag anyway (but i can deal with this) but couple it with a tv lag it is just horrible.

    As i went 3 ways with fellow family members who dont play xbox at £215 i will not take it back as it is still a bargain, but if you are a hardcore first person shooter gamer then i strongly advise not to buy it.!!!

  16. @James: If you press the Input Select button then highlight the input your Xbox 360 is connected to, you can assign the label “PC” to the input which will make the lag less bad. Just in case you haven’t done this already.

  17. Just bought this tv as we have moved house, coupled it with the LG HB965TZ system and its great. Being the first home cinema setup we have owned we would like to know if its worth getting it calibrated, or are there any generic settings i should change to get the best out of it? Cheers.

  18. If you select the THX Cinema picture mode, that will give you picture quality that’s very close to having it calibrated. Of course, if you have the cash, a full calibration would be that little bit better and get the most out of the TV. You can search for someone near you here: http://imagingscience.com/dealers.php

  19. I have a few questions, indirectly related to this review as I can’t find any other reviews of the cheaper models. Does anyone know if:

    1. the input lag is ~50ms on the 42PJ350/550/650?
    2. whether I should expect similar black levels to this PK series?
    3. whether they have the same sharpness bug as this model?
    4. will the average power consumption be similar or significantly less being 42″? (I recall reading the Samsung PS42C450 was about 200W max.)

    I’m currently debating between the Samsung PS42C450 and LG 42PJ650.

    From what I’ve read, the Samsung PS42C450 has worse image retention than 2010 LG plasma’s (and green tint – no idea whether that would really be a problem) so I’m intersted in the LG’s but those two issues above are deterring me. The PJ350 has superb reviews on Amazon US and a number of people gaming on it say they haven’t noticed any IR. I understand that the IR may fade away quickly but if I use it for gaming, will icons and HUDs from games eventually start to appear in the future from wearing the phoshors? Would this be noticeable within the 5 years or is it something I shouldn’t worry about?

    Intended use:

    – 60% gaming (avg. 3-4 hours a day)
    – 25% PC
    – 15% DVD/Blu Ray

  20. @Gregoroth

    Why not just get a panasonic plasma like the 42 x20 or 42 s20 they have very low input lag and very resistent to IR

  21. @Dan

    After reading about Panasonic’s black level issues and general handling of the problem, I wouldn’t buy their products. Plus, all reviews I’ve seen of the X20 says it has judder so I gather it doesn’t display 24p, regardless of what their website claims.

    I’m not spending more than £400.

  22. I was sorely tempted by this set a month ago when my second Panny plasma came out of the box with the same hardware falts as the first, but a previous lack of a credible review prevented me from taking the leap.

    Now the benchmark review has come (your reviews always are) & I’m glad i held back – especially when coupled to the varied quality control issues I have read about in forums (one user had to return their 4th set). The edge problem is very poor, but the de-interlacing failure is just shoddy.

    My problem is now that the Panasonic plasma displays have deteriorating black levels (surely unaccepatable to anyone who is critically buying a display on its merits) I seem forced into either choosing a plasma with a known set of issues, or getting an LED-lit LCD, and dealing with a whole different set of shortcomings.

    I’d get a Kuro, but…

    Any chance of looking at a PK350? There’s no edge-enhancement!

  23. Oh, is there any chance you could publish a pre-calibration THX setting CIE chart please?

  24. @Gregoroth:
    1. Not measured those, sorry! Hopefully someone else can give us some pointers.
    2. Similar, probably.
    3. Quite likely.
    4. Again, I’ve not measured so can’t really say. Samsung aren’t sending any of their Plasma TV review samples out so as much as I’d love to review one, it hasn’t happened yet.

    Image retention: it’s possible that it’s most susceptible to this issue when the PDP is brand new,

    I couldn’t recommend the LG PDPs for gaming because of the input lag and retention issues. The 2010 Panasonics are the only Plasmas I know of that are especially suitable for gaming, and the long-term black level doesn’t seem to be an issue.

    @Streethawk: as usual, thank you for the comments! There’s no edge enhancement on the PK350? In that case, hopefully we can get one to review, because it would be nice to explicitly recommend a Plasma display other than a Panasonic! It also wouldn’t be the first time a manufacturer had inadvertently pushed people away from their more expensive models…

    THX mode’s colour reproduction is almost as good as the calibrated mode. Image for you: http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5759/thxcie.jpg

  25. I am of course going only on comments from multiple forums, but it would seem people are buying the 350 for that very reason, and liking the result. Only downside is (I understand, but difficult for an amateur like me to be certain) a poorer panel providing (and yes i realise thesea re slightly pointless figures) 3m:1 contrast instead of the 5m:1 quoted for the 590.

    That image suggests the THX mode to be closer to true than your post-calibration, surely not!
    Unfortunately the 350 lacks a THX mode! It also lacks an HD tuner, but I’m tempted to go Humax anyway so the slight saving on the display would chip in to that…

    One of my favourite visual tests is waiting for a demo to show fire or an explosion. Any set that can render the quick-changing image without reverting the picture to blocks of one size or another (even for a brief moment) will probably get me to buy it. I haven’t found one yet!

    i note from the G20 review that Panasonic reckon their increasing black level is of no consequence – are there any reports back from users yet on UK sets?

    Finally (for now) It is very good to see that you got a Lucky Goldstar set that was free of problems except one faulty pixel – many have reported “lazy” pixels that can be cleared – is this one of those? Other problems have included rows of faulty pixels, colour bands, repeated faulty HDMI inputs.
    (A pinch of salt is always necessary when reading forums as anyone can have a bad set or two – both my returned Panasonics have had the ability to turn themselves on from standby and loud clicking relays. there is a tendency for forums to fill up with moaners!)

    Thanks as always for your excellent service :)

  26. THX vs calibrated: if you compare the Luminance chart (black rectangles) you’ll see that they’re typically better after calibration. The same is true of the hue of Magenta and Yellow, and to a lesser extent, Cyan. Green has been slightly degraded, though.

    I haven’t heard a single report of the 2010 Panasonic Plasmas having black level degradation issues. In fact, I actually bought one of them myself (a TX-P42S20) to play games on when I don’t have a review TV here, and I’ll be keeping a very close eye on how it fares over time.

  27. The 2010 Panasonics do not have black level issues… the black level will get worse over the time ( 2000+) but it will still be better then 0.09 like on the LG…

    The 2009 panasonics are the ones which disappointed…

    The black levels on those got worse very fast and stayed at like 0.08 0.09 which ist like the LG from the beginning…

  28. EXECELLENT REVIEW DONT KNOW IF TO BUY THIS TV OR A SAMSUNG LC46580. NEED HELP AS HAD AN LG IN THE PAST AND GOT BAD IR SO ANY ADVICE WELCOME. IS THIS TV AS GOOD AS EVERYBODY SAYS.THANKS PAUL.

  29. Paul: this still has image retention issues. The Samsung LCD won’t. Alternatively, if you want to stay Plasma, the Panasonic Plasmas have almost no retention, and when it does appear you really have to look hard for it.

  30. THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE DAVID. SHOULD I BUY THE SAMSUNG LC46580 OR PERHAPS AN LG 47LD690 . OR CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING ANY BETTER THAN WHAT IVE SAID.AS I CANNOT AFFORD TO KEEP BUYING NEW TVS AS MY OLD LG 42PCID COST £1349 AND HAS ONLY LASTED 4 YEARS.MY BEST REGARDS PAUL.

  31. Thanks for the info, just finished watching transformers 2 on sky hd, fantastic! Got some blurays to trytomorrow.

    One problem, when i watch sky i keep getting a sky message saying the system does not suport hdcp(or something like that), is the tv, surround system, or sky at fault?? Thanks.

  32. @Paul: have emailed.

    @MarkDon: HDCP is a nightmare at times. It sounds like Sky’s decoder is not playing nicely with some other component in your system.

  33. Hi David

    Have you had any joy locating a PK350 to investigate?

    Stu

  34. Than again, LG is known for its HDCP issues in the past.

  35. I`v read on some forums that lg has released a firmware update that fixes the edge sharpening bug, if they have could you retest the blacklevel to see if that to was affected by the same firmware bug.

  36. Hi, I’ve just bought one of these TVs, and something I noticed straightaway is that the picture and sound are not perfectly synchronised. The sound seems delayed compared to the picture – not by a great amount – but as I say, enough to notice straightaway that it is not perfect. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it a fault with my TV, or is there something I can adjust to improve the situation?

  37. Hello David,

    the PK350 has no PP indeed and that it has no HD-Tuner, as someone here posted, is not true – at least for the german model.

    About black level: It had 0,057 cd/m2 out of the box, 0.068 cd/m2 ager 100 hours and jumped to 0.105 cd/m2 after 100 hours of use!

    BUT with a little potituning, you can bring the black level down to under 0.007 cd/m2! In ANSI it get’s 0.012 cd/m2, all measured with my Spyder3.

    One other problem with the LG-Plasma has been overlooked: The range of IRE1 to IRE4 is faulty. It isn’t able to go all the way up to the screen an leaves an ugly black seam. Also it is much fuzzier than the PWM-noise that the Panasonic plasmas offer in this near black area.

    P.S.: The blacklevel of the 2010 Panasonic plasmas also jump. The VT20 goes from 0.009 cd/m2 up to 0.024 cd/m2 over time.

  38. i can agree with Turrican4D in all points!

  39. I meant 1000 hours (the jump to 0.105 cd/m2), not 100 hours. ;))

  40. Thanks for the info, Turrican4D. It’s a shame there are no long term black level measurements of most TVs, it’s interesting to know how they age.

  41. Does anyone know if a definitive answer was ever reached about the edge-enhancement on the PK350, or whether LG responded about the issue on this set?

  42. Hello
    Just stupid question on minimum viewing distance for this plasma. I am aware of the article on viewing distance ‘How Far Should I Sit From My HDTV?’ (http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Article/How-Far-Should-I-Sit.php). But as this was written in 2007 based on the date of the comments. Are this LG or any recent plasma (or LCD) show acceptable quality from less than 13 feet for SD material and 10 feed for HD material? Would 2x screen diagonal, which is 100 inch in this case be enough to watch SD and HD material? That’s max i can make in my living room. If not i would need to look for 32inch instead. As i understand that’s the optimum for SD material for that size. I am new to HDTV so would appriecieate your help!
    Thanks….

  43. Update – LG have released a software update (Sept?) that reputably cures the “edge-enhancement bug”. However, You also lose your hours-used counter.

    I may well now buy this set…

    Anyone tried it?

  44. There’s talk about LG’s black levels suffering from the mentioned edge-enhancement bug.

    This is somewhat confirmed buy Chad B’s measurements. He has measured and calibrated both PK750 (another THX-enabled model suffering from the bug) and non-THX, lower end PK350 model. PK350 had twice as deep blacks as the PK750. His measurements are close to yours as well. PK750 measured 0.089 and PK350 0.045 cd/m^2

  45. Hello, I am hoping that someone here can help. This seems to be a fairly active thread, fulled with people in the know.

    I am interested in upgrading to a larger screen. The 50PK590 is obviously price attractive at the moment so I thought I would look into it. My first step was to look at reviews and see what the general feel was. Ambiguously meh!

    So I popped out to see a real world demo of the TV, my local Comet the only dealer with the TV in store.

    I was absolutely shocked the demo made my 32″ HD Ready TV seem like it was at the apex of quality. On some scenes the gradient between colours was clearly block and not very smooth and there was some sort of wierd pixellation effect around any text on the screen (one of the demo scenes was a footabll or rugby match and score were popping up as well as other text boxes with match related details)

    After a frustrating 25mins of discussion (like pulling blood from a stone) and having to point out exactly what on the screen I thought wasn’t great, deciphering that sales talk for “..it depends on…” actually means we don’t know. And despite the salesman assurance that it would be fine when I plugged it in at home. I felt less than confident with the 50PK590’s abilities (and the reseller) Looking for something tangible to ease my confusion and disbelief that businesses could operate like this in this day and age I asked was this indicitive of the quality I could expect from plasma screens in this price range? They (by this time 3 sales people were involved in the discussion)I found out that possibly/maybe the signal going into the TV (and the other 70, mostly HD TVs on display) was actually a 720p signal. And that this signal was then shared between all the TVs on display and that may cause further degradation. If so would it be possible to see some hi def content on the TV. The logistics made this a non starter.

    I pointed out that the quality of the picture was just as bad on 720p native TVs. In defence of the 50PK590 more expensive, bigger and higher quality TVs were suffering from the same fate. Unfortunately rather than allay my concerns are give me a definitive answer he switched to zombie mode and tried to sell me a more expensive plasma TV, despite the fact that the picture on the screen wasn’t great.

    I didn’t want to write it off completely and thought I’d see if LG could tell me if there was somwhere in London I could see the TV demoed to it’s full potential. So I called their UK Customer support line. Their response was something to the effect that I would have to sort it out with **the reseller** . Naturally and after wasting so much fruitless time on this I could not in good conscience possibly consider buying this TV. If this was the pre-sales support was like I can only imagine the after sales care I would recieve.

    But this did leave me with some questions. Has anyone had a similar experience? Are in store demos generally understood not to reflect the quality you can expect from a TV? Have I written off the LG prematurely? Can anyone recommend a decent HD 50″ TV that would be used for gaming, Blu Ray and HD TV within £700? Does anyone have thoughts or experience with the SAMSUNG UE46C5100 46″ FULL HD LED TV or the PANASONIC VIERA TX-P50S20B? Which is better?

    Thanks for your time

  46. @craig
    Well, I’m about to return my 4th faulty panasonic, so I wouldn’t go that way ever again myself.
    I’m now reconsidering the Pk590 as we’re stuffed after this – i don’t want an LCD and there’s no alternatives. I want a decent TV before they’r all turned into 3D gimmicky trash.
    trying one out? Tesco seem to have a “return it anytime within 28 days whatever you’ve done with it as long as it’s resellable” policy – obviously make sure of this yourself before ordering one. £750 online…

  47. @David Mackenzie

    Have you got the stettings you used when you calibrated this tv?

  48. I would also be extremely keen to see what adjustments, other than those mentioned, you made in calibrating the TV.

  49. I hoped that this site would also test the 3D model 50PX950/990.
    I have the 50PX950 for one month now and the only 2 downsides are image retention (that is a pitty) and power usage.
    Black levels could be a bit deeper. This model was only to be found on the net and not in the stores so I couldn’t compare it with Panasonic 3D models. I took the risk of buying it without seeing the image quality. So far the LG didn’t let me down, only the image retention….

  50. :-) buying a tv is a nightmare have a G10 in my living room and like it, my old plasma LG (bout 8yrs old) has died in the back room and i am pondering this model but it is going in a bright room ??

    It is now £660 in R.S. but they also have some G20’s about for £600 am torn any advice or alternatives in this price range.

    We dont read the manuals from cover to cover, we do watch tv and play the odd wii game and watch DVD’s so not really technofantastic but do like a good picture / sound.

    I do go on AV forum if I have picture issues to find decent settings etc so am not alllllll bad :-)

    Thanks

  51. I own three LG 50PJ550 TV’s that I use for business.

    The only input I need is the PC input, here is the issue with one of the TV’s
    When I run signal using a 6ft 15pin VGA connection, the image fills side to side and top to bottom okay.
    When I use a 100ft 15pin VGA, one of the TV’s does not fill on the right hand side of the screen, almost like it needs to auto sync when using the longer cable.

    This only happens on one of the three TV’s, the other two fill the image on screen no problem.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    Dave(in Toronto)

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