A thoroughly polished TV that lacks only ultimate black
While some brands experiment with voice control on their latest
flagship TVs and others offer NFC smartphone pairing, LG has gone for
the jugular by presenting the whole darn lot on this 47-inch edge LED
TV.
Arguably neither of those features are a must-have - not on
any TV - but it's indicative nonetheless of how many dimensions there
are to the LG 47LA860W.
Ratings in depth
Yes, passive Cinema 3D
features - amid plenty of free specs, too - but more decisive are LG's
bundling of a pointer-style Magic Remote, packed smart TV pages and the
industry's finest digital content arbiter, SmartShare.
Attach a
phone or a tablet as a source of video, stream from a Mac or a PC and
SmartShare even finds cover art and all kinds of other metadata using
its fabulous Plex software.
The LG 47LA860W - with a full price
of £1,899 (around US$2,920 / AU$3,160) - also happens to look absolutely
stunning. Arguably the best-looking TV we've seen in 2013, the LG
47LA860W has a bezel a mere 8mm (0.3 inches) thick, and a depth of just
35.1mm (1.4 inches).
Add a Freeview HD tuner, USB TimeShift
recording and an enhanced dual-core processor that quickens the pace,
and the LG 47LA860W looks every bit the flagship TV.
Also available
All
smart TVs from LG feature Freeview HD tuners and Cinema 3D, LG's name
for the passive FPR form of 3D it exclusively manufacturers. Other 47-inch televisions in LG's massive stable include the
step-down LG 47LA790W (£1,599), which loses the camera, and the LG
47LA740V (£1,549), which has three instead of four HDMI inputs. We've
already reviewed the bigger 55-inch LG 55LA740V from this latter series.
If you're after a 55-inch TV, why not head for LG's one-of-a-kind OLED TV, the 55-inch LG 55EM970V? There is one small problem: it sells for £10,000.
Features
If ever there was a manufacturer keen to keep
pushing 3D, it's LG. The inventor of the FPR technology that uses the
same lightweight 3D specs used in 3D cinemas has filled the LG
47LA860W's box with the things. There are six pairs in all - four pairs
of AG-F315 specs, and two pairs of AG-F310DP Dual Play specs, which
actually abandon 3D, instead using the technology to create full-screen
gaming for two separate viewers at once. Clever stuff. The
LG 47LA860W is also well stocked with connections. There are four HDMI
inputs (all along the side, with one ARC-compatible and one MHL-ready
for smartphone hook-up), which will be fine for most users.
They're
joined by three USB slots, one of them USB 3.0 spec, though they're all
situated very high on the TV's side. All are recessed well away from
the side of the TV, so trailing cables shouldn't be an issue. Also up
there is a Common Interface slot.
Below is where you'll find
feeds for the Freeview HD tuner, wired LAN (although Wi-Fi features,
too), a Scart adaptor, optical digital audio out, a headphones jack and
adaptors for component video and composite video. So-called 'Premium' apps include Lovefilm, BBC iPlayer, Netflix,
Livesport, BBC Sport, YouTube KnowHow, Napster, Skype, Blinkbox,
Facebook, Deezer, Aupeo, Twitter, vTuner, Crackle, Red Bull TV and
EuroSport Player.
However, it's a bit muddled, since the My Apps
page actually contains what we'd call widgets, such as shortcuts to the
TV's inputs, settings, TV Guide, SmartShare and other bits. There are
also links to 3D World and Games World, as well as to LG's online app
store.
SmartShare trades files over home networks and from USB
flash drives, with MKV, AVC HD, AVI, MP4 and MPEG video files supported
in our test. We also managed to get the LG 47LA860W to play OGG, WAV and AAC
lossless music files, as well as the more common MP3, M4A and WMA, and
these files continue to play while JPEG (only) photo slideshows
commence.
All of these digital files are divvied up into Recently
Played and Recently Added lists by the TV, with the pick presented on
the TV's main home page, which is very convenient.
LG's Triple XD
Engine remains one of the few that can convert any source from 2D into
3D, though a new feature for this year is Motion Eye Care, which takes
the peak off full brightness. Also
here is an 800Hz Motion Clarity panel that's designed to banish blur,
while TruMotion is also on hand to insert guessed-at frames of video to
remove judder.
Lastly, it's worth mentioning that the LG 47LA860W
has a somewhat limited - but hugely impressive - voice control feature,
while a pull-up camera on the top enables you to make Skype video calls
and snap selfies.
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