The picture is excellent
What is the picture like?
I could hardly wait to offer my review of this television.I was a bit worried about the purchase for a few reasons:Since it wasn't the 240 hz refresh rate, I worried that the picture wouldn't be as clear and sharp as my Samsung 47" with the 120 hz rate. I, so far, have been proven wrong about that. The picture is excellent any way you look at it.Now, I'm not a big gamer. I'm too old for that (although I do own both an Xbox with Kinect and a Wii). So I can't verify the issues other reviewers stated about the slower refresh rate causing their video to lag while playing. As of yet, I saw no lag in anything I viewed to date. I truly believe that unless you are going to be one of those ultimately picky people that I have come across in other reviews, whether you choose to purchase this TV with the 120 hz rate of the 240, I feel you will enjoy the picture either way.One comparison I have between my Samsung 47" and the LG 55" is that it seems with all the reviews of these TV's, people are complaining about the light LED bleeding especially from the corners. I saw that very sugnificantly with the Samsung. But, I have to say with my experience of owning this TV in the last week, there is no such bleeding to speak of. The upper left corner seems to display a slightly lighter glow than the other three but nothing to really be annoyed about. After watching the movie "Cowboys + Aliens" last night, I was awe struck by the clarity of the picture and the true to life colors. No, it wasn't a blu ray copy, just the standard DVD copy and it was still awesome. I felt as if I could walk right into the screen and be part of the movie. With my theatre sound and that picture, I felt as if I was back at the theatre watching it for a second time. Oh, and it was also not in 3D mode either.I am not sure I am all that big on the local dimming option either because I was a little annoyed that when the scene went dark, and I had the room dark with just the christmas tree lights on, the picture would darken. Then when some sort of lighting would appear on screen, the picture would lighten back up to normal. I thought this was odd as to me, shouldn't the picture, in a brighter setting then become dim instead of brighter? I don't know maybe I was seeing it incorrectly, not sure.As other reviewers have commented about the 3D for this television, in a way I do find it kind of gimmicky, (if that is a word). But, that too, is still a very awesome feature for home theatre. By gimmicky, I found that while using the 3D mode during regular television viewing, if the frame of actors was still with not much movement, then the picture appeared 2D. But once the scene got more active and there was more background motion, then one can very much so see the depth of 3D. I also noticed that when viewing a program in true HD, if in 3D mode, the sharper the picture, the more the 3D depth stands out. Now, movies and videos that are shot in 3D are awesome! I have TRON Legacy in 3D. With the purchase of this TV I also purchased an LG 3D blu ray player. It was so awesome being able to view that movie feeling as if I was at the theatre watching it for the second time in 3D. It is so cool also, with the passive 3D, one can view movies and shows in 3D without worrying about a second box or if the batteries are going to die. You just put the glasses on when switched to 3D mode and totally enjoy!The LG apps are ok. There could be more. One reviewer totally put down the Netflix app. I found nothing wrong with it. It loaded my shows just fine and I actually watched and episode of "The Munsters" in 3D. Very cool. I dowloaded the 3D Zone app. It's a cool app if you want something to give you the feel of what your 3D watching experience should be like. The videos are streamed over the internet connection and since my wireless seems a bit hoaky at times where it is located, I had to wait for each 30 second set of video to keep downloading. I also didn't like the way the producers of these 3D vidoes felt it necessary to combine the logos for the videos with actual moving background videos. The whole experience was very annoying for me to watch with all that misplaced movement going on. Once you get passed the logos and the actual video begins to play, then it's pretty cool to watch in 3D.My whole experience with the product at this point is in one word "Awesome"! Unless some failure happens with it or I notice other anomolies, I would definitely recommend this product to others. It's a very fun and enjoyable home theatre experience. Reviewers are mentioning how the TV cuts the resolution in half for each eye so you still get the 1080P HD picture. Well all that is way too techincal for this reviewer to worry about. All I know, from my experience the last few days, this product, whether in 3D or not, gives a very sharp, clear, wathable picture. It has a whole suite of picture setting options, some even I don't understand what they do.Oh, and I also find the magic remote quite useful. I prefer using it with the pointer on the screen as a "one click and point" button solution over trying to go through the menu options and trying to find all the right keys on the regular remote, especially if you can't see them in the dark. It's so much easier to use than the standard remote control. So, for me, the magic remote is a huge plus!The only drawback I found annoying, as others have mentioned, the speakers for these thin tv's have a bit to be desired. But what can one expect. I felt that once you adjust all the sound options, you can get some pretty good sound out of the built in speakers so again that function isn't even too bad. But, I want to be able to add my first sub-woofer for added bass during regular TV viewing, without having to run it through the stereo reciever where a second sub-woofer is already connected. The only option I could find on the back for an external audio out connection was the headphone jack. I tried plugging my sub-woofer into that jack but because it is labeled as a headphone jack, the tv "smartly" disables the on-board speakers and doesn't offer the user the option to do so his or herself. The TV warns you that you have plugged something into the headphone jack and the the speakers turn off. Then I can get some bass through my sub-woofer but now without any sound from the TV. Hmmmmm.... The Samsung at least had not a headphone jack but a labeled audio out jack and didn't disable the internal speakers unless you opted to do so through the options screen. So, now I have to research another way to get sound to my first sub-woofer without the need to turn go through my stereo receiver first.I also noticed people were complaining about the digital fibre optic output and that it didn't pass through the 5.1 audio. I haven't hooked anything up to that yet so I am not going to review or comment further unless I do.All In all, I think the TV so far is awesome and I do say go out and order it or buy it if you have the cash!!!!Update, 1.5 months after purchase....I still go with all the above except now I have tried the 5.1 optical output. I tried playing some dvd video files with 5.1 surroumd sound still encoded and the sound was produced just as it was with the original movies through all 5 speakers. I found that to be awesome!I also don't see where people FREAK out about the saying the resolution is being cut in half when viewing 3D. What exactly do you people feel your eyes are actually capable of detecting when watching television? Geez!! I felt when veiwing 3D, the picture looks every bit as sharp and clear as it did when viewing 2D. Maybe I'm not as picky as some of you but when you expect something more than your own eyes are able to detect in the first place, that is going too far in my book! Just watch it and enjoy!I personally love this television and I personally NOT going to wait a year for some other technology to come out. As far as I am concerned, the next technology will have to be when they make the images holographic and appear in the middle of my living room or viewing area without using any glasses or wearing anything extra for veiwing what-so-ever. Until they master that feet, I'm pretty satisfied with what I have now. Just hope it doesn't blow up on me in the next 5 years or so! :-) 