February 15th, 2008Review of LG 42LC2RR ‘Time Machine’ LCD HDTV
With HDTVs lastly drumming the Indian shores in full move backward and onward and the level of considerate about this new technology also rising at a highly regarded rate, there’s now a rush going beyond the normal and offering you more than a mere ‘flat panel display’ for your valuable money. LG’s new 42-inch ‘Time Machine’ LCD TV gives one of the most ground-breaking solutions. The Time Machine has a native WXGA decree of 1366×768 progressiveâ€â€equivalent to 720P in simple terms; and it goes up to 1080i but not 1080p. It has a difference ratio of 1600:1, which is quite low considering that much lesser models boast a contrast ratio of 3000:1 and above.
The cause the LG 42LC2RR is referred to as the Time Machine is because it comes with an 80GB hard drive construct into the TV unit, which allows you to record TV shows and play them back at your own expediency. The good thing about this feature is that since it’s built inside the pane itself, there’s no extra equipment or wires on the outside, and all the functionality of TV viewing as well as recording is built into a lone remote control. Plus, since the recording media is a hard disk driveâ€â€file control, deleting old shows and release up freedom is a synch.
The 80 GB hard drive allows you to record close to 33 hours of normal excellence or 20 hours of high quality video, both of which are good enough to record your preferred shows everyday so you can catch them at night. However, in case you prefer doing all your TV viewing over the weekend, you may find the footage period a bit too limited.
All this is great, but being the geek that I am, I can’t help but nitpick about the lack of possibilities. Firstly LG could have made the hard drive nearby to the user instead of locking it up deep inside the TV. Either that or give the user a way to right of entry the hard make inside the TV through his PC, so he could back up the unseen evidence shows in case he runs out of space. Instead you’re stuck with a non-replaceable (unless by a technician), non-expandable hard drive that limits your recording time.
The panel design is pretty-much simple and straightforward. The black glossy iPod-like texture in the frame is extremely prone to fingerprints and smudges, unless you have your faithful manservant cleaning it up every few minutes. The in-built stereo speakers are placed right below the screen, and as one can wait for, they’re just there for the basic ‘vanilla’ sound. If you can afford this TV, you can definitely afford a good Hi-Fi sound system to go with it. The 42LC2RR supports two component inputs, two S-Video inputs, and composite, HDMI, VGA and an RF in, which kind of, covers up everything you can toss at it. The remote meaning as a universal controller. Besides calculating just the TV and copy function, it can also handle your DVD player, VCR, and audio system.
The single thing that I didn’t find up to the mark was the overall picture quality of the LG 42LC2RR. Not that it was downright bad or anything, in fact the image quality would probably please a lot of people until they evaluate it to a Sony Bravia or a Samsung Bordeux. In judgment I found the picture quality a bit on the muddier side, which I guess reflects on the low contrast ratio of the display. The sharpness level and details were also low in comparison, when we veteran the TV using the Xbox 360 as well as the PS3 at its native 720p declaration.
The one thing I keep in mind about VCRs, in the good old days, is how annoying it was to set a recording timer just to have it reset back to the “12:00″ display every time I turned it back on. Though the LG ‘Time Machine’ isn’t all that bad, it still puts you through a hell lot of options before you can get some recording done. It works, but it could have been easier. Playing back the video is as simple as selecting the right alternative from the list of files. The PIP (picture-in-picture) function of the TV allows you to watch video from another source while you monitor your recording in a little presentation window.
At Rs. 1,40,000 the price of the TV is at par with the Sony Bravia series of the same price, which is more or less the standard price for a good 42″ TV. The recording function is an added sweet bonus. But in the end the comparatively dull representation quality makes it hard to advocate it as a must have.
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