LG 32LG40 Review: The All-in-One Choice



LG 32LG40 photo


Why All-in-One? Because this LG 32LG40 is not just your ordinary LCD TV. It has a built-in DVD player neatly embedded at the back of the screen. With its competitive price that goes anywhere from $650 to $800, this can be considered already a great deal. Let’s take a closer look on its features and see how it fairs.

Excellent Specs

The major topper of the LG 32LG40 is its color accuracy. It exhibits superb color quality, especially with the primary colors, even with just the out-of-box settings. Colored-images look natural and realistic compared to other competing LCD TVs. To complement that even more, this LG model has very extensive picture adjustment settings. There are 7 picture modes available, in which several settings can be adjusted. Even the 2 Expert modes available still allow more modifications from the user.

Design-wise, the 32LG40 looks elegant with its matte-finish in a glossy black frame, as well as sophisticated with the addition of a deep red strip at the bottom of the screen. The display also comes with a stand and it is nice to know that it can swivel over the thin arm. Also, with the built-in DVD player, this means less space needed for multiple devices and less clutter because of the reduction of the wires needed.

The user of the 32LG40 can connect almost all possible sources with its comprehensive array of connectivity ports. There are 3 available HDMI inputs (2 at the back, 1 on the side), a PC input, RF antenna/cable source, component-video, S-video and composite video inputs, an analog audio and a digital audio output.

Features for Improvement
Placing the LG 32LG40 side-by-side with its competing 32-inch LCD TVs, it is noticeable that this model has lighter black levels than the others. This makes dark scenes look like dark gray instead of real black. Adjusting the backlight may help a bit, but still not at par with the other brands.

Yet another unsatisfactory feature of this LG model is the off-angle image. When viewing from an off-angle position, the color accuracy and black level significantly dipped. This means that viewers should not be moving from one place to another in order to see great picture.

Though for high-def sources the 32LG40 works fine, it is not the same with standard definition. When a regular DVD player, or the built-in DVD player, is used as source, continuously moving objects appeared instable and jaggies are prominent. Even when used as a monitor PC, the texts are not that crisp compared with the other displays of its kind.

Summing it all up, the LG 32LG40 still stands out especially for an average consumer who simply wants great picture quality and with a reasonable price tag. The built-in DVD player just comes as a bonus.

Pricing for this model currently is quite low, e.g. on Amazon one can get it for as low as $649.99.

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