Hands on Review: LG 47LW540U Cinema 3D TV

With the LG 47LW540U Cinema 3D TV, can LG make home 3D more accessible? Read the review and find out!




When it comes to my house, very few things are more important to me than my gadgets (well, the girlfriend and dog both come a very close second), and one of the most important things in anyones house, is the TV.

The 47-inch LG 47LW540U Cinema 3D TV is a pretty good way to go. As 3D TV's are, they're a bit hit-and-miss, but LG's Cinema 3D range hopes to change all that. Leaving the ridiculous expense of Active 3D, LG has taken on the role as pioneer of Passive 3D technology.

Active 3D is better in terms of quality, as the glasses use LCD screens in the lenses. This also means that the glasses are both cumbersome and need to be charged. Throw in the fact that some 3D TV sets don't include glasses, and if you're a big family, or have movie/game nights, you'll need to shell out for more glasses, and they aren't cheap. Another minus point for Active 3D is the limited position you have to gain the 3D effect -- limited as in you need to be pretty much centred and sat straight.

Passive 3D, on the other hand, allows for much wider viewing angles, and the glasses are much cheaper (you could even "borrow" the ones from your local cinema -cough-), and LG kindly throw in 7 pairs of the things with the 47LW540U. But is LG's Cinema 3D range any good?

With the 47LW540U, you get a very impressive set of specs from a pretty reasonably priced TV:

Screen size (in.) - 47

Display Type  -   LED

Full HD (1080p) - Yes

Resolution  - 1920 x 1080

3D TV  - Yes

Cinema 3D  - Yes

Contrast Ratio - 7,000,000:1

Motion Clarity Index - 400Hz

WCC (Wide Color Control) - Yes

LED Blocks  - 16 Blocks

Local Dimming  - Yes

Intelligent Sensor Yes

1080P Source Input HDMI 60p/50p/30p/24p

Component 60p/50pA/V

Input Navigation / EZ Input Toggle Yes

Input Labeling Yes

Key Lock Yes

Picture quality is fantastic, watching Sky HD is truly a brilliant sight, but gaming is where the 47LW540U shines for me. Uncharted 3 looked phenomenal, and in 3D it looked staggering. Whilst the 3D wasn't over the top, bullets that flew past as Drake hid behind a wall and bits of debris that blew around was just a brilliant experience. Crysis 2 was just as good, with the Nano Suit HUD looking horribly real, as did the fantastic water effects, but Child of Eden proved to be the best game I've played in 3D. To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of Child of Eden in the review, but once you play it in 3D it's a totally different game. It looks phenomenal. A real mind blowing experience -- the music, the colours; it was made to be played in 3D.

Video spec wise, the 47LW540U brings in 

the following specs: XD Engine, Aspect Ratio Correction (8 Modes 16:9/Just Scan/Original/Full Wide/4:3/14:9/Zoom/Cinema Zoom, Color Temperature, Just Scan, Real Cinema 24p (24p 5:5/2:2 Pull down), Expert Mode/ ISF Ready, Eye Care (Anti Dazzling), Fresh White, xvyCC, AV Mode (Cinema / Sport / Game), Picture Mode (Intelligent sensor, Vivid, Standard, Cinema, Sport, Game, isf Expert1, isf Expert2), Picture Wizard and Enhanced Noise Reduction.

Whilst audio is a follows: Mono/Stereo/Dual (MTS/SAP), Audio Output (10W + 10W), Dolby Digital Decoder, Surround System (Infinite Surround), Bass/Treble/Balance, Smart Volume Leveler (Auto Volume Leveler)and Clear Voice.

The only Blu-Ray I've actually watched on the 47LW540U up to now was Juno, and that was what my girlfriend put on, but even still, the 1080p picture on the 1920 x 1080 resolution screen looked great, even for an indie/teen/chick flick movie. 

2D content looks great, even SD channels still look impressive. But the 47LW540U has another trick, with the ability to convert any 2D image into 3D. To be honest, it doesn't add a great deal, we tried it with Scrubs to not much effect, but the F1 did look respectable, but I can't really see the function used a great deal.

Aesthetics wise, whilst not the most innovitive design, the 47LW540U is still a good looking set. And it's slim too, coming in at just 1089 x 647 x 59mm (or 1089 x 711 x 268mm if you use the stand) and weighing just 17.85kg (or 21.05kg if you use the stand) it's no beef eater, whilst across the bottom of the set is just the LG logo, and some touch sensitive buttons.

Jack wise, you have HDMI/HDCP Input x3, USB 2.0 (for JPEG, mp3, MPEG-4/DivX, Service),Headphone Out CI slot, RF In, AV In, Full Scart, Component in (Y,Pb,Pr) + Audio, Digital Audio Out (Coaxial/ Optical), RGB In, D-sub 15pin, PC Audio Input, and RS-232C (Control / SVC.

Overall, whilst I wouldn't urge everyone to go out and drop a thousand pounds on a 3D TV (although the 47LW540U can be found for around £800 now), the LG 47LW540U Cinema 3D TV is a fantastic 3D TV, with tons of features, brilliant display and sound, and as it's Passive 3D technology (or Cinema 3D as LG is calling it) the glasses are cheap enough to keep an entire cupboard full of them for all your friends and family.

It sits proudly on the wall in my lounge, and it's by far my TV of choice, and as such, makes it's mark as Tech Beever's TV 2011.