LG42LH50 – we are almost there …
That monster of a Samsung DLP TV in the bedroom has left the premises and made (a lot) of room for it’s successor, a Lucky Goldstar 42″ LH50. I had picked that model a long time ago, because of a few features that were important to me (see below). I waited and waited for the price to come down and finally found an offer that was almost half the list price and that’s when I ordered one.
The LCD itself is a pretty standard 42″, 120Hz screen with full HD resolution. Not too fat and not too slim either. It’s black (what a surprise!), has a beveled edge and, according to LG’s marketing material, invisible speakers (they are not inaudible).
I heard the first yawns already, so let me move to the features that made the thing interesting to me.
The LH50 series is equipped with some technology that LG dubbed “NetCast”. It has some networking features builtin that do not require any extra boxes to be connected to the unit. At the moment there are two cables leaving the TV and entering the wall: the power cord and an Ethernet cable. The network cable hooks into the home network and provides the TV with full Internet access.
Using the NetCast technology, I can immediately access Netflix without any extra hardware connected to the unit. And I believe that was the one feature that made me go for this device. LG also throws in access to YouTube and VuDu‘s HD online rental service. Yahoo’s TV Widgets are also there, but I found very limited use for them. Oh, and to round of the package, you can access Windows home network shares (photos, music, videos) directly. The last option comes in handy, because all my media is served via Samba to Windows clients.
The TV’s software can be updated via the Internet and I expect we’ll see some more services being added in the near future.
What’s important to note is the fact that the TV landscape is rapidly changing. I feel that 2010 is the year where we finally see the beginnings of the future of home entertainment, because units like the LG TV above make it easier for a lot of people out there to change their habits: I cancelled my satellite service, I don’t watch regular TV, I get my news elsewhere, I watch a lot less and when I watch something, I’m in complete control and do not get interrupted by ads I don’t care for. And let’s also not forget that I save a bundle every month.
