LG KU-17WDVD, A Feature-Packed LCD TV

September 2004

multipage

As for picture quality the viewing angles on this set (LG says they are 176 degrees) are excellent by LCD standards; you get the same consistent experience at various angles and distances, except at extremely sharp, close angles, when there is screen-door effect. The display is bright, contrast is good, colors are rich, healthy and true, not obnoxious like on many LCDs I've seen. However, when watching DVDs blacks are deep, but often lacked detail. Dark scenes are sometimes indecipherable, but really, that's par for the course with today's LCDs. With an HDTV signal, supplied by a Zenith HDTV set-top-box tuner, detail was excellent.

LG claims its Super IPS technology reduces distortion and blurring caused by fast motion video, but it can't completely overcome LCD's inherent weakness with action. There was still too much noisy visual information, artifacting and blocky edges during high-action scenes, although to a significantly lesser degree than many LCDs I've used. HDTV content looked better on this set than DVD movies did, of course. The Young and the Restless in high definition was a revelation, almost stunningly real. Sports, as usual with LCD, enhanced the technology's flaws.

The menu system is terrific—graphically attractive, easy to use and relatively intuitive. A selection of audio and video presets are available, or you can drill down for manual adjustments.

Audio is decent, with dual five-watt speakers whose natural tendency seemed to be to produce boxy sound. Some tweaking through the menus made things better, though.

For the person with a tight space to fill, this set's a contender. -Joe Paone