Handsomely, crafted, the 47LBX’s design includes a glossy black bezel and an attached swivel stand that provides a generous 50 degrees of rotation-25 degrees of horizontal swivel in each direction.

To guard against narrow viewing angles, which are typical in LCDs, the 47LBX uses Super-IPS screen technology, which helps deliver impressive viewing angles that all but eliminate color saturation loss - even at extreme viewing angles. The luminance of the picture did decrease slightly as viewing angles increased, but this set provides the best viewing angle performance I’ve seen from an LCD TV.

The 47-inch screen has a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels progressively scanned (1080p), and the TV’s HDMI, component video, and VGA ports are compatible with 1080p video input. Unfortunately, the 47LBX’s 6 percent overscan with HD video when using component or HDMI input was a detail-sacrificing disappointment. Standard definition overscan measured a moderate but still undesirable 7 percent.

Default color settings were also an issue. The TV’s warm color temperature preset measured a 10 percent red deficiency that gave the picture a slightly cool, bluish look. I found that performing a full white-balance calibration brought back the red while taming some of the bluish-greens that tainted darker details. The coarse response of these controls, however, made achieving an accurate adjustment difficult.

Standard video quality was excellent. The torchlit “Well of Souls” scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark has proven to be a challenging image-smear test for LCDs, and the 47LBX’s 120-Hz display technology handled it well, with no discernible motion-related artifacts. The color quality of this scene appeared slightly off, however, a side effect of the TV’s increased color inconsistencies in the darker details. High-definition video tests using a combination of satellite television, H D DVD, and Blu-ray media also revealed good motion performance.

Overall, LG televisions are among the most stylish I’ve seen, and this one is no exception. But in the end, I’d rather have an accurate, natural-looking picture, and the 47LBX practically requires a professional’s touch to get its image quality into the HD ballpark.

LG 47LBX Review
Price range: $3,499.95
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