First of all I need to thank mouthshut.com’s reviewers of this product. I was interested in this LG LCD tv and so researched a bit about it online and I was directed here. This site had some of the most unbiased and informative reviews I found on the Net. I liked what I read and so I went ahead and bought this amazing product 2 days back and the verdict???Best decision ever!! Thank you guys.
Now to the product itself...Of course a lot has been said about the audio and mostly I feel that it reproduces most of the baritones and bass superbly. Of course people can differ on this but I also do feel that it depends on how the TV is positioned..Wall mounted ones will have less of an effect than the ones on stand and with adequate distance behind. However like one reviewer mentioned...one of the gripes with the sound is that there’s no way to reduce the woofer..I personally don’t want it reduced...The only way as of now is to change the Audio format/mode to SRS, Clearvoice, etc...
Now for the display part..Superb Clarity! That just about sums up the display quality of this LCD TV. Even with the local cable input it outputs an almost clear display..However one should note here that the display clarity is relative to the distance that you are from the TV..I found out that when you are almost 10 feet away..it gives best results. I have a digital tv set top box but the input was through the RCA cables and hence the final video displayed has a waxed effect...in other words..the entire display is in soft mode. Since I got an airtel DTH HD offer bundled with this TV for an additional 700, I went for that..cos Airtel settop box comes with a free HDMI cable and thats how it is connected to the TV. There was a huge change from the previous RCA cable setup and images were much more sharper..However crystal clear images will be had only when they start sending HD output..as of now only National geographic and DiscoveryI believe...Havent tried themt out..but someone in some other forum..commented that the quality was excellent.So go for it if you get it bundled...700 bucks..70 days free viewing of some 150 channels andthereafter Rs220/- per month ..Of course you can bring that amount down or bring it up according to the channelsyou choose after the offer period.
Now coming to the Divx thru Usb feature...One of the best and useful features of this TV! This one really takes the cake..Before I zeroed on to this product..i was tempted to go for the new LD550 32 inch model since the 80 FR series is more than a one year old model..Also LD550 has wireless connection features..and its Divx thru USb feature can play HD Divx files whereas the LG80FR can play only SD Divx files. In layman terms, LD550 can play 1920 * 1080 divx hd files.. So before I went to the showroom I had encoded a short hd trailer in Divx Plus 8 encoder in two profiles within the DIVX encoder...The HD profile that outputs a 19201080 Divx file and the Home Theatre Profile that outputs a 720480 Divx file...and the results...Well the HD profile of course rocked on the LD 550 32 inch and the Home theatre file kindda sucked on the LG 32 80 FR with pixel issues...Verdict: Dont use Divx Plus 8 Encoder...Ha ha ...thought I was going to cuss the product...No chance..I had encoded the same file using Megui and so in short I had 3 versions of it ..1- HD DIVX, 2- Hometheatre Divx and 3- Megui Xvid HD.The lack of HD Divx playability can easily be overcome if you encode the HD file with Megui in Xvid Constant Quantizer 2 HD(No qpixel)..but be sure to resize the file to 720480 and you’ll get a superb quality file.This can be done with any encoding software..all you have to keep in mind is to keep the display size to 720480 16:9 for fullscreen and you can keep the bitrate high..In my case I put a high bitrate of 2500 and still the LG 80 FR played the file without a single glitch...and the resultant output display was crystal clear picture...identical to playing a blu ray disc thru HDMI..However do note that this will only be the case if you have an HD source File in the first place...Plenty of them on theNET. Iknow, I know..the possibilities are endless, right??? You can even connect an external hard disk...but only one with an external power source. So in short the Divx playabality feature clinched the deal and I was sold..Plus the LD550 costs Rs 42500/- in my place and the 80fr was Rs 32, 400/-..Great value for Money wouldnt you say.The salesman didnt even have to try too hard..He just watched me doing all this with his displayed product and there wasn’t even a squeak from him when I was testingthe products with my pen drive. After that show..he asked me for the pendrive so he could copy it and show it to his next customers...ha ha ...everyone got something out of it.
Well thats the end of this long review...Hope it helps someone make the right choice..go for it and you’ll never regret that decision.And oh yes..one more thing..LG has discontinued makingthis product..only because itsovershadowing the market share and presence of all its newer model..and LG brings out newer models periodically. This has been the most popular model for LG..How do you take my word for it...Simple! Ask the dealers yourselves..So potential buyers and interested parties..if you are planning to buy this one...do act fast..its flying off the shelves..atleast in my city..Calicut