CES 2011: TVs at CES 2011 LG LV6500 and LW6500

LG continues to support passive 3D TV – the only major brand to do so. The lightweight glasses help make the 3D experience less of a chore.

LG first look video review

LG has added what it calls ‘LED plus’ – basically 16 zones (it was 12 in 2010) of local dimming edge LED lighting. This means a zone, or cluster, of LEDs can be dimmed or brightened independently of neighbouring zones. This should allow better control of lighting and contrast levels across the display.

On first impressions the picture certainly appears to be an improvement on its 2010 models, especially in 3D.

LG 3D effect

The TV is now certified ‘flicker free’ by a couple of renowned testing houses and on first impressions the passive 3D effect impressed. Pictures appeared bolder, depth more impressive and cross-talk less of an issue than on some 3D TVs we’ve seen.

The passive 3D glasses are lightweight and comfortable and images don’t fade if your head is tilted to the side (a problem on some active shutter rivals).

Magic motion remote

As with most other brands the other pillar of LG’s strategy is integrating web services into the TV. Its 2010 Netcast system felt a bit behind the game in 2010 (until very recently it only supported three apps), so LG appear to be making up for lost time with a vengeance.

Now called Smart TV LG has built-in a fully-fledged app store and full web browser. The clean interface looked impressive on first impressions, and on-screen navigation is aided by the ‘magic motion’ remote, which controls an on-screen cursor.

LG has souped-up the earlier version of this we saw on last year’s Infinia range, with a few more buttons and greater menu access. It’s fun to use, but should a bit of practice to get the best out of it (entering in free-text in the web browser search engine for instance).

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