Bigger is better, some say. And in some contexts, this is indisputably true. In the case of TVs, definitely so!
While this is certainly not the largest-sized TV available out there, it definitely ranks up there with other desirable models, and is certainly sufficient to dominate most lounges. The styling is quite attractive, despite the (in my opinion) excessive bevels around the screen itself. Still, these are probably necessary in order to contain all of this model’s extensive features.
After setting up the unit, the next step is connecting it to video sources. On the rear, you’ll find a wealth of input ports, enough to satisfy anyone several times over! I had a number of devices connected to the Scarlet at any given time, including a DVD player, an antenna and up to three computers at the same time – with room for a console and a couple more devices to spare.
Now, it should be borne in mind that, despite the fact that PCs can be connected to this panel, it is not intended to be used primarily as a monitor, but rather as a video-output device. By all means though, watch videos from your computer, and even play some games (though strategy, role-playing, and other text- or detailintensive games are ungainly to play on this), but we would recommend not purchasing it with the main intent of using it as a desktop display unit.
The reason for this is twofold: firstly, despite its high-definition resolution of up to 1080p, text suffers from some degree of ghosting, making it slightly fuzzy; secondly, given the screen’s size and nature, you will need to be sitting back somewhat, meaning that the text will be too small to be legible at that distance.
First-person shooters and racing games, however, look great on this screen! In terms of a movie and TV viewing experience, this is where this unit shines. You get a vibrant and highly customisable, large image, with good brightness and contrast, meaning that it looks great at any time of the day.
The remote that ships with the Scarlet is intended to control most or all of an entire home theatre system – as long as it’s an LG product. We tested, by happy coincidence, with an LG DVD player, and found accidentally that we could control the player by means of the TV’s remote control – very cool! Also very cool is the fact that, in addition to a TV tuner, the Scarlet has a built-in DivX decoder, allowing it to play movies (as well as MP3s and photos) from a USB flash drive – again, very nice!
On the downside, this is definitely a unit that is intended to be used with a home theatre system, for its sound reproduction appears to almost be an afterthought. The speakers are cunningly disguised, and sound adequate at low volumes when playing back conversation or the like.
However, as soon as the volume is turned up moderately and any bass is present in the source, some distortion
and clipping happens, and gets worse at increased volume. Then again, we figure that anyone with enough money to throw at a TV to get one of these can afford a decent surround sound setup…
Technical Specs
Screen size: 42 inches
Inputs: 3 x HDMI/DVI, 2 x Component (RGB), 2 x AV, 1 x VGA, 1 x Coaxial Antenna, 1 x USB
Decoding: Terrestrial analogue TV tuner, DivX decoder, MP3 decoder, photo decoder Picture-in-Picture support
Native Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 (1080i,1080p)
Contrast: 50:000:1 (Dynamic)
Brightness: 500cd/m2
Price: R19000
Official rating: 3.5/5
Loading ...
