LG Electronics 42LB5D

On paper, LG seems to be doing a lot of things right: It has 1080p capability, HDMI 1.3, and a fast response time. Somehow, though, those advantages don't translate to much in the real world.

Despite its extremely fast (5ms) pixel response time, the LG42LB5D LCD television came in eighth in our image quality tests among the twelve HDTVs in our November issue's roundup. Still, it outperformed our other 5ms contestant, the Philips 42PFL7432D/37.

On the other hand, by the time you've finished with LG's on-screen menus, you may be too tired to care about the image quality. The small, centered, transparent menus are reasonably legible, but no one seems to have thought out the organization. The Set Up menu, for instance, covers setting up channels--and nothing else. If you want to set up, say, input labels, you have to go hunting through the other menus for the appropriate command (hint: it's under Options).

Speaking of input options, switching from your DVR to your DVD player entails scrolling through every input in between those two, including those that are empty. The set knows which ones are connected to something--they're highlighted--but it makes you scroll through them all anyway.

At least the input ports face outward (most of them on the back and a few ...

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