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71 of 77 people found the following review helpful.
The 55LM9600
By Larry
My wife and I bought the LG 55LM9600 after having heard about this through CES 2012 and waiting for this TV since December 2011. It arrived after ordering through Amazon in 4 days with white glove installation services. We are very impressed with this TV after owning it now for 5 days.Pros 4 out of 5 stars:Nano full array LED backlightingMagic Motion remote with motion control, voice recognition, dedicated apps button, dedicated 3d button. This remote's motion is much more accurate than the Nintendo Wii.Dual Core processor provides very quick responses to input selectionPassive 3D using FPR with no observed crosstalk or image distortion6 pairs of 3D glasses includedLG apps and the Appstore5mm Bezel is amazing, the image looks like it floats because the TV border is so slimLightweightGood viewing angles, brightness and contrast ratios (blacks look black not grey)Image looks great with no glaring faults **Edit 7/7/2012, second TV exhibited glaring 24p motion trailing faults, see below for more info**Cons (docked 1 star due to the following):Price: $3299 at release at the time of reviewNetwork key settings not saved between TV power off cycles (power button on remote, not unplugged from surge protector).Semi-glossy coating is reflective in living rooms with a lot of ambient lightLG appstore requires an account creation3D audio/video was out of sync when watching Alice in Wonderland 3D with my Sony Blu-Ray Home Theatre system BDV-E780W. I tried messing with the settings for AV sync in Settings->Audio but could not get the audio to match the video. (You would hear a person talk before their lips were seen moving). Nothing I tried fixed it completely but was able to get the delay down to under half a second. BTW: My TV is up to date using the network update function. This is related to 3D only, switching to 2D does not have sync issues. I am using HDMI 1.4 spec cables.***EDIT 7/7/2012: We contacted Amazon and exchanged the TV for another LM9600 due to the network key not saving between power-offs. The second TV had the same issue, so I contacted LG (they couldn't figure it out) and did some logical thinking and troubleshooting and found that the problem is that the Network SSID has spaces in the pre-fix part of the name and when the TV would try to save the name it was incorrectly formatting it and thus searching for an SSID that doesn't exist. I changed the SSID of my network and it started saving correctly. However, the second TV exhibited performance issues that the first did not. Namely the 24p issue where there are noticeable motion trails when people wear black and are moving relatively quickly. I noticed this when watching Harry Potter 7 part 2. There is a scene where students wearing black are going down a spiral staircase and the blurring was so noticeable it was distracting. At first I thought it was a camera effect but realized that it was not when watching on a different TV. We have since returned the TV altogether and got a Panasonic 60" GT50 for a LOT better price and a significantly better picture quality. Honestly, my wife and I feel it is a huge upgrade. ***
52 of 61 people found the following review helpful.
55LM9600 - A Great Looking TV with Great Features, But with One Huge Fundamental Flaw
By system accezz
I bought this TV a few weeks ago and have been testing it with a variety of contents since receiving it. I had a LG 55LV9500 Full Array LED prior to this TV, which had pretty good black levels. First the positives and negatives.PositivesDecent black level - not even close to my previous TV thoughAmazing 3D quality - best I have seen yet, with almost zero crosstalk. Also more comfortable than Active 3d since I do wear eyeglasses.Playback of Media files via DLNA is great - DTS support is included!Great looks - best looking TV I have seenNo Haloing effects - this was very present in my previous TV, looks like LG fixed that issueExcellent menus and SmartTV functionalityNegatives24p playback flaw - see comments below!Some vertical banding present - very evident when spanning across a landscape or when watching sportsNon-uniform screen - some clouding in the bottom right and upper left - even with Local Dimming activated! Evident in wide screen movies in the black barsSome of the apps are not accessible - e.g. MLB.TV app has a Coming Soon placeholder.Only One Remote included - No original remote included with this TV, only the Magic Motion oneFinal Comment:After a few weeks of use, this TV is going to go back to Amazon. The main reason is the flaw with playback of 24p content. This was seen in the European models prior to its arrival here and it looks like it is also present on NA models as well. There are motion trails seen especially in dark scenes, which lead to a very degraded picture, not to mention it being annoying as well. I have seen it in a few movies as well as episodes of The Walking Dead and Falling Skies. Playback of the same scenes in 60hz has no such issues however.For the price, the TV is definitely not worth it at the moment in my opinion. However, if the 24p issue is ever fixed and the price is lowered a bit, I believe that the TV would become a great addition to anyone's household.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Best LG I have ever owned!
By Marty Gillis
The LG LM 9600 is currently the flagship for LG, unless you can spring for a $12,000 OLED or a $20,000 Ultra HD (4K) set. I will admit here and now to being a real fan of LG LCD/LED TV's and own 4 of them including the 9600.I have wanted to own this TV since it was first announced but I just couldn't swing the initial almost Four Thousand dollar price. YIKES! Since LG has just announced their 2013 line-up, the 9600 has come down in price dramatically and once it hit the 2K mark I had to bite. I am not willing to worry about burn-in, buzzing and a higher power bill (Plasma) and am sensitive to "Rainbows" (DLP)so a LCD/LED set is really my only choice. I can't afford a Sharp Elite so it was down to either THIS TV or the Sony HX950. In the end I choose LG again and it was partly due to price but mostly due to my continuing good luck with the brand and liking the large amount of control over the video.I have ZERO interest in the "Smart TV" features and honestly wish the manufacturers could concentrate on giving us a more "Perfect" TV picture instead of all the bells and whistles. As such, my review is basically about picture quality and associated issues. I do admit to TRYING the browser and the performance is MUCH snappier than the 7600 since this set has the dual core processor. It is still slow as a slug compared to even the most basic Windows 7 PC. I like the almost infinite amount of picture control and the ability to enjoy my PAL DVD collection played upconverted at it's native 50hz with no frame rate conversion.This TV is nicely built and looks great. I am pushing 60 and could assemble it and set it up by myself although it was a bit of a workout. Screen IS a bit reflective but for me it is a non issue as my viewing environment is purposely dark. I use a bias light mounted behind the TV which lowers viewing fatigue and increases perceived contrast and black levels and it also significant lowers any perceived flash-lighting that may exist. The 9600 does NOT have the best black levels you can get, but with proper set-up and calibration and a bit of care you can coax a REALLY good picture out of it.My only actual complaint regarding the build of this TV is the idiotic inclusion of a chrome trim strip that runs the length of the front bezel. Yes it is small, but it is HIGHLY reflective and a royal pain the rear for anyone wanting to watch without the distraction of annoying glare emanating from the bezel itself. Dumb choice, on par with the new Sony stand. (makes you wonder if the designers even WATCH these things)Comparing the 9600 to my other LG's (6200, G2 and 7600) I can honestly say it is the absolute BEST of them all. Nice bump in picture detail for HD sources, especially 1080p Blu Ray or HD DVD media. It is just plain sharper and clearer than any LG I own (after calibration) and has the best on-board sound of any of them as well.The increase in perceived resolution can be a double edged sword as the 9600 is somewhat unforgiving with highly compressed SD cable broadcasts and poorly mastered DVD's. There is plenty of on-aboard processing to help you deal with that and a good Blu Ray player such as an Oppo will go a long way towards massaging poor video before it even hits the 9600. If you feed it a pristine 1080p high bit rate/nicely mastered Blu Ray it will really shine. I truly believe that 55 inches is pushing it size-wise even for 1080p but from my centered viewing distance of about 6 feet it looks VERY nice and totally involving while watching movies.I have not personally had a problem with 24 frame material, but judder seems to be a problem unless the Tru Motion is engaged. Like almost everyone else, I personally HATE the "Soap Opera" effect but find that setting the "Blur" and "Judder" controls to just "1"can alleviate the judder without introducing unwanted video artifacts. If anything, setting it to "1" gives you a bit more clarity and the sideways motion is just a little bit unnatural looking, but judder is gone so I will live with it. If you have to have absolute natural motion, LCD is probably not for you anyway.Out of the box the picture quality is just not very good. (unless you enjoy a combination of "Flame Mode" with a healthy dose of "Soap Opera" thrown in for good measure) LG requires calibration to look it's best, but you will be rewarded with a much better than"average" HD picture afterward. I use a combination of Speers and Munsil , HD Video Essentials, and the AVS forum calibration discs.You can search many online forums for good starting points but your own settings will reflect your source components. (ie: your Blu Ray player, DVR, etc.) Once dialed in, the 9600 will totally rock-n-roll!! Honestly, once properly calibrated, even basically, this thing will knock your socks off. A HUGE step up from my 7600. My friends and family have seen me go thru 9 HDTV's in the last 7 years and as sick as they are at looking at my latest TV each and every one of them was impressed with the 9600's picture quality. As far as I am concerned, until OLED or Sony's much ballyhooed "Crystal LCD" is perfected AND comes way way down in price THIS is the TV I will watch.LG has seemingly skimped on actual dimming zones with this model but in reality this new design eliminates one of the worst problems associated with a full local dimming panel and that is HALOS...... I have ZERO halos on this panel which makes it a real step up from most other full LED backlit TV's.To extract the very best picture from this beastie, you will need to go against your old ways of dong things just a bit and set the backlight quite a bit lower than you would think you need. In my case, in a darkened environment I have calibrated the LM9600 using a base backlight setting of "30" and a 2.2 Gamma which gives me wiggle room in case I run across a DVD or Blu Ray that was mastered too light or dark. (You simply put up or down your Gamma to solve any brightness or darkness problems temporarily. Then just switch it back to 2.2 for everything else.ALSO, if you set your local dimming to "HIGH" you can achieve almost plasma-like blacks while avoiding all the pitfalls of plasma. The only defect in my 9600 is a slight amount of flashlighting in the lower right hand comer. It is not bad unless the program material is solid black in that corner, then it sticks out like a sore thumb. But using the Local Dimming on HIGH and keeping the backlight at 30 it still gives me plenty of dynamic range between the contrast and brightness controls and I can enjoy a nice bright and dynamic picture with plenty of pop and very deep blacks and the added bonus of MINMAL flashlighting! (almost none in fact) That type of calibration also helps greatly with perceived banding by the way. The screen is never clipped and your whites are white, blacks are black and there is plenty of thick rich contrast between them. Color pops more too as a result, as does fine detail in faces and objects. The only REAL area where the 9600 falls a bit short is you must sacrifice just a small amount of shadow detail to get everything else in line. I can live with that, it is PRETTY darn close to what I want in a TV. I just watched the 'Alien' Blu Ray and thought I was viewing a high end plasma, only brighter! NICE!Now for the downside: The 9600 (and EVERY OTHER LCD/LED out there including the $5000 plus Sharp Elite) suffers from varying degrees of Flashlighting, Horizontal Banding and Dirty Screen Effect.IT is important to note that ALL LCD/LED TV's, whether they be edge lit or full LED backlit with local dimming have these "problems" . They are directly related to the technology used and the actual construction and design of the panels themselves. To avoid these issues, go with Plasma or DLP, although both of those suffer from their own video anomalies.It really boils down to WHICH set of unwanted artifacts you are willing and prepared to live with when watching your television. There is currently NO SUCH THING as a perfect TV and once you realize this and accept it you can adjust your expectations accordingly. I have had to do so, reluctantly, but at least I can find some degree of happiness with the current offerings. For me, the LG LM 9600 has way more positives than negatives and gives me overall the very best picture of any television I have ever owned in my more than 55 years of watching.My flashlighting is limited to a very small area on the bottom right corner. It is VERY small and a non issue for me. Banding is also MUCH LESS than any LCD/LED I have owned so far. While viewing an episode of "Frozen Planet" to test for banding, I found it is only really noticeable during those horizontal pans when a solid light background is displayed. (no surprises there eh?) And even then, it has perhaps 85% LESS banding than my LG 7600. Proper calibration, including a judicious use of your backlight control can work wonders in minimizing the dreaded banding and also go a long way towards eradication your "Dirty Screen Effect"....... I decided to watch "Fargo" to see if the amount of banding and dirty screen effect would interfere with the enjoyment of the movie. It didn't, and I am way too picky for my own good. Again, compared to the other LG models I own, this one has the unwanted artifacts down to a minimum. I am not saying the 9600 is better than any other tech or brand out there as one size does not fit all when it comes to TV's, but the overall flexibility of LG's control/processing system coupled with the plethora of web features, the more than acceptable passive 3-D and the built in Media Player gives you a whole lot for your money, considering the the current asking price! (around 2 thousand)AND YES, there is a bit of a "panel lottery" going on with this model but you are going to find that with EVERY brand and Model. Even the Sony HX950 can have major banding problems as seen in a customer review posted here on Amazon. Unfortunately it is really a hit or miss proposition and no brand is immune. Build quality and quality control in general is suffering lately across the board. Phooey!For less than half the price of the Elite I am VERY happy with the LG LM9600. It is the most money I have ever spent on a television and admit to being just a bit disappointed that you can not buy your way out of Banding and Dirty Screen Effect with LCD displays but looking at things objectively I do think the 9600 is a great buy for Two Grand.....*** see the comment section for some semi incoherent ramblings about my efforts in trying to extract the best possible picture from this TV.....
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Good value and great picture quality - watch out for image retention, not for gaming
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