We’ve gone a long, multi-decade way from the appearance of the first black and white TV devices with cathode tubes, over the amassment of colour TVs and analogue PAL and NTSC content distribution modes, still in use in many countries to this day. New technologies and advancements in this field never cease to arrive, which has made HD (high definition) television, paired with LCD and plasma flat panels, a common feature in modern homes. Novelties are many, and the capabilities of TVs themselves have long surpassed their basic function, which is image and sound playback, and become entire multimedia centres on their own, with the ability to communicate with external memory and other devices, even access various online services.

LG has proven themselves as one of the leaders in this market segment, as well as one of the biggest manufacturers and distributors of LCD panels, often found in monitors and TVs assembled by many other companies and sold under various brands. In order to justify their well-deserved reputation, LG has recently presented its “Infinia” product line, priding itself on its sophisticated slim design and notable visual attractiveness, among other things. This line encompasses LE9500, LE8500 and LE7500 series, and we received 55LE8500 for testing purposes.

The first glance is revealing enough - this is definitely a high-class product. Made out of high-quality plastics with glossy black finish all-around, a remarkably elegant transparent glassy lower edge, together with the typical LG “tear” button (a trademark of high-class panels since a while ago) and width that puts it among the slimmest on the market, this TV is bound to fulfil anyone’s expectations and fit any interior. That’s not all, though. With the borderless design, the gap between the edges and the panel itself has literally vanished, so the entire front panel looks as if it were made out of a single piece of material. OSD buttons, touch-sensitive and very responsive, only improve the overall impression even further, and clearly state that this is a top-notch product.

The list of integrated technologies and the most modern of capabilities stretches far, and omits only 3D playback, since that option had to remain reserved for LE9500 series models. Everything else that could be fit into a modern TV is there. NetCast Entertainment Access provides direct streaming of multimedia content from various services such as: Netflix, YouTube, Vudu, as well as internet applications the likes of: Skype, News, Weather, Yahoo widgets, Twitter and Picasa. “Intelligent sensor” pays attention to the quantity of ambient light in the room, and adjusts certain image parameters (contrast, brightness, colours) accordingly, in order to provide the best image quality under any conditions.

 

And now onto the panel itself, i.e. the general display quality. First of all, one of the most effective, yet most expensive backlight technologies has been implemented, improving image quality on many levels. Full-LED backlight is a system that consists of many tiny LEDs that practically cover the entire liquid crystal pixel surface behind the screen. Certain image zones can be turned off completely this way, which allows for unusually large contrast between the darkest and brightest image sections. This is called “Local LED dimming”, and makes for the critical advantage of this model over other backlight solutions (Edge LED, CCFL) that are only able to imitate this effect to a certain degree. Needless to say, when turned on, this feature provides an almost perfectly dark black with simultaneous ability to display extremely bright surfaces. Simply put, you get excellent contrast and image dynamics. Colour reproduction was also top. No particular discrepancies have been detected, with smooth gradients and very realistic and vivid colours. The uniformity test went through with flying colours, with very mild variations in extremely bright and completely white parts of the image. As far as viewing angles are concerned, we can’t say that they are as good as the rest of the features. Black and darker tones are among the first to deform, but still well within the acceptable range, so that it won’t seriously bother anyone. Another negative remark, however tiny, could be said on account of panel surface reflectiveness. Although it’s glossy, the reflection of brighter objects in the room was noticeable and in general more pronounced than usual for this device type or more expensive models.