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Lots of thought has gone into LG’s chic “Scarlet” 42-inch HDTV, as evident in everything from the faux-leather remote control to the useful and brilliantly navigable OSD (on-screen display) menu. However, at $2600 (as of July 11, 2008), such niceties don’t come cheap.

The entire back of the LCD panel is red, so if you look at the TV from an angle, you see some nice red accents. Personally, though, I see little point to the color, given that you rarely gaze at the back of your big-screen TV. The bezel is thin on the top and sides, but the bottom is about three times thicker; this is where LG hides the unit’s superior-sounding, down-firing speakers. As nice as it is not to see speaker grilles, I found the extra-large bottom bezel distractingly unattractive, especially considering that everything else about the display looks stunning.

A number of advanced features come standard. Individual six-color controls are easily found in the Expert Control level of the picture menu. And with a single click of the remote, you can find and adjust many accurately calibrated presets, from Sports mode to Movie mode.

LG also includes an Intelligent Sensor setting in this model. Most sensors just measure the brightness of ambient light in the room. LG’s version uses a complex set of algorithms to measure not just brightness but also contrast, color, sharpness, and white balance. The feature worked well most of the time, but on one occasion it briefly garbled some images while constantly trying to adjust the settings to match its changed surroundings.

The set performed well enough to earn a performance score of Good in our PC World Test Center lab tests. The Westinghouse TX-42F430S, however, received the same performance score and costs about $1000 less than the top-shelf Scarlet. Still, LG’s high price tag nets you good image quality, great menu options, and extra ports such as USB (and you can use the USB port to play music or view photos from any USB drive.)

Should you be lucky enough to add an LG Scarlet to your living room, you won’t be disappointed.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com

“We definitely expect a slowdown in the growth of the TV market,” said Simon Kang, president of LG’s display division, which makes plasma displays and flat screen TVs.

Kang also told reporters LG expected significant declines in TV prices in the second half as falling panel prices allow manufacturers to cut costs while competition heats up.

Despite the bleak outlook, Kang said LG aims to raise its North American market share in liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs from 7-8 percent in 2007 to 12-13 percent by the end of 2008, compared to a goal of “more than 10 percent” given earlier this year.

The executive also said LG would not follow bigger rivals Sony Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd into a price war in the key North American market.

“If you compete in the low end you end up damaging your brand and your profitability,” Kang said.

Kang said the recent Euro 2008 soccer tournament and the ongoing Beijing Olympic games had “no effect whatsoever” on television sales, contrary to the lofty hopes expressed by the industry earlier this year.

“Because of the economic slowdown, the Chinese market has been very difficult.”

LG’s display division contributed 29 percent of the company’s total sales in the second quarter — but less than 5 percent of overall operating profit.

The division posted a modest 1 percent operating profit margin in the second quarter, which was still a vast improvement from the 5 percent loss margin posted in the year-ago period.

Keeping Plasma

Kang maintained his company’s steadfast commitment to plasma screens, a technology that has fallen out of favor after bigger and more prolific LCD companies invaded the market for large-size displays.

After a brief recovery earlier this year, triggered by a shortage of LCDs, plasma screens are now hanging on for dear life amid heightened competition in the flat screen market along with the worldwide slowdown.

Kang said his division now aimed to produce only 4.2 million plasma modules for 2008, down from an initial yearly target of 6 million units set at the beginning of the year.

“There is still a lot of room to improve profitability,” said Kang. “Our current position is that we are keeping the plasma business.”