LG Infinia 55LX9900 3D TV preview review

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Posted on 23 Apr 2010 at 15:02

The Infinia 55LX9900 will be LG's first active 3D TV and our first impressions are that it's a stunner. It comes at a high price, though: the 55in model will cost about £3,500 when it goes on sale in May, while the 47in model will set you back £2,500.

The Infinia LX9900 range looks stunning with their slim design - just 32mm thick without the base - and has a very thin bezel. The 55LX9900's dimensions make it feel a lot smaller than a 55in TV and it's hard to believe that it has full LED backlighting.

This system uses 1,200 LEDs positioned in a grid behind the LCD panel, instead of around the edge like most LED backlit TVs on sale currently. Other manufacturers also plan to introduce full LED backlit TVs this year, but the majority will use fewer than 1,200 LEDs.

Thanks to this, LG is able to claim a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1, but that cannot be achieved on a pixel level like the 5,000,000:1 on Panasonic's Viera TX-P46G20B plasma TV. Without comparing on both TVs, it's difficult to say which has the higher contrast, but rest assured that 2D picture quality was exceptional in the footage we watched on the set.

LG has built a number of additional features into the LX9900-series 3D TVs, including Freeview HD; NetCast, which enables you to stream content from the web; and streaming via USB and DLNA, enabling you to watch content from your home network. There's also a new remote control system, known as Magic Motion, which allows you to control the TV with a Nintendo Wii-style controller - LG has built a number of games into the TV to demonstrate its capabilities.

In addition to watching 2D video on the Infinia 55LX9900, we had chance to watch some 3D footage as well, where the results were slightly mixed. Watching 3D content on the LX9900 series requires active shutter glasses, which operate at 60Hz per eye like every other active 3D TV, and LG provides a couple of pairs with the TV. Additional pairs will cost "between £75 and £100", but the final pricing hasn't been decided at the moment - that's a little cheaper than we were expecting, but still expensive. They're almost certain to come down in price as the technology matures.

LG has included some interesting innovations in its shutter glasses, as they go into standby as you look away from the screen. As soon as you look back at the screen, they automatically synchronise with the TV's refresh rate again so you can continue watching the 3D content. This is designed to save power, but will also help prevent headaches if you're wearing the glasses for long periods.