LG 50PG6000: A plasma TV that will make you go 'ooohh'

By Ian Morris on 03 April 2008, 4:13pm

Here at Crave you can usually tell when an interesting product turns up, because a little crowd forms, making comments, coming over to have a look and possibly make noises like "ooohh" and sometimes even "aaahh". So today, when the LG 50PG6000 50-inch plasma TV arrived in a box half the size of a car, a multitude of reviewers, subs and video guys gathered around to watch the grand unboxing.

It really is quite a piece of kit, and the enjoyment went well beyond getting it out of the box. Everyone here was in agreement -- it's a striking piece of equipment. The front of the screen is finished in one large piece of glass, which gives the whole TV a sleek look that impresses even the most jaded television reviewer.

There were further noises of approval when we noticed that this gargantuan set has a whopping four HDMI sockets and a bundle of other less important inputs, including a pair of filthy Scart sockets. This is clearly a TV that means some brutal business. There's also JPG and MP3 support offered via a USB socket on the side of the TV.

Behind the swanky exterior, the 50PG6000 offers a (slightly disappointing) 720p plasma display, which supports inputs of up to 1080p/24 -- although, as you'd expect, these are scaled to the native resolution of the panel. The TV also has a 100Hz mode, for reducing any unpleasant motion effects, and a game mode for console owners. There's even something called 'clear speech' that aims to make dialogue easier to hear.

We also noticed from our hands-on with the TV this morning that the built-in menu system was incredibly slick, attractive and simple to use. By this point, however, another crowd of interested people were pushing and shoving to have a go playing MotorStorm on it, so you'll have to come back and read our review to get the full story on this funky TV. It's out now and will reduce your bank account to the tune of £1,100. -Ian Morris

Update: Read our full LG 50PG6000 review.