When Samsung blew the established big-screen pricing order out of the water with its Q7 series and now its 50-inch plasma PS50Q9 ($3899) HD TV, it was only a matter of time before other manufacturers followed their lead. And given a particularly intense rivalry with its fellow Korean megacorp, it's perhaps no surprise to find that the first of the cut-price brigade was LG, with its 50PC1D.
This too is a plasma model, and as with the Samsung it's fully HD Ready. Whether it gives the talented Samsung a run for its money in performance terms, though, remains to be seen.
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It's not as easy on the eye as its Samsung rival as the design ethic is rather less adventurous. That's not to say that the 50PC1D is ugly. By any wider scale of reference the 50PC1D is really rather attractive in its combination of gloss black and deep silver.
Connections
Connectivity is similar to Samsung with only one HDMI. Backed up by a set of component jacks for analogue HD needs, plus a D-Sub PC port, wired remote control in/outs, an RS232 jack for control and service use, there is also a digital audio output.
The digital audio output can pipe potential Dolby Digital 5.1 broadcasts to a suitable receiver, while the CI slot allows you to add conditional access cards for viewing subscription digital TV.
The digital tuner also enjoys a full and well-presented 7-day electronic programme guide (EPG) support, which includes the facility to set timer recordings simply by selecting programmes from the EPG listings.
When it comes to the specifications, nobody plays the numbers game better than the Korean manufacturers. LG's marketer are quick to claim a colossal contrast ratio of 10000:1, a high peak brightness of 1200cd/m2, and a par for the HD Ready-course native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.
