LG 32" LCD model 32LC2DU

if you search you'll find that the only difference is that the "U" adds 1 more HDMI input making it 2 total. It also loses 1 RF input.

In my area, the 32LC2DU is at CC and the 32LC2D is at Radio Shack. I played with the menu systems on both TVs. The 32LC2DU does not have the Cinema Zoom. It has the other zoom modes but lacks that one (12 or 16)-step zoom function. I forget how many steps it had. I liked the idea of having that zoom and I also like the option of having connection for cable and for an antenna (I don't know if I can get more HD over the air than with the cable), but the TV was $100.00 more at Radio Shack and I guess 2 HDMI might come in handy on the 32LC2DU.

I can say that the TVs looked identical from the front, but I couldn't see the back panels at either store. I read descriptions and saw photos indicating that the 32LC2DU has 2 HDMI and 1 cable, whereas the 32LC2D has1 HDMI with 2 cable inputs. They aslo described the loss of Cinema Zoom, so there really must be two slightly different versions of the TV.

I also went to the LG site. Like you, it bothered me that the 32LC2DU wasn't even listed. They only show 32LC2D, so I was taking that as another reson to maybe pay $100.00 more for the 32LC2D. I would get Cinema Zoom, an antenna connection in addition to the cable connection, and the model numebr would at least be listed on the LG site.

I took the plunge and purchased the 32LC2DU on sale at CC. I even popped over to Delaware to save the tax. The LG really does seem to have plenty of features, a beautiful appearance, and great performance for such a low cost. The new Sony XBR2, which also has QAM, would have cost twice as much! That is ridiculous! Even the lesser Sony and the Samsung both would have been hundreds more. They don't even have the QAM, unless they are just keeping it a secret. That is also ridiculous! They are all 720p, since I guess 1080P would be wasted on a 32 TV. Why pay twice as much?

Anyway, now that I have the 32LC2DU in my room, I am very glad that I didn't pay more for a better TV. I am only using standard cable and used the QAM to get free HD. It is obvious that the picture quality is limited by the signal from different channels. The TV does not limit picture quality! Even if you paid twice as much, the bad channels would still be bad. Who knows, the bad channels might even be worse, considering what I read in reviews from consumers and professional reviewers. The good channels are great! Even SD looks great, although it depends on the channel. Everything looks better than my old 27 Mitsubishi CRT and as good as my newer Sony 27 Trinitron CRT.

As for HD, it does look very nice. I can see that I may watch shows that I would not have watched normally, simply because I like looking at the HD. Last night, for example, I watched some desperate housewives. I can't believe it, but I did. The women do look pretty good in HD! I did have one issue with Leno in HD. The sound was not in synch with the picture. That was not true with Letterman on a different channel and it wasn't true with the show that was on before Leno on the same channel. Once again, the performance varied because of the signal, not because of the TV. I think it would make you absolutely crazy if that happened on a TV that cost twice as much, even though it has nothing to do with the TV itself.

At the last minute, I almost switched to Panasonic for $100 more. It turns out the Panasonic also has QAM, even though it isn't advertised or even mentioned on their own website. I had to call Panasonic to get confirmation from their technical department. The Panasonic also advertised a larger contrast ratio, but who knows if that really means anything at all, since there doesn't seem to be a real standard for the claims from different manufacturers. Somehow Panasonic seems like a bigger name to me and I was being tempted, then I remembered that my last 27 CRT Panasonic had picture tube issues within a very short time. My wife remembered the previous Panasonic problem and I think I would have been in the doghouse if the new Panasonic LCD broke. I didn't buy the Panasonic.

I am sure I will want to say more after I have the TV for a while, but for now that is it.

My wife always tells me that I like to pay more, or even extra, just to be sure I have the Best thing possible. This time, however, I went for the 32LC2DU. It was half as expensive as the Sony XBR2, which is the TV I thought I was going to buy. I can tell you that it is much easier to accept any little flaws with the LCD, since I didn't pay extra to own it.

My current opinion, after finally taking the plunge to buy an LCD, is that the programming is the biggest limitation for these TVs. The LCDs all struggle with the bad SD signals and they all look pretty darn nice with HD. Even if you pay twice as much for your LCD, you will still have the bad channels. It is also true that after watching HD the SD starts to look worse and worse. Actually some SD looks pretty darn good, although it seems to vary rather dramatically from channel to channel and even with the same channel with different shows at different times of the day. In fact, the same is even true for the HD. Some of the so-called HD channels broadcast a variety of formats that vary in signal quality. It is truly amazing that there seems to be no standard. Maybe someday the broadcasters will get their act together and send high quality signals with the same format. Then all LCD TVs will look great from regular cable or an antenna. I said this in anther post, but it is so true that it is worth repeating. The signal is the limitation for these LCD TVs. The TVs are not the limiting factor!

For me, this TV is just a replacement for a 27 CRT that I had in my bedroom. It was easier to give this a try at this size and at this price point. I have not taken the plunge to replace my 36 in my HT set-up. I have quite a stereo system in there so I can't keep from wanting to get the best LCD possible. Now however, after experimenting with the 32LC2DU, I think I might go for a bigger LG rather than throwing money at the situation by getting the super Sony. The bad channels are likely to look even worse on the bigger screen, so I know I would be irritated if I spend $3000 for the 40 Sony just to look at a bad picture. I will likely get the HD tuner box from Comcast with the bigger LCD HT set-up and an up-converting DVD player, so I bet the bigger LG would be fine. I am still drawn to paying extra for that special room, but I am trying to rethink that behavior.

I watched my first HD football games. It was fun. The only problem is that I watched it in my bedroom on my new 32LC2DU, rather in my super HT room with my old 36 CRT and my incredible 5.1 stereo system. I may have to go buy another LCD. Here we go again. Is it going to be 37 or 40, LG or Sony

what does everyone think? I just recently unboxed mine and I'm pretty impressed with the look so far, not really looking at accuracy or anything, just the overall richness of the picture. Let me know what you've found successful.

d

I picked up one at CC last Sunday for $899. This is my third HDTV (Hitachi 51" and Panasonic 26" LCD) It is hooked up to a DirecTV HR10-250 and so far I am impressed with it. The picture is as good or better as the Panasonic, which I paid $1400 for about 18 months ago. For the price I don't think you can go wrong.

I too picked up one of these for trial. As a previous poster said:
"The signal is the limitation for these LCD TVs. The TVs are not the limiting factor!"[u]

I'm putting mine through its paces. I find the better the signal the better the image.
In the store Display it looked as good or better than its competition.

I'll have a better handle in a week or so.

One thing that was absolutely STUNNING was Disney's "The Incredibles". CGI eye candy via a Prog scan DVD player. Don't expect SD broadcasts to look good on any LCD display of this size or larger.

Tonight "Cars". Then HDDVD tomorrow.

Hey, for those that own the 32LC2DU, does it have the same problems with VGA input that the 37 has? Aparantly it doesn't support 1 to 1 pixel mapping through either VGA or a computer connected through the hdmi source.
I just wanted to see fi this was also the case for the 32".

I just got this tv last night and I feel it was worth it. I was going to purchase the Samsung 32" lcd but the cost of the LG was $300.00 less and I got more inputs. The contrast for the Samsung was 4000:1 vs LG's 1600:1 but personally I thought the image on the LG was just as good. Go for the plunge...

What is QAM? I am new to this HDTV..... What do I need to get it working?

THanks,

Scott

QAM is the tuner ability that allows you to pull in unencrypted cable channels. These are often local channels. It maybe worth it if you don't already have a cable/dish provider. Unfortunantly for me, our cable company does not provide ANY HD channels in our area :-/

It appears the "U" model addressed this. Mine has no issue filling the screen at 1280x768. My current card does not support 1366 but the manual says the display will support the 1366x768 pixel map.

http://www.altera.com/products/ip/altera/t-alt-qam.html

I just got this tv tonight at CC and would like to know if there are any suggested calibration settings. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

to be honest the out of box setting are very good. I have played around with the setting very little but I went into the service menu and found you are able to tweak even more. I do not really know too much about those setting so I didnt touch them much. Any 1 have a clue?

Does this Tv do 1080? it shows in the Service Menu about 1080... I read some thread that this tv might actually allow it.

Scott

One more question. I did the ez scan and now I have a lot of duplicate stations. Some are listed as TV (which I deleted) DTV, CATV and CADTV. For now I have the cable hooked up with no cable box. I am thinking all I need are the CADTV stations to get the best picture, but I don't want to miss out on anything. Any suggestions? Thanks

I found the pictures for the Cadtv where ok but I found one HD channel and I was not impressed with the picture on it. Hopefully with the HD cable box and HDMI cable on Saturday the HD pic will be very nice like I have heard on this TV that it is very nice on HD...

Am I missing setting for the HD channel or the 'free' HD channel that I have over the QAM wont be the best since it is over RF feed instead of HDMI..

thanks,

Scott

Nonsense. You are going to have to accept not all broadcasts are equal. The best signal yields the best picture regardless if it's terrestial or otherwise. Case in point is a Mexican HD OTA feed I'm getting. It simply ROCKS. My guess is there no competition for their bandwidth hence no compression artifacts. As one viewer said it's so clear you can "smell it".

After having mine a week, I can assure everyone this is an amazing TV. What you feed it (signal) is its greatest limitation.
Yes, as all LCDs I have seen, it suffers in the lower black levels and the 8ms response time. On fast pans, this becomes noticible.
OLEDs should eliminate these issues but we are 2 to 3 years away from those. (at least for affordable ones)

Not all programs are really HD, even though they are carried on your HD channel.

Could you point me in the right direction, I cant find any
information about getting into the service menu. Been
searching web all day with no luck.

Thanks

With the tv on, hold down the menu button on the remote and the menu button on the tv at the same time. If done right you will see the service menu will come up for you.

scott

How is the ghosting on this lcd, I currently have LN-s3251d and I see ghosting on everything the picture dont even have to be moving fast as I see the lag time in responce when ever people move there face it worse in games

I watched the football games on this set yesterday and I can report no ghosting. I did watch some tennis too to check out the ghosting on it since a tennis ball is one of the fastest things for the human eye to track and I saw minimal ghosting on it.... So I am very happy with the lack of ghosting on the set so far...

how is it with dark scenes? and what about the on/off timer the lcd On-timer be set to turn on to its inputs av1,av2,compenent,etc 51d samsung lack this and most people use stb for watch tv