Today I have to admit that I feel a bit girly. In touch with my feminine side. Or at least not quite as butch and muscle-pumping macho as usual (stop laughing, Riyad!).
The reason behind this oddly feminine turn of events is LG’s 22LU5000: a small “designer” LCD TV that perfectly complements the Lady of the house is matched stand-up collar and last but not least rear and outer paneling in bold orange.
To your average grumpy man, with his penchant for black metallic finishes and sharp angular lines, this description of the 22LU5000 probably sounds as sympathetic as a Tupperware party. But that’s what they (probably) said about the Apple iPod when it first came out. And I’m not ashamed – just a little worried – to say that I actually enjoy looking at the 22LU5000, despite being happily married and even managing to conceive a child. Imagine that.
But what makes the 22LU5000 special is that it thoughtfully offers a man a high-tech excuse to like him in the form of a full HD resolution. Yes, despite LG only having a 22-inch screen, LG has managed to squeeze 1,920 x 1,080 pixels into the 22LU5000, giving it a head start over the 22LU4000 I was looking at a few weeks ago and making it the smallest Full HD screen I’ve seen. wowza
While that sounds great on paper, I think there’s a pretty good argument that a Full HD resolution on a 22-inch screen is just an almighty waste of time. I mean, some 26″ TVs have a hard time convincingly showing the relatively simple difference between HD and standard definition, so it’s hard to believe that a 22″ TV can show the much finer difference between an HD Ready and a Full – HD picture can show.
But hey – I’m meant to test this TV, not prejudge it, so I’ll shut up on this topic for now and hope I’ll be proven wrong later.
Less controversial is the 22LU5000’s connectivity, which is decent enough with two HDMI ports, a component video input and a PC connection. I was also initially pleased to see a USB port, but like the 22LU4000, this port is for system update data only. In other words, you cannot view your photos with it.
In addition to the Full HD resolution, the TV’s Picture Wizard function offers us more than most 22-inch TVs. This conveniently presents you with a set of well-designed test signals, along with explanations of how you should use them to optimize the TV’s picture quality.
Again, I guess you could argue that this is a bit “overkill” for a 22″ TV, but personally, I always appreciate someone helping me get the most out of ANY TV, no matter how small it may be .
Even more good early news notes that the 22LU5000 boasts an astonishingly high (for the sub-26in market) contrast ratio of 20,000:1, suggesting this TV might actually have a decent black level response.
Other notable little things include: a power saving mode that lets you adjust the TV’s operating power or even turn off the screen entirely when you’re watching something you only need the sound for; a dynamic adjustment of the backlight; and even an Advanced Control picture menu with such subtleties as a dynamic contrast system, a dynamic color enhancer, a multi-level noise reduction circuit, a gamma adjustment, a black level enhancer, an edge enhancement circuit and an eye protection mode that compresses the dynamic range of the picture and reduces retinal stress.
And so to the moment of truth. Does the 22LU5000’s Full HD resolution really take its performance to a different level than the significantly (£100 at least) cheaper 22LU4000?
Actually, it’s pretty hard to say. Because although the 22LU5000’s images look better than the 22LU4000’s, I’m not entirely convinced that this is due to the extra pixels.
The 22LU5000 certainly looks sympathetically sharp with HD, but I didn’t feel that it was obviously sharper and more detailed than the ‘just’ HD Ready 22LU4000 – at least from any reasonable viewing distance.
Put your face right up to the screen and set the TV’s aspect ratio to “Only” pixel by pixel, no overscanning mode, and I think it’s possible that Blu-rays will look marginally cleaner. But even then, it’s a very small thing.
Much more impressive is how much brighter and more dynamic the images from the 22LU5000 appear. The 22LU4000 did indeed impress on both counts compared to the typically boring, flat pictures of most small LCD TVs we see, but the 22LU5000 takes it a step further.
Light fare, such as you’d find watching daytime TV – probably the most common source this “second room” TV will entertain – looks strikingly vibrant and punchy, with a relatively high light output and some rich but also natural colors to make up for it ensuring that the image is present easily compete with the sun-drenched surroundings of a sun lounge or conservatory.
I was also mostly impressed with the 22LU5000’s black level response. This key part of any picture performance is all but ignored by many 35mm TVs, but dark scenes on the 22LU5000 look surprisingly believable, with impressively little of the usual gray haze hanging over everything.
There is a price to pay for this black level performance in the form of lacking enough shadow detail to make really dark parts of the image look a bit blank. And there are also subtle and mercifully thin strips of inconsistent backlighting along the left and right edges of the screen. But none of these issues are really serious, and so it’s the positive aspects of the screen’s black levels that you end up taking with you.
The 22LU5000 also surprised me by handling standard definition images really well for a Full HD TV and upscaling them to the screen’s native resolution without introducing the smoothness and noise that we still often find in affordable Full HD – Watch TV.
Overall, the 22LU5000’s pictures are tremendous for a 22-inch LCD TV. But inevitably, the TV isn’t really perfect.
That’s because, alongside the minor black level issues already mentioned, the TV predictably suffers from motion blur and judder, and even more predictably delivers slightly unassuming audio. There is virtually no bass at all, making the highs at times overpowering and wincingly harsh and tinny, while the vocals tend to sound “breathy” and therefore unconvincing.
“‘Verdict”‘
While I can’t bring myself to fully recommend a second room TV with stunning sound, the 22LU5000 certainly deserves praise for its amazingly decent pictures and eye-catching – as long as you like that kind of thing! – Design.
The extra brightness and dynamism of the set makes the less expensive 22LU4000 a superior option for use in a conservatory or possibly a kitchen. However, given that the benefits of the 22LU5000’s extra resolution aren’t particularly pronounced over the HD Ready 22LU4000, if you’re looking for a TV for a reasonably dark study or bedroom you might want to save up a few bobs as well and go for it instead the cheaper model.
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Used as the main TV during the period
Tested over a week
Tested with industry calibrated tools, discs and real world use
Tested with broadcast content (HD/SD), video streams and demo discs
points in detail
functions 8
value 8
picture quality 8
draft 9
sound quality 5
characteristics
| size (inches) | 22 inches |
| display type | LCD |