The Korean assault on the LCD TV marketplace continues apace. If it's not Samsung rolling out a new screen, it's LG. LG's RZ-32LZ50 looks really quite pretty. In fact, LG has boldly had a bash at conjuring up something like Sony's classic 'floating' design, with a strip of transparent plastic under the screen going at least a little way toward fooling your eye into thinking that the screen is magically hanging in thin air.
The LG falls way short when it comes to connections, though. The biggest difference is the LG's lack of an HDMI input - a shortfall exacerbated by the fact that the digital DVI jack has no HDCP compatibility and so won't handle Sky's high-definition broadcasts. In fact, the RZ-32LZ50 won't accept non-PC high-definition video at all. Even its component video jacks are bizarrely only configured for 480i or 576i signals.
While we might just about be able to accept a sub-30in screen not having full high-definition potential, it's really galling on a 32in one. At least the RZ-32LZ50 can take PC signals. Features are scarce. In fact, the TV's only really important tricks are DCDi deinterlacing and a little something called XD Engine.
This proprietary LG processing technology is designed to perform a variety of picture improvements, including boosting the contrast range, making skin tones more natural, balancing light and dark picture elements more authentically, and making motion sharper.
Unlike most other XD Engine sets we've seen, the RZ-32LZ50 employs a 'Slim' take on the system, which features less flexibility - including not allowing you to switch the processing off. So here's hoping we like what it does!
For anyone who hasn't already lost interest because of its lack of HD compatibility, the RZ-32LZ50 is actually a pretty appealing picture performer. For starters, its colour tone is superb, offering rich, bright saturations, but never at the expense of authenticity. Skin tones are particularly natural.
