LG 55LA740V review

Usability

LG has tried very hard indeed on the 55LA740V to deliver an exceptionally user-friendly smart TV interface. The highlight of the system is the Magic Remote you get with the TV alongside a standard model.

As well as greatly streamlining the button count, the Magic Remote rather brilliantly enables you to select options by just pointing the remote at the right part of the on-screen menus. This feels brilliantly intuitive, and will come as a godsend to technophobes who usually start trembling at the very sight of a normal remote control. And most importantly, it provides a genuine shortcut to the huge amounts of content that the LG 55LA740V makes available.

Another great feature of the Magic Remote is the spinning wheel button at its heart, which enables you to quickly shift up and down menu option lists.

The LG 55LA740V's on-screen menus are very well designed for the most part, too. The approach taken is to divide the countless apps up into themed folders, with a few highlighted options available from the front of each folder directly from the main hub screen while further selections pop up if you select a folder's More button.

The sheer quantity of direct app link icons that the menus can carry without looking cluttered or overbearing is impressive, and really sells the scope of LG's smart offering.

LG's TV adjustment menus are a bit less elegant and forward thinking than its smart menus, but they get the job done cleanly enough - especially because they're quite sensible in the way they keep the most complicated features tucked away from the eyes of casual users, and the way you can still navigate options with the Magic Remote.

One final strength of the LG 55LA740V's operating system is the accompanying app that LG has designed for iOS and Android devices.

This features attractive menus, reasonably logical organisation and a strong feature count, underlining our belief that such second-screen apps will become a huge part of TV functionality in the next year or so.

Sound quality

LG joins an impressive roster of manufacturers this year who really seem to have got to grips with the thorny issue of how to get a convincing audio performance out of a slim bodied TV.

Its twin 12W speakers are given solid support by a rear-firing subwoofer to ensure that the soundstage has both more bass and more mid-range clarity than you might normally expect. The soundstage is also larger than that heard from most flatscreen TVs, and even manages to avoid sounding excessively cramped during loud parts of a dense mix.

Value

The full £1,499 (around US$2,290 / AU$2,485) asking price for the LG 55LA740V is reasonable in some ways. After all, it's got a 55-inch screen, its pictures look enjoyable with bright footage, it's beautifully designed, and its smart TV interface is outstanding.

However, the television's problems with dark scenes will likely make it look a bit expensive to avid film fans, while its input lag will similarly make it feel like a costly frustration for serious gamers.