LG 47LM760T review

Stuffed with the third incarnation of LG's XD Engine, this souped-up 47-inch TV uses an Edge LED backlit screen that's not only Full HD and 3D compatible (using LG's own passive Cinema 3D system), but claims a 'borderless' design that it very nearly lives up to.

With the TV switched off it's almost impossible to see any kind of frame aside from the metallic rim around the outside. However, when you turn on the LG 47LM760T a bezel of 11mm appears, although it's behind glass.

The millimetre count isn't much more for the LG 47LM760T's depth, where it measures just 33.4mm. Almost as stunning is its minimalist tabletop stand - a metallic-looking (though actually plastic), almost ski-like swivelling array.

If less is more on that score, it's not the case for 3D glasses, which is where the Cinema 3D format makes its major play. We've become used to LG supplying plenty of cheap cinema-style passive 3D glasses with its 3D TVs, but there's no doubt that the inclusion of a stunning seven pairs here will make this television appeal to families keen to get a TV that's future-proof.

It's actually not quite as simple as that; four standard pairs of 3D glasses are found in the box in the AG-F315 Party Pack, along with a special AG-F320 clip-on pair for regular spectacle wearers and a couple of pairs of AG-F310DP Dual Play games glasses.

The 3D games glasses make use of the polarised 3D panel not for further dimensional trickery, but for dividing the pixels into two separate images that can be decoded for each glasses wearer: cue two-player gaming heaven.

There's also a slight gamey feel to the LG 47LM760T's remote control, which LG calls its Magic Remote. It's similar to the Nintendo Wii's nunchuk, using an on-screen cursor system to select channels and navigate the menus.

That's unlikely to be a major selling point - not yet anyway - but what is bound to have wide appeal is LG's new Smart TV platform. Powered by Wi-Fi connectivity, the LG 47LM760T's Smart TV system proudly boasts links to BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Lovefilm and Acetrax, with various other useful apps such as ITN news, Twitter and daredevil sports channel RedBull TV.

In terms of picture processing, that Triple XD Engine has built-in 800Hz processing and Super Resolution for upscaling, which ought to be handy for making both DVDs and dodgy YouTube videos shine on such a big screen.

The LG 47LM760T is priced at £1,449.99 in the UK and $1,949.99 in the US, and is also available as the 42-inch 42LM760T and 55-inch 55LM760T. Where it shows its colours as a mid-range, rather than flagship, TV is initially hard to pinpoint. It's in its power; equipped only with a single core processor, all screens in LG's LM760T Series play third fiddle to both the LG LM860V and LM960V Series of Edge LED-lit LCD TVs.

All sporting LG's Cinema 3D system - of course - the 47-inch LG 47LM960V employs Direct (or Full) LED backlighting in the guise of the brand's much-trumpeted Nano LED tech. Built around a dual-core processor, also available is the 55-inch LG 55LM960V and 84-inch 3840 x 2160-pixel 'ultra definition' 84LM960V.

Just one step above this LG 47LM760T is LG's LM860V Series, which arrives as the 42-inch 42LM860V, 47-inch 47LM860V and 55-inch 55LM860V. The only difference we can find is the use of more advanced upscaling, which carries a premium of around £300 (about $460).

Next down the line from this LG 47LM760T screen is the LM660T and LM670T. This screens in this series use 400Hz scanning, and don't include Dual Play specs in the box.

Features

Smart TV is what the LG 47LM760T is all about, although whether it will change our tendency to largely ignore web-enabled features (less than 10% of smart TV owners in Europe connect to the web at least once a week) is debatable.

LG divides its apps into two categories, with its Premium page containing top-line apps such as BBC iPlayer, which is joined by the Lovefilm and Acetrax movie download services, along with Red Bull TV, ITN, Autocar, YouTube, Blinkbox, CineTrailer, Twitter, Cartoon Network, HiT, Picasa, Facebook, iConcerts, AccuWeather and Box Office 365.

Absolute Radio has just been added, and we're also promised Netflix, although on our sample it was missing - and alarmingly BBC iPlayer showed us a "Coming soon" message when launched. LG's SmartWorld app store is even patchier, with OK! Magazine and Euronews the highlights... yep, it's that bad.

SmartShare is more impressive, promising to seamlessly link disparate sources to the LG 47LM760T including laptops, netbooks, PCs and Macs on a home network, as well as smartphones and USB flash drives and HDDs. Either of the latter can be used to pause live TV and make recordings from the LG 47LM760T's integrated Freeview HD tuner.

We've already mentioned that the LG 47LM760T comes with a boatload of 3D glasses, although it's worth mentioning that they are 20% lighter in weight than last year, and very comfortable to wear.

The provision of clip-on specs for spectacle wearers is a great idea, although in practice it's a sales trick; the standard 3D glasses can be easily slipped on over the top of most glasses.

We will revisit the Dual Play specs that make use of the normally 3D-centric Film Patterned Retarder tech for full-screen gaming from split screen games, but it's worth mentioning here that for some users it will be so much more attractive a feature than watching 3D movies.

Other hardware is just as impressive. The pleasingly down-facing slots on the LG 47LM760T comprise jacks for hooking up component video and composite video sources via adaptors, a Scart, a D-sub 15-pin VGA port for a PC and wired Ethernet LAN alongside audio jacks for a PC, optical digital audio, and headphones.

Along the side-panel are four HDMI inputs (one of which has an Audio Return Channel), a Common Interface slot and three USB 2.0 slots, one reserved for attaching a HDD.

LG also sells a Skype camera to sit atop the LG 47LM760T - the AN-VC400 - which attaches to the TV via one of these USB slots.