Performance
We looked at upscaled DVD on the TV first and were pleased with the results. We used an X-Men DVD and the LG did a pretty good job with it. The image was clear, colours natural and there was a reasonable amount of detail in the pictures.

Next up was Blu-ray. We chucked in two of our test discs: the first, Casino Royale, looked great with strong colour and well-handled motion. We put our copy of Men in Black in our Sony BDP-S500 to see how the slightly older film would look. We saw very good colour, but we needed to adjust the picture settings to get it to the perfect level. Overall, DVD and Blu-ray looked superb. While we did notice a lack of detail at times, this wasn't enough to put us off the likeable picture.
We got alright with Freeview, too. Again, you'll need to adjust the picture settings to get the best out of this TV. Take special care to reduce the backlight and spend some time tweaking the colour, brightness and contrast controls as the default picture comes on stronger than a drunk teenage boy at a school disco.

With picture quality assessed, let's consider the sound. You might recall that one of the features of this set are the concealed speakers and as you can imagine, speakers that don't face forward can have some clarity issues. Luckily, the LG has no problem here with dialogue being very crisp. It lacks, however, low-end sound punch and we did feel that the amplifier was a weakling. For general viewing, it's not a problem, but for movies you'll need an external sound system.
Conclusion
Although it's a good performer, we don't think this TV is aimed at home cinema enthusiasts. It'll be very popular among those people who care about what they put in their lounges and who want something different than just glossy black.
There is nothing about this TV that gives us cause for concern, although the lack of detail in the picture will put off the purists. LG doesn't really charge a massive premium for this TV, although there are cheaper sets out there. We’d suggest the Toshiba Regza 37XV505D's younger 32-inch sibling as a good, though less attractive, alternative.
Edited by Shannon Doubleday