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More good news finds a solid lid being kept on most forms of video noise, even when watching standard definition from the built-in digital tuner. This again suggests that whatever LG has done to its XD Engine has been more than worthwhile.

Returning to our Rainbow Six Vegas 2 session, though, as soon as you start panning the camera and moving around, the picture starts to smear quite noticeably, leaving a slight colour trail behind richly hued edges as they move by, and generally making the picture look slightly indistinct.

This same problem is very evident while watching standard definition TV material where there's lots of movement too, such as Match of the Day on the (non-HD) beeb. It's even visible with HD video viewing, albeit in a much reduced form.

Another lesser problem with the LG's pictures finds black levels that are deep enough to give decent punch to any normal TV fare, but do suffer a degree of cloudiness when watching a more contrast-rich film source, such as Braveheart recorded from Sky HD. Hmm. Not sure I'm totally believing that 50,000:1 contrast ratio claim, then!

Finally in the negative column, pictures don't appear especially bright by LCD standards, at least if you've got the image settings optimised for black level response.

Pumping an aggressive film soundtrack through the 32LG5000's speakers meanwhile, such as the opening 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, actually finds the little chap punching above its weight in terms of soundstage width, dynamic range and simple raw volume. This is a really good audio effort for such an affordable TV - especially one which makes ‘invisible speakers' a key part of its design.

Verdict

While LG's 32LG5000 offers far more design and feature appeal than you've any right to expect for under £600, you do have to accept a little compromise on the picture quality front.

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