LG LJ523D Review
Type : LED Resolution : 768p Refresh Rate : 50 Hz
The LG LJ523D is a low end 768p LED TV. It is priced below other competing TVs but offers the disappointing picture quality. The color gamut coverage is low and screen uniformity is bad. On the top of that, it has poor contrast ratio. The TV lacks the Smart features. It also lacks the features available in premium models to improve the picture quality like local dimming. Fortunately, motion performance is good and there is a lot of improvement in sound quality since last year.
Design
Curved : No
The TV has a simple design exactly similar to last year models. It won’t stand out in the room due to its thick grey color borders. The back, borders and the stand, everything is made of good quality plastic. The back has shiny textured finish.
Stand
The stand has width approximately similar to the TV. It has a matte finish and supports the TV well.
Borders
Top & Side Border : 0.6" (1.5cm)
Bottom Border : 0.8" (2.0cm)
The borders are more thick than average and made of plastic. They don’t look good because of width and grey color.
Back
Back of the TV is simple and has a shiny textured finish. All the inputs are on back and once wall mounted, they will be difficult to access.
Thickness
Max Thickness : 2.8" (7.0cm)
The TV is very thick and comes out of the wall a bit if wall mounted.
Build Quality
The build quality is very good. LJ523D is a solid and durable TV.
Picture Quality
The LG LJ523D is a budget TV with unpleasant picture quality. The screen uniformity is bad especially on the edges. There is judder while watching the movies. The color gamut is low due to which pictures appear pale and washed out. The available colors are not sufficient for HD content. The TV has an IPS panel and thus the contrast ratio is also very low. Due to all this, the TV does not look good in a dark room. Though there is an improvement in peak brightness over the last year still it is not enough to fight the reflections. As a result, bright room performance is not good either. The only benefits are good viewing angle and less motion blur.
Contrast Ratio
Black : 0.115 cd/m2
White : 117.885 cd/m2
Contrast : 1026:1
The native contrast ratio is very low. This is common with the IPS panel and with LJ523D, there is no exception. The blacks appear greyish in a dark room. Thus, the TV is not good for watching movies at night.
Peak Brightness
Peak 2% Window : 275.9 cd/m2
Peak 100% Window : 277.7 cd/m2
There is some improvement in peak brightness since last year but still it is not sufficient for a good bright room performance. Since there is no local dimming feature, brightness remains constant irrespective of what is shown on the TV screen.
Viewing Angle
Panel type : IPS
The viewing angle is very good and picture looks same even if you are not sitting in front of the TV. Even at a deviation of 60 degrees, there is no loss in colours and contrast.
Panel Uniformity
Max Colour Dev. (50% pattern) : 1.9
Avg Luminance Dev. (5% pattern) : 16.57%
LJ523D has bad color uniformity. The corners and edges are very dark which looks annoying. This is specially visible while watching sports. There is however no dirty screen effect.
Luminance uniformity is also bad. There is flash lighting at the bottom which is clearly visible while watching the dark scenes. The TV also suffers from minor clouding across the entire screen.
Native Resolution - 768p
The TV has a WXGA resolution. Unfortunately, the picture is not very sharp and lacks detail.
Reflections - Bright Room
Do not perform well with reflections. This can cause problem while watching the TV in a bright room.
Local Dimming
Local Dimming : No
There is no local dimming feature on this TV.
Gamut Coverage
sRGB gamut coverage : 91.93%
Adobe RGB gamut coverage : 68.15%
The screen has very less colours just enough for SD content. The TV has an extended colour gamut option which has bad performance. This adds unnecessary colours to the picture and makes it look unnatural.
Pre Calibration
White Balance dE : 11.47
Color dE : 8.32
Gamma : 1.98
The TV is set at APS mode out of the box. Both grayscale and Color dE is off in this mode mainly because of the cool colour temperature.
Post Calibration
White Balance dE : 0.40
Color dE : 1.81
Gamma : 2.01
There are a plenty of options available on this TV to adjust the picture quality. Hence post calibration, picture really improved a lot. Calibration is done using 2 point and 20 point system.
Motion
Motion Blur
The LJ523D has less motion blur. There is a faint trail visible following the moving object but it is not much noticeable in regular viewing.
Motion Interpolation
There is no such feature available on this TV.
Inputs
Input Lag
Game mode : 27.2 ms
Outside Game mode : 27.5 ms
The TV is good for playing games. The input lag is very good and remains same irrespective of the picture mode.
Rear Inputs
USB : 1 Port
HDMI : 2 Ports
Headphone Out : 1 Port
RF Connection (Cable/Antenna) : 1 Port
Radio Antenna : 1 Port
Component In : 1 Port
Composite In : 1 Port
Total Inputs
USB : 1 Port
HDMI : 2 Ports
Headphone Out : 1 Port
RF Connection (Cable/Antenna) : 1 Port
Radio Antenna : 1 Port
Component In : 1 Port
Composite In : 1 Port
Input Specifications
USB 2.0 : Yes
USB 3.0 : No
HDMI 1.4 : Yes
HDMI 2.0 : No
HDMI ARC : No
HDMI DVI : No
HDCP 2.2 : No
HDCP 1.4 : No
HDMI (CEC) : Yes
HDMI (MHL) : No
Variable Analogue Audio Out : No
Miscl.
TV Controls
A power button is located at the bottom. It performs multiple functions like changing channels, adjusting volume and turning the TV ON or OFF.
Power Consumption
Power Consump (Max) : 19.81 W
Power Consump (Standby) : 0.0 W
The readings are taken after calibration.
Remote
The remote is simple and same as supplied with other basic models. The quality is good.
In the Box
- Remote
- Table Stand
- Power Adaptor
- Power Cord
- User Manual
- User Manual
- Cable Tie
- Screws
- Batteries
- FM Antenna Cable
Conclusion
The LJ523D is a budget model available only in 32 inches. Price wise it looks attractive but unfortunately it has below average performance in terms of picture quality. The only positive point is good viewing angle. The sound quality is good though. You can buy the last year Sony model R302D. With this you will get the similar sound quality and better picture quality at almost the same price.