LG Infinia 50PZ950 Plasma HDTV

23.09.2011
LG's Infinia 50PZ950 is an attractive 50-inch plasma set with good picture quality, plenty of Internet options, and excellent 3D graphics. Its only disadvantage is that navigating through its hundreds of apps and options can be a bit tricky.

Listed at $1700 (though Amazon currently sells the set for $1200), our review model has a 50-inch 1080p plasma screen surrounded by a thin black bezel. This HDTV lacks some features you might expect in a high-end model, such as built-in Wi-Fi (it does ship with an LG Wi-Fi dongle, however), but it does support both the manufacturer's new LG Smart TV and its .

Design and Peripherals

Like the , the Infinia 50PZ950 sports a thin black bezel that helps give it a "bezel-less" look. A sheet of glass extends across the screen to the edges of the bezel; as a result, when the HDTV is turned off, the set almost seems to lack a bezel altogether. In the 50PZ950's case, however, the blank screen is much lighter gray than the bezel, so the effect isn't perfect. A superthin strip of clear glass surrounds the bezel.

The set sits on a rectangular swivel stand that curves upward, so it resembles a little hill on your TV stand. At the bottom of the screen is a small LG logo, as well as touch buttons (power, input, home, enter, volume up/down, and channel up/down) along the right side. You'll also see some dancing blue lights in the bottom corner that appear only momentarily when you turn the TV on or off.

Many of the 50PZ950's ports are located on the back of the set, with only a few on the side (running parallel to the screen). All of the HDMI ports are on the side, though--a convenience for people who want to wall-mount their set. Four HDMI ports occupy the side, along with two USB2.0 ports and an AV port. On the back of the TV, running perpendicular to the screen, are an ethernet port, a remote control-in, a PC connection, an optical audio-out, a serial port, another AV port, two component ports, and an antenna/cable hookup. All of the ports are situated on the left side of the television.