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With Pioneer exiting the plasma TV market, that leaves just a handful of other brands backing the cinematic technology. LG, it seems, is keener than ever to be one of them with its high-end PS8000 range. Like the most recent Kuro range, there are two sizes of PS8000 — 50- and 60-inch — and they’re jam-packed with features.
Firstly, this screen is THX Display-certified. That’s good news for us, the buying public, because it means the boffins over at THX have put the screen through its paces. Among the criteria tested are how the display handles de-interlacing material, how it compensates for on-screen motion and the skill with which it removes noise and other artefacts from the picture.
Also included is THX Media Director, which is designed to ensure you watch your movie the way it was intended. THX says this helps to prevent people watching movies in the wrong aspect ratio and to help their devices show movies as they were supposed to be seen.
ISFccc custom settings allow a trained installer to get your TV setup perfectly for your specific viewing environment. Such an installation won’t be cheap, but it will give you the best possible configuration for your house — and we think it’s a terrific idea for LG to include it.
Also included is the 600Hz picture processing, which LG claims will make for the smoothest, most natural motion possible. We’re sceptical about the claims manufacturers make about these high frame-rate modes, however — for the most part, they just add extra processing, which can create its own set of problems.
Significantly though, DivX HD playback support is included. And, we’re led to believe that like the excellent LG BD370 Blu-ray player, this TV will be able to handle MKV format files. The only question here is what sort of built-in audio support will there be?
We were obviously keen to see a plasma with built-in freesat, and when asked when the service would be coming to LG plasmas, a spokesman told us that it would happen, but the company wanted to investigate how the technology worked with LCDs first.
You should expect to pay £2,000 for the 60-inch model, with the 50-incher being quite a bit cheaper at just a little over £1,000.
