Tour & Design
The LG 60PS80 doesn't look much different than its LCD counterparts—it has the same smooth, black frame found on the LHX series, the 55LH90, and the rest of LG's 2009 HDTV lineup.
The 60PS80 has a 60-inch Plasma screen
Ports are located on the back of the 60PS80, as is the power input. The rest of the back is made up of a variety of screws, fasteners, and metal panels.
The back of the 60PS80
The left side of the 60PS80 has a little collection of ports—one Component Video and audio input, one HDMI input, and a USB port. The right side of the television contains the on-TV controls.
The left and right sides of the 60PS80
The stand on the 60PS80 looks good. It has a long arc on the front side and a straight, smooth back. It felt sturdy and it swiveled easily when we moved the TV around a bit.
The stand on the 60PS80 is shiny, sturdy, and swivels with ease.
The 60PS80 has a very appealing aesthetic. Its 60-inch screen looks sharp surrounded by the glossy black frame, and the flat, rounded TV stand is stylish, sturdy and well-proportioned. For a 60-inch screen, the 60PS80 is also quite thin on the sides. It can't match the ultra-slim, 0.98-inch depth of LG's 55LHX LCD TV, but it still offers a fairly slender panel.
Performance Features
Display Size & Technology
The LG 60PS80 features a gargantuan 60-inch plasma screen, but the TV is also available in 50-inch versions.
The PS80 series comes in 60-inch and 50-inch sizes.
Format & Resolution
The 60PS80 supports full HD 1080p format, has an aspect ratio of 16:9, and offers a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080.
Brightness, Blacks & Contrast Ratio
According to LG, the 60PS80 features a Super Bright panel with increased brightness. The plasma screen also utilizes pigment coating to reduce reflection by a reported 20% compared to 2008 models. No brightness specs or contrast ratios were released by LG to support this theory, but the TVs definitely looked excellent on the floor at CES. The image on the 60PS80 didn't appear quite as bright as the LG models with LED backlighting (the 55LHX and 55LH90), but it still looked excellent. Once we get a television into our labs we'll be able to run tests and produce hard numbers for comparison.
Refresh Rate & Motion
The 60PS80 features 600Hz sub-field processing, which is standard on high-end plasma televisions. Keep in mind this 600Hz rate is different than the refresh rate on LCD HDTVs (that usually max out at 240Hz). The processing system used on plasma screens is entirely different, so the two numbers shouldn't be used to make comparisons. A sub-field processing system breaks the screen up into various sections and then updates the information in each section in between frames. The 60PS80 features 10 sub-field processing, which means the television should have smoother motion than some of last year's models (that only used 8 sub-fields).
On the display television at CES, the display footage didn't appear perfectly smooth in motion—especially in extremely bright areas. This could have been due to calibration errors or the inadequate lighting at LG's booth, but the motion simply had some problems that we wouldn't expect to see from such a high-end television. We'll have to wait until we actually get a TV into our labs before we reach the final verdict.
Viewing Angle
No specs on viewing angle were provided by LG, but the television looked very good and retained nice colors even at near 90-degree angles. The 60PS80 maintained a better image than LG's LCD models when viewed at small, tight angles.
Color
Colors were generally strong and deep on the 60PS80, but this is likely due to LG setting the TV up to show off its imaging power. As we noticed for the TV's viewing angle, the colors remained solid even when we looked at the screen from the sides.
Connectivity & Media
Audio & Video Ports
LG didn't release full specs on the ports and it was difficult to get clear access to the back of the 60PS80 to check them out. There is a small port section on the left side of the television that contains one HDMI input, one Composite Video and audio input, and a USB port. On the back of the TV, LG confirmed the presence of 3 HDMI cables and 2 Component Video inputs with audio. A PCI port, a 3.5mm audio input, and an digital/analog antenna input are also present on the back of the 60PS80. The rest of the ports, which are mainly comprised of audio outputs, were unable to be confirmed by LG. It is likely a number of audio outputs are present on the back of the television, as to make the product more compatible with home theater systems and to show off the THX Media Director feature (more about this feature in the Media & Connectivity section).
The ports on the back of the 60PS80 were difficult to get a good look at.
The left-sided ports on the 60PS80
**Media & Other Connectivity
NetCast, which is also available on LG's LH50 series of LCD televisions, is supported on the 60PS80. The NetCast system uses an Ethernet port to connect the television to the internet and enables the TV to display videos from YouTube, use Yahoo! Widgets, and stream movies from Netflix (a feature only available to Netflix subscribers). NetCast can also be used to access music and photos that are stored on a PC connected to the same network as the television. Essentially, the NetCast feature turns your TV into media player capable of accessing online content from a variety of sources.
**The 60PS80 supports a THX Media Director feature that will automatically adjust the TV's settings to play movies and media in an accurate manner. Media Director will actually pull information off a compatible Blu-ray DVD (and some broadcast programs) that communicates how to the television the proper video and audio settings the content should be displayed with. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like many movies or videos are compatible with the system yet and it won't work with regular DVDs. Also, to fully utilize Media Director, a home theater sound system must be connected to the television.
The 60PS80 also has a USB port and the TV is capable of playing photos and music off of a device connected via USB.
Placement
The port placement on the 60PS80 is decent, but the side ports aren't as easy to access as they could be.
Audio
Other than the Media Director feature, which will optimize the audio coming from compatible Blu-ray DVDs, the 60PS80 doesn't offer any special audio features. Clear Voice II and Invisible Speakers, both of which are featured on LG's entire HDTV line, are present on the 60PS80. Clear Voice II is a dialogue enhancement setting and Invisible Speakers is an aesthetic implementation (i.e. speakers that are built into the TV so you cannot see them).
Controls, Menu & Remote
Remote
We didn't get a chance to check out the remote control for the LG 60PS80 so we can't give you any info about it now. Once we get the product into our labs we'll write a whole section on the remote control in our review.
Controls
The on-TV controls on the right side of the 60PS80 are positioned well and labeled adequately, but the buttons aren't the most comfortable to press. They are hard, sharp and a bit too small. We liked the buttons on the 42LH50 much better as they were larger and made of a soft material.
The on-TV controls on the 60PS80
Menu
We never saw the menu for the 60PS80, so we can't give out any insightful information about it yet.
Conclusion
The LG 60PS80 has a big plasma screen and images generally looked great on the screen. We did notice some motion artifacting on the TV, but we weren't sure if it was a problem with the display model due to its being a pre-production model. The NetCast feature is intriguing, but it's really only beneficial for people with a subscription to Netflix or addicted to Youtube. The same goes with the Media Director system—it is an interesting idea, but the sound and video optimization will really only make a difference if the 60PS80 is connected to a home theater system. Also, right now it appears very few DVDs have the compatible information necessary to make use of the Media Director feature. Still, the TV should retain some strong appeal to home theater aficionados. Pricing and release dates for the 60PS80 are not yet available. The television also comes in a 50-inch version.
Meet the tester
Jeremy is the video expert of our imaging team and Reviewed.com's head of video production. Originally from Pennsylvania and upstate NY, he graduated from Bard college with a degree in film and electronic media. He has been living and working in New England since 2005.
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