LG HB965TZ review
![LG HB965TZ](https://images.expertreviews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/images/dir_274/er_photo_137170.jpg?width=626&height=352&fit=crop&format=webply)
Great features and even better sound quality, but we could do without the eerie whistling noises
We’re used to forgettable product names, but it’s worth paying attention to this one’s letter B to avoid confusion with the HT965TZ, which costs around £250 less but only plays DVDs and not Blu-rays.
The HB965TZ is expensive, even for a Blu-ray home cinema system, but there are a few reasons to justify it. With two HDMI and two optical S/PDIF inputs, it’s fully equipped to act as the hub for a big home entertainment system. WiFi (802.11n) is built in and an iPod dock is hidden behind a door on the front panel. The dock drops down and forwards so it’s still possible to stack other equipment on top of the player.
The iPod’s controls remain active, which we prefer to browsing on the TV screen. The volume knob on the front panel is much easier to use than up and down buttons, and there’s a full set of transport controls there too. This player doesn’t support Blu-ray 3D, though – something that may prove frustrating if you find yourself in possession of a 3D TV in a few years’ time. There’s no internal storage for BD-Live, so you’ll need to leave a flash drive in the USB socket to access online content for Blu-ray discs.
Online services are provided by LG Netcast. Selecting Netcast from its Home menu page reveals a virtual high street populated by links to YouTube, Picasa and weather forecasts.
We were able to log into our YouTube account but this only let us view and not edit our Favourites, and didn’t give access to Subscriptions, Playlists or our own videos. That meant the text search facility was the only way to locate our own videos – thankfully, entering text using the remote was relatively quick. Aspect ratios were handled correctly and the transport controls allowed fast forwarding and rewinding in 30-second jumps. HD versions of YouTube videos were unavailable, but that’s true of all the blu-ray players we’ve tested to date.
Details | |
---|---|
Price | £552 |
Rating | *** |
Connections | |
HDMI inputs | 2 |
HDMI outputs | 1 |
Component inputs | 0 |
Component outputs | 1 |
Output resolutions | PAL (576i), 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p |
Total SCART sockets | 0 |
SCART socket type | N/A |
S-Video input | 0 |
S-video output | 0 |
Composite inputs | 0 |
Composite outputs | 1 |
Stereo phono inputs | 1 |
Stereo phono outputs | 0 |
Coaxial S/PDIF inputs | 0 |
Coaxial S/PDIF outputs | 0 |
Optical S/PDIF inputs | 2 |
Optical S/PDIF outputs | 0 |
Multi-channel input | no |
Speaker configuration | 5.1 |
Main unit end speaker connection type | spring terminals |
Speaker end speaker connection type | spring terminals |
Other connections | USB, iPod dock |
Wired network ports | 1x 10/100 |
Wireless networking support | 802.11n |
Playback | |
Surround sound formats | Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD HRA, DTS-HD MA |
Optical drive | yes |
Supported playback disc formats | Blu-ray, DVD, CD |
Audio format support | MP3, AAC, WAV |
Video playback formats | DivX, AVC, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 |
Image viewing formats | JPEG |
Radio | FM |
Speakers | |
Speaker configuration | 5.1 |
RMS power output | 1100W |
RMS power centre | 180W |
RMS power front | 360W |
RMS power surround | 360W |
RMS power subwoofer | 200W |
Wall mountable | no |
Centre speaker cable length | 3.0m |
Front speaker cable length | 3.0m |
Surround speaker cable length | 12.0m |
General | |
Extras | remote control |
Size | 439x284x67mm |
Subwoofer dimensions | 236x391x435mm |
Centre speaker dimensions | 400x83x118mm |
Front speaker dimensions | 280x195x1212mm |
Surround speaker dimensions | 280x195x1212mm |
Power consumption standby | 0W |
Power consumption on | 34W |
Buying Information | |
Price | £552 |
Warranty | one-year RTB |
Supplier | http://www.amazon.co.uk |
Details | http://uk.lge.com |