LG 60PB6900 60″ 1080p 600Hz 3D PLASMA HDTV Review

Plasma TVs still deliver some of the best images of any current TV technology available. I’m personally still a big fan of plasma displays and have come to appreciate the very accurate and natural images they produce.

As many of you already know, plasma TVs will soon be a thing of the past with manufacturers discontinuing production of this great technology. Panasonic stopped production earlier this year. Samsung recently announced they will stop production later this year.

This will leave LG as the sole manufacturer of this technology. However, there is talk in the industry that LG will soon follow and end plasma production.

So in the meantime, these displays are still readily available. One of these is LG’s 60PB6900 and is the topic of this review.

Design/Features

The LG 60PB6900 is the company’s top plasma offering and is the only model in the 6900 Series. This model is only available in a 60″ screen size.

The front panel is fashioned with a slim black bezel which adds to its appearance. The depth of this TV at 2.7 inches, is not as thin as your typical LED/LCD design which is the norm for plasma TVs. The stand is a simple pedestal design and should give the display good support.

The PB6900 contains a decent set of features with the most prominent being the TV’s smart TV platform. You don’t get the stylish WebOS menu design used in LG’s top-tier LED TVs. Instead, you get a more basic platform, but still with plenty of options. You get access to premium services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu and YouTube to name a few. You also get your social apps including Facebook and Skype. You can also customize the LG home dashboard for access to your most used or favorite apps. Internet access is available using the set’s internet browser.

The PB6900 has built-in Wi-Fi for connecting to your home’s computer network.

You also get a hard-wired MHL connection via LG’s Smart Mobile Link which will allow you to connect your mobile devices directly to the display and enjoy your content on the big screen. This feature can also be controlled using LG’s Magic Remote (sold separately).

Speaking of remotes, this TV is supplied with a basic but simple to use remote control. It is not backlit.

If you are interested in 3D viewing, the PB6900 is 3D-ready, meaning there are no 3D glasses supplied and they must be purchased separately. This TV uses “active” 3D technology.

Connection Ports

• 3 HDMI
• 1 component video
• 1 composite (shared w/ component
• 3 USB 2.0
• 1 RF input for antenna/cable
• 1 Ethernet

Performance

As I stated earlier in this review, this is LG’s top-tier plasma HDTV offering. And the overall performance is quite good. However, there are a few areas where its performance is a bit deficient considering its top-of-the-line status…

Black level reproduction is this TV’s weakest area. The black levels were not the inky deep blacks I’m accustomed to seeing on current better-performing Samsung and past Panasonic plasma models. Instead, it was a grayish-black similar to what I would see on many LCD TVs.

Also, the picture was just slightly less bright and just a tad softer than what I typically see on Samsung and Panasonic models.  In addition, when viewing this TV in a light-filled room, the image appears less bright due to its lower light “flow-through” in comparison to Samsung plasma models. So I would recommend you view this set in a darkened environment.

Even though the black levels on this set weren’t the best, it was still able to produce decent contrast in images of daytime and brightly lit scenes. Shadow detail was also good on this display.

Color reproduction was good on this set. Colors were well saturated, although just slightly less vibrant than what I would normally like to see on displays I review.

Image depth and clarity were good on this TV, which allowed for a greater depth of field in the image. Image detail was also good on this display, having most fine detail clearly visible.

Side angle viewing was excellent on this TV with no dimming of the picture at the most extreme angles. This is the norm for all plasmas and is one of their strong points.

Conclusion

The PB6900 may not be the best-performing plasma TV on the market, especially since it is categorized by LG as their top-tier plasma model, and when compared to Samsung and Panasonic’s top models.

However, standing on its own, it does provide good performance and is only truly lacking in its black-level reproduction.

I would personally classify the performance of the PB6900 as more of a mid-tier category product when compared to other top-performing plasma models.

So if you’re in the market for a big-screen plasma TV with good picture quality, a nice set of features at a hard-to-beat price. Then check out LG’s PB6900.

Have any comments or feedback regarding this review? Please leave them below.

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