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  • Introduction

  • Overall Design

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Stand/Mount

  • Controls

  • Remote Control

  • In the Box

  • Black Level

  • Peak Brightness

  • Contrast

  • Tunnel Contrast

  • White Falloff

  • Uniformity

  • Greyscale Gamma

  • Color Temperature

  • RGB Curves

  • Motion Performance

  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

  • Resolution Scaling

  • Formats

  • Viewing Angle

  • Reflectance

  • Video Processing

  • Calibration

  • Video Modes

  • Ergonomics & Durability

  • Button Layout & Use

  • Programming & Flexibility

  • Connectivity

  • Placement

  • Audio Quality

  • Menu Interface

  • Instruction Manual

  • Internet Features

  • Local Media Playback

  • Other Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Conclusion

  • Model Series Comparison

  • Photo Gallery

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Introduction
  • Overall Design
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Stand/Mount
  • Controls
  • Remote Control
  • In the Box
  • Black Level
  • Peak Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Tunnel Contrast
  • White Falloff
  • Uniformity
  • Greyscale Gamma
  • Color Temperature
  • RGB Curves
  • Motion Performance
  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Formats
  • Viewing Angle
  • Reflectance
  • Video Processing
  • Calibration
  • Video Modes
  • Ergonomics & Durability
  • Button Layout & Use
  • Programming & Flexibility
  • Connectivity
  • Placement
  • Audio Quality
  • Menu Interface
  • Instruction Manual
  • Internet Features
  • Local Media Playback
  • Other Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Conclusion
  • Model Series Comparison
  • Photo Gallery
  • Ratings & Specs

Introduction

Overall Design

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The 60PK750 looks nice: it's not quite as great as some of the other manufacturers' 2010 offerings, but it still looks really great. We liked that its bezel was flush with the screen, giving the front of the TV a single, smooth surface.

Front

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The front of the TV is a large, even piece of clear plastic. The screen is crazy reflective and picks up fingerprints very easily.

Back

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The back of the TV has a group of ports towards the bottom right.

Sides

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The left side of the TV features a few ports for easy access. Nothing is on the right side of the TV.

Stand/Mount

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The stand swivels to provide easy access to the ports around the back. The screen might wobble a bit as it rotates, but that's common for large, heavy TVs.

Controls

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The controls are located on the front of the TV, towards the bottom right corner of the bezel. They're touch controls, which would typically imply they don't have particularly noticeable labels. Fortunately, LG put symbols on the buttons that we could actually see.

Remote Control

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The LG 60PK750's remote more or less follows LG's consistent design. There's a number pad, a small button cluster with the volume and channel keys, and a d-pad surrounded with various menu shortcuts.

In the Box

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The LG 60PK750 came with all the basics and none of the extras. In the box we found the manuals, remote, batteries for said remote, and nothing else.

The TV came fully assembled already. The main problem you'll run into with setting up the TV is hoisting the heavy thing up where you want it.

Black Level

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Our typical milestone for a good black level is 0.01 cd/m2, with mediocre falling around 0.02 cd/m2^ and terrible encompassing anything anything in the neighborhood of 0.03 cd/m2^ or higher.

We measured the LG 60PK750's black level at 0.09 candelas per square meter (cd/m2). This is a very deep black; you should have no issues with dark areas looking washed out. The one problem we saw, though, was the TV has an awkward auto-dim feature that can't be turned off. It dims in stages when the picture dips below a certain threshold and the dim itself is noticeable. We understand why this feature is often included, but users should have the option to turn it off. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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Plasmas typically don't have high peak brightness levels. We measured the LG 60PK750's peak brightness at 166.2 cd/m2. This isn't very bright compared to what LCDs can output, but it was quite a bit brighter than many other plasmas we've tested. While you shouldn't expect blinding whites, you should get a picture that's bright enough for most viewing environments. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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A decent black level and a dim peak brightness don't make for the most stark contrast ratio. We measured the 60PK750's at 1846:1, which is decent. On the chart below, you can see that the TV's competitors all had better contrast ratios: the two LCDs had superior brightnesses and the Panasonic plasma had a significantly deeper black. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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The LG 60PK750 didn't have the most consistent black level. When a black area is surrounded by brightness, it gets very washed out, appearing about three or four times as bright. This variance is typical of plasma screens, due to their display technology. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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The 60PK750 wasn't able to maintain a consistent white level either, which, again, is typical of plasmas. When a small portion of the screen is white, the TV can output over 170 cd/m2, but when the whole screen is bright, that luminance drops to under 50 cd/m2. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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Greyscale gamma dictates how different shades of grey darken or brighten to black or white. Ideally, as you move along the greyscale, the shades should darken or brighten uniformly: if there's too much change or too little change, you'll end up losing detail in the onscreen image.

The graph below is should be a straight diagonal line, but as you can see, there's a bit of a hump in it towards the brightest part of the spectrum. Up until that point, the greys had progressed uniformly; after that point, there wasn't enough differentiation between the shades. What this means for you, the viewer, is lost detail in large, bright areas. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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The LG 60PK750 did a great job with maintaining a consistent color temperature. There were barely any perceptible shifts at all. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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The graph below describes how the LG 60PK750's red, green, and blue channels perform across their full spectra, from most intense to black. As you can see, the curves aren't very smooth at all. There are lots of little bumps along the way, each of which indicates a loss of detail. The curves themselves also indicate a poor performance: this should be a smooth, convex curve, not a diagonal line. The curves' flatness indicate middle-intensity colors have too much differentiation between them and the high-intensity colors don't have enough differentiation. This being said, neither of these flaws is pronounced enough to indicate a horrible picture quality. We'd say the LG 60PK750's color representation was a bit below average compared to other top-of-the-line HDTVs. More on how we test RGB curves.

Below we've graphed the LG 60PK750 along with some competing HDTVs. Keep an eye out for any instances of vertical banding, which indicate a loss of detail. Also, make a note of how smooth or sudden the transition to black is, and where the black point seems to occur: the larger spectra offer the greatest amount of detail.

Motion Performance

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Motion Smoothness (7.00)

The LG 60PK750 didn't really have any significant problems with motion smoothness. Sure, some details were lost as an image moved around the screen, but it performed about as well as any other higher-end set without a special motion feature. Don't expect images to look breathtakingly sharp, but don't expect to notice much blur either.

Motion Artifacting (6.50)

The TV did less well here. There weren't any major artifacting issues, like flashing patterns, but moving images did get noticeably noisy. We also saw minor false coloration along leading or trailing edges, primarily in areas of high contrast. This wasn't particularly noticeable with colored images, but black and white images received a small rainbow border along areas of high contrast. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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Unlike some other LG HDTVs, the 60PK750 didn't have any special modes for 3:2 pulldown. In our experience, Real Cinema Mode is an LG HDTV's only hope for maintaining points on this test, and the 60PK750 was no exception. When fine patterns panned around the screen, they acquired a strobe effect. On a panning shot over the backs of stadium seats, we saw a strong crawling effect. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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Your HDTV will rarely perform at its native resolution. If you watch Blu-rays all day long, the 60PK750 won't have much of a problem. Once you start playing other media, such as standard definition TV, DVDs, or broadcast HD, the TV has to upconvert the signal so it can be properly displayed. For that reason, we run a series of tests with content that's not in the TV's native resolution, just to see if the additional processing causes any hiccups.

We found the LG 60PK750 really didn't have many issues with nonnative content. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

We really didn't see any issues with 480p content. The images were sharp, and the processing didn't cause any funky artifacting.

720p

The TV really didn't have many problems with 720p playback either. Images were negligibly less sharp than we saw with 480p.

1080i

The TV also handled 1080i well overall. The sharpness artifacting that happened around areas of high contrast was a bit more pronounced here than other resolutions. The only other issue we saw is some images flashed for a bit as they appeared on the screen. This only happened for about half a second, after which point they didn't flash until they moved.

Formats

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The LG 60PK750 has a native resolution of 1080p, the highest HD format currently on the market.

Viewing Angle

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For this test, we measure out to the point where your viewing angle would only net you 50% of the contrast ratio you'd get if you were sitting dead center.

Typically plasmas ace this test, and while the LG 60PK750 is no exception, it didn't score as highly as other plasmas we've reviewed. The 60PK750 dipped below 50% contrast about 61° off center, for a total viewing angle of about 122°. This is certainly wide enough for any sort of normal use (LCDs do just fine with a total viewing angle of 60° or less), but other plasmas typically hold their contrast ratio out to 80° or further.

Reflectance

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The 60PK750's screen is comprised of a single, unbroken sheet of glass. That makes it incredibly reflective. Any external light will essentially be mirrored back at you. The same could be said for just about every plasma TV: they're really best enjoyed in windowless caverns.

Video Processing

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The LG 60PK750 has a handful of video processing features. None of them did were noteworthy, mainly because video processing features rarely do anything noteworthy.

Calibration

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Televisions are rarely calibrated for home use right out of the box. Typically, their most vivid, high-contrast features enabled as a default. Since we want to test each TV at its peak performance level, we first calibrate the sets. If you use our calibration settings below, you should be fine; if you really want the best picture experience from your TV, you'll have to pay a professional to calibrate your TV to be ideal for your unique viewing environment.

We didn't actually change too much with the LG 60PK750, but we do have some caveats. First of all, we really didn't change the contrast much. Typically we lower the contrast to get a better color performance; with the 60PK750, we noticed the contrast created some minor artifacting at different settings. Since we didn't gain much color performance from lowering the color setting, we left it at its default to try and keep artifacting to a minimum. The other note we had was regarding the TV's sharpness. Now, LG tends to separate its sharpness into two different slider bars, one for horizontal sharpness and one for vertical sharpness. Altering these settings didn't reduce sharpness artifacting at all: areas of contrast still had false color borders around them, but those borders did get blurrier as we decreased sharpness. Typically adjusting the contrast will remove those artifacts.

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All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

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The LG 60PK750 has a handful of video modes for your perusal, although it isn't very specific on what they do. The modes you can choose from are Vivid, Standard, Natural, THX Cinema, Sport, and Game.

Ergonomics & Durability

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The LG 60PK750 has a decent remote. It sits well in the hand, although that's mainly due to the overall shape of the body and not the silly finger groove on the remote's underside. The groove would have been a lot more useful if we had giant manhands: our petite little ballerina hands couldn't comfortably bridge the gap between a neutral hand position (thumb on the Enter button) and said ergonomic trench. When we were using the volume and channel keys, however, the finger trough was usable and provided decent grip. Overall, it was a solid, well-built remote that had a somewhat unnecessary flourish.

Button Layout & Use

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For the most part the buttons are laid out intelligently. Our main issue wasn't so much with placement as it was with spacing. You'll have to shift your grip to hit more than one main cluster of buttons, unless you have a long, spindly thumb. If you do, congratulations: you can use this remote with slightly more ease than than the average Joe Thumbhaver.

Programming & Flexibility

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The only flexibility the remote offers is the ability to control other LG products, via the proprietary Simplink feature.

Connectivity

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Input Ports (7.50)

The LG 60PK750 has a good selection of input ports, most of which are listed on the chart below. The only port not listed in the chart is a 3.5mm audio input.

Output Ports (1.00)

The TV has a single output: the digital audio out port.

Other Connections (4.00)

The TV has an ethernet port and a port for a wireless adapter (sold separately), which grant access to some online content. You can read more about the LG 60PK750's online offerings here.

Media (2.00)

The TV has two USB ports, which allow it to play back photos and music.

Placement

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The 60PK750 has pretty good port placement for such a gigantic TV. The ports are either on its left side or on a port around the back of its left side. The TV also swivels to allow easier access to the ports on its back. The TV might wobble a bit as you turn it: even though the TV has some solid construction, it might make some people nervous.

Audio Quality

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The LG 60PK750's speakers weren't bad, but they weren't great either. The TV has a surround sound mode, but we wouldn't say it created an enveloping soundspace as much as it made the audio sound a lot less flat and made the bass audible. Pretty average overall for a set of built-in speakers.

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The 60PK750 has a typical LG menu system. The main menu screen is a 5x2 grid of icons that make up the different main menu headers.

Selecting many of the icons will bring you to this screen. A column towards the left side of the window holds shortcuts to other menu items, which will open out to the right. This screen somewhat negates the usefulness of the first screen, but that first one does provide easy access to games and media playback, so it's not truly redundant.

Below is the quick menu, which lets you quickly access a handful of settings, such as changing the aspect ratio, switching picture modes, and setting up a snooze alarm.

Instruction Manual

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The 60PK750's manual is pretty good. It has great pictures The only thing it does well is pictures, which are very detailed and employed frequently, if they are a bit small. The table of contents is very limited, there isn't an index (although there is a brief appendix), and the pages aren't tabbed. The font size is a bit on the small side, but shouldn't be a problem for most people.

You should be able to find the LG 60PK750's manual on its product page, here, but it doesn't look like LG has put it up yet.

A manual for so many TV models, they have to be further categorized by type.

Internet Features

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The LG 60PK750 has a few big names in its online arsenal, such as Netflix, Vudu, and YouTube. What it doesn't have, however, is the breadth of content that other big-name manufacturers are offering. Sony and Samsung both have dozens of content providers on board, offering movies, games, shows, and clips. If you just want Netflix on your TV, the LG will be more than happy to oblige. If you're looking for the most comprehensive HDTV internet experience, try a Sony or a Samsung.

| Service | Our Description |
| Yahoo! TV Widgets | Yahoo! currently widget line-up: weather, a quiz game, sudoku, a Texas Hold'em game, sports (both from Yahoo! and USA Today), videos, finance, news, Flickr, and Twitter. |
| Netflix | This is the biggest name in streaming video nowadays. With an account, you can watch an incredible amount of streaming content. |
| Vudu | Pay-per-view service that specializes in HD videos. They seem to have a decent collection of movies, but paying $25 for a virtual Blu-ray seems pretty steep. |
| YouTube | It's YouTube, only a bit more awkward since you have to navigate with a TV remote. |
| Picasa | It's an online photo album feature, like Flickr, but without the strength of brand. |

The YouTube playback is a wonderful thing.

Local Media Playback

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The LG 60PK750 supports photo playback from a connected USB device. The interface involves a file browser view with the option for fullscreen view. There is no slideshow option, so you'll need to move between photos with the remote. You can have music from the USB drive play in the background.

The LG 60PK750 can also play back MP3 music files. The interface is similar to the one described above, with a file browser view and separate screen for playback. It's a very bare-bones implementation of the feature, but it gets the job done.

Other Media

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There are no additional media features.

Power Consumption

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The LG 60PK750 isn't the least expensive to keep running, but it certainly isn't all that expensive for a 60-inch plasma. If you're watching TV with the Energy Saver feature off or set to Minimum, you'll spend about $65 per year. Again, not insignificant, but it isn't likely to bankrupt you either. If you turn the Energy Saver to Maximum, you'll spend about $42 per year, but you'll definitely notice the change to picture quality: contrast seems to have gone way down, and the picture seems very, very dim.

Below we've made a handy graph comparing the 60PK750 to a few competing TVs. Keep in mind that the 60PK750 is larger than all these competing sets, and it takes extra energy to light that extra screen area.

Value Comparison

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In this match-up, the LG and Panasonic are pretty evenly matched. The LG actually has slightly better online content than the Panasonic and a much better interface for the feature. The Panasonic has a higher contrast ratio and costs a bit less, but the TV is also 10 inches smaller than the LG.

Blacks & Whites

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The Panasonic's black level was significantly deeper than the LG's. Even though the LG was a bit brighter, the Panasonic still netted the higher contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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Both TVs had solid color temperatures and roughly equivalent RGB representation.

Motion

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The LG wasn't as smooth as the Panasonic, but it had much less artifacting.

Viewing Effects

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While both TVs have great viewing angles, the Panasonic's was wider.

Connectivity

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The LG is wifi ready and has better online content than the Panasonic. Also, the LG has an extra HDMI port.

Value Comparison

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The LG 60PK750 honestly can't compete with the Sony KDL-52EX700. The Sony is smaller, yes, but it has better overall picture quality, significantly better online features, and costs less.

Blacks & Whites

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The LG had a slightly deeper black level and a significantly dimmer peak brightness. The Sony had a much higher contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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The LG has a much more even color temperature, but its RGB representation wasn't very good. The Sony ran warm most of the time, but overall, its colors were far more accurate.

Motion

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The Sony out-performed the LG, both in terms of motion smoothness and a lack of artifacting.

Viewing Effects

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The LG has a much larger viewing angle than the Sony.

Connectivity

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The LG and Sony are fairly evenly matched in terms of ports, but Sony has two big advantages. The first is DLNA, which allows you to stream media off a computer in your home network. The second, significantly bigger advantage is its online content. Sony is currently the industry leader in the volume and quality of online content providers.

Value Comparison

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The LG is for people who want a big, decent TV with Netflix. The Samsung is for people who want a big, aesthetic TV with lots of online content for a much higher price.

Blacks & Whites

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The LG had a deeper black level than the Samsung, but the Samsung was about twice as bright as the LG. The Samsung wound up with a higher contrast ratio overall.

Color Accuracy

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The LG's color temperature is much, much more solid than the Samsung's. The Samsung had more accurate RGB curves.

Motion

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The Samsung had a very, very sharp picture, but had about as much artifacting as the LG.

Viewing Effects

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The LG 60PK750's viewing angle is much, much wider than the Samsung's.

Connectivity

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The LG has a few more ports than the UN55C7000, primarily because it has more room to put them. Both are wifi ready and have ethernet ports, but Samsung's available online content completely dwarfs what LG is offering. The Samsung also supports DLNA while the LG does not.

Conclusion

The LG 60PK750 is a decently-priced TV for people who are looking for size and some basic online connectivity. It had decent picture quality: nothing bad enough to put off the average viewer, but certainly not good enough to entice cinephiles. If you can find the 60PK750 at a price that's within your range, and you're sure you want a TV this size, it's a good choice.

Model Series Comparison

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The PK750 series consists of two large 1080p plasma TVs. Both have USB ports for media playback, as well as ethernet ports to connect to online content. The TVs are also wifi ready, meaning they have a port for a separately-purchased adapter.

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

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Meet the tester

Mark Brezinski

Mark Brezinski

Senior Writer

@markbrezinski

Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.

See all of Mark Brezinski's reviews

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