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LG LST-3410A Set-Top Box

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Reviews
October 1, 2004 • Vol.2 Issue 10 Page(s) 84 in print issue
LG LST-3410A Set-Top Box

LG LST-3410A Set-Top Box
$999
www.lge.com

Interested in recording and controlling high-definition television programming, a la TiVo? LG's LST-3410A set-top box combines a high-definition signal decoder and a DVR (digital video recorder). LG's attention to usability and quality fulfills the device's potential, creating a must-have component for HD television aficionados.

The LST-3410A's dual tuner decodes standard-definition NTSC (National Television System Committee) signals (at 480i [interlaced] resolution) and digital ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) signals at 480i, 480p (progressive), 720p, or 1080i. You can specify a set resolution or let the tuner adapt to the source and monitor. Both formats use standard antenna and cable coaxial inputs, in addition to composite video and FireWire connections. The LST-3410A has a full set of outputs, including DVI/HDCP (Digital Visual Interface/high-bandwidth digital content protection), RGB (red-green-blue), component, composite, and S-Video outputs. Digital optical and RCA outputs round out the audio capabilities.

The LGDVR LST-3410A sports a 120GB hard drive for the DVR—enough for 12 hours of HD or 60 hours of SD (Secure Digital) recording. LG included the usual DVR time shifting and recording functions: live TV pausing and rewinding, one-touch recording, and a menu that indexes recorded programs. But one of its most impressive features is the implementation of the EPG (electronic programming guide). LG uses TV Guide On Screen, with an intuitive and attractive interface (similar to your cable company's program listings). Schedule recordings, browse channels, create Favorites lists, or retrieve detailed programming information with a few clicks of the remote. Best of all, the service is entirely free and downloads automatically without a phone or Internet connection.

You can easily set up the LST-3410A with the helpful Quick Setup Guide and its great diagrams. The TV Guide On Screen EPG requires little configuration—just walk through the brief wizard. The menus are easy to navigate and include useful features such as channel scan, DVR recording quality controls, and aspect ratio controls. More importantly, the EPG and DVR functions are a cinch to use. TV Guide is never more than one button away, and the LG's remote is well-designed. Time shifting, recording, and playback are similarly simple. A Program List shows thumbnails of all recordings, with time and listing information for each. Our only complaint is that channels are grouped by type (digital and analog in groups) rather than ordered by number, which can be awkward when channel surfing.

The LST-3410A's image quality is excellent, as we expected (we tested it using Gateway's 56-inch 720p DLP projection TV). And recorded HD material doesn't exhibit any perceptible loss in quality. The ability to match the LST-3410A's resolution output to both your source and destination resolutions helps ensure the best possible image for your display.

If you're converting to the HD way of life and want nearly effortless control over DVR programming, the LG LST-3410A is a no-brainer. It's priced higher than separate HD tuners and DVRs, but the LST-3410A's ability to record and play HD material and its ease of use make it a solid HD tuner.

by Gregory Anderson

DVR Recordings

LG's instructions mention archiving your saved HD recordings to a D-VHS deck but make no mention of archiving the shows to more common (and lower-quality) media. You'll need somewhere to offload all those "Simpsons" episodes you haven't got around to watching yet, so we'll show you how to save those programs to VHS tapes or DVDs.

Standard-definition DVRs make it easy to archive recordings to a VCR or DVD recorder. LG doesn't make it quite as easy, but you can still do it. Keep in mind, though, that you'll lose that spectacular high-definition video quality and multichannel audio when you save your HD recordings to SD media such as videotapes. Even for SD recordings, the conversion through analog signals will often affect image quality.

To archive recorded shows, change the LST-3410's Display Format setting to the highest quality connection your recording device can accept. For example, we connected the LST-3410A's composite A/V outputs to a VCR's front-panel inputs. We cued up a tape, set the tuner's Display Format to Video, made sure the VCR was set to the right channel (you can check to make sure it's passing the signal through to the display), and started recording. The process works for SD and HD content alike, though you'll notice the most degradation in HD quality when converted to VHS.

Archiving shows to DVD is a similar process. If your DVD recorder accepts S-video, component, or even DVI inputs, connect the cables, set the LST-3410A to the appropriate output, make sure the signal is coming through, and record. You'll experience less image degradation with DVD, though DVD recordable media costs more than VHS tapes.

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