The 32LG40 is the 32-inch option in LG's LG40 series of 720p LCD televisions with integrated DVD players. The TV has a glossy black bezel with a small, equally-glossy burgundy strip at the bottom and retails for a suggested price of $850.

The DVD player supports playback of photos and music as well as DVD movies. There are three HDMI ports on board, but beyond that the connectivity options are basic, with only one set of component cables. The TV also have a USB port on its side, which is mentioned in its spec sheet, but it's for service use only.

The 32LG40's remote is a bit awkward due to its tall, thin, bottom-heavy design. There's no ideal grip and you'll have to shift the remote's position to access any given set of controls. The TV's menu system was intuitive, but contains an additional initial screen that seems superfluous: regardless of what you pick from the initial screen, you still get sent to the same tabbed menu, albeit to different sections therein. The TV's speakers were average for built-in speakers, if you want a surround sound experience you'll need to purchase a separate set of speakers. 

Performance (Read the full lab performance results at Televisioninfo.com)
The 32LG40 had trouble producing deep blacks, which results in a loss detail in dark scenes. The TV also didn't have a very high peak brightness, which resulted in an unimpressive total contrast ratio. In terms of color, the 32LG40 did a bit better. The one issue we saw is that blues don't drop off entirely as they shift towards black. This means that most blacks will always contain a bit of blue. For most users, however, this effect won't be noticeable. 

We did see some significant motion blurring, however. The 32LG40 also suffered from artifacting as intricate objects moved around, which most commonly manifested itself as a shuddering effect. The TV did have an impressive viewing angle for an LCD, however. Typically LCDs have very poor viewing angles and contrast drops off sharply unless you're viewing from a straight-on angle; this was not the case with the 32LG40. 

Conclusion & Comparisons (Read more in-depth comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)
The 32LG40 is a basic 32-inch HDTV. As such, it doesn't have a lot of the advanced features commonly seen on mid-range or high-end sets, such as a LAN or wireless internet connection. The 32LG40 partially makes up for this with its integrated DVD player , which gives it functionality above and beyond the average entry-level.

As is the case with a great deal of entry-level HDTVs, the 32LG40 had some performance issues. The buil-in DVD player can be helpful if you want to save space, but DVD players aren't a big ticket item. For example you can purchase the Samsung LN32A450, which had slightly better performance, for about $500. At that price you can afford a separated DVD player and still have some money left over. If you want to buy an HDTV for a dorm room or similar small space, however, the 32LG40 may be a good fit.