THE NEW LG 55EC9300

Design
The 55EA9800 was no slouch in design, but the 55EC9300 manages to one-up it by replacing its wide, clear acrylic base with a single curved slab of metal. The matte silver-colored metal base is built directly into the screen, with no need for assembly, and while it has a relatively small, oval-shaped footprint, it holds up the HDTV without a hint of wobble. The base sports a glossy metal "OLED" logo, and is given a bit more distinctiveness (which arguably spoils some of its elegance) with a round bump protruding from the bottom of the screen toward the base with LG's own logo.

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The screen itself is curved and incredibly thin, measuring less than 0.2 inches along the chrome-framed edges. The display is nearly completely bezel-free, with only a hint of silver peeking out as a millimeter-thick border. It thickens to about two inches at the middle third of the panel to hold all of the electronics necessary to run it. Because the edges are so thin, the EC9300 has to be moved by the base and middle part to avoid risk of damage.

Three HDMI ports and three USB ports sit on the back of the screen, facing left. A fourth HDMI port, an antenna/cable connection, component and composite inputs (3.5mm ports with adapters), an optical audio output, and an Ethernet port face downwards. A combination power button and control stick sits on the lower-right corner of the back of the screen. The ports and control stick are all located inward, on the thicker part of the display that houses the electronics; the side thirds of the screen are nothing but slim, flat OLED panel.

LG remains remarkably consistent with its connected HDTV remote design. The EC9300 uses the same Magic Remote the company's other high-end screens have used for years. It's a curved wand with a prominent navigation pad surrounding a clickable scroll wheel. It has relatively few buttons, with Home, Voice Search, Live TV, Back, and Power buttons surrounding the navigation pad and four color buttons, Volume Up/Down, Channel Up/Down, Input, 3D, and Mute buttons below it. The remote doubles as an air mouse, moving an on-screen pointer with a wave of the hand. The combination of navigation pad and motion controls makes it simple to jump between different menu selections, though it's easy to inadvertently switch between them by moving the remote too much while you're clicking buttons.

Features
LG's newest HDTV interface is powered by WebOS, which has evolved from a mobile device platform (it was originally PalmOS) into a connected television platform. It emphasizes a simple, friendly menu design that integrates different media sources and adapts itself to your viewing habits. We look into the structure and technology of WebOS in depth in our review of the LG 65UB9500$2,498.99 at Dell, which includes an analysis of how the menus are designed.

WebOS includes access to all of the usual media streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and YouTube, plus a host of other apps available through LG and a functional Web browser. It even supports Skype video calls with an optional webcam. Like many high-end HDTVs, the 55EC9300 incorporates live television into its interface, either directly through a cable or antenna connection or with a set-top box connected through an HDMI port. It can show what's currently on, suggest programming, and change channels. It doesn't offer a full program guide, but it's a handy feature if you just want to see what's on now.

The HDTV supports passive 3D, and comes with two pairs of glasses and two pairs of clip-on 3D filters you can put over your own glasses. The clip-ons are a nice touch that makes it much easier for glasses wearers to enjoy 3D. I watched IMAX Under the Sea 3D in Blu-ray on the EC9300, and the effect was excellent. The 3D was crisp and showed notable depth, and I noticed no ghosting even when viewing the screen from different angles. This was one of the few cases where the curved screen seemed to make a difference, because the edges bending toward the viewer helped enhance the 3D effect and give the display a more realistic look.