LG also built in a full “Smart TV” system into the SoundPlate, so those who pined for the admittedly well designed, useful and usable LG “Smart TV’ technology now have access to it. Looking at the front grill, this is betrayed by the thin slit which readies the auto-feed mechanism when a disc is inserted. That’s because a LG Blu-ray player is already built in. Those worrying about there not being enough audio inputs to handle a cable box/satellite receiver or some other device needn’t be concerned, at least as far as connecting a video disc player goes. The optical can be used for audio from an attached device, such as the TV, providing it emits Dolby Digital as otherwise the SoundPlate’s internal decoders for it and DTS (plus high-resolution) are rendered useless.
Connections are minimal: a HDMI input and output, an optical digital audio input, a USB input and one for wired Ethernet. The SoundPlate’s main chassis can hold an up-t0-55” TV, and add very little height overall. It looks like LG figured that out, because the LAB540W 4.1 Ch 320W SoundPlate does have the capability of taking over for an audio receiver and speakers. But to integrate as the audio system of a home theater, this “sound table” needs to do more than just cram speakers and electronics into a shell. The whole idea behind a “sound table” is to provide convenient amplified sound from the television or any video device that is playing on it.