monitor

LG Flatron W2353V review

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LG Flatron W2353V

This is the second of 3 entries about the LG Flatron W2353V (sponsored link), a 23″ flat screen TFT monitor that LG have asked me to review. In my previous post, I went over the basics. Meanwhile, in this entry, I’ll go into a little more detail about the screen and what it is like to use.

Compared to my previous monitor, a 17″ ViewSonic VX715 which I bought in 2005, the Flatron comes in a relatively small box. This is partly due to the detachable base and less polystyrene, so there’s less waste. In the box is the monitor (obviously…), the base, power lead, DVI cable, VGA cable, quick start guide and a CD-ROM. The CD-ROM disc presumably contains the manual and drivers but oddly my MacBook couldn’t read it.

1920x1080 desktop

In any case, the screen works fine on Mac OS X without any extra drivers. Despite me having a first generation MacBook with Intel GMA 950 onboard graphics, it can still manage the screen’s native resolution of 1920×1080. This provides a huge amount of screen space. The screenshot above should give some indication of just how much window space you get. It’s enough to show a 2 megapixel image at actual size.

Instead of using buttons, you simply touch labels on the bottom of the screen. The ‘Smart’ button is used to activate features such as auto-contrast, and the ‘Fun’ button lets you apply a sepia or black and white filter to the screen. There’s also the standard menu and a button to switch between multiple input sources.

If I had any complaints it would be the plastic-y feel of the construction. It feels a little cheap – especially the thin transparent strip at the bottom of the screen. This does, however, make the screen very light and easy to carry as there’s very little metal in the construction. The touch areas aren’t very sensitive so sometimes you have to touch more than once for it to register the action.

Overall I’m really happy with it. The size means it’s fantastic for watching films and television programmes on BBC iPlayer, even from a distance. I don’t have any Blu-Ray discs but I’m sure they would look good too thanks to its full HD support.

If this all sounds convincing, watch out for a competition that I’ll be holding in the coming days to win your very own model!

LG Flatron W2353V

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This post is coming to you via my new LG Flatron W2353V TFT monitor!

I’ll be posting one or two entries about this screen as LG have asked me to review it for them. There will also be a chance to win your very own monitor as well, details of which will be posted in the coming days.

Since I know may of you are techie people, here are the technical details:

  • Features LG’s SMART technology, which automatically adjusts the screen brightness depending on how much light is around the monitor – this is to help reduce eye strain, and also reduces power consumption by up to 25% in well-lit rooms.
  • Cinema mode, designed for sites like YouTube – when activated, the non-movie part of the screen is dimmed, so that you can focus on the movie.
  • 2 millisecond response time and no after-image
  • 50:000 to 1 dynamic contrast ratio, to ensure that images are still bright and detailed even in high-light conditions.
  • Has VGA, DVI and HDMI ports, so you can connect your XBox 360, PlayStation 3 or a Sky+ HD box to it without needing any special adaptors. Comes with VGA and DVI cables in the box.
  • Native 1920×1080 resolution.
  • And it’s a whopping 23 inches across!

I’m really pleased with it so far, even it is rather large, but that’s because I’m mostly used to a 13-inch MacBook screen – this is almost twice the size. The resolution is also mind-blowing – you can have many more windows open on the same desktop.

Part 2 of my review, where I go a little beyond my initial observations, will follow tomorrow.