Cons: No height adjust, limited tilt adjust, touch buttons
The Bottom Line: Good picture, good price, but marred by touch senstive buttons, hard to cotnrol menus, and no height adjustments make this an overall average monitor.
nad_masters's Full Review: LG W2353V-PF 23 inch Monitor
Lets get specs out of the way: the LG W2353V-PF claims 23" worth of wide diagonal real estate, 2ms of fast pixel transitions (response time), and a native resolution of a 1080p HDTV (1920x1080). The image contrast ratio is rated at 50000:1, but they say it's dynamic (uses backlight dimming to achieve this).
All of those specs are what drew me to this monitor. Honestly, I can't tell if the 2ms response time really made the image crisper during fast movements, or if the contrast ratio makes the image pop more. All I can say is "I like what I'm seeing".
LG W2353V-PF 23" Widescreen Monitor
LG seems to be climbing the ladder when it comes to reputation. Samsung did this a while back, and it seems like the Koreans are fighting the Japanese off with some really quality products! Even their cars seem to get better and better.
I've owned many of their optical drives, including the latest BluRay burner. I was actually considering a Samsung monitor since I love their HDTVs (actually own one!). The picture quality was just plain stunning! However, the price tag for all of the above's touted specs drew me in. For $209 with free shipping at NewEgg, I just couldn't help but hit the virtual shopping cart.
Even before then, I was able to see how pretty it looked first hand at a display in Fry's Electronics. The shiny and glossy bezel, the touch sensitive controls, and the soft glowing and fading LEDs. This monitor has an elegance to it that's hard to describe!
The technical specs are also enticing. Besides the above listed, this monitor also have a VGA, DVI and (gasp) HDMI inputs! The DVI and HDMI inputs are both HDCP compliant, so if your video card is also compliant, you can watch BluRay movies on this display at the native 1080p resolution!
In Use
When I first turned it on, I found the display to be overly bright. It was just too blinding! I ran the display calibration tool in Windows Media Center to adjust the display to a more natural color, temperature, and brightness. The display turned out some decent pictures.
I found that in total blackness, there is a bit brighter on the sides. It's not distracting by any means, but it seems worse than the 46" Samsung HDTV we have, as well as my previous monitor. With a picture on the screen, it is not noticeable at all.
There's no noticeable ghosting when playing fast action games or movies - especially when watching BluRay discs. The 60fps really shows this off.
Colors do seem vibrant and stand out when there is a dark background. Disney animated movies are a joy to watch on this screen!
Text on white is pretty good. The white isn't too bright after I calibrated the monitor, but this is a good thing if you do a lot of reading on a white background.
To calibrate, you have to use the touch sensitive controls, which I absolutely hated! The thought of touch sensitive buttons is nice, but I find myself accidentally invoking the menus when I brush up against the area where the buttons are. The same goes for the power "button". There is a visual feedback that tells you when you touched the button, but a LED fading in and out where the button you touched is located.
Also, the buttons are hard to see. While there are some pictorials on the area, it's hard to make them out on the dark bezel. I find myself trying to remember which area does what, and sometimes finding myself hitting the wrong one. The menus are also a bit confusing and difficult to navigate.
Lastly, because of the glossy plastic, the darn thing just attracts dust like nothing else! Seems like smooth surface creates a static cling effect. Not only this, but because it is so shiny, every speck of dust seem to be visible on this thing!
Lastly, the stand doesn't allow for much tilt or any height adjustments. I had to stick a few magazines below the base just to raise it to eye level.
The Upshot
For the price, I'd have to say this monitor is pretty good. However, there's a few nagging things about it. And the nagging seems to pile up.
Still, if it's picture quality you're after, you can't beat it at this price. Oh sure, there are better, but you do end up paying much more. I was looking to get a widescreen to replace my nice Samsung monitor, which is a 4:3 ratio screen. I miss the height space, but the widescreen seem to curtail the need for a dual-screen set up.
Taken to account the price, the picture quality, and the annoyances, I'd give it an overall score of "average".
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 209 Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
The LG brand name stands for 'life's good' and who can argue when you see the W2353V-PF? This ultra-large 23” LCD monitor meets or beats the standar...More at Newegg.com
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