Excellent Analogue-Input 15" XGA Panel
Written: Dec 13 '04
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Pros: Excellent post-calibration image quality, great price and build quality
Cons: Analog-input, small.
The Bottom Line: For an affordable, small, XGA (1024x768), analog-input, LCD panel you can't go wrong with the LG L1520B
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| americanbear's Full Review: LG L1520B 15 inch LCD Monitor |
A Cheap LG Monitor, excellent, are you serious?
The LG L1520B was on sale at Best Buy for $259 after $70 in rebates. While I really wanted a digital input LCD, I couldn't afford the $329 17" LG (though I'm wishing I had got it...). I've always been a fan of LG products (since they became LG, the old Goldstar stuff was truly awful). LG claimed at the time at the merger creating LG was more than a name change, that it was a change in commitment to quality. I've found this true, and this monitor is no exception. To quote from LG's website ( http://www.lge.com/experience/story/story_secondinnovation.jsp ):
"The revision of CI was more than a mere name change. It transformed the organizational culture and attitude of its employees. The change marked the beginning of LG Electronics' journey to becoming a world leader."
and
""Reach the top in quality and quantity by 2005 and become the Best Global Company that has a brand synonymous with customer satisfaction and a workplace that employees are proud to call their own.""
LG Electronics Has Effectively Reached Their Goal
Walking into a store, LG was my brand preference, not something I'd buy because it was cheap. They had a Samsung for $10 less (again, a 15" analog-input. Best Buy doesn't display 15" LCDs, but comparing the 17" versions, the LG looked much better both before and after adjusting the settings the best I could. Getting it home, this LG is probably the nicest LCD panel which I have seen, no dead pixels out of box whatsoever (the reason I didn't buy online, ALL LCD brands have units with dead pixels, it's much easier to exchange in a store as dead pixels aren't considered a problem until there are a couple or even more). I've been lucky with LCDs, I've never had a dead pixel, and I hope that luck continues. I've used lot's of other LCDs with dead pixels and they drive me crazy.
Style
The LG 1520b is a very stylish black with silver chrome trim, ultra-modern it makes a good fashion statement and fits in any room. It's back snaps off to reveal the connectors then snaps back on to cover the unsightly cable connections in a situation where one can see the back of the monitor. Unfortunately, they wreck this by including beige power and monitor cables, but both of these are standard and you can easily substitute black cables if you wish.
What about the 1520b's performance
Part One - Colour Quality
After calibration, using Apple's ColorSync on my Mac and Adobe Gamma on my Windows PC, the color quality of this monitor is excellent. Slightly oversaturated and a little blueish in my opinion, but overall excellent. Post calibration it looks way better than the average users uncalibrated monitor.
Pre-calibration it wasn't bad, but with the default settings the gamma was way too high (gamma value too low). Apple's ColorSync estimated a 1.3 gamma for the mid gamma setting on the monitor. This is fairly typical for LCDs but it's high compared to the Apple default of 1.8 and the Windows default of 2.2 (2.2 matching a typical CRT). This is inherent in LCD technology, but most are better corrected than this. My guess is LG wanted a "bright" look with the default settings when viewed in the store (the same reason color TVs are so messed up looking out of the box). Setting it to the lowest gamma setting, ColorSync guesstimated it at around 1.7. Pretty good. Software calibration from here, and a monitor brightness setting of 80% and it was lookin' good.
Part Two - Image Clarity
Excellent. Especially considering the analog input. Sharp, clear text, and great results on all test patterns in displaymate. No clock/phase issues detectable to my eyes whatsoever after using the auto adjust button. Some noise detected in the solid black, I'd say a little worse than average, this is an analog input issue. I really wish these low end monitors had DVI connections, oh well. Not noticeable in normal operation.
Part Three - Image Response
Not thoroughly tested by me, I noticed no issues in my limited video testing and game. LCDs have honestly gotten to where they're all fine to a normal person with this, and it no longer needs addressed for typical use in my opinion. If you're a heavy gamer, I'd suggest further research as the response time rating is on the slow side - 25ms. Mathematically, this is 40 frames per second. Compared to a 16ms response time which gives 62.5 fps. Remember that movies are 24fps, Euro TV is 25fps, and American TV is 29.97fps. And there's almost no flicker whatsoever (except with specifically designed interference patterns). I wouldn't worry about it myself.
Conclusion
In it's price category (super low end analog 15" XGA) this is an excellent LCD panel. I'd go all out for the 17" version with DVI if I could, but if you're reading this review that's likely not the type of product you're looking. For a basic LCD, or an LCD for the kids I'd highly recommend this product. It's small size and low resolution won't satisfy all. This is a replacement for a standard 17" CRT monitor. It's the same resolution, almost as big of viewable area, and much easier to read/easier on the eyes. If that sounds like what you need, buy it :) Well worth the money
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 269
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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Epinions.com ID:
americanbear
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Member: Mark Uhde
Location: Montana, USA
Reviews written: 67
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Thanks for reading my reviews! Learn more in my profile or at markuhde.com
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