Product Reviews

PC manufacturers seem to have cottoned on to the green revolution recently, with systems arriving in the Labs boasting ever-lower power consumption. But there remains a weak link: the monitor.

LG is aiming to change that with its latest offering: a 22in widescreen display that draws a claimed 22W in use and just 0.3W in standby. Its press release boasts of a 45% reduction in power consumption over a standard 22in monitor and in our quick tests it delivered on those claims. We plugged it in and measured a peak draw of just 20W compared with peaks of between 37W and 45W from last month's 22in group test. Very impressive.

Power savings aside, the W2252TE is a good quality display in its own right. Despite a maximum brightness of just 250cd/m2, we needed to lower it to around 85, and the contrast to 70, before it was comfortable to use - the reduced power certainly doesn't result in a weaker backlight.

A slightly cold tone pervades the LG at 6,500K, which results in a lack of vibrancy when lined up next

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to the A-Listed L206WU, but for document editing the W2252TE is superb. Colour gradients were smooth and the 10,000:1 dynamic contrast makes for plenty of detail in movies, during both dark and light scenes.

The design is reminiscent of Samsung's latest range, with a curved bottom edge and a glossy black finish. The stand is a little wobbly and only tilts and there are no integrated speakers, but you do get the usual choice of DVI (with HDCP) and VGA video inputs. The OSD is clear and simple to use, and the buttons are placed sensibly at the bottom left of the screen.

We're slightly less convinced about LG's assertion that the monitor is "Fun" - in fact the jingle that sounds each time you switch the monitor on and off is more likely to irritate than put a smile on your face. But it can at least be switched off. Other options include viewing a widescreen image in 4:3; zooming on a particular area of screen and, most pointless of all, changing your display to sepia-toned, monochrome or (we kid you not) Gaussian blur.

We're not quite sure why manufacturers think people want such frivolous extras, but in all other respects the LG is a solid and desirable monitor. It's not up there with LG's own L206WU or Samsung's superb 2232BW, but the green credentials give it a charm that could sway your opinion.