LG Flatron W2442PA in Monitors

Most TFTs we see these days are very consistent in their image quality. Excluding professional TFTs from the likes of Eizo and LaCie, few really jump out, but LG's W2442PA managed it.

Part of the reason for the LG's success is that it has one of the few dynamic contrast modes we've seen that works, without wildly swinging the backlight up and down in an attempt to be as distracting as possible to the human eye. Admittedly, we had to lower the brightness quite a bit to get the ideal results, but it's worth trying out - which is something we don't say often.

Even without the F-Engine making blacks blacker, our black test screen was impressive, with no visible backlight bleed. Colours were nicely neutral - a tad less vibrant than the Samsung SM2494HM, but that's a matter of personal preference - and gradient ramps were perfectly smooth. The backlight was a tad uneven in places, but not enough to be noticeable on anything but an all-white screen.

Wall-E was a feast for the eyes in Full HD, while our test images showed a good level of detail in shadowy areas. Fast motion proved no problem thanks to the 2ms response time, and the integrated 1W speakers were just about up to the task of pumping out some atmosphere during a gaming session - just don't expect them to fill a room.

The LG comes with the flexibility you'd hope for at this size, lifting through 11cm and pivoting to portrait mode. And on top of the solid round stand sits a stylish yet understated black frame, with HDMI, DVI and VGA ports on the rear, as well as in and out 3.5mm audio connectors.

It also comes with a three-year on-site warranty, so the only major features the Samsung can boast over this LG are its USB ports and superior speakers. If you're happy to live without those, and don't mind a slightly less gorgeous design, you'd do well to save yourself a bit and go for the LG W2442PA.

Author: David Bayon