LG Flatron L1730P review

With 17in TFTs now mainstream, there's a huge amount of competition for the business of both corporate and consumer customers. And with a variety of features, the L1730P ticks all the right boxes.

There are D-SUB and DVI-D connectors available at the back, discreetly hidden behind a slide-down panel that also conceals the built-in power supply. A two-port USB hub is also included, which you can attach to the base; it's hidden by the stand in normal use. The stand itself offers an easily moved 60mm height adjust, tilt and the ability to switch into portrait mode. However, the small, round footprint means it isn't the most stable panel.

Our technical tests showed pixel jitter to be entirely absent from the D-SUB input, but there were issues elsewhere. At the default settings, colour balance was notably weak in the red area of the spectrum, leaving certain colour combinations looking unbalanced. There was also defined stepping in colour ramps, where we'd expect to see a consistent and seamless graduation. Colour gamut is good, if not exceptional, with extreme ends of the spectrum showing a slight lack of distinction.

For the most part, these won't be noticeable flaws, but it does mean you can't be absolutely sure about the colour accuracy when editing photos or proofing documents. DVD playback wasn't impressive either, despite the quoted 12ms response time. Motion lag was highly noticeable on moving images, and also proved to be a distraction when gaming. That's a shame as viewing angles are above par on both axes, and detail is crisply defined.

Through the OSD menu system, it's possible to set the colour temperature from 5,400K through to 9,300K, as well as an RGB user profile. Gamma is also adjustable in three steps, but none of these settings were able to correct the disappointing colour performance.

There's a lot to like about the L1730P, but it doesn't come close to the Iiyama ProLite E431S. The LG's greater brightness and vivid colours are initially attractive, but the poor media performance and inaccurate colour handling are inexcusable at this price.

Author: Ross Burridge