Like any other
major product in its virgin state, the introduction of LCD
monitors into the mainstream required hurdling several
obstacles, with the highest one being price. High prices,
small screens, dead pixels, reliability, response time,
color intensity, and the “grainy look”, all made previous
LCD monitors not very practical for the average PC buyer.
The cons definitely outweighed the pros, but it’s still
always been difficult to resist the space saving design of
the LCD monitor.
Today’s LCD monitors are competitively
priced, offer outstanding reliability, and look better than
ever. The problems that once plagued the LCD industry are
now corrected, and the new trend is focused on functionality
and great looks. The LG 1980Q 19” LCD monitor we are testing
today looks absolutely gorgeous, and offers a plethora of
different features that are sure to make your LCD monitor
experience a good one.
Some Company
Background
LG is an innovative electronics company
that dates back to 1958, when Goldstar was established in
Korea. They created the first radio, television,
refrigerator, air conditioner and telephone in Korea over a
ten year span. Goldstar was the first in the electronics
industry to reach export of $100 million to the United
States, and created their sales subsidiary in the U.S. in
1978.
In 1995, Goldstar changed their name to
LG, which is what they keep using today. After acquiring
Zenith and participating in a joint venture with Philips,
LG-Philips Displays was produced. LG currently employees
over 55,000 people, and it’s primary focus is on Digital TV,
CD/DVD drives, PC’s, monitors, and mobile headsets.
What’s Included
I have reviewed quite a few LG products
in the past, and they usually don’t miss a beat when it
comes to included items. In the box were the monitor, DVI
cable, D-SUB cable, power supply, and even a wall mount
attachment (with anchors and screws). Two sets of
instructions were included, an easy setup guide which was
very large and colorful, and a small driver installation
guide. There are also two disks, one with drivers and the
other contains Forte Manager software. Here is a look from
behind:
And now from the side:
Auto
pivot/mirror function
The most significant feature that will
separate this monitor from others is the fact that it can
tilt and rotate in any direction. The base of the monitor is
connected to a swivel, which enables the user to position
the monitor in any fashion. This type of movement may be
used in a meeting type of environment, from a presenter that
is possibly sharing information on his/her screen.
Ultra Slim Design (2.8” Folded
Height)
Integrated LCD Picture-Enhancing
F-Engine Chip
Heat-Sensor Power On/Off Button and
Controls – control switches without actually depressing
a button
Auto-Pivot / Auto-Mirror Functions –
Auto-pivot is used when spinning the monitor around.
This isn’t new technology, but previous you had to
adjust your display settings to achieve portrait mode.
The monitor’s hardware accomplishes this automatically,
and works great. The auto-mirror function flips the
screen content when you turn the display over. This is
controlled by software, but still works pretty good.
When you flip the monitor over horizontally, the picture
automatically flips so folks viewing the monitor from
behind will see the display in the proper format.
TCO ’99 Low-Emission Complaint
As the manufacturer specs read, the LG
L1980Q goes a step further with its tilt and rotation
capabilities. Software included in the package allows screen
content to be automatically placed for best readability
depending on how you place the monitor.
Also I should add that when shopping for
LG monitors you will notice there are various 19” models
referenced similarly. In order to avoid confusion we
contacted LG who were kind of enough of putting it very
clear terms.
The monitor we received for review is
the L1980Q which is pretty much the same as the
L1981Q, the only difference being the power button where
L1981Q's button is plush (-), so multiple monitors
can be tiled together like the ones at the Wall Street
trading floor. There is also available a L1980U model
which works at a slightly slower response time at 12ms,
while the former two work at 8ms.
