LG1980U Mini Review

cyKey · 6 Feb 2005 at 16:30

Vegetarian said:
I do think there seems to be a quality control with this LG TFT as the one I reviewed was superb! However the buttons where troublesome and others have noted this too! Where did you get your model from Cykey

I got mine from a competitor as OcUK didn't have any in stock at the time.

Big Chris · 6 Feb 2005 at 16:47

Hmmmm... I think I might wait a few months before buying one on the strength of these comments, hopefully that'll give LG some time to sort them out.
Who knows, the price may even have dropped by then too... (VX912 now just over £300 inc. VAT)

khal8296 · 10 Feb 2005 at 23:43

Vegeterian

What settings have you got the TFT at?
Contrast, brightness Hz..etc?

I find it very bright and harsh on the eyes.

Big Chris · 18 Feb 2005 at 23:53

Now you guys have had these monitors for a bit, what are your opinions? (This goes to anyone else who's bought one too).

Was expecting more comments on this one, thought it was going to be a winner!

Anyone else not getting on with the controls, or got anything to say about the picture quality?

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 00:00

Controls are a bit fiddly, its easy to press the wrong touch sensitive button, however the software covers everything. I see cross hatching/chequered patterns across the whole screen whenever there is movement, like a corner of the VX912b but unlike the whole L90D+ screen. Possibly due to it switching between colours to make 16.7M, and therefore a problem with TN screens?

From badass's thread-

About 10 to 15% of all people are able to see the dither cycling on TN screens and many of them are disturbed by the resulting checkered artifacts, making them unable to use such displays regularly.

Big Chris · 19 Feb 2005 at 11:02

wsh said:
I see cross hatching/chequered patterns across the whole screen whenever there is movement, like a corner of the VX912b but unlike the whole L90D+ screen. Possibly due to it switching between colours to make 16.7M.

Would you say this is worse than other screens available in this price range?
I'm close to buying one of these but I'm put off by some of the comments in this thread.

khal8296 · 19 Feb 2005 at 14:23

I have to say after my initial reaction - which was one of a noob as i have never had a TFT before, came from a 19" CRT Iiyama.
The controls were at first very fiddly but that was due to me not being use to them. Now that i am use to them i find them very easy to use and i like them! Especially the on/off switch - just got to touch it or run my finger near it and it does what it should.

As for the screen - at first i did find it very bright but now it is no problem at all. I managed to turn brightness down to 0 and contrast down to 30 and now its easy on the eyes. I think you just got to let your eyes get use to it. I think anyone coming from CRT to TFT will have this problem but give it a a week and your eyes should be fine after that. Just got to let them adapt to *** new technology.

I especially like the auto setting button. One touch and it sizes the screen so that you dont have anything hidden in the corners and stuff. It fits everything on nicely so you dont have to fiddle about with it.

People have mentioned about cross-hatching but i havent noticed this at all! Maybe im lucky who knows.....

I really love this monitor and im glad i got it!

My set-up - isnt it cute

Big Chris · 19 Feb 2005 at 14:40

I have to say it does look the part, and I've been on a 17" CRT for as long as I can remember so I doubt I'll see much of the issues other people have, I tend not to be too fussy about such things. Just wanted to know if the picture was obviously poor.

khal8296 · 19 Feb 2005 at 15:14

Big Chris said:
Just wanted to know if the picture was obviously poor.

To me its the biz...nothing wrong with it at all!

jamjar · 19 Feb 2005 at 15:51

khal8296 said:
To me its the biz...nothing wrong with it at all!

In my view LG or Viewsonic you can,t go wrong,and as you said people tend to go silly about the smallest of things they can or can,t do etc etc ,if the pictures are clear then thats it ..buy one !

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 16:33

jamjar said:
In my view LG or Viewsonic you can,t go wrong,and as you said people tend to go silly about the smallest of things they can or can,t do etc etc ,if the pictures are clear then thats it ..buy one !

There is a lot more to a TFT than a clear picture, but if thats whats important then the the 2D image quality in windows with the 'f-engine' setting on 'user' is very good. Blacks are deep and colours are vibrant. However turn off the 'f-engine' setting and the picture gets a bit washed out with grey blacks and pale colours. However the 'user' setting is too dark for films and games need the gamma turned up so see dark areas.

The cross hatching I mentioned during movement can only be seen up to 0.5 metres away from the screen so if you intend to sit further away it will not be a problem. You may not even find it bothersome. I can see it on most TFTs if I look very very close but in my experience on the 1980U it is the worst since the patterning is quite large and apparent.

Gethzemane · 19 Feb 2005 at 16:49

Big Chris said:
Would you say this is worse than other screens available in this price range? I'm close to buying one of these but I'm put off by some of the comments in this thread.

i found the cross hatching/chequered patterns across the screen to be un-acceptable, its great doing 2D stuff, normal websurfing etc. But as stated the hatching combinwd with the need to lower the brightness to 0 to make it usable made me send it back. Looks great though and hopefully the next revision will iron out the bugs of this new monitor.

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 17:06

Gethzemane said:
i found the cross hatching/chequered patterns across the screen to be un-acceptable, its great doing 2D stuff, normal websurfing etc. But as stated the hatching combinwd with the need to lower the brightness to 0 to make it usable made me send it back. Looks great though and hopefully the next revision will iron out the bugs of this new monitor.

Thats three of us that has noticed this problem so far with the 1980U on these boards then. Its not just me being super picky. Both CYkey and Gethzemane have sent theirs back. I will probably do the same. I have an RMA number for it.

Big Chris · 19 Feb 2005 at 17:46

I'm in two minds now, I mostly view web pages while on my machine, but watch films/The Simpsons a lot too (I've managed to collect every episode so far).
Do you think there will be a next revision of this monitor?

cyKey · 19 Feb 2005 at 17:54

wsh said:
Thats three of us that has noticed this problem so far with the 1980U on these boards then. Its not just me being super picky. Both CYkey and Gethzemane have sent theirs back. I will probably do the same. I have an RMA number for it.

Yer it was really annoying. I do a lot of photography so I need a crystal clear screen so I know that the image is right. So i sent mine back. Plus the top half was darker than the bottom.

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 17:57

Big Chris said:
I'm in two minds now, I mostly view web pages while on my machine, but watch films/The Simpsons a lot too (I've managed to collect every episode so far).

Have you seen the comments I made in my thread **click here** specifically mentioning the Simpsons!

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 18:01

Looking at the design of the 1980U I have just realised its almost a carbon copy of the Samsung 193P

Big Chris · 19 Feb 2005 at 18:11

wsh said:
Have you seen the comments I made in my thread click here specifically mentioning the Simpsons!

Sounds good! What's the extra software you mention that sorts the image out and allows you to control the picture from the PC rather than the controls on the monitor? Is it something you get with it or can you download it?

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 18:20

You get the software on a CD. However its a buggy version. You can download a version two generations newer from the LG site using the link provided in the software.

wsh · 19 Feb 2005 at 18:23