LG Flatron E2350V

The LG Flatron E2350V is essentially LG's version of the Samsung SyncMaster XL2370: a thin, 23-inch monitor, with an LED backlight and a minimalist aesthetic design. The E2350V is sleek, although not quite as stylish or unique-looking as the XL2370 or its updated version, the Samsung PX2370, which both stand out thanks to their transparent necks. The E2350V has great games performance, on par with the XL2370 and PX2370; however, the PX2370 has a slight performance edge in movies, because of a seemingly deeper color gamut. Thanks to its black-level control feature, the E2350V has a lower black level than either Samsung monitor, but unfortunately, it also has a dimmer screen than the two.

The E2350V's trump card is its lower, $280 price. That's $20 less than the XL2370 and $30 less than the PX2370. The E2350V also has unique features like an ambient light sensor and a headphone jack. If you're looking for an LED monitor, go with the PX2370 because of its superior performance. If price is a concern, however, you can't go wrong with the E2350V. It has the performance, features, and the looks to make it well worth its price.

Design and features
The 23-inch LG Flatron E2350V looks like it was modeled directly after the Samsung SyncMaster XL2370. Both monitors have similarly thin profiles, with virtually the same physical dimensions; however, with its transparent neck and edges the XL2370 has an aesthetic flare the E2350V can't match. The Flatron E2350V's panel depth measures 0.65 inch, which is slightly more than the XL2370's considerably thin 0.6-inch depth. The Flatron E2350V's bezel measures 0.9 inch, which is shorter than the XL2370's 1.1-inch. The full width of the Flatron E2350V is 22 inches, and that's about the same as most 23-inch monitors. The Flatron E2350V's screen has a matte finish and its glossy, black neck is similarly curved like the XL2370's. The oval-shaped footstand measures 9.9 inches wide and 8.4 inches deep. Although the display wobbles considerably when knocked from the sides, we don't think it's in any great danger of toppling over, given the well-designed distribution of its light, 7.38-pound weight. The bottom of the bezel sits 2.8 inches from the desktop, about the same as the XL2370.

Like the XL2370, the screen height isn't adjustable and there aren't screen-rotation or pivot options for portrait mode. The capability to tilt the screen back 10 or 90 degrees is its only included ergonomic feature. The Flatron E2350V's connection options include DVI-D, HDMI, and VGA, and a headphone jack. All connections sit on the back in the lower midsection of the panel and face backward, instead of down like on most monitors, making them easy to access.

The Flatron E2350V includes an onscreen display (OSD) array in the lower-right-hand side of the bezel, with the power button to the right of the array. The power button resides above a cool-looking grayish-white LED stripe, and each OSD button is denoted with a small LED dot of the same color. Touching any of the dots brings up the OSD, with each dot perfectly aligned to the onscreen option of the OSD. The array consists of six different buttons: Menu, Smart+, F Engine, Auto, Input, and Exit. With each new menu screen, the buttons alter their function, acting instead as the "up," "down," or "previous menu" buttons, making navigating the menu a simple endeavor.

Pressing the Menu button allows you to navigate through Brightness, Contrast, and Sharpness controls. LG also includes a Black Level control--which includes two settings: low and bright--that affords the E2350V a lower black level than most monitors have. The OSD also includes controls for color temperature--including individual RGB controls--gamma control, a volume control for the headphone jack, and an ambient light feature called Auto Bright that adjusts the display's brightness depending on the amount of ambient light in the room. Presets include Standard, Movie, Game, and Sports. Each preset provides a preview of its settings, by dividing the screen in half: on the left is what it's currently set to, and on the right is what it could look like with the preset.

The LG Flatron E2350V's 16:9 aspect ratio supports a "Full HD" native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels. This continues the trend of more and more monitor vendors moving toward 16:9 from 16:10 because high-definition content--in particular 1080p movies--can fit onto a 1,920x1,080-pixel screen in full-screen mode without stretching the image.

Performance
We tested the LG Flatron E2350V with its DVI connection. The display posted a composite score of 94 on CNET Labs' DisplayMate-based performance tests, just below the XL2370's 96, and the PX2370's 97. Thanks to its black-level control feature, the LG Flatron E2350V demonstrated a low black level in our grayscale tests; lower even than the PX2370. However, the E2350V and the PX2370 allowed virtually the same amount of light through their respective screens in our dark-screen test. The PX2370 seemed to have a larger color gamut as evidenced by our color scales test, where the LG Flatron E2350V didn't distinguish between similar colors as well as the PX2370 did. Overall, the two monitors performed similarly in DisplayMate, with the PX2370 getting a slight edge, especially in color tests.

The LG Flatron E2350V achieved a brightness score of 197 candelas per square meter (cd/M2), much lower than the XL2370's 344 cd/M2 and still lower than the PX2370's 246 cd/M2. However, thanks to its low black level, the Flatron E2350V had a much higher tested contrast ratio of 1,355:1, compared with the 1,008:1 and 948:1 of the XL2370 and PX2370, respectively.

We used the LG Flatron E2350V's movie preset to check out "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" on DVD and a number of 1080p movie files from Microsoft's WMV HD Showcase. In both "Kill Bill" and the 1080p movies, we found that the PX2370's more accurate and vibrant color surpassed the LG Flatron E2350V's color quality. In a side-by-side comparison, red on the LG Flatron E2350V looked closer to orange when compared with the deeper red we saw on the PX2370 in the same scene.

We looked at World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 3 and noticed no signs of input lag or any streaking or ghosting during fast movement. We found that the LG Flatron E2350V, PX2370, and XL2370 displayed games in a virtually identical manner, with vibrant colors and a clear, solid image, as long as we were viewing the screen straight on. Thanks to its "Magic Angle" feature, the PX2370 has a performance advantage when viewing the screen from off angles.

The optimal viewing angle for a monitor is usually directly in front, about a quarter of the screen's distance down from the top. At this angle, you're viewing the colors and gamma correction as they were intended. Most monitors are not made to be viewed at any other angle. Depending on its panel type, picture quality at nonoptimal angles varies. Most monitors use TN panels, which get overly bright or overly dark in parts of the screen when viewed from nonoptimal angles. The LG Flatron E2350V uses a TN panel, and when it is viewed from the sides or below, we perceived the screen to darken about 6 inches off from center.

In our power consumption tests, the LG Flatron E2350V had an on/default power draw of 26.3 watts; only slightly more than the PX2370's 25.01 and 5 watts lower than the XL2370's 30.09 watts. With a calibrated center brightness of 200 cd/m2, the E2350V draws about 24.2 watts; the PX2370 draws 20 watts, and the XL2370 draws 21 watts. Standby power is where these contests are won, however, and the E2350V's standby power was a fairly high 1.07 watts, compared with the XL2370's even higher 1.42 watts and the PX2370's very low 0.27 watt. Based on our formula, the LG Flatron E2350V would cost $8.57 per year to run, compared with the PX2370's $7.65 and the XL2370's $9.96 per year.

Juice box
LG Flatron E2350V	Average watts per hour
On (default luminance)	26.3
On (max luminance)	26.3
On (min luminance)	14.1
Sleep	1.04
Calibrated (200 cd/m2)	24.2
Annual power consumption cost	$8.57
Score	Good

Find out more about how we test LCD monitors

Service and support
LG backs the Flatron E2350V with a three-year parts and labor warranty, which also covers the backlight for only one year. That's a bit less than other vendors, such as Dell, that usually offer backlight coverage for three years. The company offers repair service in two working days and pays freight shipping both ways for one year. During the second and third year of the warranty, customers pay to ship it to LG and it pays the return freight to the customer. Live Web and e-mail chat are also support options, as is toll-free phone support.

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