LG L246W

ascarytiger

Weaksauce
Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
67
Hey guys,

I work at Best Buy and just saw an LG L246W come off the truck. Since I work back in the computers dept, I got to set it up (on a crappy analog connection with a picture slideshow.) I havn't got a chance to run any movies or games on it, but I wanted to know if anyone has heard anythign about this monitor. I has an HDMI connection which is nice, but no DVI connection. Instead, they give you an HDMI to DVI cable. I guess that's fine, but having both would be nice. Then it comes with 1 component and the typical VGA. If anyone knows anythign further about this monitor, let me know. I'm very interested in purchasing one.

Cheers
 
Hey guys,

I work at Best Buy and just saw an LG L246W come off the truck. Since I work back in the computers dept, I got to set it up (on a crappy analog connection with a picture slideshow.) I havn't got a chance to run any movies or games on it, but I wanted to know if anyone has heard anythign about this monitor. I has an HDMI connection which is nice, but no DVI connection. Instead, they give you an HDMI to DVI cable. I guess that's fine, but having both would be nice. Then it comes with 1 component and the typical VGA. If anyone knows anythign further about this monitor, let me know. I'm very interested in purchasing one.

Cheers
Well, not much is known -- but LG confirmed to someone on the anandtech forums that this model is almost identical to the L245WP (recently available at NCIX) and uses the same P-MVA panel found in the BenQ FP241W. It seems the differences between the 245 and 246 are minor, basically only the power button and location of the OSD controls. There have been a few overseas reviews of the 245 (you'll find them on the L245WP thread on this board), but other than this, not much info is available.

Can I ask where your Best Buy is (US or Canada)? I'm very interested in this model, as it seems to be a lower cost alternative to the BenQ, and it's nice that it's available at B&M stores, as I really don't like ordering such a big purchase online -- so I'd be interested in knowing whether it's currently being shipped to Best Buys in the US. I also hear that LG has a very good warranty (they always cross-ship a replacement and they pay shipping both ways), which would be a nice change from BenQ's poor customer service. I also wish LG included a second digital input (DVI or another HDMI), but I'm willing to live without it -- I actually also consider it a bonus that they didn't include s-video and composite connections, as I never use these and they only contribute to the cost. Do you have any info on when these will be available for purchase or any initial pricing information? There hasn't been much said about this monitor, so anything you could tell us would be appreciated. :)
 
My store is in the US, and I know i can sell them now, I can't remember what the retail price was, I only checked employee cost :D
 
My store is in the US, and I know i can sell them now, I can't remember what the retail price was, I only checked employee cost :D
Haha... I notice that the monitor still isn't mentioned on BB's website. Do you know if there will be widespread availability of this soon? Or do individual stores get them in at different times? I'm off this week so it would be great if they'll be available during this time so I can go down to my nearest BB and check one out.
 
I think most of the stores in my district (which is Kansas), got 3 of them.

I'm going to try and hook one up to a PC and see how well video plays back on them. Unfortunatly none of our PCs have DVI out, so I'll be stuck with analog.
 
I think most of the stores in my district (which is Kansas), got 3 of them.

I'm going to try and hook one up to a PC and see how well video plays back on them. Unfortunatly none of our PCs have DVI out, so I'll be stuck with analog.
Sounds good. If you have a chance to get pricing info, that would be appreciated as well. :)
 
Will do. I might actually buy one soon and try it out in home. If it sucks I'll return it for the 24" Gateway
 
I just printed a sign for this beast, and the retail price is $699. So it's slightly more expensive than the Gateway. All the best buy spec sheets say this has DVI AND HDMI, unfortunatly this monitor ONLY has HDMI and uses a DVI to HDMI adapter. The screen still looks beautiful. I will let you guys know if I test any video on it. It has a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and 8ms response time.

We also just recieved a Westinghouse 24" (L2410NM) and an ACER 24" (X241WSD). They are price at $649 and $639 respectively. The Westinghouse does have HDMI, but again, no DVI port. The Acer has the traditional analog and DVI.

All three equiped with HDCP. The Westy has 700:1 and 5ms, and the Acer has 800:1 with 6ms.

All three should be available in US best buy stores.
 
Once again, thanks for the great info, ascarytiger. I'm very happy with a $699 retail price -- this means that with discounts or sales it will probably be possible to get this for much less than the BenQ online, without nearly as much as the hassle. If you're able to test video on one of the screens, I'd be very interested in hearing how it goes.

I'd heard about the Westinghouse a while ago and had completely forgotten about it. Hmmm... 700:1 contrast ratio and 5ms response time? This sounds like it could be a TN panel, maybe it's one of the first monitors to use that new Samsung TN. If so, I'll pass on this one, but I guess we should keep an open mind until we hear anything for certain. 700:1 does seem a little disappointing, though, compared to the other monitors in this size range. I hadn't heard of that Acer at all, so I'll have to look into this as well.

I'll have to keep an eye on the BB website to see if these show up any time soon. Is it normal for new products to show up in stores before the website is updated? I still haven't seen any mention of any of these monitors.
 
Once again, thanks for the great info, ascarytiger. I'm very happy with a $699 retail price -- this means that with discounts or sales it will probably be possible to get this for much less than the BenQ online, without nearly as much as the hassle. If you're able to test video on one of the screens, I'd be very interested in hearing how it goes.

I'd heard about the Westinghouse a while ago and had completely forgotten about it. Hmmm... 700:1 contrast ratio and 5ms response time? This sounds like it could be a TN panel, maybe it's one of the first monitors to use that new Samsung TN. If so, I'll pass on this one, but I guess we should keep an open mind until we hear anything for certain. 700:1 does seem a little disappointing, though, compared to the other monitors in this size range. I hadn't heard of that Acer at all, so I'll have to look into this as well.

I'll have to keep an eye on the BB website to see if these show up any time soon. Is it normal for new products to show up in stores before the website is updated? I still haven't seen any mention of any of these monitors.


Yes, it will take awhile for the new product to reach the net. We actually aren't even supposed to display them yet, but I did. Also, I think I may try moving the LG to one of our nicer Gateway monitors and runs some DVDs on it. Unfortunatly none of the computers I have come with DVI capabilities, so all my results will be analog.
 
Finally some alternatives for 24 inch monitors...hopefully will bring down the price of em all...

However, I cannot find any info on the 24 westy. Whats its specs?
 
Finally some alternatives for 24 inch monitors...hopefully will bring down the price of em all...

However, I cannot find any info on the 24 westy. Whats its specs?

700:1 and 5ms response time. DVI and I think it actually has 2 VGA
 
Alright guys, I finally got a chance to test out the new 24 inchers I got in stock. Keep in mind I'm sort of limited in what I can do here at best buy as far as testing, and I only have the ability to run analog. Pretty much what I did was just ran some DVDs on a gateway tower.

Tower specs:
C2D E4300
1024MB DDR2
Intel 950 graphics chip

The Monitors:

1. LG 246WP: Brilliant. Thats pretty much it. Even on analog this thing shines. The thing I liked the most about it was that it did not drown out the blacks like the Gateway does. I specifically noticed this in playing Batman Begins, which is a very dark movie, but I could still see all the detail in the shadows. I also ran Willy Wonka. which was definatly the best looking movie on the monitor. On the Gateway this movie looked good, but just made a big shadow if someone in the film turned the wrong way. The LG did not wash out the blacks, I could still make out every detail. There was no visible tearing or ghosting. It was bright enough, but not too bright. I can't wait to actually hook this thing up with HDMI.

2. Westinghouse L2410NM: Blah...would not even position the screen right at 1920x1200. I tried everything. The only way I could view the whole desktop was at lower resolutions. The video quality was ssubpar, much darker than the LG. I couldn't really test much because of the screen positioning problem. It does have HDMI, hopfully that performs better...

3. Acer X241WSD: The Acer looked good on the desktop, still noticably darker than the LG, even at high brightness. Video playback was nice, the colors aren't as rich as the LG's. It has the same problem the Gateway has with drowning out the blacks. This can be helped a little bit if you turn the contrast down to like 40 and the brightness almost maxed.

The overall and obvious winner is the LG. I think they did a great job with their new line of pannels. It would be nice if they put HDMI and DVI though.
 
I was looking at the LG at Futureshop today. It didn't seem as bright as my Gateway but I didn't really have a chance to play with it. My only gripes with the Gateway FPD2485W are the ghosting and crushed blacks, if the LG resolves these issues I might just find a way to trade up.

How does P-MVA stack up against S-PVA?
 
I was looking at the LG at Futureshop today. It didn't seem as bright as my Gateway but I didn't really have a chance to play with it. My only gripes with the Gateway FPD2485W are the ghosting and crushed blacks, if the LG resolves these issues I might just find a way to trade up.

How does P-MVA stack up against S-PVA?

Im sorry I must admit I'm not 100% savvy on the terminalogy, however I can tell you that the LG does not crush the blacks like the Gateway does. I had the LG set up right next to the Gateway, I could could definatly see a difference in the blacks. The LG seemed richer and more 'true-to-life.' As far as ghosting goes I saw none, but I have not tested any games on it...because I'm in best buy, and we dont have that capability.
 
The differences between S-PVA and P-MVA are exactly what you read in the description of the LG - less muting of dark colors in areas.
S-PVA has good contrast specs but in reality some parts of the screen (depending on your viewing angle) crush the blacks. At first it seems like glare because if you view it from the side, you can see the dark details better. But if you turn all the lights out the problem remains. It is one thing I don't like about my 2407 (S-PVA).

S-IPS overall have the best viewing angles regardless of what the specs say. 176 on a S-PVA is not the same as 176 on a S-IPS because at wide viewing angles the colors aren't as washed out as PVA.

All LCDs have noticeable sparkling when viewing movies, but the P-MVAs I've seen are usually better in this aspect than other LCD monitors, including S-IPS.
 
Thanks sethk.

As far as testing this LG on gaming and such, we are working on displaying it with a media PC and adding a mediocre video cards and running some game demos. Its the best we can do here. I'm not for sure if that plan will come through, but if it does I'll keep you all posted.
 
Can one of you Best Buy guys post the SKUs for those 3 monitors coming out? I'd like to look them up in the system at my Best Buy. Sometimes they will come up on the Best Buy web site when the SKU is searched for, as well. Thanks!
 
Jim, just go to your Best buy. I think they are in stock nation wide for 699$ to boot.
 
Jim, just go to your Best buy. I think they are in stock nation wide for 699$ to boot.

Yes, indeed!! I just went over at lunch, and they have the Westinghouse, the Acer, and the LG in stock. None of them are on display yet. I did just buy two 24" monitors, even though I only meant to buy one... So, I don't know if I should add a third or not. I would make my one heck of a showdown thought. *grin*

For those who haven't seen this yet...
http://www.bexox.com/showdown.htm

Later.

Jim
 
So, I don't know if I should add a third or not. I would make my one heck of a showdown thought. *grin*
Well, given the quality of your showdown, I can assure you that all of us would appreciate it very much, although I'm not so sure your wife would... :)
 
Well rest assured I will be buying this monitor probably today/tomorrow. If I have any issues I can just drive 20 mins for a refund.
 
Well, given the quality of your showdown, I can assure you that all of us would appreciate it very much, although I'm not so sure your wife would... :)

I mentioned I might have to add a third unit to the showdown. She didn't say anything... I'll have to send the Dell back or sell it otherwise if I spend more money on another monitor, however. I'd really like to try the LG, though. I doubt it will replace the BenQ at home, but who knows. I can't return the BenQ and get all my money back at this point anyway. It would be fantastic to have a 24" at work, however. Hmmm... Best Buy is across the street from my office. It's so easy to pick up! Must resist! Must resist!!!
 
Let me know if you end up getting the LG monitor. We've got 2 in stock at my Best Buy, and I'm super clsoe to buying one.
 
I was looking at the manual, does anyone know what the difference between L246WP and the L246WPM



Specs:
Component 1080i
HMDI 1080P
Panel Anti Glare Coating
PIP
1:1
(According to manual)
 
Ah, cool, I was wondering when the manual for this would appear online. For those interested, you can get it by going here, clicking on "manual" (under "service info" on the bottom right) and then following the prompts (unfortunately they don't seem to allow for direct linking -- when you get to the screen with the list of manuals, just enter "L246WP" into the "model" box and it will appear).

Some interesting tidbits:
  • It seems that the L246WPM model LostStorm is asking about is just the L246WP with an optional input for a speaker bar -- this is the first I've heard of this. Can anyone who's seen the L246WP confirm that it does not have room for a speaker attachment?
  • On the left side of the monitor (when you're facing the screen), there is an audio out jack for the audio stream included in HDMI input (it's not clear to me from the manual whether this is present on both models or just on the M model, someone else will need to verify).
  • The manual makes a distinction between "PC modes" and "Video Modes" when using HDMI -- basically, 480/576/720/1080 inputs are considered to be video sources, all other supported resolutions are PC resolutions. What's strange is that the pixel mapping options seem to change depending on which type of input you have. For PC inputs, the options are "full", which seems to stretch to fill the screen, and "1:1" which keeps the image at its original size and puts black bars on all four sides, if necessary. When using a "video" source, the options are "full", which stretches to fill the whole screen, or "original", which seems to stretch the image as much as possible while retaining aspect ratio (though it's hard to tell, since the only explanation they give is a single example picture). I'm not sure why they don't give you all options for all inputs. Again, though, this isn't very clear from the manual, so take it with a grain of salt until someone actually confirms this.

    Also related to this, it seems that VGA is always considered a "PC" input, not a video input. They don't explicitly mention anywhere whether 720/1080 resolutions are supported over VGA -- on the PC resolution list has 1920 by 1200 and then the next one down is 1680 by 1050, so assuming VGA is a "PC input" I wonder if this explains why people can't get 1080 working over VGA with the Xbox. On the other hand, component is considered a video input and has the same options as HDMI when it's in "video" mode.
  • 1080p and 1080i are both supported over HDMI. Only 1080i is supported over component input, though (again, no explicit mention about VGA that I could find).
  • It seems that you can't use PIP with interlaced signals over HDMI or VGA. So for instance, apparently you could have a PC source via VGA and a 1080p source via HDMI in PIP mode, but you couldn't do the same with a PC VGA source and an HDMI 1080i source. It doesn't really say what happens if the interlaced signal is over component video, so I'd assume this works?

All of this info is my interpretation of what the manual says. Others should check it out to to make sure I'm not misunderstanding something, and of course, we should always keep in mind that manuals are usually out of date by the time the final product is released and may contain inaccuracies -- so the only way to know for sure about any of this stuff is for someone to test it on the finished product.
 
I was wondering what the mva panel type was and with the pixel response time was 8 while most pva panel types are now 6. Looks like mva panels offer better color/blacks but give up a wee bit on pixel response. Not sure if one can actually see the difference between a 8ms and a 6 ms panel...if not much difference I think I would rather have better color/black reproduction. Anyway to find out?

From wikipedia if anyones interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#MVA

MVA
MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment) was originally developed in 1998 by Fujitsu as a compromise between TN and IPS. It achieved fast pixel response (at the time), wide viewing angles, and high contrast at the cost of brightness and color reproduction. Modern MVA panels can offer wide viewing angles (second only to S-IPS technology), good black depth, good colour reproduction and depth, and fast response times thanks to the use of RTC technologies. There are several "next generation" technologies based on MVA, including AU Optronics' P-MVA and A-MVA, as well as Chi Mei Optoelectronics' S-MVA.

Analysts predicted that MVA would corner the mainstream market, but instead, TN has risen to dominance. A contributing factor was the higher cost of MVA, along with its slower pixel response (which rises dramatically with small changes in brightness). Cheaper MVA panels can also use dithering/FRC.


[edit] PVA
PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment) and S-PVA (Super Patterned Vertical Alignment) are alternative versions of MVA technology offered by Samsung. Developed independently, it suffers from the same problems as MVA, but boasts very high contrast ratios such as 3000:1. Value-oriented PVA panels also use dithering/FRC. S-PVA panels all use true 8-bit color electronics and do not use any color simulation methods. PVA and S-PVA can offer good black depth, wide viewing angles and fast response times thanks to modern RTC technologies.
 
Yeah, I picked up one of these tonight, and I'll add it to the monitor showdown on my web site. I'll test backlight, ghosting, lag time, scaling, and various inputs. I'll post again when it is all done. On to my work... Later!
 
Yeah, I picked up one of these tonight, and I'll add it to the monitor showdown on my web site. I'll test backlight, ghosting, lag time, scaling, and various inputs. I'll post again when it is all done. On to my work... Later!

I have to say thanks...your review seems better than most cause your doing side by side comparisons. Looking forward to your review.
 
Awesome! Man if I had some extra cash I'd be getting one too. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
Ah, cool, I was wondering when the manual for this would appear online. For those interested, you can get it by going here, clicking on "manual" (under "service info" on the bottom right) and then following the prompts (unfortunately they don't seem to allow for direct linking -- when you get to the screen with the list of manuals, just enter "L246WP" into the "model" box and it will appear).

Some interesting tidbits:
  • It seems that the L246WPM model LostStorm is asking about is just the L246WP with an optional input for a speaker bar -- this is the first I've heard of this. Can anyone who's seen the L246WP confirm that it does not have room for a speaker attachment?
  • On the left side of the monitor (when you're facing the screen), there is an audio out jack for the audio stream included in HDMI input (it's not clear to me from the manual whether this is present on both models or just on the M model, someone else will need to verify).
  • The manual makes a distinction between "PC modes" and "Video Modes" when using HDMI -- basically, 480/576/720/1080 inputs are considered to be video sources, all other supported resolutions are PC resolutions. What's strange is that the pixel mapping options seem to change depending on which type of input you have. For PC inputs, the options are "full", which seems to stretch to fill the screen, and "1:1" which keeps the image at its original size and puts black bars on all four sides, if necessary. When using a "video" source, the options are "full", which stretches to fill the whole screen, or "original", which seems to stretch the image as much as possible while retaining aspect ratio (though it's hard to tell, since the only explanation they give is a single example picture). I'm not sure why they don't give you all options for all inputs. Again, though, this isn't very clear from the manual, so take it with a grain of salt until someone actually confirms this.

    Also related to this, it seems that VGA is always considered a "PC" input, not a video input. They don't explicitly mention anywhere whether 720/1080 resolutions are supported over VGA -- on the PC resolution list has 1920 by 1200 and then the next one down is 1680 by 1050, so assuming VGA is a "PC input" I wonder if this explains why people can't get 1080 working over VGA with the Xbox. On the other hand, component is considered a video input and has the same options as HDMI when it's in "video" mode.
  • 1080p and 1080i are both supported over HDMI. Only 1080i is supported over component input, though (again, no explicit mention about VGA that I could find).
  • It seems that you can't use PIP with interlaced signals over HDMI or VGA. So for instance, apparently you could have a PC source via VGA and a 1080p source via HDMI in PIP mode, but you couldn't do the same with a PC VGA source and an HDMI 1080i source. It doesn't really say what happens if the interlaced signal is over component video, so I'd assume this works?

All of this info is my interpretation of what the manual says. Others should check it out to to make sure I'm not misunderstanding something, and of course, we should always keep in mind that manuals are usually out of date by the time the final product is released and may contain inaccuracies -- so the only way to know for sure about any of this stuff is for someone to test it on the finished product.

Thanks for your break down. This basically means that you can't get true 1080p for your XBox360 on this monitor and why people are also having trouble with the Benq and their XBox360.
 
Since I apparently got one from the dud series of Gateway 24" monitors, I returned that and picked up this one today, from what I have seen, the colours look as good as those on the Gateway(after tweaking) but it does seem to scale video better (might just be me but I see less artifacting on this monitor)

Out of the box, the colours are way off, after setting them around 83 and turning the contrast and brightness down, it looks a lot better.

I don't really have any tools to gauge quality but just from what I've seen so far, this monitor is excellent, black levels are very decent, no colour banding, the only drawback so far is the lack of composite(nothing big, but I cant find any wii component cables :p)

I'll post again after testing the other inputs aside from DVI/HDMI, and running a few games.
:)
 
Bootstraps reading of the manual is correct regarding the video modes and scaling, it is a little bit limited as to what it can do. As for the audiojack, my non M version has an output on the side so you can extract audio from HDMI if you so choose to. I don't know if it works, but I am guessing it will.

All of my personal observations and details are in my showdown review. This monitor was added to the bottom, and I am just finishing that portion at 2:30am, so it's a little shorter than the other monitor tests. It should still be pretty comprehensive. Here is the link again:

http://www.bexox.com/showdown.htm

I'll try to answer questions in the the Showdown thread I started last week:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1030746126

But I'll hop onto this thread periodically, too.

Later all, it's time to sleep... HARD!
 
Excellent review! Still confused, I know it won't do 1080p over component (but component isn't designed for 1080p anyway) but can it do 1080p over an HD-DVD player or a blu-ray player?
 
i've seen in the manual that the monitor use anti-glare coating, what is this coating look like?
 
Excellent review! Still confused, I know it won't do 1080p over component (but component isn't designed for 1080p anyway) but can it do 1080p over an HD-DVD player or a blu-ray player?

My HD-DVD player only does up to 1080i, so I can't test 1080p with that unit. My 360, when plugged into VGA would not attempt to even try 1080p, either. I don't have it hooked up to my PC right now. I does do 1080p on the PC via HDMI properly. I was only complaining that the 360 can't input to it at the ultimate resolution. Maybe if the 360 gets an over haul with an HDMI port this year, it will be an option. Later.
 
i've seen in the manual that the monitor use anti-glare coating, what is this coating look like?

The monitor screen looks like every other non-glare LCD screen that I have ever seen. I didn't see anything particularly special about it. My laptop screen is glossy, this on is not. The other 24" monitors in the showdown are not. *shrug* Silly marketing junk, I guess...
 
Thanks for the excellent review of all Three monitors, little disappointed about L246WP with Xbox 360 (maybe firmware update will help fix its issues with 360 in near future), but thanks again Jim for taking the time to do the review
 
There is a slight difference that i noticed with this anti-glare coating, if you look at it from a sharp angle it seems to be reflective, however when looking at it straight on, it looks like every other LCD coating out there.

not sure if that means anything but it was interesting to me.
 
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