Review: LG 1960TR flat-panel monitor

A stylish 19in display that boasts an impressive specification

Price: £186.88

Manufacturer: LG

Technical specifications

Ratings

Overall rating:

Features:

Ease of use:

Value for money:

Rate this product

Verdict

Pros: Stylish design; image quality; high contrast
Cons: Fiddly controls; no height adjustment
Overall: A stylish monitor with very good performance, excellent cable management and an interesting design, but the controls a little fiddly to use

Paul Monckton, Personal Computer World 02 Apr 2007

The LG 1960TR is a standard 1,280x1,024, 5:4 aspect-ratio monitor with an emphasis on style and image quality.

Finished in matt and gloss blacks with subtle chrome trim, it’ll look good in both home and office environments.

Other than a discreet touch-sensitive power switch, there are no visible control buttons from the front. It’s just as sleek from the back – a large removable back panel hides DC power, a Kensington security lock, VGA and DVI ports while two plastic clips hold all cables in place and well out of sight.

The monitor is shipped separated from the stand, which is locked in place using a spike on the bottom of the display. Somewhat unusually, it’s the base that houses the wall mounting holes; this tilts back through 90 degrees to allow fixing to an optional wall mount plate.

All menu control buttons are hidden well out of view on the right-hand edge of the screen and, being so small, they're fiddly to operate. They are also labelled with black-on-black legends, which are very difficult to read.

This is obviously a compromise to maintain the monitor’s superior looks, and to be fair, most of us like to keep well away from monitor menus as much as possible.

However, one particular control, labelled F-Engine, accesses the preset movie and text modes that are designed to be more frequently used. F-Engine is also the key to the monitor’s 3000:1 contrast radio.

When F-Engine is selected, you can choose from Movie, Text and User modes, each of which is designed to enhance image quality. Selecting one of these modes causes the display to be split vertically, with the normal display on the right, and the enhanced display on the left. If you like the look of the enhancement, you can select it or tweak individual settings by using the User mode.

The rated 3000:1 contrast ratio doesn’t emerge from a straightforward measurement of white and black in a single image. In Movie mode, the LG 1960TR changes the brightness of the backlight in response to displayed content, meaning darker scenes appear darker and brighter scenes brighter.

However, when switching to Movie mode, we measured a 29 per cent improvement in contrast ratio when running our routine calibration process, which keeps the brightness of most of the screen constant. Movie Mode is visually very striking and possibly quite enjoyable depending on your preference, but highly inaccurate and not at all suitable for tasks such as processing digital photographs.

A height-adjustable stand would have been preferable for prolonged work use, but on the whole we found the image quality to be very impressive – whether using the standard mode or one of the enhanced presets. The LG 1960TR would make an excellent upgrade for anyone needing a display that both looks good and performs well.

See also: