LG W2486L 24-inch Wide LED LCD TFT Monitor (Gloss Black, 2ms, HDMI x 2)

Got this monitor a week ago so I feel I am in a reasonable position to review it.
Firstly, it is big, very big! If you are sitting a desk and not much more than arm's length away you definitely would not want one any bigger. I had upgraded from an Acer 223w which was a fantastic monitor and back when I got it (16 months ago) I gave it 5 out of 5 as at the time when I set it up it just blew me away, could not believe the quality for the price.
Which leads me to why I only give this 4 out 5 - it just didn't give me the WOW factor that I got with my Acer, but make no mistake, I would choose this over the Acer now any day. The images are super sharp and the anti-glare screen is must for gamers (such as myself) and movie watchers. I bought the Acer as it had the Crystalbright glossy screen, which looks the business, but just reflected too much light on a sunny day.

Anyway, back to LG. As I said images are very sharp and very good for watching dvd's from quite a distance - although this is obviously going to depend on your eyesight. Many review(ers) have highlighted the lack of brightness and colour re-production. I however feel the monitor is more misunderstood that incorrect. True, the brightness is only 250 Candelas per m2 and most monitors on the market achieve 300 cd/m2 however in an office environment (unless there happens to be a floodlight in your office) you would NEVER need 300 cd/m2 (IMO) and although this may only be 250 cd/m2 I still don't even have it up full - sitting at about 70-75%.

With regard to the colour re-production this is where many critics have slated it. It is very true that colours do not appear top notch but I feel this is more down to getting your viewing angle right. If you are sitting at arm's length directly head on to the monitor (as I am while writing this) you are not sitting in the appropriate position to take in the whole monitor - it's like trying to suss out one of those magic eye puzzles by holding the picture at the end of your nose. I find that if you tinker with the colour settings and the tilt angle you will achieve an optimum picture to suit your tastes - not what everyone else tells you what you should want to see. In relation to this I found it much easier to install the LG software to muck around with the colour settings, I find it gives you more control over it and you can save custom profiles - much in the same way as with a sound equalizer on your stereo.

As I had mentioned this monitor really does come into its own when playing games and watching movies. I put this mostly down to the fact that you usually sit further back from the screen and thus able to take in the whole picture at the apropriate viewing angle as I have addressed above.
Finally I think the 'touch screen' bezel is a nice touch - no buttons on the frame at all, very 21st century I thought. As I am sure has been said the glossy bezel IS a finger print magnet, but then again, what isn't these days with glossy PC cases and glossy laptop/netbook lids? If you like glossy finishes it always will come at a price and let's be honest, it is not hard to pick up a duster now and again.

All in all a very very good monitor but as I said, just lacks that final cutting edge, however compared to the prices of some other similar products I would sooner stick with this than shell out the difference.

Just adding on to this review after 6 months of use with this monitor. Much of what I had said before still stands, movies and games look spectacular on this display. I say this even more-so now as I just installed a Blu Ray drive on my PC and have been watching my favourite movies in high def and the monitor really comes into its own.
More importantly, while I was surfing the web this morning I came across a website that demonstrated how to adjust your display from the Windows end rather than the monitor. I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable on computing and I could not believe I had never heard of this little extra that Windows 7 has built in. All you have to do is go to the start menu and type 'dccw'. This rather drab but mighty piece of customisation software will open and this allows you to alter your brightness, contrast, gamma and colour saturation on your Windows user profile as opposed to the monitor or the Forte Manager that comes with it.
Don't worry, I am getting to my point! Bottom line is that any problems that users may experience with washed out colours and brightness issues are 100% resolved with this handy little tool. You can use the monitor display tools in conjunction with the dccw program which allows even more display customisation.
Just thought I would add this in as this monitor has had some harsh criticism with regards to poor colour display etc. I really wanted to see past these flaws as everything else about the monitor is top notch - well now I don't have to 'accept' these flaws, as they are now gone!

I have only just received this, ordered via Amazon UK but delivered via Leipzig, Germany for some unknown reason and arrived with European rather than UK power lead - fortunately a spare was available. It was purchased as I occasionally need full HD which my old monitor (top of the range a year ago) does not support.

Little is provided in the way of printed materials and the instructions, manuals and required drivers are contained on the supplied CD. Unfortunately, the default language for some of these facilities is Korean and you will need to select an appropriate alternative. SVGA and DVI cables are provided, which saves a few £s should you need them but no HDMI cable was provided. Reasonable quality HDMI leads are available from Amazon for under £10, so paying £50 or more as advertised by some retailers is rather stupid and will not improve image quality. My Dell PC has a HDMI socket but does not apparently provide a feed to the monitor. I therefore reverted to DVI. The screen image is clean and stable as you would expect from a digital feed.

The OSD controls are not via buttons but light sensitive touch spots which also contain indicators that illiminate only when needed or when first powered up. Some are fairly standard but others are unit specific and control extra functions particular to this screen. Because of the nature of these controls, and slightly unclear markings, they may require time to become familiar. The OSD does allow some personal choices, and a variety of settings of which some are both curious additions and I think unnecessary for a PC monitor. They may be of use in other contexts.

The base is well weighted and allows a small amount of forward tilt and a larger amount of backwards tilt, but not vertical adjustment. The base screws positively to the screen - a design feature I have seen on several LG TVs but not on other brands - and holds it quite securely. The monitor is quite the thinnest screen of any size I have ever seen and surprisingly light, despite its generous size.

Because of the LED backlighting, there is no visible light bleed around any of the edges and the illumination appears completely even from top to bottom and side to side. As I intend to do a fair amount of photo editing, evenness of illumination is very much a positive.

HP manufacture a similar unit based, I believe, on the same LG screen module as this, but which retails for more than 3 times the price. This screen is definitely value for money by comparison. Recommended, based upon initial impressions.

Pros: Excellent picture quality, bright, pretty to look at.

Cons: Poor stand. OSD contorls are impossible to use.

Overall, this is an excellent monitor. The picture quality is stunning, it looks great on my desk, its lightweight and uses minimal power.

Unfortunatly the stand (which looks great) is flimsy and the inability to swivel the monitor is annoying. The touch sensitive OSD buttons are also next to impossible to use.