Feature-rich 18” LCD Monitor

LCD monitors are gaining popularity in the market because they offer several

benefits over regular CRT monitors. They consume lesser power, and emit lesser

radiation making it possible to work on them for longer periods of time and in

sensitive areas. They consume lesser table space and some can even be mounted on

walls.

Having said that, here’s a 18.1” flat TFT LCD monitor from LG that weighs

8.5 kg, meant for people who want a larger viewing area. It’s a fairly

feature-rich monitor having both both D-sub and DVI interfaces for analog and

digital inputs. You can connect two different video sources to these, and

there’s a signal source button to switch between the two. The monitor also has

a USB hub with three ports.

Another highlight of the monitor is that it can be rotated from landscape to

portrait view owing to its 90° pivot feature. This allows you to have full-page

views of lengthy documents, thereby saving some scrolling time. A rotation

software called Pivotpro is provided with the monitor, which has to be run when

you rotate the monitor. 

Other features include tilt, swivel and height adjustment. These allow 160°

horizontal rotation, and 80 mm height adjustment. Its narrow bezel allows

placing similar monitors side by side reducing the need for extra space. The

settings can be adjusted from the OSD control provided at the front and the

controls can be locked or unlocked. We tested it on an Nvidia Vanta display card

with 16 MB VRAM as well as onboard graphics on a SiS 530/620 motherboard. The

display was very clear with a wide viewing angle, allowing one to view it from

all angles, sides and top. Its rated power consumption is 55 W power when turned

on and only 5 W in power saving mode. Similar 18.1” monitors from Samsung and

Sharp claim to consume less than 40W power.

The Bottom Line: Overall, a feature-rich monitor that takes less

desktop space and offers more viewing area. Its hefty price tag of Rs 83,000

however, makes it an esteem value product, finding use in a company’s demo

room, a game show, or even a CEO’s desktop. It can also be used in critical

locations such as a medical ICU.