Marvelous display at the right price
Written: Feb 19 '02
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Pros: Price, flat, crisp display, excellent refresh rates, touch sensitive control.
Cons: Not black enough, cumbersome menu.
The Bottom Line: Probably the best CRT you will find in its price range. Well designed an built, with the pros in mind.
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| zero2k's Full Review: LG Flatron 795FT Plus CRT Monitor |
I was building a new computer to do video editing with and wanted something that I could stand staring at for a long time. Since I work in front of a computer monitor at work all day long, I needed something that wouldn't stress me out - therefore I was into a monitor that manages exceptionally high refresh rates and support for multiple resolutions.
Now I was looking into LCD panels since they have zero flicker, but prices for resolutions better than 1024x768 ain't so nice to my wallet. Maybe a couple of years later and I'll invest in an LCD monitor, and one that can actually produce fluid video output and some action gaming. So CRTs were all I was left with.
Initially, the only two brands that I am familiar with that support high refresh rates are Viewsonic and Philips. I needed something that can better 85Hz (my eyes are sensitive and I can sense flickering even at 85Hz. Use the monitor long enough and I get eye fatig) - needed something that can do 1024x768@100Hz and even 1280x1024@100Hz. My 17" Philips 107B can do 1024x768@150Hz and it is amazingly crisp, although not a flat screen.
Looking around, I did not see any local stores offering Philips and Viewsonics that matched my criteria. Those that did were pretty expensive. So I looked into alternatives. I scanned around and saw LG monitor prices were pretty reasonable (uh, more like cheap should I say). But I wasn't familiar with LG's reliability and since I was going to use the monitor for a long time, I didn't want something that will choke suddenly.
Finally, the 795FT+ caught my attention. It was flat and supported a wide variety of resultions and refresh rates that met my demands. Being cautious, I read around of peoples' experiences with the monitor. Many were happy with their purchase so I went ahead and bought it. I am happy to say that my purchase created no regrets - I am please with the monitor.
The Monitor
The LG 795FT+ is about the same size as most other 17" monitors. My Philips 108B is short in comparison. The 795 is quite heavy in comparison also.
The monitor looks pretty standard physically.
Power and controls
LG incorporated a soft power button in the 795FT+, very light to the touch. You'll hear a little beep when switching it on. This would obviously mean that the monitor might be in continous ultra-low power standby when the power button is turned off. I don't know if this is a good idea or not, since soft power buttons tend fail after some years of usage.
The feature that surprised me most were the touch-sensitive control buttons. They are like the metal touch-sensitive buttons on the TVs of circa 70-80s. A nifty idea indeed.
The main menu is accessed by touching the "OSD" button. Each item can be selected/deselected for configuration with the "Set" button. The navigation buttons (Left, Top, Right, and Bottom) allows you to configure each item. Unlike general menuing systems where up/down is used to select an item and left/right to alter the item, LG made the top/bottom button modify the top item on the screen, and left/right modify the bottom item. For example, Brightness is configured with top/bottom, and Contrast is configured with left/right. This is probably the only issue that I have with the monitor.
Virtual every monitor configuration item you can find is on the LG 795FT+. You are able to precisely control screen stretching/rotation/tilt/etc. The monitor gives you great control on over the output. Again, a very nice touch.
The Display Quality
LG has done a pretty good job of trying to get the output clean and crisp. Most low priced monitors have the outter regions blurry, with only the center being clear. Not this baby though. It's very clean all througout. I run it with an Abit Siluro GeForce2MX-400 card. My Philips 107B does a very nice job of display clearly even with the video cards with poor RAMDACS when outputing refresh rates better than 75Hz - something that most monitors fail miserably at. The LG manages this task just as well.
The picture tube is not a Trinitron (as the word Flatron implies... all these trons are too confusing). It's built on from LG's own technology and I believe it works just as well as Trinitrons, but without the annoying infamous Trinitron horizontal wires.
Brightness control
Ok, the only other flaw (besides the menus) that I've found is the brightness level of the monitor: blacks are not black enough. I set my monitor to ~35 (on a scale of 0-100, 0 being darkest) for the brightness control, and ~85-90 for contrast. Any values smaller than this looks unnatural.
With these settings, I've found that a black-filled screen has a orangy/reddish tint to it, meaning that the electron beam is working too hard. I don't mind this when there is action going on, but during static graphics sessions, the tint can become annoying.
In comparison, my 21" at work has black displayed as the color of the picture tube in off position itself. My 107B Philips also displays black correctly. I would hope that LG will fix this problem up in later editions.
Conclusions
LG deserves credit for creating a monitor that so well put together. The display quality competes well with trinitrons. All the configurable items are like those found in higher priced monitors. Yet the monitor is so affordable. I hope that LG will put out a 19" that's just as remarkable.
(Bought in Australia for AU$440)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 220
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
zero2k
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Member: Leon Dang
Location: Australia
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
I am a S/W engineer and hobbyist artist, who enjoys electronics, photography, videography, audio...
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