LG L1980U LCD: The New 19" Panel on the Block
by Kristopher Kubicki on May 13, 2005 4:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Cost Analysis
Recently, we had the opportunity to talk with several display manufacturers concerning the cost of displays, and more specifically, why displays (particularly 19” displays) have dropped so much in price over the last few months. To the advantage of the consumer, the main panel manufacturers AUO, LG.Philips LCD and even Samsung are in a bit of a price war right now with regard to control over the LCD panel spot market. Thus, companies like Dell, which are not tied to any specific LCD panel manufacturer, are free to choose Samsung as their 19” panel manufacturer, but LG.Philips LCD for their 20” and higher displays. Manufacturers tell us that 19” panels are actually one of the easier substrates to produce; the 1280x1024 resolution has been perfected on 17” LCDs for years and scaling this resolution to a larger pixel pitch is somewhat trivial.While 17” display prices are down as well (nearing the $200 mark), it’s the 19” displays that have really given retail channels a run for their money. A cheap 21” CRT costs upwards of $350, and although the resolution is slightly larger, the screen size is not compared to a 19” LCD. LCD displays have the upper hand when compared to CRTs on the 19” and larger sizes without a doubt. Furthermore, 19” LCD prices seem to be in a terribly wonderful free fall. In January, most of our displays were above the $400 mark (down from $450 a month prior). In particular, some displays like the Dell 1905FP fell $100 in price, making it one of the most competitive 19” LCDs that we’ve ever seen. One of our personal favorites, the NuTech L921G, also fell $60 in price, which makes our evaluation of the LGE L1980U even tougher. The similarly designed Samsung 193P dropped over $200 in price as well – probably in anticipation of some of the newer displays like the SyncMaster 915N.
Dell is clearly the 800 lbs. gorilla when it comes to displays these days, and no one is going to argue against the UltraSharp 1905FP as the best LCD under $300.
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nthexwn - Sunday, May 15, 2005 - link
I still like my Samsung 710T for gaming ;) Any word on 8ms displays?phaxmohdem - Sunday, May 15, 2005 - link
LOL Wish this article was published a day sooner. Not even 24 hours before this story went online, I walked out of my local Sams Club store toting two brand new Samsung 913V 19" LCD monitors. I paid around $350 ea for them.It was worth it though, these suckers have an 800:1 contrast ratio and are the durn purdiest monitors I have ever pwn3d. There is not much info online about this particular model, but I would recommend them to anyone in the 19" market. only down sides so far, is no DVI input and teh bases are not adjustable, just a tilt option. (and some ghosting on games which is to be expected from a 25ms monitor.)
BUBKA - Saturday, May 14, 2005 - link
wouldn't it be nice if somebody did a monitor review without a Matrix text complete with screenshot...g33k - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed the read and as I am in the market for a new monitor, this will definitly help in my buying descisions.Spacecomber - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
Sorry, one more comment. I believe the LG1930B uses a LG Philis S-IPS panel, though it is rated as only a 25ms panel. Still, this monitor might compare well against the Dell 1905FP, and NewEgg currently is selling it for $288 after a mail-in rebate. This might be another interesting 19" LCD monitor to take a look at.Ok, I think I'm done now.
Space
Spacecomber - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
Thanks for this review. Trying to keep up with how these 19" monitors stack up against each other is important to me, since they do seem to be the sweet spot for recommending a LCD to someone these days (as you noted).I think some of these have been mentioned before, but an interesting comparison would be this monitor to the Hyundi L90D+, which uses a Samsung TN panel, and the Viewsonic VP912B, which I think uses the AUO panel. At the moment, I would think that the Hyundi L90D+ gets the nod for a fast gaming monitor, because of its cost, about $350.
I know you guys really like the Dell 1905FP, but its PVA panel is really too slow for games. In fact, I would like to see the 1905FP compared against the Samsung 910T. Although the 910T is rated as a 25ms panel and the Dell a 20ms panel, I didn't think there was much difference between them when it comes to games. The 5ms reported difference in response times is for black to white transitions, and this doesn't really reflect how the PVA monitor has so much trouble with black to grey transitions. The small 5 ms difference gets washed away by the high response times in these situations.
And, I personally liked the much more extensive control features available on the 910T, compared to the Dell. Currently the 910T is available for $349 at NewEgg after a $50 mail in rebate, and they even have the 193P for $392, after a $200 rebate. So, the market for LCDs using Samsung's PVA panels is actually fairly tight.
A couple of other monitors that I'd like to ask you to keep an eye out for, as they sound quite interesting, are the Samsung 193P plus and the Eizo L778. The 193P+ is suppose to be a 8ms PVA panel. I'm still skeptical if this will really make any difference in games, but inquiring minds want to know. The L778 is also a PVA panel, but Eizo claims that their "overdrive circuit" keeps the response times at a low level across the spectrum of black to grey transitions. If this is true, then this PVA panel might rival the S-IPS panels as coming close to being a good all-around LCD monitor.
Some links:
http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/l778/index.asp
http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2...
Thanks again,
Space
ocyl - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
Good poundings on the 6-bit panels, Kristopher! Keep them going :D !!!Samadhi - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
1280x1024, it's about time someone produced a higher resolution 19" display.rqle - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
I like these flatron monitor, burrow friend LCD to carry around. I would only pay 15% more then a dell though, so price is a bit high for me.xpose - Friday, May 13, 2005 - link
Nice review. I am glad my Dell is still the champ. hehee. Plus I paid 297.00 +tax shipping for the UltraSharp 1905FP just last week. With a price like that, this monitor doesnt stand a chance.