LG Flatron E2290V

LG’s Flatron E2290V is an ultra-slim 21.5-inch LCD monitor with a stylish metal body, and full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. By the time you’re done reading this review, you’ll probably want one.

Though often overlooked in favour of a fast CPU, powerful graphics card and enough RAM to pave the streets of Auckland, your monitor has tremendous impact on your overall computing experience. In many PC setups, it’s the first part of the computer your eye is drawn to. In all setups, it’s where your eye quite necessarily ends up.

That said, I find it hard to get excited over monitors. I’ve used so many that as long as a screen isn’t plain awful, it just doesn’t come to my conscious attention. The E2290V changed that the moment it left the box.

The screen is just 7.2mm thick: noticeably slimmer than the 9.3mm iPhone 4. Despite that, its solid metal body means it doesn’t flex easily: the construction is remarkably sturdy for something so svelte. The cold metal neck feels positively unbreakable, and the silver stand with clear plastic exterior is heavy enough to balance the whole thing and prevent undue wobbles.

That stand contains all the electronics that won’t fit in the monitor itself, and as such isn’t detachable. The connectors – HDMI, DVI-D, VGA, headphone or speaker output (if you’re using HDMI, which carries an audio signal) and power cable – plug into the stand, under an overhang which hides the unsightly plugs from view. Meet LG’s ‘EZ cabling’ system: the most you’ll see is a couple of cables emerging from the rear, which could be hidden entirely by a well-placed cable-hole in your desk. Need something über-stylish for a reception desk or upscale office? This is undeniably your monitor.

With such a slim profile, I’d have expected some performance trade-offs. As far as I can tell, there aren’t any. I put the screen through the tests at lagom.nl, in addition to some common use scenarios (office work, movies, sports-footage and gaming). The results?



The E2290V advertises a 2ms grey-to-grey response rate, and appears to deliver. Following the ball in sports games is as easy as you’ll get on a 60Hz monitor, and gaming felt smooth and totally playable.

Contrast is great overall, with small variations in brightness clearly visible in the mid-range, but it’s not perfect: extremely light and dark greys tend to appear as white and black respectively. Gamma adjustment is limited to four preset levels rather than a sliding scale and I wasn’t able to find a level of adjustment that solved the contrast issues. Still, I’ve put up with far worse from monitors designed exclusively for gaming, where today’s overly-dark level designs scream desperately for good contrast.

Sharpness is excellent, without going over-the-top, and the only visual artefact I could find was a small amount of ‘pixel-walk’: flickering in areas of matte colour that you’ll see on any modern TFT LCD panel that uses the TN (twisted-nematic) technology. To avoid this, you need an IPS panel (see our monitor roundup next month for details). Really, it’s a minor issue which you’re unlikely to see in regular use.

The only real disadvantage? The Flatron E2290V has an RRP of $359, around $100 more than you’ll find similar-specced monitors for in local stores. Is it worth it for the style? That, I’ll leave to you. If the price doesn’t worry you, or the combination of beautiful form and great function override it entirely, then consider this a 5/5 PC World Platinum. If you’re constrained by a budget, it’s still a 4.5/5.