LG Flatron W2363D

What’s wrong with old-fashioned physical buttons? It’s a monitor. It’s not a graphics tablet, or a fancy phone. It doesn’t need touch controls. It needs to show pictures. How you adjust the contrast should come down to what’s easiest for the end-user, not what looks the most impressive on a spec sheet.

The controls are complimented by a somewhat clunky menu, which is apparently an unwritten standard among monitor manufacturers. This particular menu system features a few annoying beeps and chimes, which I couldn’t figure out how to disable. If you’re going to make your monitor chirp away like a cross between a washing machine and 1980s videogame system, at least make it easy to turn off.

There’s also a rather gimmicky “tru-LIGHT” bar at the bottom of the screen, which lights up in response to your gaming activities, music, et cetera. So, a bright flashy thing to distract you when you’re taking a crucial shot. Yay, that’s just what I’ve been missing all these years. It can be turned off, but I don’t know why you’d ever want to turn it on.

The Flatron W2363D is a good monitor, with a few annoying gimmicks stuck on. Take away the touch controls, the beeps and the LED light show, and you’d have a monitor I’d be happy to call my own.