LG L203wt, the best alternative to NEC 20wmgx2

Zer0Zer06 said:
In an earlier post I stated that the L203wt panel was probably P-MVA ------- WRONG!

I bought a L203wt today at Future Shop - clear text, no backlight bleed, no dead pixels.
But poor viewing angles - color seems to shift from top of screen to bottom and from a sharp angle from below the screen goes dark. Also had a heck of a time trying to duplicate theme colors I use with my Samsung 172T. Is this a 6 bit TN panel ? Sure acts like it.

But here's the kicker : powering on monitor with menu button pressed reveals a hidden
service menu screen. Information there clearly states the panel is " LPL20W TN " Don't know what LPL means but 20W is obvious. So is TN.

Monitors in other areas may have different panels : jddesigned reports a Swedish site
at 16.2 million ( 6-bit, TN ) and steveng reports LG Japan at 16.7 million ( 8-bit, ? )
Click to expand...
i tried to power on while holdin the menu button. all i saw was "OSD locked/unlocked". no secret window for me
wait...i saw the secret window... mine says cpt20w TN but it seems changeble by pressing the left/right button and the brightness changed too. but when i looked back to my brightness, contrast settings, they were still the same. what does that mean? Is it the manufacture preset? i can change it to LPL20w IPS, CMo20W, AUO20w, hannstar20w, HYDIS20w, FUJISTU20w, LPL20w TN, AUO20w SE, then back to cpt20w TN.
How did you discover the secret window?
 
just emailed LG again about this. if this is indeed a TN panel, there's no way i would pay $699 for it although everything seems so perfect.
 
Doogie said:
You can have this monitor for $585 CDN on Sunday.

Futureshop reduced the price to $650 and there's 10% off on Sunday because of the "Friends and Family" sale.
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10071963&catid=.
http://www.futureshop.ca/marketing/...?logon=&langid=EN&CMP=EMC-email_special_promo

I'm gonna order one to try it out.
Click to expand...
WOW thanks for the headup. seems like they just updated the website last night or early this morning. 585 is a really good deal for a trouble free monitor. can't find a better one for the same price.
 
Couple questions since I'm planning on biting the bullet on this monitor tomorrow (this monitor + Oblivion should equal heaven):

1) Any input lag due to f-engine or anything?
2) Can you force 75hz at native res on DVI?

If there's no lag and you can force 75hz, I will have this monitor and Oblivion tomorrow which will make my year. :)
 
sniggle said:
Couple questions since I'm planning on biting the bullet on this monitor tomorrow (this monitor + Oblivion should equal heaven):

1) Any input lag due to f-engine or anything?
2) Can you force 75hz at native res on DVI?

If there's no lag and you can force 75hz, I will have this monitor and Oblivion tomorrow which will make my year. :)
Click to expand...
to answer your questions
1) no input lag
2) I tried but couldn't force to 75hz
i also started a thread at widescreengamingforum.com and there are more comments from people who actually bought the monitor. it might be more helpful if you go there and ask questions so more people can respond.
 
Does asnyone know if two computers can be connected for PIP on this monitor?
 
Now I'm confused. Bestbuy is selling LG L203WT-BF at 499.99. Why is ppl buying this monitor at futureshop?? Is this a different model??
 
charliebrown78 said:
Now I'm confused. Bestbuy is selling LG L203WT-BF at 499.99. Why is ppl buying this monitor at futureshop?? Is this a different model??
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499 US that is. people who bought it from futureshop, including me, are from canada. in here only futureshop carries it
 
OK, I just got back from BestBuy and they had this and the Samsung 215TW right next to each other. Unfortunately the friendly BB employee would not change the resolution and the computer was hidden someplace.

But it does appear that the LG is a TN with fairly poor viewing angles, especially from bottom looking up. Much lower angles than the Samsung. I would think $499 is a bit much for this especially if it turns out not to have HDCP. I wasn't all that impressed given the alternatives available. I eliminated it right away.

The Samsung 215TW appears to be the same panel and features as the Gateway. It definitely has the problem with details in dark areas while looking directly at it. The stand does not seem as nice as the Gateway but the speakerbar does not stand out that much and might be useful if you wanted to retire this as a monitor as use it as a little TV. The DVI connector says (HDCP) right on it so it definitely has that but it's not mentioned on the box.

Samsung is $50 cheaper than Gateway and has a 3 year warranty instead of 1.
 
although this thread is mainly about the L203wt, does anyone know of any site that has the 20wmgx2 in stock for shipment in the US? every single place i check is out of stock. i know it's an amazing monitor, but is it just not being produced in high quantity?

i just keep changing my mind. at first i thought i was definitely going with the samsung 215tw, then i saw the L203wt, and then the 20wmgx2. the 20wmgx2 just looks too amazing to pass up.
 
well i bought the 203wt since i could not count on getting the 20wmgx2 anywhere. first strike was that the monitor did not come with a DVI cable. pretty sure it's supposed to though, since the quick setup guide shows it. i'll have to bitch to best buy i guess. second strike is that this monitor can not be forced to 75hz at native res. when i tried, it just showed weird garbled pixels along the bottom and right side. 70hz was no go either. what a shame.

i'll have to see how it treats me with gaming though. in a quick full screen command prompt text, the backlight looked pretty uniform but the blacks were not as black as i would expect with a 1400:1 contrast ratio. i have f-engine set at normal and the gamma setting in the middle. i'll have to keep playing with it.
 
I have been playing with this thing for months now and trying to figure the answer to your question. The lateral viewing angles are fine. The banding is no more noticeable than what I read from the threads on the NEC and the Samsung ws monitors. I love this monitor, but am a curious fellow who can't stand unanswered questions-- sure wish LG would give us an answer.
 
LG showcased the L203WT at CEBIT 2006 and the spec sheet listed there looked like this:

billede%20(292).jpg


As has been suggested a bit earlier, the high contrast ratio rating is not a sign of the panel technology, rather it is indicating that they have using their DFC (Digital Fine Contrast) technology - as shown in the picture. LG list the spec on their US site here and the viewing angles are a dead giveaway that it is indeed a TN Film panel. Even the specs listed above at CEBIT are suggesting it's TN Film since some very lapse measurement techniques allow some manufacturers to list 170/170 nowaday.s But compare this with some S-PVA panels for instance which are listed at 180/180 now, and you can still use the specs to identify the panel :)
 
If it's a TN then why didn't they make the response time faster and why the one person here get a response that it's something other than a TN? Hhhhmmmmm?
 
well LG have only very recently started to explore the application of overdrive to their panels, they are a little behind Samsung, AUO and the likes with this technology on the most part. Perhaps LG.Philips just simple haven't devloped an overdriven 20"WS TN Film panel, in fact there aren't many 20"WS models with a response time lower other than 8ms. The 20"WS market isn't at the same low response times as the 19" sector yet. I'd be a little wary of what LG have said to some people, it seems they give different responses from different departments. User comments suggest it is a TN Film panel, and those specs certainly suggest it as well.
 
in fact there aren't many 20"WS models with a response time lower other than 8ms
Click to expand...

There are a few 20" that are lower, the Samsung 204b is 5 m and it's a TN.

Well, I guess as long as it looks good and has good color and limited blacklight then I'll be finally satisfied.
 
yeah there are a couple, i was meaning specifically WS format but it does translate over into the 4:3 range as well. There is also the NEC LCD20WGX2 at 6ms G2G, but the general response time spec has not reached the level that the 19" market now has with many of them being 4ms - 2ms nowadays
 
I guess I can agree with a 160 degree viewing angle it's probably a TN.
 
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