LG Electronics 19in Flatron 915FT

LG Electonics' Flatron brand has been around for some time now and, with the success of the 17in 795FT Plus, we were eager to see whether the company's latest 19in Flatron would live up to expectations.

Beginning with the CRT, the Flatron differs in a number of ways from conventional monitors. Instead of the holes found on a traditional shadow mask or a grille of wires as in an aperture-grille mask, the Flatron's mask is vertically slotted. This gives you a 'stripe-pitch', which is rated at 0.24mm - equivalent to a 0.25mm dot-pitch CRT. In addition, all the surfaces are perfectly flat, resulting in a screen that really minimises reflections.

The 19in Flatron is a superb display, with a picture that is hard to criticise in terms of geometry, resolution and edge-to-edge focus over its 18in viewable diagonal. Colour performance is excellent, too, with the 915FT Plus exhibiting vibrant colours with fine purity. There was some vertical colour mis-registration but, with convergence controls embedded in the OSD, we realigned the electron guns. Power and screen regulation are solid.

It boasts tasteful and attractive styling, and the silver touch-sensitive controls are a pleasure to use. The OSD menus are easy to navigate thanks to a layout that corresponds with the buttons on the fascia.

The 915FT Plus can be worked on at a resolution of 1280 x 1024 with no hint of eyestrain and, for those with bionic eyesight, the display maintains a reasonably sharp picture at its maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200, vertically refreshing at 85Hz.

LG has addressed connectivity by fitting a USB hub to the rear of the chassis, with one upstream and four downstream ports, and providing a USB cable. In addition, the D-SUB lead is non-captive and you get a set of BNC connectors if your graphics card lets you separate the RGB video signals.

Finally, the 915FT Plus retails at a very keen £279 ex VAT which, when you consider the large desktop area and the features, makes it irresistible.

CONTACT: LG Electronics
0870 607 5544
www.lge.co.uk