LG Flatron L222WS
Although the name of this monitor seems to imply a 22” diagonal, it is actually yet another 21.6” model. But as I noted above, the size of the screen is the single distinguishing trait of such monitors. Otherwise, they are identical to 22.0” models.
So, it is a TN-based monitor without Response Time Compensation. The viewing angles are specified to be as large as 170 degrees both vertically and horizontally but you shouldn’t forget that these numbers are arrived at by using a relaxed measurement method. In practice, the vertical viewing angles of the L222WS are no match to the viewing angles of monitors based on *VA or IPS matrixes.
The case is matte but the stand is made from black glossy plastic for some purpose. It doesn’t make the monitor any more beautiful while dust speckles and your fingerprints are going to be more conspicuous on the glossy surface. Overall, I’d describe this exterior design as neat, yet somewhat boring.
The stand allows to adjust the tilt of the screen. It can be replaced with a standard VESA mount if necessary.
The monitor doesn’t offer a digital interface. The L222WS is actually the only monitor in this review to lack a DVI input.
The control buttons are in the bottom right of the front panel. The labels and icons are painted in black. It is easy to read them under any lighting. Quick access is provided to the auto-adjustment feature and to switching between the preset modes (LightView technology). As opposed to f-Engine technology you can see in more expensive monitors from LG, LightView affects brightness and contrast ratio only. It doesn’t affect color reproduction.
The monitor’s onscreen menu is a standard menu from LG. Among its settings I would single out such options as the opportunity to turn out the Power indicator and the option of disabling image interpolation (a picture with an aspect ratio of 4:3 is not stretched out to the full width of the screen at that).
When I turned the monitor on for the first time together with a Radeon X1650 card and Catalyst 7.7, it would stretch the image horizontally in its native resolution so that the image left the dimensions of the screen. The other resolutions were displayed properly (with interpolation and scaled up to the size of the screen). I found a way to correct that problem. I opened the Catalyst Control Panel and switched to the image size/position adjustment window. In that window I clicked on the size adjustment button and the monitor then began to show the picture normally, pixel to pixel. It’s hard to say if it’s a monitor’s or a driver’s problem, but I have to confess I’ve never had such problems with Radeon cards and other monitors.
The Power indicator is designed prettily as a shining angle. Its brightness is reasonable; it won’t distract your eyes at work.
The brightness and contrast are set at 100% and 70%, by default. I achieved a 100nit white by selecting 40% brightness and 50% contrast. The monitor regulates its brightness by means of backlight modulation at a frequency of 226Hz.
Color gradients are reproduced normally at any value of contrast. There are no problems with darks at low contrast. Light halftones merge into white at a contrast of 70% and higher.
