Fri, 21 Oct 2011 LG Flatron IPS231P review

This LG monitor has the smallest screen size in our group test at 23in, but if you’re a sole trader working out of a small studio you can choose this display with confidence without worrying about skimping on quality – even though the price is extremely low. As for design, the slim-looking display is a little more streamlined than its closest rival – the LaCie 324i – but its build quality is good and solid.

A native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels is comparable to most of the displays in this test. The LED screen offers a 178 degree viewing angle in both horizontal and vertical planes too. Rotation is not quite as free as the SpectraView or ColorEdge, but it’s comparable to the view offered by the Philips Brilliance display. And, like the majority of the units here, you can easily roatate the panel into portrait or landscape mode.

The IPS LED panel is of a professional standard, with deep and rich colour rendering capabilities. The screen surface is on the glossy side of matt, though – and there’s no hood to protect the screen from glare.

Interestingly, this panel ships in two models; the IPS231 we reviewed here is optimised for photographers and designers. Its sibling, the IPS236 has features tweaked for home use. The main difference appears to be the stand, which pivots through 90 degrees in the version we reviewed.

The LG IPS231 was the big surprise of the test – a 23in monitor with superb colour reproduction that was surprisingly cheap

As far as audio goes, the Flatron has a pair of 1W speakers built-in – even though there’s no HDMI socket. In fact, poor connection options are the only downside of this otherwise superb display – there’s only one DVI-D socket, a VGA connector and an audio in. Sadly, there’s no DisplayPort and no USB hub.

What’s particularly noteworthy about the IPS231 is the combination of technologies associated with far more expensive devices. The LED backlit panel is built on IPS technology – you wouldn’t usually expect much change out of a grand for this setup. Yet LG have put this display together in a market where other manufacturers – the BenQ model springs to mind – are keeping costs down with cheaper panels.