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LG L203WT

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JCLW

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2002
Price paid: CDN$400 @FutureShop

Advertised specs:
Maximum Resolution : 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+)
Brightness : 300cd/m2
Viewing Angle : H: 170, V: 170
Response Time : 8ms
Display Colours : 16.8M Colours
Horizontal Frequency : 30~93kHz
Vertical Frequency : 56~75Hz
Video Signal Type : RGB Analog/Digital (Separate, Composite, SOG, Digital)
Input Connectors : 15Pin D-Sub, DVI
Power Supply : 90~264 Vac (47~63 Hz), LIPS (Integrated)
Shipping Weight : Net: 16.5lbs, Gross: 26lbs
Wall/Arm Mount Type : VESA
Power Consumption : Less than 58 watts
Warranty : 3 Years SWAP
Panel Type and Size : 20.1" Wide
Contrast Ratio : 1400:1 (DFC)
Interface : Dual mode
Weight : 16.5lbs
Dimensions without Base (WxHxD) : 19.5" x 15.7" x 9.5"
Shipping Dimensions (WxHxD) : 22" x 20.5" x 7.4"

Typical packaging:
img90955ru.jpg


Stuff in the box:
img90972bz.jpg

(also includes manual and driver CD - silver plastic thing is to hide cables behind stand)

Buttons:
img90995gv.jpg


Connections:
img91006yl.jpg


As you can see mine was made May 2006, so about one month old.
 
A trip inside... (I don't recommend you do this - it'll void your warranty)

The back comes off easily. Four screws, and then little plastic catches around the perimeter. I just ran a butter knife along the edge, starting at the middle bottom:
img91018ye.jpg


Control PCB, located under the PCB (top) cover. Mine has firmware 1.6:
img91042rb.jpg


To get to the panel put the PCB cover back on, and remove the screws holding the plastic bezel on, plus the two screws holding the button PCB on. After the bezel comes off there are just four screws (two per side) holding the panel onto the metal frame. Be careful - there are wires connecting the panel to the PCB/frame so don't try and separate them too far. If you want to completely remove the panel unplug the wires from the PCB first, but I just wanted to see which panel it was:
img91057hf.jpg


So mine has a Chunghwa CLAA201WA01

Advertised specs:
Resolution : 1680 x 1050
Brightness : 300cd/m2
Contrast : 600:1
Response Time : 8ms
 
DVI connection:

Card: Asus X800XL dual DVI
Card driver: ATi Cat 6.1
Panel driver: LG 1.0.0.0 (28/12/2005)
Cable: Generic 3m DVD-D dual link

No dead pixels.
No noticeable ghosting.

Brightness: 50
Contrast: 70
Gamma: 0

gradlin-v0.2-fs.exe:
img91070ux.jpg


The Incredibles 1:
img91088jn.jpg


The Incredibles 2:
img91106ml.jpg
 
Last edited:
VGA connection:

Card: Asus X800XL dual DVI
Card driver: ATi Cat 6.1
Panel driver: LG 1.0.0.0 (28/12/2005)
Cable: Included 2m VGA

No dead pixels.
No noticeable ghosting.

Brightness: 50
Contrast: 70
Gamma: 0

gradlin-v0.2-fs.exe:
img91137py.jpg


The Incredibles 1:
img91153lp.jpg


The Incredibles 2:
img91167vs.jpg
 
JCLW,

Your a good guy as far as I'm concerned, anyone that removed the back cover voiding the warranty to inspect the guts of a product the first day he gets it, is OK in my book!!
woot.gif
 
There have been reports of banding when using the DVI connection on this screen, so here are two high res shots to compare:

DVI:
img91186bu.jpg


VGA:
img91205vm.jpg


Definitely more banding when using DVI. But I like the colours better with DVI. Since I've yet to notice any banding when looking at any real pictures or videos I'm going to keep it on DVI for now.
 
Last edited:
Silversinksam said:
JCLW,

Your a good guy as far as I'm concerned, anyone that removed the back cover voiding the warranty to inspect the guts of a product the first day he gets it, is OK in my book!!
woot.gif
Lol, thanks.

Anthing else anybody wants me to test and/or take pictures of?
 
Thinking about getting this monitor

but can you give some info, on the specification!!

is this 8 bit panel?

are the Color upto: 16.7M, or is it inferior

Is VGA inferior technology to DVI, because I'm considering Using VGA but after reading all the great things about DVI I feel bit uneasy investing big bucks in VGA specialized monitor!!

How bad is the angel problem, watching from the side?

Is this panel good for watching images and playing games compared to smaller 19" that comes with 2ms response time?

How does this panel stackup against viewsonic vx2025wm?
 
Q: is this 8 bit panel? are the Color upto: 16.7M, or is it inferior?

A: Yes, I believe this is an 8bit (16.7M) TN+ panel.

Q: Is VGA inferior technology to DVI, because I'm considering Using VGA but after reading all the great things about DVI I feel bit uneasy investing big bucks in VGA specialized monitor!!

A: It depends - some people notice it and some don't. My personal feelings using this particular monitor on my particular video card is that the DVI looks a little better. But the VGA looks pretty good too, and doesn't suffer from the small (IMHO) banding issue that the DVI does. I'd feel comfortable using it on either.

Q: How bad is the angel problem, watching from the side?

A: Angle? OK 'til about +/-45 (90 total). I'll post some pictures later.

Q: Is this panel good for watching images and playing games compared to smaller 19" that comes with 2ms response time?

A: Take all the response times you see advertised with a grain of salt. Tom's Hardware actaully has some really good articles about response times and how they are measured (and how manufacturers cheat). I don't really play many FPS games but I've tried UT2003, Halo, Far Cry, FS2002, and CFS2 and havn't noticed any ghosting. Movies look good too.

Q: How does this panel stackup against viewsonic vx2025wm?

A: The Viewsonic uses a P-MVA panel (AUO AUO M201EW01 V0). I've never used one, so I can't compare apart from that.

But at CDN$399 you can't really go wrong IMHO.
 
Uniform backlight:
img91218yf.jpg


Straight on:
img91258ir.jpg


~45 degrees:
img91262kg.jpg


~75 degrees:
img91295yd.jpg
 
Nice, i was looking at this monitor... (no no my precious GDM-FW900, i was not going to replace you, i was looking to breed you! seriously...)
 
I had this same panel for about a month and then LG came out with the L204wt. The specs said 2000:1 contrast and 5ms response on it, so I decided to swap my L203WT for the 204. I figured it was worth it because not only does the 5ms response help for games, but I also got this panel for $50 less than I paid for the L203wt.

Once I set it up, I tuned the brightness and contrast to the same settings as I had on the L203WT and I could definately see the contrast difference. The blacks were definately richer than with the L203. I am using a DVi cable as well and this panel still has the same issues with banding, but like JCLW said, the clarity and colour on the DVi cable is much nicer than analog. This monitor has a thinner bezel as well and the buttons are on the back. The light on the front is much smaller and is less in-your-face than the bigger L203WT's LED.

So far i'm happy with my decision.
 
does this

Junglebizz said:
I had this same panel for about a month and then LG came out with the L204wt. The specs said 2000:1 contrast and 5ms response on it, so I decided to swap my L203WT for the 204. I figured it was worth it because not only does the 5ms response help for games, but I also got this panel for $50 less than I paid for the L203wt.

Once I set it up, I tuned the brightness and contrast to the same settings as I had on the L203WT and I could definately see the contrast difference. The blacks were definately richer than with the L203. I am using a DVi cable as well and this panel still has the same issues with banding, but like JCLW said, the clarity and colour on the DVi cable is much nicer than analog. This monitor has a thinner bezel as well and the buttons are on the back. The light on the front is much smaller and is less in-your-face than the bigger L203WT's LED.

So far i'm happy with my decision.

monitor come with DVI cable or do I still have to buy it?

is it 6 bit panel or 8bit panel? is it still the same panel as 203wt?

did they change any core technology to achieve better response & contrast ratio?

Would you say this monitor is better in VGA mode like 203WT or is this getting better in DVI mode?

I have got recent nvidia 7800gs graphic card but is it HDCP compatible? if not how will they go around this problem?

What about banding issue? is it still bad? where does it effect? is it obvious in games?
 
1. monitor come with DVI cable or do I still have to buy it?

1. No cable. Buy one.

2. is it 6 bit panel or 8bit panel? is it still the same panel as 203wt?

2. Pretty sure 8-bit, and it seems to be the same panel generally.

3. did they change any core technology to achieve better response & contrast ratio?

3. Well they must have in order to get the higher contrast ratio and faster reponse time. Don't ask me what exactly.

4. Would you say this monitor is better in VGA mode like 203WT or is this getting better in DVI mode?

4. I also believe this monitor has better colour and clarity in DVI mode, but I also ran my 203WT in DVI mode. I prefered quality and clarity over possible banding. If it's VGA that you are only interested in, then I would say they are the same.

5. I have got recent nvidia 7800gs graphic card but is it HDCP compatible? if not how will they go around this problem?

5. From what I know, it's not HD compatible, just like the 203WT. If you want HD, expect to spend $150+ more on the screen, but honestly, do you plan on sitting at your computer watching tv?

6. What about banding issue? is it still bad? where does it effect? is it obvious in games?

6. The banding is still there. They haven't fixed it in this model. Is it bad? That's up to you. I notice it and it doesn't bother me at all. I found it quite noticible in World of Warcraft if you stared up into the sky, it had a dartboard look to it, but how often are you staring straight up, aimlessly wandering? Not often...

NOTE: I actually returned the 204WT and got back my 203WT. The 204 had really bad backlight bleed all along the top of the screen. If you think of what a 16:9 ratio movie looks like on a 16:10 screen (still slightly letterboxed), then think of the size of the top box above the picture. The bleed was about that wide.

I don't know if this had to do with the thinner bezel on the screen or what, but regardless of the higher ratio or the faster screen, I would rather have just banding compared to banding and bleed. And the 204 was silver, I prefered the black look of the L203WT. (And also, when I got my 203 back, they dropped the price so I didn't have to pay anything extra!)

Other opinions about the L204WT: I found the stand to be rather narrow causing the monitor to shake more side to side if you bumped your desk. The stand was also kind of stiff when angling the screen up and rather loose when angling the screen down. There is also no clip to hold the wires cleanly like the 203 has. From what I recall, this monitor was a bit thinner, lighter and used less power too.
 
I also picked up the L204WT from FutureShop on Wednesday, and I don't seem to notice any backlight bleeding at all. I've watched a number of HD movie clips, and the letterbox bars are so dark that I've been using them to calibrate contrast/brightness settings.

Is it possible that you just got a bad apple?
 
Regardless of it being a bad one or not, I'm happy with my L203WT. The only thing I would've liked was the 5ms response, but it's not a big deal.

I see they now have the 204 on for $369 now. Just over a month since i bought the original 203 and already the 204 is $80 less than I paid.
 
mine is running fine too!!

StreetPreacher said:
I also picked up the L204WT from FutureShop on Wednesday, and I don't seem to notice any backlight bleeding at all. I've watched a number of HD movie clips, and the letterbox bars are so dark that I've been using them to calibrate contrast/brightness settings.

Is it possible that you just got a bad apple?


I was very discouraged to even try this monitor but I had to see it for myself and after running it 6 hours straight, I haven't seen backlight bleeding!! Maybe it was one of those random bad monitors for you, but so far my monitor looks good!

I Hope other people give more impression on this 204wt monitor, I really want to keep this baby!!
 
LG L204W 20.1" - 1680 x 1050?

I just bought the LG L204W 20.1" widescreen .. but I'm having trouble getting the resolution right. There's no 1680 x 1050 to choose from on my slider bar. I'm stuck on the regular 1280 x 1024.

I've installed the drivers that came with it .. + tried plug and play.

Any ideas? Has anyone else had this problem?
 
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