LG 22LG3000 review

Like its larger stablemates in our recent LCD TV group test LG’s 22LG3000 has a simple yet elegant glossy black design.

It supports a 1,920×1,080 resolution under Windows using a VGA input, but it’s not very clear, as the picture has to be downscaled to match the monitor’s native resolution of 1,680×1,050.

LG’s menu system uses large, clear icons and bold text, and is a pleasure to use. While connected to the PC we had access to image mode presets, such as Game, Cinema and Sport, which is useful if you want to switch between different applications. These presets were generally suitable for each task. The Vivid mode turns up the backlight to maximum, and is great for office use under bright lighting, while the Game and Cinema modes were darker but brought out more detail.

Although contrast was generally good, we noticed some banding in our gradient tests, and whites were a little too bright. In everyday use, though, we were impressed by the vivid colours and crisp detail in pictures and movies. In our gaming tests, Game mode produced fast response times in action sequences.

Setting up digital TV channels took over five minutes, but picture quality was the best of the TVs here. Freeview channels were susceptible to digital noise, but the noise-reduction option minimises compression artefacts well. The EPG shows six channels for a week in advance, but the preview displays the channel currently selected, which will annoy those who like to consult the guide while keeping an eye on the show they were watching.

If you need an integrated TV and monitor, the 22LG3000 is the one to buy. If you’ll primarily be using your monitor with a PC, you can buy BenQ’s E2200HD for £106 less, use the savings to buy a TV receiver for your PC and still have change, plus you’ll get the benefit of the E2200HD’s higher resolution.