14 DAY TRIAL // After seeing the arrival of so many monitors and HDTVs with this or that special feature, we finally get to see one that caters to the needs of the common man.
We should probably start by saying that the type of display we are going to talk about is not usually the sort that mainstream and entry-level customers can get their hands on.
After all, LCDs with IPS (in-plane switching) panels used to be purely high-end products.
LG is determined to bring the technology to prospective customers not part of that small percentage with bottomless finances.
Enter the IPS4 series, which will become available for order next month (May, 2012) and, though it will definitely include high-end, even 3D versions, it will have a mainstream member too.
"Despite strong sales and dominating the professional market, IPS monitors were less popular with the majority of consumers due to the cost of high-quality IPS panels," said J.J. Lee, executive vice president and head of IT business unit of LG Home Entertainment Company.
"With the launch of the affordable IPS4 series, LG is taking a huge step in making IPS monitors ubiquitous in every room."
The press release does a great job of giving us no prices and nearly no performance or image quality numbers, beyond the 178-degree viewing angles. Still, it doesn't take a genius to guess the likely resolution (1,920 x 1,080).
What LG did mention was that the panel would boast Smooth Color Change, eliminating blur during rapid motion action scenes, sports, video games, etc.
The announcement also specified good color consistency and the Dual Smart Solution: one-click set-up of a dual-monitor mode, complete with dual taskbar and dual web split screen. Finally, Dual Screen optimizes the window size so that it divides the screen to view multiple web pages. All in all, multitaskers will benefit.