LG 24GL600F-B Review

The LG 24GL600F-B brings the joy of 144Hz gaming at a budget price of around 150 dollars to gamers strapped for cash. While the high refresh rate is an overwhelming factor for avid gamers, it is also understood that there are some obvious compromises that have to be made. The LG 24GL600F  has poor ergonomics and does not offer the best image quality owing to its cheap TN panel. Nonetheless, its excellent gaming performance and modest price make it a top choice for budget buyers. Let’s take a deeper look!

Specifications

Image Quality

The 24″ 16:9 screen LG UltraGear has a Full High Definition display (1980 x 1080 Resolution) with a 144Hz refresh rate. The LG 24GL600F is equipped with TN panel technology , which provides the perfect gaming experience with a response time of 1 millisecond.

Image Quality is not the best selling point for a majority of budget TN panels and the LG 24GL600F is no exception. The obvious handicap is the viewing angles. That said,  LG 24GL600F fares well with a decent horizontal viewing coverage at wider angles up to 170°, but colors appear washed out beyond that. The vertical viewing angles however, are limited to 160° only. For best viewing, it is better to mount the monitor at eye level, because the monitor’s poor ergonomics practically don’t allow much movement of the screen.

The monitor’s color production is supported by 8-bit color depth to produce close to 16.7 million colors that cover 96% of the sRGB color space. The colors look good out of the box, but some color tones are inaccurate – a difference that is clearly observed if you have a color calibrated IPS panel placed side by side for comparison. There is noticeable banding across gradients, which may or may not be a big turn off for you depending on your primary use of the monitor. Although we cannot confirm it, the LG 24gl600F seems to be a 6-bit panel that uses an additional 2 bits dithering to  achieve an 8-bit effect which can then explain the color banding.

The LG 24GL600F is packed with 2 million pixels approximately to cover the 23.6” screen which results in a pixel density of 92ppi. While it may not match in detail and image sharpness with high end monitors boasting pixel densities of 110 or above, the  LG 24GL600F outputs crisp images with good detail showing no hint of pixelation. The monitor is also good to use for text related work.

The display has a reasonably good brightness rating of 300 cd/m² , that helps its use in brightly lit rooms. Additionally the anti-glare coating provides the screen with good glare handling, to diffuse reflections in bright rooms.

The monitor’s contrast leaves much to be desired. It’s  contrast ratio of 1000:1 is quite low to render darker tones correctly. This results in poor representation of dark tones of gray, black and other colors. Hence, dark mode games will not thoroughly entertain deep gray and black shades making it difficult to spot hidden enemies in the dark.

One final gripe is the monitor’s disappointing black uniformity. If you plan to watch your movies with room lights off, then brace yourself for some poor visuals during dark scenes.

The LG 24GL600F is not ideal for office work. The poor ergonomics make it difficult to swivel the screen and the tilt is also limited. It becomes harder to share your screen with co-workers. Apart from this, the poor view at wider angles also does not make it an ideal choice as an office monitor. However, it handles reflection very well in bright rooms, as the anti-glare stops the reflection on the screen that could be a significant issue for many.

Performance

Where the LG Ultragear 24GL600F-B lacks in image quality it makes up a fair bit with its gaming performance. For low budget enthusiasts it is such a relief to get your hands on a 144Hz gaming monitor under 150 dollars. 

A primary concern with low cost panels is poor motion handling. The LG Ultragear 24GL600F-B however does extremely well for the tier of gaming monitors it belongs to. There is effectively very little trail of ghosting owing to an excellent 1ms response time from this TN panel. If you are overly sensitive to motion blur and ghosting then the LG Ultragear 24GL600F-B offers a cheap remedy, thanks to its excellent motion handling.

You may switch between different response time modes available in the monitor for best output. For us though, the Fast setting worked like a charm. There was no overshoot and the motion was crisp.

Freesync is an added feature that runs flawlessly with the LG Ultragear 24GL600F-B. Whether your graphics card can pump up to 144 frames per second consistently or fall short, you’ll not be bogged down by screen-tearing or stuttering as long as the frame rate stays within the 48-144Hz window.

Is this a monitor for night scenes, let’s say in a game like call of duty? I am afraid it is not. We already discussed the monitor’s inability to show details in the dark. The monitor offers Black Frame Insertion to make up for lack of details in darker tones, however, it negatively effects brightness and introduces a trail in motion. 

If you are tilted towards dark themed games, then we recommend you to consider the AOC C24G1. It is an excellent 144Hz monitor with a VA panel that offers better contrast and may in fact cost you a few dollars less than the LG Ultragear 24GL600F-B.

Overall the LG Ultragear 24GL600F-B is a super-responsive monitor with low input lag and excellent motion handling, but very limited gaming features. 

(crosshair)

Design and Build Quality

At around 150 dollars you shouldn’t expect anything flashy or overly gamery from a monitor . LG has come up with a minimalistic design for the LG 24GL600F, that doesn’t give away the monitor’s gaming intentions. The black matte plastic body at the back of the monitor is adorned with the trademark red ring signifying the LG Ultragear brand.

The flat screen is marked with rather thick bezels at its boundaries on all four sides that can prove to be a hindrance if you plan to use the LG 24GL600F in a multi-monitor setup.

The monitor stand is sleek and sturdy, with a V-shaped foot that does not occupy a large space on the table top and that unfortunately is all the good we can mention about it.  The stand is disappointing for lack of adjustments. It lacks some very basic ergonomics, and the only adjustment available is limited screen tilt. You cannot adjust the height of the monitor or pivot it which can prove to be a real challenge if you want to maneuver a comfortable viewing position in front of the monitor. The best alternative is to use the VESA mount and fix the monitor at a suitable position on the wall. The ports are positioned at the back of the panel, facing the wall if you were to mount the  monitor. While this makes it easy to plug-in the cables, you cannot avoid cable clutter since there is no slot included for cable management.

The monitor thankfully includes a downward facing joystick at the base of the panel to navigate the menu, which is quite convenient to use compared to buttons that are normally available in budget monitors.

Features

Game Modes: The LG 24GL600F includes several pre-set modes to choose between depending on the type of game you play. These include Gamer1, Gamer2, FPS, RTS, Reader modes etc.

Black Stabilizer: The black stabilizer feature provides improved clarity in dark scenes.

Crosshair: To help you target your enemies quicker with increased efficiency

Picture Adjust Modes: To adjust picture settings by tinkering brightness, contrast, sharpness, gamma settings etc.

Conclusion

It is tough to find a gaming monitor at this price point that meets your entire wish list. The LG 24GL600F may not tick all the boxes, but it offers plenty of value for its price to be considered an excellent addition to your gaming arsenal.