Review: LG Electronics Gaming 24GM77 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor

• March 8, 2015
• James Skemp
• gaming, review

Very nice, but may not be required

For context, I have two rather old HP monitors, from 2007, which up until early last year I was using for my PC monitors. I then upgraded to a 39-inch Samsung television, since my PC is effectively my living room's main entertainment station. And I'm quite happy with the setup I have.

So when I had the opportunity to review the LG Electronics Gaming 24GM77 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor as part of the Amazon Vine program, I jumped at the chance. Would a gaming monitor change my outlook on playing console and PC games? Or would I be content to continue along the path of using TVs in place of monitors.

After a little over three weeks I can honestly say I'm impressed, but I think I'll be continuing along the path I'm on.

For general PC purposes the LG Electronics Gaming 24GM77 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor works as is to be expected from any monitor, but you're not going to pick this up merely for that.

So to test this monitor, I tried the following: Starcraft II on PC (highest settings), various Xbox One games and two animated blu-ray movies.

Overall, I guess I got so into the games that I didn't really notice much of a difference. The screen is definitely crisp, but when you compare the picture of a 24-inch monitor to a 39-inch one, naturally things are going to look better at a smaller physical size.

Don't get me wrong, it's very nice, and I definitely got into the experience, but it wasn't clearly obvious to me that I was on a gaming-specific monitor.

As for the physical aspects of the monitor, I'm not quite sure what I think of the controls. There are base buttons as well as a nub that can be used to access the menu for the various options, as well as turn it off. While it feels sturdy enough, I guess a part of me would rather have an actual button for the power. But it works fairly well.

If you're thinking about using the LG Electronics Gaming 24GM77 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor as a monitor for a console, consider that the monitor does not have speakers built-in. That's fairly standard these days, but something to keep in mind. Since I didn't want to use headphones, when I used the Xbox I ended up using some USB powered speakers. Plugging into the monitor worked sufficiently fine.

The monitor does feature two HDMI inputs, so you don't necessarily need to pick between a PC or a console, as you can easily swap between them. The monitor is also fairly smart, and seemed to pick the right input for me (although I did have an oddity initially when I had it hooked up to my PC via the DVI port, and a console via the HDMI, as it kept wanting to focus on the DVI port).

Ignoring the price, the LG Electronics Gaming 24GM77 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor is a fine monitor, definitely worth 5 stars. The price, however, would knock it down one, as at almost $300 it's almost worth spending just a bit more to get a TV, which would then support component inputs.

However, ultimately I have to go with a five star rating for this monitor. I will definitely be looking at better speakers, and will absolutely have this as a part of my entertainment area. Is it required? No. But if you afford it, it comes recommended.

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