No budget monitor is perfect, and LG's 24MP88HV-S shows some of the limitations of its low-cost kin: a small screen with modest resolution, a short warranty, and a stand limited to just tilt adjustment. Still, some of its features go beyond the usual budget-panel fare. Its ultra-thin bezels, on all four sides of the screen, make the 24MP88HV-S ($249.99, selling for about $200 online) great for multi-monitor setups. Dual HDMI ports let you keep the monitor connected to a computer plus a gaming console or other video source, and it packs a pair of impactful—if fairly low-fidelity—speakers. This LG display earns our Editors' Choice award as a budget monitor geared toward entertainment consumption and multi-display productivity use.

Near-Bezel-Free Bliss

The heart of the 24MP88HV-S is a 23.8-inch in-plane switching (IPS) screen at 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution for a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. It has wide viewing angles, rated by LG at up to 178 degrees for both vertical and horizontal, meaning that colors should remain reasonably true even if you view the screen at extreme angles. I indeed verified that the screen image stays the same even when viewed far off center, with no color shifting or posterization.

LG cites a refresh rate of 75Hz for the panel, but the screen lacks support for an adaptive sync technology such as AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync. Still, with the aforementioned speakers plus a pair of HDMI ports, it should be a good fit for low-impact gaming using a gaming console. Note that 75Hz was not an option on my testbed PC, using Intel integrated graphics; 60Hz shows up as the only default at any resolution. You can push to 75Hz, if so inclined, through a custom refresh setting (in your display settings), but your mileage may vary depending on the video source.

With a silver-colored base, a matte-white back, and a screen framed by the tiniest set of bezels we have seen on a panel of its class, the 24MP88HV-S cuts a striking figure. Measuring 16.3 by 21.3 by 7.3 inches (HWD) and weighing 7.1 pounds (including the stand), the 24MP88HV-S is reasonably compact and lightweight.

Like those on many budget monitors, the 24MP88HV-S's stand is limited to tilt adjustment. The arc-shaped base supports a shaft that angles upward to meet the back of the cabinet. It's not the heftiest we've handled; the stand felt a bit shaky at times. That said, the monitor has four holes in back, spaced 75mm apart, that fit a compatible VESA bracket for mounting on a wall or an arm.

Many display manufacturers tout their monitors as being bezel-free, or nearly so. With the 24MP88HV-S’s so-called Infinity Display, LG comes closest to this ideal of any monitor I have tested. The bezel is the strip of metal or plastic that surrounds the screen. Reducing the bezel width lets manufacturers make smaller-cabinet displays for a given screen size, and it gives monitors a sleeker look. A monitor with minimal bezels is also a good choice for a multi-monitor setup, as you can place two or more of the monitors side by side with almost no border between the screens.

Many recent monitors we have reviewed have ultra-thin top and side bezels and a thick bottom bezel. Others have somewhat thin bezels all around. The 24MP88HV-S’s screen is surrounded on all sides by minuscule (2.5mm-thick) bezels, giving it a sleek appearance and making it the closest to a bezel-free monitor we’re ever likely to see. Note that like on most panels, there is also a small border (in black) around the screen image, behind the display glass. It's 4mm wide on the top and sides, so the border plus the bezel are about 6.5 or 7mm (about a quarter of an inch) on the top and sides. The border is a little wider on the bottom (about 7.5mm), so there, the border plus bezel is 10mm (0.4 inch).

As for ports, the 24MP88HV-S includes the budget monitor world’s two main staples (VGA and HDMI) and adds a second HDMI port. With it, you can stay connected to dual input sources—say, a computer and a Blu-ray player or gaming console. There’s also an audio-in jack and a headphone jack, giving you monitor-side audio options whether you pull in the audio signal over HDMI, or pipe it in over a separate line.

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The ports are all in back, facing outward. This configuration is the same as on the Samsung 24-Inch CF396 Curved LED Monitor, and preferable to the less convenient downward-facing rear ports found on the Dell SE2419HR and numerous other monitors.

The 24MP88HV-S has a small joystick controller for accessing the monitor's onscreen display (OSD) menu system. It is easy to manipulate, and preferable to the control systems that employ multiple hidden buttons found on most budget monitors. You can also download LG's OnScreen Control software, which lets you size and format windows for split-screen and multi-monitor configurations.

A pair of 5-watt speakers is built into the 24MP88HV-S. They put out good volume, and although their quality is not up to audiophile standards—they have mediocre bass response and sound a bit tinny—at least LG includes them. Many budget monitors lack speakers altogether, and when they are present, they tend to be lower-power models, such as the HP 24mh's pair of 2-watt speakers.

LG covers the 24MP88HV-S with a mere one-year warranty. Although this is not unusual in the budget-monitor arena—both the HP 24mh and the Samsung CF396 also have one-year plans—we like to see more time on the coverage clock, and some manufacturers are more generous. Philips, for instance, backs its 272E1CA, a 27-inch budget-priced monitor, with a four-year warranty.

Testing the 24MP88HV-S: Accurate Colors, Great Contrast

I did our luminance, color, and contrast testing using a Klein K10-A colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays' CalMAN 5 color calibration software. LG rates the 24MP88HV-S’s luminance (brightness per unit area) at 250 nits (candelas per meter squared), and its contrast ratio at 1,000:1, which is standard for an IPS panel. I measured its luminance at 209 nits, and its contrast ratio at 1,265:1. (See how we test monitors.)

Below is a chromaticity chart generated when testing the 24MP88HV-S’s coverage of the sRGB color space. The area within the triangle represents all the colors that can be made by mixing the primary colors red, green, and blue. The monitor covered 98.5% of sRGB, a superb figure for a panel in its price class. (sRGB is the standard color space used on the web and in many other applications.)

In addition to our formal testing, I also did some ad-hoc testing of text and video quality. In rendering our test video clips, the 24MP88HV-S showed reasonably accurate colors, and it handled contrast well in both bright and dark areas. It also rendered images from our photo suite in realistic-looking colors.

This Budget Panel Goes Beyond the Basics

Feature-wise, the LG 24MP88HV-S goes beyond what we usually see in budget monitors. Yes, it has a small 1080p screen like most of its like-priced brethren, the typical (and brief) one-year warranty, and a stand that's limited to tilt control. But it has two HDMI ports, that mini-joystick controller, and those powerful (if not high-fidelity) speakers. Plus, it showed fine sRGB color coverage in our testing, and it has the closest thing to a bezel-less screen as you're likely to get in a price-aggressive panel. We like the budget-priced Samsung CF396 mentioned earlier for a curved monitor, and HP's 24mh for a general-use flat panel, but this slightly upscale LG model also earns our Editors' Choice award for a budget monitor geared mainly to entertainment and multi-display use.