Monitor Review: Lenovo ThinkVision L2251x

Green seems to be the color of the moment. Right on the heels of our review of NEC's MultiSync EA222WMe comes another, similarly eco-friendly monitor, the 22-inch Lenovo ThinkVision L2251x.

As with the NEC, Lenovo is targeting business users who are looking for a more efficient alternative to traditional LCD monitors. How efficient? With a typical power consumption of only 21 watts (28 watts maximum), you'd be hard-pressed to find a 22-inch flat panel that draws much less power than the L2251x. The monitor even includes an integrated 3-megapixel webcam, all at a street price under its $300 list at the time of this review.

How green can green be? Lenovo seems to be on a mission to find out. The fact that the company boasts of the display's 65 percent post-consumer recycled plastic parts and 92 percent recycled packaging materials is significant. The ThinkVision's being 29 percent more efficient than the Energy Star 5.0 standard requires is also noteworthy. And its being the first monitor to win the TCO Certified Edge designation, an award for products that go above and beyond the worldwide TCO Certified environmental criteria, is impressive. But if nothing else will convince you just how green a product Lenovo is offering in the L2251x, then surely the reusable shopping bag it comes wrapped in will.

It doesn't stop with the bag, of course. In addition to the recycled materials mentioned above, the L2251x has white LED backlighting, rather than a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), and is arsenic-free, mercury-free, and low in halogen. So its impact on the environment is minimized every step of the way, from the manufacturing and packaging process through its lifecycle and right on to its eventual afterlife, lying in a landfill somewhere as its green soul ascends upward toward the pearly gates.

As for the previously mentioned power consumption, a Kill-a-Watt meter confirms that, at its out-of-the box brightness setting of 80 percent, the monitor draws no more than the 21 watts that Lenovo claims. And it looks more than bright enough at that setting, to boot. Pushing the brightness setting all the way up to 100 results in a 26-watt power draw, closer to Lenovo's stated maximum, but who knows? Maybe that's even more energy-efficient, given that the monitor might then provide enough lighting for a whole room.

Rounding out the L2251x's energy-efficient features is the inclusion of an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor, both software-driven and making use of the integrated webcam. The "Environment Sensing Utility" that comes on the included CD lets the monitor automatically adjust its brightness, based on ambient light, and go into power-saving mode if it senses no activity in front of the display within a set amount of time (from three to 30 minutes). But while the software that drives this functionality is intuitive and responsive, it still left me feeling a bit let down, having seen similar effects implemented elsewhere without the need of a piece of software and a webcam constantly running in the background.

Is It Easy Being Green?

Being green is all good and well. But at the end of the day, a monitor is only as good as its image quality and features. And as far as the former goes, the L2251x's image quality is pretty darned good. Its 16:10 aspect ratio and maximum resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels mean that the ThinkVision is capable of displaying high-definition content without going so wide as to sacrifice its functionality as an office-productivity display the way that 16:9 screens (intended for HD video) do.

Right out of the box, at its default settings, colors were well displayed, requiring little calibration to meet my personal tastes. Text on this 0.282mm dot pitch display was clear and easy to read, and videos played fluidly, without any noticeable distortion or artifacting as I played a couple of Blu-ray movies. And given that this is a business-class monitor, not one intended to be part of a home theater PC setup, this all speaks well of the L2251x's capabilities. As a twisted nematic (TN) LCD, it's not going to offer quite the same performance that an in-plane switching (IPS) monitor would. But given how much more IPS monitors tend to cost, most business users will find the L2251x to be more than adequate for their needs.

Positioning the monitor for comfortable viewing is made easy by the Lenovo's stand, which allows users to pivot, tilt, swivel, and adjust the height of the monitor as needed for either landscape or portrait viewing. The stand also includes a basic cable management system, which should help cut down on the clutter. And if that's not enough to meet your needs, you can even use a VESA mount to put the L2251x on a desk arm or a wall.

The integrated webcam, as I mentioned earlier, is a nice inclusion, as is the integrated microphone that sits alongside it. And given how many of us at least occasionally use videoconferencing tools, they're sure to be useful features, as well. While the monitor does not include integrated speakers, Lenovo does offer an optional soundbar (about $30) that can meet the needs of those users who want an (almost) integrated solution without making others pay for a feature they might not want or need. This accessory can plug right into one of the four ports of the built-in USB 2.0 hub, as could USB headphones and any number of other USB devices.

While so many of the L2251x's features and capabilities stack up well against those of other monitors, I couldn't help wishing that one opportunity hadn't been missed. The monitor's inputs, I was a little surprised to find, consist of only a 15-pin VGA connector and an HDCP-compliant DisplayPort connector, with a DVI-D input nowhere to be found. Sure, plenty of business machines have DisplayPort included. And sure, inexpensive adapters are readily available to go from DVI to VGA or DisplayPort. But DVI connectors have been so ubiquitous for so long that it would have been nice to see the option included.

Still, though not without its flaws, the Lenovo ThinkVision L2251x brings enough to the table to help balance them out. And while it might not be the cheapest LCD on the market, its current price is competitive with similarly equipped LED-backlit displays. All in all, the ThinkVision is a well-featured, solid performer that will meet the needs of business users and go easy on Mother Nature in doing it.