LG Flatron L206WU with DisplayLink

However, the display's performance is not only dependent upon CPU resources: general I/O usage is also a factor. At its very best with minimal system activity, video rendering is nearly but not quite perfectly smooth as you jostle application windows about on the desktop. If played back in windowed mode, motion video is also acceptably smooth.

Expand the video to full screen, however, and the frame rate drops below what we would deem watchable. Exactly what causes the problem is tricky to say. It's not a CPU-resource issue, so the obvious culprits are either USB 2.0 bandwidth, internal system I/O bandwidth or driver optimisation issues...each is a possibility. Whatever the case, it seriously compromises the usefulness of the L206WU.

Things only get worse if your system is under heavy load. Clog it up with lots of disk and system activity, for instance, and the frame rates on the L206WU simply go south to slideshow. Again, the precise dynamics involved are not clear but it's directly related to system resources available none-the-less.

Essentially, in our book, the loss of rendering smoothness is unacceptable and makes a mockery of the DisplayLink organisation's claim that the interface in its current form is suitable for DVD playback. As for gaming, you'd be potty to connect this monitor via USB 2.0 as your primary display.

All this having been and said though, USB 3.0 should provide far greater bandwidth available for DisplayLink and by the time that gets here many-core CPUs should have a far greater market penetration - hopefully making this whole concept more viable. For now, it's good in theory, but it's not quite there yet.

Final Thoughts

Wiring up an additional monitor via a USB 2.0 port is certainly an attractive and intriguing option and the LG L206WU does just enough to suggest that DisplayLink could well be the interface of choice for PC monitors in the future.

For simple business tasks it could pass as an attractive option, especially if you work on a locked down machine with a single VGA port in the back. But for home users, in its current form we've no choice but to conclude that its shortcomings reduce it to the status of flawed curiosity.

In all likelihood, DisplayLink's bandwidth and signal integrity demands are bumping up against the upper boundaries of what USB 2.0 is capable of, and thus only in absolutely ideal conditions does it deliver acceptable performance. With that in mind, DisplayLink will probably have to wait for the widespread adoption of USB 3.0 before it really adds up as a technology.

All of which means you don't get a great deal of benefit in return for the price premium the L206WU demands. Underneath it's a decent panel that looks...unique...and if you can live with the performance issues, it's certainly a handy little monitor to have knocking around for those moments when a conventional display interface is impractical or impossible. But for heavy duty, day-to-day usage, DisplayLink is not yet a goer.

• Performance
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• 6/10

• Features
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• 8/10

• Value
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• 6/10

• Overall
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• 7/10

What do these scores mean?