Just when we thought the desktop monitor market couldn’t get any more staid, LG comes along and spices it up a little bit. The new W53 SMART Monitors series includes a few “smart” additions like ambient light detection for Auto Brightness adjustment (like some laptops have), a Cinema Mode for blacking out the rest of the screen when video is playing, a timer to remind you to take breaks (like right now, for instance… you feel yourself getting very sleepy…) and a proximity sensor to activate the monitor controls when your hand approaches the display, and hide them when you’re not tweaking anything. Sizes range from 18.5- to 27-inches, and the models 21.5-inch and up do 1920 x 1080p Full HD at 16:9. The displays also offer contrast ratios up to 50,000:1, and 2ms response times. The lineup should hit worldwide this month.

Samsung has released its latest LCD monitor known as the Lapfit External Display that connects to your notebook, giving you a much larger display area to work with (or play games, for that matter), featuring an almost-perfectly aligned cursor and image panning. It will come with 18.5″ of viewing real estate, and we’d recommend a notebook with a beefy graphics card to go along with this if you want to take full advantage of the situation. No idea on how much it costs, but it shouldn’t be too far away from what you’d pay for a regular 18.5″ LCD monitor for your desktop.

Dell has started to roll out its latest LCD monitor known as the UltraSharp 1909W. This desktop beauty comes with the following specifications :-

• 19″ viewing real estate
• 16:10 aspect ratio
• Resolutions up to 1,440 x 900
• 5ms response time
• 300cd/m2 brightness
• 1,000:1 contrast ratio
• 160 degrees viewing angle
• Four USB 2.0 ports
• VGA and DVI connectivity
• HDCP-enabled

Nice to see Dell has retained the ability to tilt, pivot and swivel with the 1909W as with other UltraSharp monitors. You can opt to mount this on the wall for a mini TV too, although we think it will most probably end up on a desk most of the time. Dell has slapepd a $239 price tag on the 1909W.

The whole DisplayLink thing still hasn’t completely caught fire or anything, but it’s getting there — slowly, but surely. Now, Acer has a new USB-connected monitor that’s shipping in Europe, the 22-inch B223. The unit is part of the outfit’s B series of monitors and features a decidedly ho hum 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, a DL-160 network display chip that enables up to six of these to be connected to a single PC and a 5-millisecond response time. You should definitely expect a premium when getting all this USB-y functionality, but €339 ($430) just seems, how do you say… outrageous?