ViewSonic’s VP2330wb 23-inch wide-screen monitor is a well-rounded display with an unobtrusive, ergonomically impressive design. With both smooth physical adjustments and easy screen adjustments, this monitor would be a winner even without the full-featured software bundle of extra goodies. The only thing that might make you pause your hand on its way to your wallet is the price: $1099 on 8/17/06, a bit expensive at that time.At default settings, the VP2330 performed well in the PC World Test Center. Our jurors liked its clean text, and they approved of its graphics performance–but with a few caveats on the latter. We found its display of our test photos of a glazed fruit tart and of a group of people somewhat washed out. At time of scoring, it received a rating of Very Good for both text and graphics (several other monitors did as well, and the spread of the scores was very tight).It wasn’t so long ago that you could get gasps of amazement and envy from owning a 19-in TFT display. Nowadays the same monitor wouldn’t get a second glance: to impress people now you need something a bit bigger, and with prices continuing to fall on these big panels you could go for something like Viewsonic’s flagship VP2330wb, a 23-inch widescreen monitor and currently the company’s largest TFT – with an equally large price tag.

ViewSonic just released the VP2330wb LCD monitor featuring a 23″ color TFT active-matrix panel with WUXGA resolutions and an optimum resolution of 1920×1200. With a thin bezel that’s only 0.85″ wide, the VP2330wb is suitable for stacking and tiling to produce large display walls.Weighing only 17.3lb, the ViewSonic VP2330wb measures 21.3″ x 21.1″ x 11.6″ and has a typical power consumption of 70 watts. The VP2330wb is HDTV-720p compatible and has a 170-degree viewing angle, both horizontally and vertically.The ViewSonic VP2330wb display offers 250 cd/m² brightness and an 800:1 contrast ratio. Gray-to-gray response time is 8ms, and black-to-black is 16ms, which is fast for a display panel this large. The image was stable, with no sign of flicker.Connectivity options include both 15-pin D-dub and DVI-I connectors. Good USB connectivity is provided by one upstream and four downstream USB 2.0 ports. ViewSonic provides an external power adapter/transformer, rather than incorporating that into the display.Out of the box the VP2330wb comes with the contrast set at 70 percent and the brightnes at 100 percent, but these levels can be adjusted via the on-screen menu which, along with custom colour adjustments, has colour temperature adjustments too. But be warned: these are not particularly accurate, so you’re best advised to leave them alone and concentrate on the custom colour setup.

Though its dapper design makes it a smart choice for home use, the ViewSonic VX2025wm is a great machine for light graphic and design work. This stylish wide screen isn’t nearly as adjustable as other displays, such as the Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP or even the Envision EN2028, but what it lacks in flexibility it makes up for with excellent performance–only the very expensive LaCie 120 comes close. Additionally, the VX2025wm packs good-sounding speakers and excellent gaming performance for $411, which makes it the most affordable 20-inch wide-screen monitor we’ve seen. Unless adjustability is a necessity, the ViewSonic VX2025wm is hands-down the best deal in its category.The ViewSonic VX2025wm gets its handsome look from a two-tone color scheme. A quarter-inch matte-silver bezel surrounds a black bezel that widens on the bottom to accommodate five silver onscreen menu (OSM) control buttons. The base follows the silver-and-black color scheme and is a rather large 11 inches wide by 8 inches deep. This oblong design keeps the display from wobbling side to side, but tilting the monitor back causes the base to lift off the desk. Flexibility isn’t this monitor’s strong suit: the panel tilts a standard 20 degrees back and 5 forward but offers no swivel, pivot, or height adjustment. The panel is nearly 5 inches above the desktop–a good fixed height for most users, though we appreciate more adjustability options, such as those found on the Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP.

The VX2025 has a maximum resolution of 1,680 x 1,050, so not only do you get more pixels horizontally but, crucially, you also get more vertically. If you’re a serious movie watcher then the extra pixels won’t mean much, but if you’re planning on getting a wide screen to increase productivity then those extra pixels are essential.In addition to the extra pixels the display has a fast 8ms response time so it’s great for games, and there’s no ghosting when you’re watching DVDs on it; there are both analogue and digital inputs. Plus there’s a very respectable 800:1 image contrast ratio (meaning that the white is 800 times brighter than the black), with a wide, 176-degree viewing angle, which makes it ideal as mini home cinema screen.The colour is good and you can set it to various different settings; sRGB, 9300K, 6500K, 5400K, or a user-defined RGB. However, in sRGB mode you can’t subsequently set the brightness or contrast.In my opinion, the most desirable LCD format is a 24in widescreen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. The pixel-pitch is about right to accommodate standard text sizes (no more squinting), and you can comfortably fit two pages of A4 (at 100%) side-by-side on the screen (less scrolling). The large desktop area is also great for editing images, playing games and watching movies.

Wide-screen LCDs are becoming a must-have, especially for media enthusiasts and gamers. For more work-focused users, wide-aspect LCDs offer enough screen space to accommodate multiple windows at once. Though the 19-inch ViewSonic VA1912w looks modest, it packs a punch with above-average performance, full-sounding built-in speakers, and a very sweet AU$659 price. The 20-inch wide-screen Envision EN2028 costs significantly more, and the standard-aspect 19-inch competition, such as the Westinghouse LCM-19v5 and the Acer AL1951 can’t match the VA1912w’s performance, and they offer less screen real estate. You can find better performance, however, in the Samsung SyncMaster 970P and more adjustability in the NEC MultiSync LCD1970VX, but neither offer the bang-for-the-buck of the VA1912w.The ViewSonic VA1912w’s design doesn’t stray far from the matte-black case that is standard issue for budget monitors; the only touch of colour comes from the eight too-shiny, chrome adjustment buttons on the bottom bezel. The large, elliptical base isn’t heavy enough to keep the display from wobbling when you make even minor panel adjustments. Flexibility isn’t this monitor’s strong suit: the panel tilts 25 degrees back and five forward but offers no swivel, pivot, or height adjustment. The panel is suspended nearly four inches above the desktop — a good fixed height for most users. The display accepts DVI-D and VGA inputs (both cables are included), but it’s a tight squeeze to attach the connectors, and the only cable-management feature is a plastic cover that snaps over the connector area. We approve of disguising the plugs, but we wish ViewSonic had added a clip to tidy up the cables.

With these encouraging results, and the widescreen resolution, it’s also well suited to movies and gaming titles that support wider aspect ratios. With a resolution of 1,440 x 900, it’s actually a 16:10 aspect ratio, so movies don’t quite fill the entire screen. The high contrast range results in rich colours, while we saw minimal lag during fast motion.We tested this monitor using DisplayMate to get a bearing on how well it performs when put through various test patterns. DisplayMate first lets you tune a monitor to get the best possible display settings and then runs it through a series of test patterns to test everything from color, brightness, and contrast to screen geometry. The test resolution was set to 1440 x 900. The 19” VA1912w offers a maximum resolution of 1440×900, while a regular 17” offers 1280×1024. That’s right, the 17” offers more vertical resolution than the 19” wide, but the 19” obviously offers a lot more horizontal resolution. Still, after calculation, a 17” offers more pixels (1,310,720) on the screen than the 19” wide (1,296,000). Size wise, the 19” wide isn’t even a whole lot bigger than the 17” – it’s almost the same size, but its wider.