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.