Superior monitor
Written: Aug 13 '05 (Updated Aug 13 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Gaming monitor with no ghosting! Huge Screen, vibrant colors, DVI connection, low power consumption.
Cons: Slightly inaccurate colors, poor analog (VGA) connection quality.
The Bottom Line: Amazing for gaming and video. Avoid if heavy digital image user or office user due to color and brightness issues.
|
|
|
| max_str's Full Review: ViewSonic VX924 19 inch LCD Monitor |
I've been waiting to buy a new LCD monitor for a while now, because I wanted a 19 inch or greater at a good price and great performance. Finally, the VX924 was released, and it embodied everything I wanted in a monitor. Massive 19 inch screen with DVI input, and fast enough to support my gaming habits.
First, a little background in LCD technology:
In the past years, LCD monitors have had a problem with something called "response time". While playing video games or watching movies, a phenomenon called "ghosting" would become visible. This is due to the monitor not being fast enough for the high frame rate of a game or movie.
In order for this to be fixed, LCD's had to become faster and faster. First they advertised 16 milliseconds, then 12, then 8. Some of these numbers were bogus, and you'd still see ghosting on the screen. (CRT's have a response time lower than 1 millisecond, so this was never an issue.)
In order for a game or video to properly display, the response time needs to be 12 ms or less.
In comes the VX924. The advertised response it 4 milliseconds, the first LCD at that speed ever made.
The gaming and video on this monitor are amazing. NO ghosting or streaking is visible during games or video. You've couldn't tell the difference between this LCD and a CRT. I've played Half Life 2, Guild Wars, Serious Sam, and Freedom Force to test this out, and each game looks gorgeous. This is due to not only the fast response time, but the amazing color output.
However, there is a cost of performance. While video games look perfect, this monitor has trouble accurately displaying colors. This becomes evident when dealing with high quality images and digital photographs. When displaying photos of my red Toyota 4Runner, the paint looks almost orange instead of a deep red. Also, the monitor has trouble displaying shadowed or darkened areas. At normal brightness, shadows are too bright. If you turn down the brightness, anything within the shadow disappears into a black area. If you regularly use image editors, like Photoshop, and rely on accurate color representation, then this monitor is not for you.
Also, you will notice a difference in image quality on DVI versus VGA. If your video card only supports the old analog VGA connection, I'd suggest you either get a DVI video card, or skip this monitor. The analog (vga) does not look good at all. Text is blurry, color is faded, and response time is no good. Basically, if you're spending $375 on a monitor, you wouldn't want it to look the way this does on VGA. (A DVI cable DOES come in the box).
The last caveat I have with this monitor is that it seems too bright. When viewing websites with black text on a white background, it can cause eye strain because the white is simply too bright. This, fortunately, can be minimized by lowering the brightness and raising the "color temperature" (a setting on the monitor) to 9300K. This will add a blueish tint to white colors, making websites easier to read.
Physically, the monitor is pretty simple. There are 5 buttons on the front, including the power button. There are a few options you can adjust, but mostly the adjustments must be done on the software level, ie using your video card's software. The monitor can only be moved up or down at an angle. You can't turn it from side to side, or adjust the height. For me, this isn't a problem, since I don't really need to keep moving the monitor around.
Like many other manufacturers, the manual included is worthless. The CD has a install wizard with a color profile, and I haven't seen the display without using the profile, so I won't comment on whether it makes any difference.
Finally, if you are eco-minded or electric-bill minded, this monitor consumes a fraction of the power at a respectable 35 watts. In comparison, a 17 inch CRT monitor consumes 100 watts, and a 19 inch can guzzle 130 watts. If anything, the VX924 will ease the load on your battery backup and increase your backup time :-)
Even though it has some problems, I am rating this 5 stars because my reason to purchase this monitor was primarily for gaming. For this, the VX924 exceeds my expectations.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 400
Operating System: Windows
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
max_str
|
|
Member: Max
Location: Miami, Florida
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.