NEW Viewsonic VX910 19" LCD Monitor 16ms

Author's Rating:

Pros: Reasonable price, Crisp, Vivid, Sharp display fast response.

Cons: One Year warranty, no DVD-D cable in box

The Bottom Line: 
This should be your first choice if you are on a budget. Stylish, Compact, beautiful larger 19" screen. 85mgz refresh rate, 16ms pixel response, .264 dpi.

Author's Review
In the last quarter of 2004 I purchased the Geforce 5700 with 256MBs of memory and it has performed well running my KDS 15" LCD monitor at 800x600 resolution, not at all taxing for such a powerful graphics card. But now it’s time to put the graphics card to the test with a new Viewsonic VX910 19" LCD of 16ms pixel response running a native resolution of 1280x1024.

I’ve begun performing video editing tasks that require more viewable surface than my current LCD monitor provides and with multitasking, I need additional viewing surface too.

I have carefully researched several brand name monitors in the LCD market. They’re either too pricey, the pixel recovery rate is too slow, don’t have the features I’m looking for, or the cosmetics are undesirable. It’s a difficult task weighing all the selections available in the marketplace. Many of the LCD monitors have merely minute differences separating them from their competitors.

Since I knew what function I wanted, the new LCD monitor to preform and I had set a budget between $500 and $550. I reviewed all the specifications of LCD monitors that met the following requires:

First, I elected a viewable size of 19" that is equivalent to a 20" CRT monitor. The size would fit perfectly into the space I’ve set aside for it, it would offer me 85% additional viewable area over my present 15" LCD, and the 19" LCD monitor would suit word-processing, video editing, and DVD Playback with no problem. And should I decide at a later time to add devices for television viewing – the screen was an appropriate size.

Secondly, pixel response time needed to be fast to provide DVD playback and video editing without ghosting or lag time responses. Of course with faster response time follows increase price. Therefore, I narrowed my monitor choices accordingly by selecting a middle response time of 16ms. At 16ms LCD monitors remained well within my budget without having to sacrifice a great deal.

Thirdly, the Viewsonic’s resolution starts at VGA up to 1280x1024, 1280x1024 being its native resolution. Native resolution is the true setting a LCD monitor should be viewed at for optimum results. At this resolution the text will not be too small for me to read while maintaining a crisper, sharper, and more vivid imaged then my current 800x600 setting. The refresh rate reaches up too 85MHZ maximum.

Fourth. The following information appeared to be lacking in most of the LCD monitor specifications I reviewed. The light source is rated for 40,000 hours so it should provide several years of quality use. Other brands that did mention this information averaged out at 20,000 hours of lamp light.

The Viewsonic VX910 is a stylish monitor that goes well in any decor. It’s sleek, compact, reasonable thin, and is wall mountable. Weights less then 15 pounds, and works well with both the Mac and PC, using a standard VGA cable for analog systems or a DVI-D cable for pure digital video output. The Viewsonic has a very nice antiglare coating which aids in eliminating potential glares that causes eye strain. Should you need additional display real estate, the ultra slim bezel on this monitor allows for tiling two or more Viewsonic VX910's together.

The two leading factors for myself were pixel response and dot pitch. Almost all the monitors on market floors produce vivid, crisp, sharp images with viewing angles ranging from 70 degrees to 180 degrees. However, pixel recovery time can anywhere between 4ms and 35ms. The larger this number is the more likely you will experience ghosting and video delay. The smaller number represents faster speeds that aid in eliminating effects of lags and ghosting. The faster pixel recovery also increases the cost factor of a LCD monitor.

Viewing angles of the Viewsonic VX910 is a full 170 degrees horizontal by 170 degrees vertical. A full 30 degrees increase in both directions over several competing brands. This translates into being able to view the monitor clearly when sitting askew. You are not limited to a direct view experience like monitors in the past. Contrast is a typical 700:1 where similar models are merely 500:1 or less.

DPI or dots-per-inch determines the clarity of an image onscreen. A .29 dpi is good but you will notice a visible improvement say with a ,26dpi or .24dpi LCD screen. Here you will notice smaller is better once again. The smaller number informs the customer that pixels are packed more densely populated providing greater detail.

After all was said and done . . . I ordered the Viewsonic VX910 for $538.00. The box included the monitor, ac adopter, VGA cable, manual and Viewsonic Wizard CD. A tad disappointing that the DVI-D cable was not part of the package at this price, however, a DVI-D cable can easily be acquired for $10.90 to $29.99 depending on your location and the stores you patron.

The warranty is not as good on this unit as with some other leading brands. You get one year on parts, labor and the back light within the US, and three years outside the US. Because of this low warranty I elected to purchase my unit from a mail order business that I have a solid relation. They stand behind every product they sell and if for any reason you are not delighted with your purchase within thirty days – they’ll pick up your order at their expense, replace or refund at your option. But they go one step further, at any time during the first year of purchase you change your mind or you experience a problem – they’ll gladly pickup the item and replace or refund. Not many businesses do that these days.

Once I’ve had time to really test the resolve of the unit, I will update my review. Unfortunately, I’m not a die-hard gamer so you may need to look at other reviews to see how well this monitor stands to game use. Viewsonic claims this monitor will provide broadcast quality video at 65 plus frames a second.


If you are looking for your first monitor, a replacement monitor or just wanting to go larger the Viewsonic VX910 makes a nice first choice. It’s ideally suited for students, home and office and professional use. The setup is simple, easy and straight forward. The monitor looks very nice and has a substantial feel yet weights in at less than fifteen pounds. In addition, it’s about half the cost of most 20" LCD monitors out there. I highly recommend this brand and model. Quality features, reliable and a reasonable price.


The following information was taken from the Viewsonic site. The accuracy of the information is current at the time of writing this review.


Features

OptiSync digital/analog inputs expand your connectivity
Multi-mode input technology supports both digital (DVI) and analog (VGA) signals for ultimate compatibility and configuration flexibility.

Ultra-high brightness and contrast
250-nit brightness (typ) and 700:1 contrast ratio (typ) for rich, detailed images.

Stylish slim-bezel design
The full 19" viewable screen in a thin bezel lets you see more without taking up valuable desktop real estate. The high neck and floating head design accentuate the visual experience.

ExtremeView® ultra-wide viewing angles extend your view
Up to 170º viewing angles horizontally and vertically provide enhanced image legibility from all directions.

Full 19" viewable screen

1280x1024 resolution

OnView® controls for superior screen adjustability
Screen adjustments are precisely made via an easy-to-use on-screen menu.

VESA® 100mm wall-mount compliant

PC and Mac® compatible

TCO'99 and ENERGY qualified

Specs

LCD Panel Type 19.0" color TFT active matrix SXGA LCD

Display Area 14.8" horizontal x 11.9" vertical; 19.0" diagonal

Optimum Resolution 1280x1024

Contrast Ratio 700:1 (Typ)

Viewing Angle 170 horizontal, 170 vertical @ contrast ratio > 10

Response Time 16ms, 25ms (typ)

Brightness 250 cd/m2 (typ)

Light Source Long life, 40,000 hrs. (typ)

Panel Surface Anti-glare

INPUT SIGNAL
Video RGB analog (75 ohms, 0.7 Vp-p); DVI-D (TMDS, 100 ohms)
Sync H/V separated (TTL), composite, sync-on-green
Frequency Fh:24~82kHz, Fv:50~85Hz

COMPATIBILITY
PC VGA up to 1280x1024 non-interlaced
Mac®** Power Mac" G3/G4 1280x1024

INPUT SIGNAL
Video RGB analog (75 ohms, 0.7 Vp-p); DVI-D (TMDS, 100 ohms)
Sync H/V separated (TTL), composite, sync-on-green
Frequency FH:24~82kHz, FV:50~85Hz

CONNECTOR
Analog 15-pin mini D-sub and DVI-D
Power 3-pin plug (CEE22)

POWER
Voltage AC 100-240V, 50-60Hz (auto switch)
Consumption 35W (max)

CONTROLS Basic Power, 1, down, up, 2

OnView® Auto image adjust, brightness, contrast, input select (analog, digital),
ViewMatch® color adjust (sRGB, 9300K, 6500K-default, 5400K, user color - RGB), information (resolution, H. frequency, V. frequency, pixel clock, model number, serial number), manual image adjust (H. size, H. position, V. position, fine tune, sharpness, scaling, setup menu, language (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Finnish, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese), input priority, resolution notice, OSD position, OSD timeout, OSD background, touch tone, OSD pivot, memory recall

OPERATING CONDITIONS
Temperature 32-104 F (0-40 C)
Humidity 10-90% (non-condensing)

DIMENSIONS
(WxHxD) Physical 431mm x 468mm x 201mm
17.0" x 18.4" x 7.9" (with stand)
431mm x 370mm x 66mm (without stand)
17.0" x 14.6" x 2.6" (without stand)

WEIGHT
Net 14.8 lb. (6.7kg)
Gross 18.7 lb. (8.5kg)

REGULATIONS
UL, cUL, FCC-B, CB, CE, ENERGY, NOM, NEMKO/GS(covers
TUV/GS), NEMKO ERGO (covers TUV/ERGO, ISO13406-2 & MPR II), TCO'99, GOST-R + 20 orginal copies gygienic, (SASO), PCBC, VCCI, BSMI, CCC, (PSB), C-TICK, Argentina-S, PSE (power adapter), Green Mark

POWER MANAGEMENT
Meets TCO'99 and ENERGY standards

PACKAGE CONTENTS
LCD display, power cable, 15-pin VGA video cable, Quick Start Guide, ViewSonic Wizard CD

WARRANTY
One-year limited warranty on parts, labor and backlight for units purchased in the U.S. only. Three-year limited warranty on units purchased outside of the U.S.