Design and features
The 24-inch ViewSonic VG2427wm has a matte screen and a plain, black matte finish chassis. The base panel measures about 25mm, with a full depth of 66mm with the ventilation system and connection options (that's average compared with other 24-inch models). The bezel measures a smallish 19.5mm on all sides and the screen height is adjustable by 133mm. When the screen is at its lowest point, there are 100mm between the bottom of the bezel and the desktop. The panel swivels left and right 180 degrees and tilts back 25 degrees, but there is no pivot option for portrait mode.
The circular foot stand measures 248mm in diameter. When the panel is extended to its highest point, the display wobbles a considerable amount when knocked from the sides. It wobbles dramatically less at its lowest point.
Connection options include DVI and VGA, but it doesn't support HDMI. Next to the video ports are two USB downstream ports and one upstream port. All the ports are fairly easily accessible to the right of the display's neck. On the back of the display's stand are two vertically aligned hooks that hold the power and video cords for keeping them tidy. The stand is removable for mounting the display to a wall VESA-style. However, you'll have to supply your own mount.
The on-screen display button array, which is designated by a blue LED light in the middle of the bezel's bottom, consists of two numbered buttons and up and down arrow controls. Navigating the OSD is painless thanks to the simple interface. Press the "1" control for initial access, use the arrow controls to navigate, and press the "2" control to select an option. You also use the arrow button to adjust attributes. There are no presets included, but the OSD has controls for contrast, brightness and colour. The colour options give you the capability to choose colour temperature, SRGB mode, or to customise the Red, Green and Blue settings manually.
The OSD also includes a Dynamic Contrast setting that, once switched on, makes the screen automatically darken depending on its current luminance. Eco mode is another feature, where you can choose from the settings, Standard, Optimize, and Conserve. Each setting adjusts the brightness automatically.
Along the top back of the panel are the built-in speakers. The volume is adjustable via the OSD, but it sounds muffled even at its highest setting and it lacks bass. Also, when the volume was cranked, the sound got tinny.
The ViewSonic VG2427wm's 16:9 aspect ratio supports a "Full HD" native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. This continues the trend of more and more monitor vendors moving toward 16:9 from 16:10 because ohigh-definition content — in particular 1080p movies — can fit onto a 1920x1080-pixel screen without distorting the image.
Performance
We tested the ViewSonic VG2427wm with its DVI connection. The display posted a composite score of 90 on CNET Labs' DisplayMate-based performance tests, coming a few points behind the Dell G2410's 97. The ViewSonic tested well all-around, but didn't excel at anything in particular. Its biggest problem was with distinguishing between very dark grey and black.
The VG2427wm achieved a brightness score of 266 candelas per square metre (cd/m²) — shy of ViewSonic's claimed 300cd/m² max. The Dell G2410 achieved a lower brightness with 234cd/m², but was closer to Dell's 250cd/m² claim. On our dark screen test, the ViewSonic exhibited some backlight bleed through on the top and bottom edges of the screen. Our Kill Bill Vol. 1 DVD test yielded apparent ghosting on the ViewSonic and colour-wise, the Dell wins with much more balanced and accurate colours. The ViewSonic's colour looked slightly washed out in comparison.
Unreal Tournament 3 looked great and had vibrant colours running at a 1920x1080-pixel resolution. We saw no signs of input lag, blurring or streaking during fast movement.
The optimal viewing angle for a monitor is usually directly in front, about a quarter of the screen's distance down from the top. At this angle, you're viewing the colours and gamma correction as they were intended. Since most monitors are made to be viewed only at that angle type, picture quality at non-optimal angles can vary. Like most monitors, the ViewSonic VG2427wm uses a TN panel, which gets overly bright or overly dark when viewed from non-optimal angles. When we viewed the Asus from the sides or below, the screen appeared to darken only around 50mm from optimal. From the sides and below, text is still readable until viewing from about 70 degrees. Of course, when viewed from the optimal angle, we had no problems.
In the power consumption tests, the ViewSonic VG2427wm drew 39.37 Watts in its default mode — compared with the Dell G2410's much lower 23.22 Watts. The ViewSonic's standby mode drew 0.42 Watts compared with the G2410's 0.48 Watts.
6%
2%
No HDMI on a new monitor is like releasing a keyboard without any keys. Add to that, that there's no wall mount included and you have a dud.
Any decent new monitor has at least two HDMI ports, this model has none.
Viewsonic need to go back to the drawing board and perhaps do some market research into what people want.