ViewSonic VX1940w 19" widescreen

Objective Image Quality Analysis

There are a wide range of image quality testing applications and resources available today. One of our current favourites can be found over at Lagom. Detailed tests for everything from colour gradients to gamma calibration and pixel response are included along with a detailed guide to interpreting what you are seeing.

With a TN+Film panel, we weren't expecting fireworks from VX1940w in terms of raw visual oomph. Nevertheless, it's about as good as this type of panel gets. The backlighting is commendably even and consistent with little evidence of bleed around the edges, which is good to see as many of the cheaper panels we've seen in the past have had backlight-related problems.

Our image tests did expose some evidence of compression and loss of detail towards the upper end of the colour scale. Similarly, the gamma is a little wonky out of the box. That's an issue which must be addressed via the driver control panel – there's no gamma control in the OSD.


As for the colour balance, it's rather cool and washed out at default settings, which is rather typical of TN+Film displays. However, with the temperature tweaked to 5400k the result is actually pretty pleasing.

Conclusions

Clearly the ViewSonic VX1940w is not a mass market monitor that will convince the mainstream hordes to ditch their 22-inch panels. But it could be extremely attractive for a few niche markets and for those able to divert their attention away from simple screen acreage.

Obviously, it's a great solution when space is in short supply. No doubt LAN gamers will appreciate the combination of high detail, speedy pixel response and compact, travel-friendly dimensions. It also makes for a very nice low-profile secondary display with decent resolution, perhaps to compliment a large 30-inch primary panel.


Of course, the VX1940w will be fighting a largely losing battle against similarly-priced 20- and 22-inchers for the attention of buyers looking to maximise screen size within their budget. And frankly, for most users we wouldn't give it a blanket recommendation over such models. But we are glad ViewSonic has decided to add it to the mix and offer something a little different.

• Features
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• 7/10

• Image Quality
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• Value
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• 9/10

• Overall
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• 8/10

What do these scores mean?