ViewSonic N2060w LCD television review

22 December 2006 13:00 GMT / By Paul Lester

This 20-inch widescreen entry from ViewSonic is obviously intended for the kitchen or bedroom, positively paling in comparison to more common 32-inch plus screens that have helped to define the modern HD market.

Regardless it's a nice looking display, housing many of the features that are more standard in larger sets. You'll find a single HDMI and scart along with composite and component inputs, along with VGA (up to 1600 x 1200) and audio in for attaching a PC.

We can see the N2060w used for the latter purpose more often than conventional living room displays, and were pleased at the sharpness and clarity of the screen when used for gaming.

If you’re considering using it as a regular replacement for the computer’s LCD though, you might find text display a little erratic and after extended use it gets a bit hard on the eye.

In terms of its behaviour as a television you'll find a single analogue tuner but even at this size it's patently obvious how far television has come when comparing analogue to even a standard digital signal.

In fact if you're not planning to connect Sky digital or spend the majority of your time watching DVDs you'll find it difficult to establish a decent picture from the analogue tuner.

Hook it up to a respectable A/V source though and things clear right up. Pictures are sharp and clear with accurate colours and no sign of ghosting or too many troubles establishing pretty solid blacks. Of course the relatively small display does make the N2060w rather more forgiving than larger models.

If you're in a position to feed it an HD signal you'll find compatibility up to 720p/1080i. Results here were reasonable enough but we didn't notice a lot of difference in quality over a standard digital signal from a Sky box.

This is most likely down to the size of the thing, although we did notice that LCD's contrast issues became more apparent with an HD signal.

Fine tuning isn't the easiest process in the world, the remote is rather bulky and the menu system not particularly easy to navigate.

You'll find all the basics for tweaking video and audio but things are kept rather simple, although there is an effective PIP/POP mode that's pretty painless to use.

The sound quality from the N2060w is worth a special mention; the 3x3 watt stereo speakers do a great job in a closed environment and are pretty handy for digital audio to boot.

You can pick up a 2060w online for around £299, which seems like a lot but is actually pretty reasonable in comparison to the rest of the market at this size of LCD.

Sadly it’s not the best performing all-rounder and most would consider the price a little too much for the performance on offer.

Verdict

The N2060w performs well enough with a standard digital signal, but if you’re looking to utilise the analogue tuner or enjoy HD resolutions you’ll find it somewhat lacking.

A well featured screen with a range of inputs and surprisingly good sound, but not a great all-rounder in terms of performance.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: ViewSonic
Price as reviewed: £399
The good: Clean images from a standard digital signal, decent gaming performance, good range of connectivity, good resolution support
The bad: Standard analogue signal from the built-in tuner particularly poor, below-par HD performance, text display from a PC isn’t great
Quick verdict: The N2060w is an expensive luxury for the modern home. It’s well featured with good gaming and standard digital signal performance, but is lacking in the other areas that would make it a good all rounder
Score