ViewSonic VP2250wb monitor review

27 June 2008 16:00 GMT / By Chris Hall

With a visible area of 21.6 inches, the ViewSonic VP2250wb comes with a simple black surround, making it clear that the VP range is aimed at professionals, hence the "P" in the title. As a home user, you’d probably think it was rather bland as there is little here to add any excitement to the design.

The front of the monitor has five buttons, one for power, the remaining to configure the monitor via the on-screen menus, including shortcuts to brightness and contrast. The menus themselves contain a great range of options, but as is common on monitors, are fairly primitive in their appearance.

This is a display unit only so you will not find any connections for audio – if you want to pair this with a notebook in a home office arrangement, then you’ll be needing extra speakers – but this is perhaps no loss considering the quality of some combined solutions.

With a 16:9 aspect ratio and an optimum resolution of 1680 x 1050, you can get plenty of detail from your work, great for working with images. This is accentuated by the wide colour gamut, a 106% NTSC colour capability, meaning that colours are particularly striking. The monitor also boasts a contrast ratio of 3000:1, and a response time of 2ms, so those looking for a gaming set-up will also appreciate the offering here as well.

The stand is worth a mention of its own. Its feet are spread wide so that it provides stability throughout the range of movements on offer here. You can not only swivel the unit, but you can also can also alter the height almost with a single hand operation. The screen can also be tilted, plus it rotates into portrait to give you maximal flexibility. Sitting on rubber feet, it has a solid, good quality feel to it.

Connections-wise the ViewSonic is perhaps a little limiting, although this perhaps reflects the "professional" monitor status aimed at those working with images. You get the normal VGA/D-sub, as well as DVI. There is also a four-port USB hub built in, so you can connect all your peripherals through the monitor which is great for notebook users, or those who want to stash a desktop tower under the desk.

In terms of performance, out of the box, we found the colours to be a little too vivid, however these settings are easy to change. We found the monitor responded well to a number of tests and in a number of different situations. Movie playback and gaming were good and vivid, with no noticeable ghosting or judder. Working with images is an absolute joy.

There was, however, an evident level of backlight bleed, although this did not come out in normal daily usage and we had to look for it, but those looking to work with darker environments might find this a limiting factor.

You get everything you need in the box, including the VGA, DVI and USB cable, drivers and Perfect Suite Plus software, which will allow you to tune the settings for your monitor to your requirements.

Verdict

Overall, the ViewSonic VP2250wb gives an excellent quality image and will satisfy those looking for good colour capabilities. The monitor is stable and widely adjustable which we like. The overall design leaves a little to be desired, but as a work horse, this monitor is difficult to fault.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: ViewSonic
Price as reviewed: £260
Latest price: Compare prices
The good: Highly adjustable, four USB ports, great colour
The bad: No speakers
Quick verdict: The overall design leaves a little to be desired, but as a work horse, this monitor is difficult to fault
Score