ViewSonic VP930 > Reviews > Excellent Pro quality monitor

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Excellent
Colour sensitivity	Excellent
Design	Excellent
Ease of use	Satisfactory
Value For Money	Good

Advantages:	High contrast, very crisp and sharp, high viewing angle
Disadvantages:	Provided software more a pain than an advantage

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Viewsonic VP930 monitor is, according to Viewsonic, one of their higher end LCD monitors as it is in their "Pro Series". Well I have little reason to argue, although it isn't perfect.

The overall look of it before you turn it on is very nice, with narrow silver coloured borders and a black, sturdy stand. The monitor can be adjusted up and down easily without having to turn any knobs. You just put a little pressure downwards or upwards, and it will easily move, then stay in the place you leave it. It sounds a bit "cheap" but it's actually a very nice movement, and makes it handy so you can adjust it without reaching behind to turn something. It's also very easy to turn left or right, again with no knobs to have to turn. Another feature it has, which personally I don't see any need for, is the ability to twist the whole display 90 degrees. Providing you have the software loaded that comes with the monitor, it will then adjust the display so that what's on the monitor looks to be the correct way up. I'm not sure why this would be useful to anyone so I see this as gimmicky, but obvious it's not a bad point.

Both the brightness and contrast are very good, and will go a fair bit higher than you actually need, with the contrast ratio being 1300:1. There is adjustment for colour temperature too, although normally you'd want that set to 6500K. There is an option provided for sRGB, which is supposed to give you the correct colour temperature when, for example, looking at photos taken with a camera set to RGB. Although the colour looks correct (6500k) using the sRGB setting, the brightness is certainly way too high. This is a shame as it would otherwise make an easy way to get the most accurate display of your photos, assuming your camera and software were also set to RGB.

Clarity of the display is excellent. Many cheaper LCD monitors do not look as clear and don't have as high fluid of movement as even cheaper CRT (the old bulky type) of monitor. However, I consider the clarity, sharpness and fluid of movement to be superb and comparable or better than any CRT monitor I have seen. As it is perfectly flat too compared to the display on a CRT monitor, that increases the accuracy of view even more.

The monitor is able to be set for brightness, contrast and colour via the provided PerfectSuite software. This enables you to have several different pre-sets, which you can switch between whenever you choose. I don't personally know why you'd ever want to use this feature, so if you don't, it's best not to install the software. If you set the options using the front panel buttons, they will be remembered just as they would be on any other monitor. I have actually found the software to cause problems sometimes if you try and make adjustments using it, as it sometimes tends to 'forget' how you want it set, until you re-boot. It also slows the boot-up time, as does any software that runs on boot. The software does give you guides (in the form of pictures of various shades or grey, black and white) that you can use to set the monitor correctly with, so you could use them once to set the monitor, and then remove the software.

The viewable angle of this monitor is excellent. I can look at it from almost any angle, and although the display gets darker as you increase the angle, it isn't by much and the display is still very clear until you can't see the front of it any longer.

Both RGB analogue and DVI-D digital inputs are provided, with leads for each provided in the box. Unlike with some monitors which makes them slightly annoying to carry and store, the cables can be detached from the monitor.

The surface is anti-glare, and I certainly haven't had any problems with reflections from any other lights, either indoors or sunlight.

Although there isn't much about a monitor that could make it hard to use, the menu system on the VP930 could be a little simpler. This will not bother most people but it is something Viewsonic could have made a better job of.

Viewsonic have a policy on these monitors whereby you may return it as DOA (Dead On Arrival) even if "only a single sub-pixel is constantly bright on a dark background" (quote from Viewsonic's website). This does not, of course, mean that a monitor with ANY dodgy looking pixels will be accepted as DOA. My own VP930 does have one pixel that does not display properly, near the bottom left. Although I can see it, it's not a big problem for me as it is so close to the edge. Unfortunately it's pot luck when you buy an LCD monitor whether you end up with one that has a few dodgy pixels or not. My best advice is therefore to buy any LCD monitor in person rather than ordering online, and ask to view it in detail before taking it away. Ensure you look at it with a dark and bright picture, so any bad pixels will show up.

The quality of packaging was very high, with the front of the monitor well protected.

Overall this is an excellent monitor. If you're looking for something of high quality and can afford it, I'd recommend it highly.