There can be few IT markets as crowded as the one in which vendors compete to offer the ideal monitor for your PC. With the coming of HD to TV screens, DVDs and computer games, any screen that leaves this option out might as well be thrown on the scrapheap now, and for the same reason any 4:3 ratio monitors are technological dinosaurs.
ViewSonic has recently released two widescreen HD LCD screens that should more than meet current needs. The 19-inch VX1940w incorporates 36 percent higher resolution than the average 19-inch monitor (claimed to be the first to offer a Super-HD 1,680 x 1,050 high resolution) and the 22-inch VX2240w, reviewed here, is particularly geared towards the serious gamer who likes to feel they are immersed in the action.
Employing a dynamic contrast ratio of up to 4,000:1 and with ViewSonic's ClearMotiv fast response time of up to 2ms allied to 300cd/m brightness, all the conditions are right for high speed first-person shooters, DVDs specialising in CGI, and graphic designers who need that extra degree of precision.
Slim and chic in stylish black and silver with an anti-glare screen surface, the VX2240w has a supplied stand that slots into the base and allows a viewing angle of 170 horizontal and 160 vertical degrees, plus tilt of 20 degrees up and 5 down (but no swivel). It all weighs a mere 5kg, so shouldn't create a noticeable dent in your worktop.
The OSD controls are easily accessible in the centre of the bottom panel and are the usual Power, Key 1, Key 2 and cursor up and down arrows. Round the back are analogue VGA and digital DVI-D ports plus power input and, although an installation CD is supplied, you'll only really need it if Windows Vista is your OS (it still has the annoying ‘double installation' system used with earlier models).
When it came to the testing stage, we played Crysis, the PC shooter with amongst the finest graphics effects currently available. The jungle foliage almost leapt off the screen, facial detail was pin-sharp and explosions were suitably spectacular. Moving to DVDs, action films like Van Helsing and Die Hard 4 showed little evidence of streaking, while blacks appeared solid and colours and contrasts well defined.
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