The second of the Viewsonic monitors I had in for testing this month was the Viewsonic VG2433Smh 24” Full HD flicker free display with an ergonomic stand thrown in for good measure. In English the latter offers a swivel base stand with vertical re-positioning, tilt and a pivot function so you can view the display in portrait.
In the box and design
As with any review product I count vouch 100% for the box contents. However, if it contains the contents that I discovered you will be pretty happy with the results!
For a start you have 1 x DVI cable, 1 x D-Sub (VGA), 1 x HDMI, 1 x PC line-in cable, 1 x European mains plug, 1 x UK Mains plug, a Quickstart guide and a CD with all the monitor drivers.
So pretty much all the basis are covered here. The only negative with the cables is that - apart from the power cable - the connectivity cables were a little on the short side.
On a design front I have to admit the monitor is pretty heavy (well when I removed it from the box it was) and it was at this point that I heard something a little unnerving! There seemed to be something rattling around inside the screen casing - when I tilted it from side to side. This could account for why the front bezel was a little loose, in that I could push in on the top edge and it would make a clicking sound.
I have to give the screen the benefit of the doubt however because of its review nature or it could have simply been caused during transit. Thankfully this issue did not affect the screen from actually working!
Plus once the screen was positioned on the desk it remained pretty sturdy and the looser bezel seemed to be back in place when I pushed in the top edge. On the flip-side, while I appreciated the subtle matt black finish (which does not absorb fingerprints) and the ergonomic stand, the latter still felt clunky and less premium when moving the stand up and down.
Note: The Ergonomic stand can actually be removed to reveal the 4 holes for the VESA wall mount. You also have a Kensington lock for securing the monitor to a desk/wall.
OSD Controls
At the front you have the OSD controls positioned below the Viewsonic logo. On a positive note these offer plenty of feedback because they are physical buttons, however personally I found them awkward to use! For a start in low light conditions you can hardly make out which button is which (due to the button labels being etched into the casing) and for some reason the '2' menu select button is placed on the left, while the '1' menu launch button is placed on the right - next to the power button. Why? I have no idea as this combination was fiddly and I constantly kept pressing the power button instead of the menu launch button!
In terms of OSD options you have a scattering of choices - though some of which are greyed out depending on what cable system you have in place. For example the auto image adjust option is only available with the VGA cable.
You also have audio adjustment for the built in speakers, a dynamic contrast option, various profiles, such as SRGB and of course sharpness, contrast and brightness controls.
I have to admit I settled for brightness 54 and a contrast setting of 70, as the screen did produce ample brightness.
As for shortcuts, there was the standard source button adjustment, but when pressed this will just jump to the next attached source in sequence, i.e. you can’t select from a list unless you go into the main OSD controls. You can adjust the volume a little quicker by pressing the down button, while the up button allows quicker access to the brightness/contrast settings.
Connectivity options
At the back of the screen you will find all of your connectivity ports. In total you have 1 x DVI, 1 x HDMI-Out, 1 x DSub (VGA), 1 x Line-in and 1 x Audio out for connecting up either a pair of headphones or external speakers.
Sadly you won’t find a USB hub or Display port connector.
To the far side you have the connector for your mains plug. At least you won’t need an external power pack cluttering up matters.
In-Use
The screen is primarily designed for Desktop use i.e. Windows/MAC and I tested it through a Windows 8.1 desktop computer.
Additionally for the games and multimedia side I used my Xbox One with Far Cry 4 and Shadow of Mordor. Entertainment wise I used BBC iPlayer and the Blu-ray film Dark Knight.
I also streamed content from a Nexus 5 Slimport adapter which I have reviewed separately here.
Windows Desktop
From a Windows point of view once I had settle for a happy medium - in terms of the contrast and brightness setting - I found the on-screen icons were colourful, the fonts, in Word, browsers and in general, were sharp.
Projecting a dark background onto the display did not reveal any major over exposure issues either, so it does produce nice results.
Viewing angles were also good for the most part, but there was a touch of purple tint towards the bottom edge when I looked at the image - during the Dark knight film - from a tighter angle.
The portrait rotation function was also useful when working in Adobe Photoshop or when viewing web pages. However I found you had to tilt the screen back before rotating, as it just about clears the bottom of the desk!
At least the cables did not get in the way. Of course you have to adjust the orientation from your graphics cards control panel as it won’t rotate the on-screen image automatically.
This makes life more interesting when trying to rotate it back, as you have to fight with your brain over the direction i.e. where to move the on-screen cursor!
Anti-glare
I found the anti-glare coating allowed me to view the display properly in most light conditions; however despite its flicker free nature I still found that my eyes were not quite as fresh as they were when using my own BenQ screen or the previous Viewsonic device I reviewed.
I also watched a few YouTube videos through the screen as well and the 4ms GtG response time held up OK here.
Games
Of course for the Games side of things this is less ideal – though it’s not terrible. I certainly noted on the faster paced FPS title 'Far Cry 4' there was a touch of ghosting in faster moving sections. However for standard cut-scenes and during my time with 'Shadow of Mordor', the screen proved to be more than adequate.
In fairness this screen is not designed for games anyway, but I can say if you want to dabble with the latter it will still provided ample enjoyment – just not as good as a dedicated gaming monitor.
Entertainment
For streaming off BBC iPlayer or when watching the 'Dark Knight' (via Blu-ray) and 'Sherlock Holmes HD' from the Nexus 5. I was generally happy with the results. It could have had more detail in places, so a touch of tweaking on the contrast/brightness front was needed, but on the whole I thought it was more than watchable on this screen.
Audio
Mind you to get the most from the entertainment and games front I would get hold of an external pair of speakers as the internal ones were a bit tinny and unbalanced - in that sometimes I could watch a YouTube video and the voice was harder to distinguish from the background noises.
Additionally the speakers were not that loud (depending on the source material), so I was constantly having to up the volume and use the PC’s independent volume to boost proceedings.
Summary
On the whole the Viewsonic VG2433Smh monitor has several redeeming factors, such as the ergonomic stand (portrait function) and a 24” Full HD display with vibrant colours (respectable accuracy). In the review sample I had there were also plenty of cables supplied.
On the flip side the build quality is questionable in places - more so around the bezel - despite the weight! Plus the OSD controls are fiddly to use, the audio side was tinny and of course this is a monitor better suited to the desktop environment - with the FPS style games taking more of a back seat.
However if you need a portrait function, the price point is certainly competitive enough (if you shop around) to warrant further consideration!