Refine search for Displays

  Leave a comment      Email this to a friend TrustedReviews Newsletters

Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge

Right, let’s make this clear from the start. The ViewSonic VP171b has been recently upgraded from a 16ms panel to an 8ms one. This should be sweet music to those who keep a close eye on such details, especially those who claim that they can notice differences in response time when gaming and watching movies. I for one am a little sceptical that this actually makes a discernable difference during the heated battles of high intensity gaming – surely you should be concentrating on taking out the villains rather than measuring the miniscule motion trails left by your targets? Anyway, I am not here to comment on the motion sensitivities of one person’s eyes in comparison to another’s, but rather to assess the overall performance of this latest 17in incarnation from ViewSonic’s successful Professional Series range.

However, what I will say now is that at the time of writing there are still stocks of the 16ms monitor floating about in a number of stores. So, be sure that you verify with the vendor that you’re interested in the 8ms version. If the vendor isn’t sure, there are a number of ways to determine this. First, some may choose to name it the VP171b/s-2 (b for black, s for a silver bezel), with the number ‘2’ denoting the second generation. However, I’d still be cautious as mistakes can be made on the vendor’s website. Preferably, I’d ask them to confirm the model number which can be found on the box. If the last two characters are either ‘4W’ or ‘5W’ then it’s the 8ms display. If they are ‘2W’ or ‘3W’, it’s the 16ms display. For those who have already bought one, you can always check out the model number by navigating your way to the ‘Information’ menu in the OSD.

Now with that cleared up, let’s take a closer look at this reasonably priced £240 TFT monitor. For me the design of the chassis is always a key aspect to consider when purchasing a new LCD, and I have to admit that ViewSonic’s familiar double-toed, bird-like base (I wonder if that was inspired by the company’s logo?) and telescopic neck is one of the best around. Not only does it confer good stability to the whole unit, it also employs a dampened, spring-assisted mechanism within the neck that allows it to be raised through 11cm with minimal effort.

Furthermore, and because the base does not possess a swivelling turntable, the triple jointed interface between the panel casing and the top of the neck lets one swivel, tilt and pivot the screen through 90, 25, and 90 degrees respectively. The latter of these is one of my favourite LCD features – ideal for when you want to display as much of your portrait-based document as you can. Of course, the picture will have to be rotated through 90 degrees as well, and although this can be done using the latest drivers for most graphics cards, ViewSonic has been kind enough to supply a copy of Portrait Display’s Pivot Pro software in order to achieve the same thing.

As for the bezel, this is one of the slimmest around at only 15mm along the sides and 17mm along the top and bottom. This really helps minimise the bezel gaps in a multi-panel setup and consequently the perceived interruption across continuous pictures over more than one display. I should mention here that it would have been impressive if ViewSonic had built-in a sensory function that informs the pivot software that the screen has been rotated, but that would probably hike up the cost. That said, at least the company has ensured that the OSD rotates automatically, which is something that some manufacturers neglect.

Add your comment