ViewSonic VX2435wm (First Look Review)
16 Sep, 2007 By: Ron LaFonThis 24" widescreen, full HD display provides fast response times, good image rendition, and a well-designed menu system.
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We did most of our testing on the ViewSonic VX2435wm with Windows XP using Service Pack 2, though we also tested some aspects of the display with it hooked up to a system running the 32-bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate.
 The ViewSonic VX2435wm 24" widescreen display offers 1920x1200 native resolution and speedy 5 ms response time. |
Monitor controls are positioned at the center bottom bezel in an arc just above the ViewSonic logo. The five buttons are high-gloss black against the high-gloss black of the bezel and are very difficult to see in most lighting situations we tried. The buttons consist of, from the left, menu, input selector, power (with an LED), contrast/brightness, and mode (standard, text, cinema, game, portrait, scenery, or vivid). The menu itself is well designed and easy to understand and navigate, offering an array of settings for getting just what you need.
On the test bench, the ViewSonic VX2435 showed neutral grays and good brightness and contrast, with continuous-tone grayscale ramps showing only slightly visible step marks. Reds were slightly on the orange side, and yellows tended to be a bit dull. The geometry characteristics tested well, and the displayed image overall was crisp and attractive. Small text sizes were easy to read, and there was no evidence of flicker or ghosting.
Although the detachable stand provides good stability for the large display panel and also offers cable guides to manage the connections from the display, the arrangement for actually attaching the cables to the display needs to be reconsidered. Cables are mounted from the side, left and right -- depending upon the cable, with very little room for actually tightening down them down. If you have fairly beefy fingers, as I do, you'll have difficulty anchoring them. The back of the panel has a removable cover to hide all the connections, but the part you remove is slightly flexible, making it difficult to get back into place. Fortunately, changing cables is not something you do frequently, but this arrangement is annoying on an otherwise well-designed monitor.
Weighing in at 17.6 lb with the included stand and 14.7 lb without the stand, the ViewSonic VX2435 measures 22.5" x 20.1" x 9.6" when mounted on the stand; the panel itself is 3.6" deep. Power consumption typically is 90 W during operation. The light source for the VX2435 is listed as "long life" and is rated at 40,000 hours. Two 3-W speakers are incorporated into the design. Viewing angles for the display are listed as 176 degrees both horizontally and vertically.
Connectivity options include a 15-pin mini Dsub/HDMI connector, as well as a digital connection HDMI (with HDCP), component, composite, and S-video. In addition to working with the PC, the VX2435 also works with the Macintosh G3/G4/G5, though an adapter may be required.
The ViewSonic VX2435wm has an estimated street price of $699 and is covered by a three-year warranty on the LCD panel, parts, and labor. Included with the display are a power cable, 15-pin VGA video cable, an audio cable, an HDMI-to-DVI-D cable, a Quick Start Guide, and the ViewSonic Wizard CD.
Although we do have some reservations about some of the design elements, the VX2435wm display itself performs quite well, providing fast response times, good color/image rendition, and a well-designed menu system. The moderate pricing, support for HDMI, and ViewSonic reputation for quality displays will make the VX2435wm a popular monitor for many applications.
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