ViewSonic VX2433wm

[ Background music ] >> Eric Franklin: Hi everyone this is Eric Franklin from CNET.com and today we're taking a first look at the View Sonic VX2433WM. The View Sonic screen has a slightly frosty matte finish and on the back at the top are 2 built in speakers. The monitor wobbles only slightly when knocked from the sides. This stability can be attributed not only to its wide foot stand but its solid 11 pound weight as well. Unfortunately, the screen height isn't adjustable and there isn't a screen rotation or pivot option for portrait mode. The capability to tilt the screen back 20 degrees is the only ergonomic option included. Connection options include: HDMI, VGA and DVI. While most of these connections are easy to access the HDMI port sits right over the displays neck and therefore is slightly more difficult to get to. The onscreen display or OSD array is located on the lower right hand edge of the panel and consists of 4 buttons aligned vertically with enough space between each of those buttons to keep your fingers comfortable while navigating. The OSD options include the standard brightness, contrast and various color options. In lieu of presets however U sonic provides 4 color temperature options as well as an SRGB option and a user color option where you can change the red, green and blue values individually. There's also an option to adjust the response time from standard, to advanced to ultra fast. We didn't notice any difference in performance when switching between these options however. The View Sonic also includes an eco mode with 3 options. Selecting each simply adjust the brightness which in turn makes the monitor draw less power. We use the View Sonics SRGB and user color presets to shut out some high def movies. We found that while the overall color of flesh tones was slightly yellowish in comparison to the Dell ST2310 its representation of white was brighter than the Dell so things like snow and clouds didn't look quite as dark as it did on the Dell. However, the View Sonic does have trouble distinguishing very dark grey from black. We looked at some games and noticed that with the monitor's brightness being so low the colors didn't pop like they should and the games look kind of dull as a result. The built in speakers reach a decent volume and show no signs of distortion but don't go throwing out your stand alone speakers just yet. Dedicated speakers are still preferred over View Sonics built in speakers. The View Sonic VX2433WM includes a number of useful color temperature options when its performance in games and movies is marred by its relatively low brightness. At about $200 the monitor is a good value if your needs end at productivity work; web surfing and occasional game and movie watching beyond that don't expect too much. [ Background music ] >> Eric Franklin: Once again this is Eric Franklin this has been the first look at the View Sonic VX2433WM ^M00:02:54 [ Music ]