Review: ViewSonic VP930b LCD Monitor

Size (inches): 19 • Resolution (pixels): 1280 by 1024 • Adjustments: Multiple adjustments • Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 • Interfaces: Analog and digital • Weight (pounds): 15 • Price When Reviewed: $329

The VP930b looks like much like a standard two-footed ViewSonic model--but wearing different shoes. Two new, small projections extend backwards from the original feet, giving the entire stand an uneven X shape. You feel the added stability when you give the physical adjustments--tilt, height, swivel, and pivot--a whirl. This thin-bezeled model adjusts easily, and changes stay put nicely.

At default screen settings, the VP930b threw a pinkish or orangey cast onto most screens. This, and the slightly spidery text, led to respectable but average image quality ratings from our jury. In a subsequent hands-on evaluation, I discovered several color presets in the on-screen display; simply choosing a cooler screen mode solved the problems.

Better yet, the VP930b includes a CD with PerfectSuite, ViewSonic's branded version of Portrait Displays's Display Tune screen adjustment software. With PerfectSuite's tests and wizard, you painlessly calibrate the monitor to your tastes and environment. PerfectSuite includes some of the more unusual Display Tune settings, such as automatic screen pivot, which saves time and fuss for anyone who frequently pivots a monitor from landscape to portrait.

The theft deterrence plug-in, which arrives on CD, renders the monitor nonfunctional if someone disconnects it from the original PC and fails to enter the user-selected password. This may be better for preventing migration of LCDs between offices than for deterring burglars. (And it's odd that the software starts this process when you check a box labeled "enable theft.") If this function interests you, but the VP930b's $500 price tag seems high for your office, look for it on recent Hyundai ImageQuest models as well, such as the $390 Q90U.

Upshot: With a full range of physical adjustments and excellent screen adjustment software, it's a simple matter to get the ViewSonic VP 930b exactly the way you need it.-- Laura Blackwell

A Guide to LCD Monitors

Liquid Crystal Displays, or LCDs, are not a new innovation in themselves. In fact, portable computers, and handheld games have long used LCDs as their display. However, they are now becoming far more affordable for use with desktop computers.

The basic premise behind LCDs is that electricity is being applied to crystals to reveal the necessary colours. There is also a backlight to enable the display to be seen clearly under al lighting conditions that the LCD is being viewed in.LCDs have a number of benefits over traditional CRT, or Cathode Ray Tube, displays. The first of these is their size and weight. The thickness of LCDs is only a couple of inches so that it can be used in places where space is at a premium. The CRT displays are often over 20 inches deep, and take up far more space on a desk or computer table. Of course, the smaller the size of a monitor, the lighter it is. LCDs are considerably lighter than their CRT counterparts.

In fact, LCDs can even be mounted on a wall, whilst the bulky CRT cannot so easily.LCDs do not have the same light intensity of CRTs, and do not use the same scanning process to produce images. These are both extremely important from a Health and Safety point of view as LCDs do not cause the same levels of eye strain for the user that CRTs can do.One of the environmental considerations that any people are becoming interested in is energy efficiency. LCDs require a minimal amount of energy to light the crystals, and the amount used for the backlight is also considerable less than that used by the CRTs constant scanning process.Of course, nothing is perfect, and LCDs do have one major drawback, their cost. It is true that the price of an LCD monitor is dropping all the time, but they are still significantly more expensive when compared to a CRT monitor of the same screen size.

This means that it will take some time before the cost of LCDs is less than CRT displays, but if you can afford to buy one now you won’t regret it as the benefits justify the extra cost.

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About the Author:S. Stammberger is editor of LCD Monitors. Get details on manufacturers, distributors, vendors, and suppliers of LCD Monitors.