ViewSonic VP930b - small review

Albert Silver

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Messages
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I've had the VP930b for a week now, and have put it through the steps and uses, plus a bit more, in order to share my opinions on it.

Before going on, I'll should add this is my first LCD monitor, and prior to this I had been using a 17-inch CRT from ViewSonic. The jump in size is not small since the viewing area of a CRT is always smaller than the official size contrary to LCD displays, and while this is standard, it probably also helps perpetuate the folk wisdom that company announced specs are not to be trusted. As such, the gain was actually 3 inches and not 2.

Size and resolution

In my previous monitor, I usually set the resolution to 1024x768, and found this to be the best size for my everyday use. I am now operating at 1280x1024, which is roughly 25% more pixels and should thus be about that much smaller. The 3 inches help offset this, so it is still a fairly ideal resolution size for my taste. Although some may find this talk about the resolution pointless, I have seen several people in the forums complaining that if it wasn't 1600x1200 then it was pointless. Aside from the fact that I know many people who prefer their 17-inch CRTs at only 800x600, I did see a Dell 2001fp in action, a 20.1 inch screen at 1600x1200 and found the usual text and icons to be uncomfortably small. So frankly, I wouldn't want this screen to force me to use such a resolution.

What it comes with

The screen comes with a very nice stand, a small booklet with 2-page instructions written in some 20 languages, a 6-foot DVI cable, a 6-foot VGA cable, a power cable, and 2 CDs. For movies, I purchased a longer 10-foot DVI cable at NewEgg for some $15 or so.

The stand is really impressive. It is quite heavy, and I wondered why at first, since the screen itself is fairly light. Of course there is the simple issue of stability, to not allow it to topple over too easily (zero risk), but another factor is clearly the ease to allow one to set its height or rotate it without having the base so much as budge. To lift or lower the monitor (it can go as low as 14.2 inches overall) one just raises or lowers the screen and lets go. When one does this one feels as if there were some ball-bearings within the stand, which allow this to be done very smoothly, and it never budges when one lets go. All in all it feels very solid. Rotating the screen is also no struggle, though I've only done it once to report this.

One can also detach the screen from the stand and mount it on a wall, should you have the inclination to do so.

Installation

Moving up to an LCD was a necessity, since frankly the depth of the old CRT was the maximum I could fit on my desk. Seeing all this space available now, especially with a bigger screen, is quite the shocker. Installing it was no problem. I didn't hesitate to insert the first CD with the monitor's drivers and manual, and that went without a fuss. The second CD comes with some programs to help calibrate the colors and another program to ease the pivot possibilities.

Calibration

Unlike the sites that review monitors, I do not have a $150+ color calibration device for the monitor. They all claim that the colors are far from ideal, which I can believe, and that once calibrated professionally, they can be wonders.

The VP930b is the successor to the much lauded VP191b, which was said to have almost ideal colors AFTER it had been calibrated. In fact, that goes into my very small list of complaints below. One of the programs on the second CD is PerfectSuite, a manual calibration program. It takes you through a number of steps in which you first determine the brightness and contrast you prefer, and then spend some time matching various grey squares with grey backgrounds in order to find the best color balance. This is actually quite necessary IMO since the initial brightness is pretty extreme, and if you play with the brightness and contrast, the colors are immediately affected.

Image quality

I'm not a professional, much less a specialist, so this is no doubt quite subjective. I tested the image through both the VGA and the DVI, and must say that I found the DVI connection to produce a small but clearly superior image quality. Initially, I found the text to be a bit pixelated for my taste, but once I had set my settings to ClearType, this was resolved. The overall image quality, colors, and brightness are all superb to my eyes.

Videos/Movies

Since I had specifically chosen this model for its fame as a top all-rounder, I didn't expect to be disappointed by the movies, and I wasn't. I ran numerous scenes such as dark ones from the Lord of the Rings (vol.1), to large single color-type scenes from the Big Blue, to various action scenes and others. It handled them very well, and the complaint of pixelated landscapes occurred only very occasionally and the contrast and display of dark tones was excellent overall. I had no problem watching a full movie on it, and found it a pleasure.

Games

I'm not the biggest game buff in the world, and no doubt some will disagree with my assessment. Still, I ran several fast-paced games such as Need For Speed: Underground 2, and found not only the colors and visibility to be excellent, but never was able to notice any real ghosting. If there is any, I can only presume it is extremely slight, certainly not to the point of annoying the player. No doubt, if I spent my time trying to find and see it, I would be able to satisfy this masochistic desire (spending time trying to find faults in one's stuff is masochism IMHO), but I'm a "cup is half-full" kind of person, so I don't spend my time looking for these faults. If I see them, I'll be honest about them, but otherwise they can't really be that serious in my book.

Issues/complaints

Only two come to mind. The first, one that has been reported by VP191b users as well, is an annoying blue square that appears on the screen announcing the type of connection being used. It lasts a few seconds and appears when one starts the computer, when one changes the resolution, and when one exits the screensaver. While I couldn't turn this warning off, one can make it transparent, and appear in a non-obtrusive point of the screen, which is what I did of course.

The other complaint is regarding the color calibration. The top review sites constantly show the difference between the absolute best color calibration (using an expensive gadget) with that of the factory presets. I can't for the life of me, understand why such a configuration isn't already done and offered at least as a possible profile. To be fair, I can't single out ViewSonic here, as I have never seen any of the models reviewed to do this.

Final thoughts

Overall, I've regained quite a bit of deskspace, and for a very worth cause. The monitor very much lives up to my expectations, and I am very satisfied with the purchase. Strangely enough, it is also less expensive than its predecessor the VP191b, and can be found for less than $420 as of this post. The best deal I saw was at ZipZoomFly.com offering it for $419 with free FedEx 2nd day shipping.



Albert Silver
 
Thank you for this small but comprehensive review. I too am looking at purchasing a new monitor and this one is on my short list. I have found no other reviews about this unit except one at firingsquad.com. Don't have the link :( .

Once again , thanks :)

Cheers,
Caspanis
 
i really need to know how games look on this monitor. i play HL2 counter strike source, painkiller, far cry. mainly FPS. getting ready to buy FEAR. I plan on buying a new lcd next week, im really interested in getting this one, but im concerened about the gaming performance. any input would be nice, or recommendations.

nate
 
MNM said:
i really need to know how games look on this monitor. i play HL2 counter strike source, painkiller, far cry. mainly FPS. getting ready to buy FEAR. I plan on buying a new lcd next week, im really interested in getting this one, but im concerened about the gaming performance. any input would be nice, or recommendations.

nate

Caspanis's link was top notch. Not only did I not know there was a French Tom's Hardware, but even if I had I doubt I'd have suspected it might have articles and reviews the US version doesn't. His link is to a full review of the VP930b (which fortunately I speak fluently) and there is also a round-up of several 19-inch monitors, dated 3 weeks earlier. The round-up discusses the VP191b, since the VP930 review came out after, and says this about it in terms of gaming:

Mais franchement, le VP191b compte toujours parmi les dalles les plus véloces du marché.

Dans la pratique

[...] Le jeu vidéo est très agréable sur ce VP191b, les jeux profitent vraiment de la faible latence de la dalle. La bonne profondeur du noir assure une bonne ambiance dans les jeux sombres.


which translates to

"But frankly, the VP191b is still among the fastest panels on the market.

In practice

[...] Video games are very enjoyable on the VP191b, with games really taking advantage of the panel's low latency. The good black depth ensures a good atmosphere in dark games.

The site says that the VP930 is possibly a fraction slower than the VP191b but yields better color depth especially for the darker shades. Overall, their main complaint isn't that the VP930 is weak in any department, but that it isn't sufficiently better than the VP191b to warrant removing and replacing the latter.

For example, they also reviewed the Samsung 930BF, supposedly at 4ms, but show in their tests that it isn't really that fast, and that it sacirfices a lot in order to achieve its slightly superior speed over the VP191b.

From my experience so far, the monitor has been a dream and I have no complaints. Games, movies, and normal useage have been superb. In terms of games, the fastest paced game I've played is Need for Speed: Undeground 2, and it played that without a hitch.

Albert
 
thanks guys, looks like ill try one out. Is my first LCD, can't wait.

Nate
 
Thanks a lot for the review Albert. I've been looking around like crazy for a review on this monitor. Also, thanks to caspanis for the link. Since I'm a Computer Science major, I have to program a lot, so I'm looking for a good all around LCD because of the less eye strain when compared to CRTs. I really really like my NEC/Mitsubishi FE991SB 19" CRT monitor, but being a CRT it strains my eyes after hours of reading and programming. Up till now the VP930b is my pick for the best all-rounder 19" LCD monitor.
 
I also posted a mini review some time ago, can't be more happy with them. I bought two :D
As to a great all round LCD? Definately. IMHO you can do anything on this monitor, crisp text for surfing, fast response for games, great colours, everything you could want really. The only difference noted in the stats is the improved contrast ratio; 1000:1 to 800:1. Oh that and the new stand. I'd have to agree with the original poster, it's a great stand. Real sturdy, a snap to adjust the screen, almost 'old iMac' easy to adjust. The only thing better than this monitor is two of them lol. Lovely thin bezel for multi monitor use....

Dave
 
This is what I've been waiting for for the Viewsonics. I always liked the clarity and sharpness of them. Once I got to the point I wanted a 19 incher I didn't want the large crt and opted for a flat panel but the refresh wasn't quite there especially for video. I am into either the Samsung or this but the comparable Samsungs are like at least $550. I wonder why. Their true-color technology? This is a great price but if I can get a deal for around $350 I might wait till holiday pricing. Also looking for screenies of this. I think there might be some in the screenshots thread.
 
absolutely love it. HL2, CSS, Painkiller all look great.

pleased so far, will update you guys if anything changes.

Nate
 
Just got my 930b today, I am not having such good luck. It has some major backlight bleed through, like a big X accross the screen from corner to cross corner. I just contacted newegg and am going to send it back for a refund.
 
Trucker61 said:
Just got my 930b today, I am not having such good luck. It has some major backlight bleed through, like a big X accross the screen from corner to cross corner. I just contacted newegg and am going to send it back for a refund.

That's odd every single review I've seen on it so far the black is great with no bleeding. Maybe try to get another and I would be very surprised if it had that again. I am just about to purchase.
 
Hi,

I am considering this monitor. I use my PC as a TV as well( have a tv tuner card connected to sattelite receiver). I mostly watch sports ie soccer, football. I am concerned that the mostly green pitch will have video noise. So, anyone with VP930 care to share their experience ? Thanks. :)

edit :

Also for those who have the backlight bleeding , is it only noticeable in the dark ? What if they are some ambient lighting ? Is it still noticeable ? If anyone can provide a picture of the backlight bleeding in moderate lighting that would be a plus..
 
Sizzy said:
Hi,

I am considering this monitor. I use my PC as a TV as well( have a tv tuner card connected to sattelite receiver). I mostly watch sports ie soccer, football. I am concerned that the mostly green pitch will have video noise. So, anyone with VP930 care to share their experience ? Thanks. :)

edit :

Also for those who have the backlight bleeding , is it only noticeable in the dark ? What if they are some ambient lighting ? Is it still noticeable ? If anyone can provide a picture of the backlight bleeding in moderate lighting that would be a plus..

I had one and ended up sending it back to Newegg for a refund, lost out on 18 beans shipping. (they only paid 25 and it cost me 43 with ins.) I will not buy another, if you read all the reviews at Newegg and around some other forums you will find the backlight bleeding is a common problem. Mine was not only visible with an all black screen but on light blues and greys there was noticeable discoloration. Gaming was great, no blurring/ghosting at native resolution, but the bleeding problem was there in dark games like Doom3.
 
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