Monitor Review: ViewSonic VX2739wm

If you're like a lot of people and are used to equating "big" with "slow," ViewSonic is hoping that its new VX2739wm widescreen LCD monitor will make you rethink that line of reasoning. Laying claim to being the first 27-inch monitor to offer a 1-millisecond response time, the VX2739wm is being touted as the ultimate display for gamers, movie watchers, and developers alike.

And when you're using the monitor for more mundane tasks, ViewSonic's "eco-mode" functions even let you get your green on and show some love for the environment. But does the VX2739wm live up to its hype? Let's take a closer look and find out.

What Does It Offer?

First and foremost, the VX2739wm is big -- so big, in fact, that the poor 23-inch LCD I use on a daily basis cowered in the corner when it saw me setting the ViewSonic up. But while it's larger than I'd been accustomed to, it never felt "too big." The size was so easy to get used to, in fact, that going back to the 23-incher might prove to be the bigger challenge. That said, though, buyers might want to consider popping off the included stand and using a VESA 200mm x 100mm mount to position the monitor a little farther away than might otherwise be feasible. Doing so will also give you more flexibility than the tilt-only stand offers, in terms of seating and viewing angles.

But beyond just size, ViewSonic is touting that 1ms response time, promising gamers and other enthusiasts unparalleled performance for a 27-inch monitor. This is assuming you go into the VX2739wm's on-screen display menu settings and change the default "Standard" response time to "Ultra Fast." Getting to this and other options is simple and intuitive, with the OSD menu giving you a fair amount of control over the monitor's various functions. But while games and movies alike looked good and played smoothly in this "Ultra Fast" mode, they looked about as good in the "Standard" mode, as well.

As you may have guessed, given the touted response time and its "special introductory price tag" of $349, the VX2739wm is a twisted-nematic (TN) liquid crystal display. So you're not going to see colors reproduced quite as faithfully as with an in-plane switching (IPS) monitor, and you're not going to enjoy the ultra-wide viewing angles an IPS offers, either (with the listed specs promising angles of 170 degrees horizontal and 160 degrees vertical). But what you are going to get is a solid monitor with decent color reproduction and fast response time at a fraction of an IPS panel's price.

Also of note is the ViewSonic's native resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, offering a 16:9 aspect ratio. Combined with an available HDMI 1.3 input and an additional HDCP-compliant DVI-D port, this makes it ideally suited as a display for high-definition content, whether that comes from the 1080p of Blu-ray movies or the 1080i and/or 720p that most home digital television services offer. But if one or more of your systems offers only analog video output, ViewSonic provides a VGA input, as well.

Included, as well, are two 2-watt speakers, along with 3.5mm audio-in and -out jacks (the latter on the side of the VX2739wm's bezel). So if you're watching a movie or other video content and want to get more comfortable on the couch, you can go with the integrated speakers; and if you need to keep things quieter as you work at your desk, you can plug in a pair of headphones.

To make using the integrated speakers a more pleasurable experience, ViewSonic includes SRS Premium Sound software on the included installation CD. SRS software or not, of course, integrated speakers aren't likely to knock anyone's socks off. But the VX2739wm's built-in sound capabilities will suffice for most casual users, while more demanding enthusiasts will already have an alternate sound setup either implemented or in mind.

Rounding out the VX2739wm's features is the integrated four-port USB hub (two in the back and two on the side), a handy feature for those who are regularly plugging in flash drives, cameras, and other USB devices. It might not seem like all that big a deal, given how many USB ports most desktops, and even many laptops, offer. But you won't fully realize how useful a feature this is until you go from a monitor that includes a USB port to one that doesn't.

Did Someone Say Green?

Yes, believe it or not, this gamer-courting behemoth also has something to offer greenies. The VX2739wm's specs say that it draws as much as 58 watts of electricity, though I personally never saw it draw more than about 50 watts in my testing, using a Kill-a-Watt meter. That was in its Standard mode with the monitor's brightness set to the default of 100 percent (which I found to be a bit too bright, quite frankly).

Switching to the most energy efficient "eco-mode," dubbed "Conserve" (an intermediate level of "Optimize" is also available), dropped energy consumption into the low- to mid-30 watt range at the highest brightness settings, and into the high 20s at 80-percent brightness.

This means that to some extent you can have the best of both worlds -- or, perhaps more accurately, each of those worlds at different times. When you're gaming or watching movies or sports, you can crank up the settings and put the pedal to the metal, environment be damned. But if you're just browsing websites, working on spreadsheets, or writing reviews of monitors, you can use either one of the "eco-modes" or the manual settings to lower the brightness, conserve some energy, and score some points with Mother Nature.

So how does the ViewSonic VX2739wm stack up against its competition? Pretty well, I'd say. As might be expected, the 1ms response time is more a "win" on paper than in noticeable performance over models that offer 2ms response times. But response time aside, the VX2739wm is a solidly performing monitor that looks good, works well, and is being offered at a reasonable price.

So if you're looking for a feature-rich 27-inch display that can handle anything you're likely to throw at it, the ViewSonic VX2739wm is one that you'll likely want on your short list.