ViewSonic VX2260wm

The move to 16:9 aspect ratio monitors is gathering pace, with most of the major manufacturers unveiling new monitors over the past few months. The move from 16:10 isn't the backward step it may seem: existing 22in TFTs traditionally display a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, but many of these new models increase the resolution to an HD movie-friendly 1,920 x 1,080 despite losing screen height.

ViewSonic is the latest to join the fray, with its 22in VX2260wm aiming to appeal to both workers who like to multitask and entertainment junkies alike. And the styling is certainly a good start: it's sleek and shiny, with a bulbous, UFO-like base and a curved rear ensuring it stands out from the crowd.

The sleek finish unfortunately helps to camouflage the control buttons on the front, making adjustments a little awkward. And you will need to use them: out of the box, the sRGB setting was too dark to use comfortably, so we switched to the 6,500K colour temperature, and lowered the contrast. Colours were still a little pale, though.

Minor colour issues aside, it performed well in our tests. Gradients were perfectly smooth and well distributed across the whole spectrum, while the 400cd/m2 backlight is impressively bright and even. We noticed a small amount of bleed at the top edge, but otherwise it coasted through our technical tests with plenty of detail and clear definition.

Our real-world tests revealed some flaws. Crysis was a little lifeless, thanks to those washed out colours, even if the level of detail in the environments was impressive. Photos were accurate in dark areas, but a little pale in bright ones, while the lighter tone actually made it a bit easier to watch some of our more atmospheric videos.

It's not height adjustable, but ViewSonic compensates for this by including HDMI as an output, to go with the usual DVI and VGA ports. There are also some 1.5W speakers built in, and these are woeful, but you can at least connect a pair of external speakers using the 3.5mm stereo output.

So it's a mixed bag. The 16:9 ratio takes a bit of getting used to, but ultimately works very well. For desktop use you'll enjoy the extra width, but with its looks, connections and target market, we expected more from it on the entertainment front. And while at £140 plus VAT it's not expensive, it's also not cheap enough to mix it with the best budget screens around.

Author: David Bayon