Viewsonic VP912b 12ms mini-review

* This review is also posted on the high speed 19" thread for those that prefer to continue the discussion in a broader context.

The monitor arrived and everything looks good. Zero dead or stuck pixels and no uneven backlighting, no damage. It came with a "pixel perfect" guarantee, so that part was not a surprise. GamePC charged $740 including the guarantee, however I'm sure those willing to take a chance will find it for substantially less elsewhere in the weeks to come.

This 19" monitor very likely uses the same panel that is in the Sony HS94P as the panel is rather reflective. Viewsonic calls their coating the Glare 2H so I think we can say that Sony's X-brite nomenclature is a bit more, um… sophisticated. Bottom line here is that if reflections bother you, look elsewhere. In my office all the lights and windows are in front of me below eye level and the wall behind me is dark, so glare and reflection are not issues I care about. It did prevent me from taking any useful screen pictures though as much of what is seen is me with camera.

The base on the Viewsonic VP series is fully adjustable for height, tilt and the screen rotates to portrait, so compared to the Sony with tilt only this is a big plus. On the other hand, the Viewsonic lacks the Sony’s funky George Jetson futuristic styling. Gamers wanting a 19" display will have an additional choice, however it will suffer from the same glare issues as the Sony does.

Angle of viewing is specified as 160 degrees, and that seems correct. The 12ms pixel response spec also seems correct, and I have been unable to see any ghosting at all in any game, so gamers should be happy about that. As far as the panel characteristics, anything that has been said about the Sony will hold true for the VP912 as well I imagine. Viewsonic and Sony are both conspicuously silent on whether this is a 6 bit or 8 bit panel leading me to guess that it may be 6 bits and that the magic coating used is to improve the color appearance. If so, it works remarkably well, as the colors are gorgeous and very saturated, but the glare and reflection is the price paid. .

In any case, not only does the color look great but the monitor shipped the with the brightness correctly set to 50% and the color set to 6500K which is unusual in my experience, but very welcome. It will probably look awful in stores next to all those poorly adjust monitors with their brightness set to high and their color set to 9500K. There are five buttons on the lower bezel for making adjustments, and they work easily.

I bought the monitor mostly for text apps, as I have a SQL database front end that is limited to 1280x1024, and does funny things when the font sizes are increased. The cost of re-coding it would be a significant portion of the $25,000 we already have in it, so that was not an option. Text is crisp and legible so that end is covered now.

I will be adding a 2nd 23"-24" display for non-text apps after I see the new LED backlit units early next year, but for now the VP912b has got my text apps handled and gaming on it is very good as well.

jg

Dude I want to see some decent screen shots..... desktop and games screen shots... It will be helpful... Thanks in advance..

ohh here is another review from GamePC

looks pretty decent ... awsome review..

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=vp912b&page=1


Next week my 740 dollars will go to this monitor.. after oddlycalm post some decent pictures and pursuade me to get this monitor...

Trancify said:

Dude I want to see some decent screen shots..... desktop and games screen shots...

Click to expand...

Sorry Trancify, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon. I tried for an hour to get a decent screen shot, and had no better luck than Chris Connolly had. Too reflective, and I'm too busy to take to time to set up a tripod to do the job right. Chris put up a couple shots, but they are not his usual full screen shots, and his comment was the same as mine. BTW, mine was one of the monitors he tested last week with the PCIe XT800, which is what I'm using with it.

oc

Tell me so far.. how do you like it.. is it worth of 740 dollars ???

GamePC mentioned that they couldn't figure out the color depth supported by this thing; anyone know, or can attest as to what the color depth is/looks like it is?

I posted this a week or so ago on this forum. This is an actual e-mail and its response. My original e-mail to Viewsonic is below the first e-mail.



Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ViewSonic Technical Support.

The VP912B has a pixel pitch of 0.294mm and a color rating of 16.2M
(6+2 bit). The monitor should be released this month (September).

Regards,

ViewSonic Technical Support
ViewSonic Corporation
381 Brea Canyon Road
Walnut, CA 91789



Dear Customer Care Representative,

I am very interested in the VP912B LCD
monitor advertised on the Viewsonic main page. I
checked out its specifications and did not see two
ratings listed. If they are available, what is the dot
pitch or pixel pitch of the VP912B and what bit rating
is is given for color, such as 8-bit, 16.2mill, or
16.7 million colors?

Also, I am interested in the release date of this
monitor. When it it going to be available?

I am still consfused on the matter on whether a (6+2)bit color depth is better/worse than an 8-bit LCD. As to the color depth reported by Sony on their SDM-HS94p monitor, here is a link directly to it specs. They say 16.2million colors.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...lateName=item/sy_item_b&ProductSKU=SDMHS94P/B

Trancify said:

Tell me so far.. how do you like it.. is it worth of 740 dollars ???

Click to expand...

Well, I didn't have many choices. I need the 1280x1024 rez and I wanted fash pixel response as well as a good flexible base. This was the only monitor that fits all of those criteria. I'm very happy with it at this point. As for the money, I was prepared to spend a lot more on an HP L2335 if I could have gotten our database front end working at higher resolutions.

As for the color depth, the e-mail from the Viewsonic tech sounds right, but I would defy anyone to put this monitor next to an 8 bit panel and tell the difference. Both the image quality and color is very good subjectively. The magic coating on the panel has to do with some of this image and color quality. I haven't heard anyone say anything but good things about the Sony HS94 image and color, and I suspect the same will be true of the VP912. If you want to see the image quality, haul yourself down to the store and look at the Sony.

oc

Does the Hard surface coating prevent you from rubbing out stuck pixels?

/me sits in corner and awaits arrival of 8ms 8bit panels from the heavens above /endme

How does the VP191B handle different resolutions? Namely 1024x768. I'm just worried that it will make my games look horrible at lower resolutions.

Could you please check that out and get back to me? If you could do that, I would be forever in your debt.

Unfortuneately, there isn't anywhere to demo above average LCD Monitors in the city that I am currently living in, so I need to depend on this forum.

Thanks in advance...!

Adango said:

How does the VP191B handle different resolutions? Namely 1024x768. I'm just worried that it will make my games look horrible at lower resolutions.

Click to expand...

I looked hard at the VP191 and didn't feel it was a good gaming monitor at any resolution. The pixel response is too slow and for me there was too much ghosting.

As far as how games scale to lower resolutions, you are asking about a subjective judgement. What can be said for certain is that the image quality on all LCD's suffers noticably at non-native resolutions, which is exactly why I am buying two monitors; one to run 1280x1024 and one to run 1920x1200.

oc

oddlycalm said:

As far as how games scale to lower resolutions, you are asking about a subjective judgement. What can be said for certain is that the image quality on all LCD's suffers noticably at non-native resolutions, which is exactly why I am buying two monitors; one to run 1280x1024 and one to run 1920x1200.

oc

Click to expand...

i hope you enjoy your new monitor m8

could you do a simple test for us ? just switch the monitor to 1024x768 and try to play
your favourite game at that resolution for 5-10 minutes,and then please tells us if there is any realy noticable difference.
Your answer (even if it's subjective) is very important for many of us who don't
want to spend 500$ every 8-10 months for a top speed graphics card ....
but also wouldn't be happy with a small LCD monitor .
Because if someone wants to play games at 1024x768 (due to the higher
frame rates in games) then the only option would be getting a "tiny" 15" monitor !!!!
or just stay out of the LCD market .

also ,did you ever use or saw a Sony SDM-HS94P monitor ?
if yes could you tell us if there is any noticable difference ?

thank you .

The only thing I determined from the reviews of the Sony SDM-HS94p and Viewsonic VP912b is that both have VERY similar image quality and image response. However the Viewsonic can adjust the angle of the screen, so I would say the Viewsonic is better since both of these monitors can be annoying to some people with crazy lighting schemes(supposedly both monitors have reflective surfaces noticed with direct light).

mentorxxx said:

i hope you enjoy your new monitor m8

could you do a simple test for us ? just switch the monitor to 1024x768 and try to play
your favourite game at that resolution for 5-10 minutes,and then please tells us if there is any realy noticable difference.
Your answer (even if it's subjective) is very important for many of us who don't
want to spend 500$ every 8-10 months for a top speed graphics card ....
but also wouldn't be happy with a small LCD monitor .
Because if someone wants to play games at 1024x768 (due to the higher
frame rates in games) then the only option would be getting a "tiny" 15" monitor !!!!
or just stay out of the LCD market .

also ,did you ever use or saw a Sony SDM-HS94P monitor ?
if yes could you tell us if there is any noticable difference ?

thank you .

Click to expand...

Yes, that was exactly my question. How stupid I was to type the wrong monitor name, when i should have said VP912B. I've just been bombarded with so much nomenclature, it's hard to remember it all.

mentorxxx said:

could you do a simple test for us ? just switch the monitor to 1024x768 and try to play your favourite game at that resolution for 5-10 minutes,and then please tells us if there is any realy noticable difference.
- snip -
also ,did you ever use or saw a Sony SDM-HS94P monitor ?
if yes could you tell us if there is any noticable difference ?

Click to expand...

Games look OK at 1024x768, just a bit softer image. I suspect the same coating that helps with the color perception helps with lower resolutions a bit. I imagine most people could get by with it for some time until they upgraded their vid card. Of course once you upgrade your video card, playing at 1280x1024 will seem like a waste, right...?

I realize that you would like to see detailed screen shots of the same game at 1024x768 and 1280x1024, but nobody is going to be able to get good screen shots due to the reflectance of the screen. I'm not being difficult, it just can't be done unless you have a totally dark environment and a tripod, which I don't.

I did see the Sony HS94P several times in stores prior to getting the Viewsonic, and from the specs it was clear they both use the same panel. The image is identical as is the very smooth reflective coating on the panel. If you like the Sony you will like the VP912 and if you don't, same thing. I liked the image and color just fine and would have gotten the Sony if it had a base that worked for me. My use is mostly for work, and the lack of adjustability simply would not have worked for me.

Also, the VP912 is new, but it's not being kept a state secret and is not some limited production special. Viewsonic will ship zillions of them and it will be in every store tha carries Viewsonic monitors by this time next month, just as the Sony was, so anyone really interested will soon have plenty of chances to see it.

oc