ViewSonic VX2255wmb

Submit a Review

Rating: 85%
Review Title: VGA vs DVI

Verdict: Check your card does DVI

I agree with the previous reviewer. The blue plug (VGA) is fine, but this is a widescreen TFT, so if you want flat screen scaling, then you need to use the DVI connectors. Of course this is only relevant if your graphics card supports DVI.

Rating: 90%
Review Title: ViewSonic VX2255wmb

Verdict: Great picture and look pretty stylish to look at.

When I set up this monitor for the first time, I didn’t realise that it has two separate video connecting ports. I hooked it up using the usual looking 15 pin cable (with blue plugs) that I found, switched it on, installed the Nvidia drivers ,only to discover that, as jml-ayers says, there appeared to be no aspect ratio scaling available, and that when it came to it,certain games looked really terrible as they were stretched horizontally across the screen. Otherwise the picture quality is great. A few days later however, among the cables that come with the monitor, I found at the bottom of the box a cable that I must have missed first time round. This had a flat white plug on each end which plugged straight into the DVI socket on the graphics card without needing an adaptor, (unlike the usual blue plug). My gpu- is a GeForce 8800GT Looking at the back of the monitor, I found the input socket for this new cable, plugged it in, (after removing the other one of course), and hey presto, all of a sudden, there in the Nvidia control panel was the Change flat panel scaling option that was previously missing. I have to say that the documentation that comes with this monitor is very basic, and doesn’t really make it clear that it is supplied with two different types of cable, so you have to look. Usually items like this come with illustrations showing all the cables and installation cds that come with it. Having got all this sorted out, I would say that I rate this monitor very highly. Only criticism I would have is that the glossy black plastic looks the sort that shows every fingerprint and might be prone to scratches, but it’s easy to manoeuvre without actually having to touch this area. The base is nice and heavy too.

Rating: 85%
Review Title: An Update...

Verdict: Needs a recent / powerful video card.

I was driving this beaast with an 18 month old 7600GS. Turns out that this cannot suply the required pixelclock (what ever that means) and the display was reverting to 1600x1200, making everything squashed. No idea why it works with the generic windows driver though! If you have a newer graphics card with a bit more umph than mine then I am sure you will be fine.

Rating: 75%
Review Title: ViewSonic VX2255wmb - Amazing (but Flawed?)

Verdict: Great to look at but nearly impossible to customise due to terrible Windows Drivers.

I bought this monitor based on the CPC review (in preference the Samsung) and it really does look great on the desk. Connection via DVI to DVI gives a lovely picture at the native 1680x1050 resolution, BUT only if you don't install the Viewsonic monitor drivers. As soon as you install those, the monitor gets very confused about what its native resolution is and everything gets squashed flat and stretched wide. If you leave the monitor as the Windows Default monitor things look great and using the NVidia optimiser shows just how bright a picture the Viewsonic is putting out. The integrated webcam works well and you should just forget about the integrated speakers (tinny, doesn't come close). Where this monitor falls down is when it isn't running at the native resolution. Because of the driver issues this monitor will not accept the NVidia options to work with black borders and instead stretches 4x3 pictures to the full width of the screen. This makes older games look terrible, and you will need to play in a windowed mode.

LG Flatron W2252TQ	82%
Hyundai W240D-PVA	69%
SamsungSyncMaster 2253LW	70%
AG Neovo E-W22	73%
Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP	90%
Iiyama ProLite E2202WS-B	69%
Iiyama ProLite E2403WS-1	67%

• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260² - Graphics cards
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 - Graphics cards
• Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 - Desktop PCs