Viewsonic's VP2365wb was my favourite screen of last year. In fact, I liked it so much that – as those old enough to remember a certain advert would say – I went out and bought one.
So I'm actually a little sad that its successor, Viewsonic's VP2765-LED , just arrived in the office in time to be reviewed next issue.
Because while my screen at home is a stunning 23inch eIPS affair, the VP2765-LED is a massive 27inches in diagonal. It comes mounted on a similarly professional stand which swings through all directions, goes up and down and can flip the screen itself into portrait mode.
What's more, it's also got an LED backlight . Which means it's currently chugging through Shogun 2 benchmarks while drawing just 16W of power. The older VP2635wb has a traditional CCFL backlight which requires considerably more than that, and it's too late for me to return it under a no quibble guarantee. Bah.
Unlike the older screen, though, the 27incher makes use of a mere AMVA panel, which may or may not be as high a quality as the eIPS screen the VP2635wb boasts (I'll be looking at that closely in the review). There is, however, another newcomer to the Viewsonic range – the VP2635-LED, which combines IPS tech and LED backlight for monitor nirvana, albeit in a 23inch package.
Viewsonic isn't the first to put LED and IPS together. ASUS did so for their almost beautiful Designo ML range earlier in the year, but the fixed stand for those screens is a bit of a problem. Meanwhile LG has a similarly specced out screen – the IPS231P-BN – which I'm still waiting to try out, especially as it's available for around £150 ($246).
Otherwise, combinations of IPS panels and LED backlights have been limited to the rather more expensive likes of Apple and high end workstation monitors.
This pair of Viewsonics will go on sale with RRPs of £239 ($392) for the 23inch version and £349 ($573) for the 27incher. Actual on sale prices should be lower.
Full review as soon as...
