ViewSonic VP201b Grange-over-Sands

As every budding fashionista and gloomy thirty-something goth knows, one colour never goes out of style. The VP201b is easily the most glamorous of our 20in line-up; its all-black casing is complemented by a slim frame, streamlined stand and a row of buttons that are practically camouflaged in the bottom bezel. It's flexible too, with the smooth height-adjustment mechanism allowing over 10cm of movement. There's also a pivot option for those who like working in portrait mode.

ViewSonic hasn't exactly gone overboard with the control options; with a digital signal, you can adjust contrast and brightness settings, and choose between four colour temperatures and a user setting, but that's basically your lot. On the plus side, this means that the OSD is easy to navigate, and this is one monitor on which you won't spend much time fiddling with the buttons.

The VP201b is a superb TFT panel. Admittedly, the technical results are only average, particularly in the white-level saturation tests, where it struggled with the lightest tones, and the intensity ramps, where it revealed minimal but still vaguely noticeable banding.

Back in the real world, however, it produced the best DVD playback, with rich colours, lashings of contrast and superb handling of detail. The VP201b never faltered during the high-speed highway chase scene, and the picture held together during the numerous fast circular pans and high-impact action of the pink house shootout.

Perhaps gun battles are its forte, as things were equally good in Doom 3; the brooding textures and strong colours made it tempting to just wander and admire the scenery - at least until a swarm of flaming lost souls turn up in a temper. At 1,600 x 1,200, it revealed iD Software's future nightmare with astonishing precision, and at 1,280 x 1,024 with a frame rate of 60fps, it never showed a single sign of smearing. It's equally at home with your digital snaps; perhaps the colours aren't as vibrant as they are on the best 17in TFT displays, but there are no grounds for complaint about clarity. It's a tough call between this and the Sony, but for sheer style and entertainment value, the VP210b wins our vote.

Author: Stuart Andrews

ViewSonic VP201b