ViewSonic VP191b review

ViewSonic’s VP191b has much in common with the Eizo L768, since it’s a 19in TFT panel with an excellent stand. The screen swivels a full 90 degrees, slightly more than the Eizo, although there isn’t as much tilt range. With spring assistance, it’s easy to adjust the height too.

It also pivots from landscape to portrait and comes supplied with image rotation software (Pivot Pro). Viewing angles are wide enough to support the portrait mode, but faint vertical lines across the pixel structure reduce text smoothness slightly.

Round the back are two D-SUB analog inputs and a DVI-D. Build quality is reasonably high, but it doesn’t quite match the superbly built Eizo.

Beware that this is a new version of the VP191b, with an 8ms response time rather than 16ms (check with retailers which version you’re getting when you buy). Response time can be misleading and shouldn’t dominate a buying decision, but suffice to say we found no problems with fast-moving images.

Colour temperature adjustments range from 5,000K to 9,300K with an option to adjust red, green and blue individually. We had to be careful not to turn contrast up too much, which gave a greenish cast to near-white, but when correctly adjusted purity was fine. Surprisingly, flicker was evident on some tests, which is a little disappointing with a digital source.

Performance on 256-level greyscale and colour ramps was incredibly smooth. It was slightly better than the Eizo on subtle variations between black and near-black, while it was still strong near white. Colours and bright whites are a little muted, though. With analog connections, there’s a touch of banding in the greyscale ramp, and subtlety at the dark end of the scale reduces a fraction.

The ViewSonic VP191b is a competent screen that performs well in most tests, and it’s backed by a three-year, on-site replacement warranty. Compared to the Eizo FlexScan L768, it’s much more affordable too. If you can’t justify the extra £121 for the L768, the VP191b is a fine alternative. However, with more consistent test results, a smoother image and better build quality, the Eizo has the decisive edge.