Viewsonic N4251w 42 inch LCD HDTV Review

The Viewsonic name is most recognized as the maker of some of the most fantastic PC displays around for gaming and other uses. Viewsonic also has a full line of LCD HDTV sets as well that are every bit as good as the PC displays Viewsonic is famous for. Today we have Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV up for review. If you are in the market for a large screen LCD TV, check out this review of the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV.

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The first thing that grabs the eye when you unbox the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV is the high gloss black bezel of the TV, the TV looks fantastic. Viewsonic didn’t scrimp when it came to the specs for the N4251w 42” LCD HDTV either and loaded it up with gobs of features yet still managed to keep the selling price in the range many HDTV shoppers can afford at $1575.

The LCD panel is a 42” color TFT active matrix wide LCD with a display area of 36.6” horizontal x 20.6” vertical with a 42” diagonal viewing area. The panel’s native resolution is 1366x768 and it boasts a fantastic 1200:1 contrast ratio. Viewing angles are great at 178 degrees both horizontally and vertically. Just like with PC gaming LCD monitors, the gray-to-gray response time matters on a TV and the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV has a good time of 8ms.

Typical brightness of the TV is 500 cd/m². The TVs light source is good for 50,000 hours. Viewsonic went all out on connectivity with the N4251w 42” LCD HDTV giving it three HDMI connectors that support HDCP which is fantastic. Those not using HDMI will be glad to hear that you also get coax, composite RCA, component HD and S-Video connectors as well. A 3.5 mm mini stereo audio in/out also allows you to use headphones or connect your PC sound output to the TV speakers. You also get an SPDIF out for digital audio.

A 15-pin D-sub is provided to allow you to connect your PC via analog connections and the TV can do resolutions of 1024x768, 1280x768, 1280x1024, and 1280x720 for PC in addition to the native resolution of 1360x768. You can also connect your Mac to the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV as well. The tuner used in the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV is ATSC/NTSC. Size the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV comes in at 40.4” x 30.4” x 11.6” with the stand and weighs 73.3 lbs net with the stand. TV/Video resolutions supported are 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. The sound system uses two speakers that a 10-watt designs and support Dolby Digital surround sound.

For testing I connected the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV to a Denon S-301 home theater and Sudden Link HD Cable via HDMI. The 1200:1 contrast ratio gives on screen images nice deep blacks and makes for good transitions form light to dark. Problems here often show up in the form of pixilation in scenes with lots of dark and light colors, especially at the transition between the two. I noticed none of this with the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV.

HD programming at 1080i looked fantastic and the TV automatically changes the screen format during HD programming if a commercial comes on that isn’t HD so the image doesn’t look stretched or pinched which is nice. Colors are reproduced very realistically and skin tones look great and natural. Overall the image quality on the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV is absolutely top notch. The fast 8ms gtg response time means that there is no ghosting during video playback, TV or gaming with consoles or PC.

The built in sound on the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV is of good quality and you can adjust the bass and treble within the menu settings. I used the SPDIF out to my receiver to enjoy Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The remote is well laid out and easy to use and can be used as a universal remote for your other AV components if you desire. Changing inputs on the TV is easy to do, you simply hit the source button and a list of the TVs inputs comes up and you choose the correct one for your needs. The only thing really missing here are front panel inputs and I think most of us will never miss those.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Great image quality
• Great price
• Three HDMI inputs

Cons

• No front panel inputs
  
  

Verdict
Overall, the Viewsonic N4251w 42” LCD HDTV performed exceptionally well during testing and I can’t really say anything bad about the TV at all. Image quality is top notch and the only thing that could be improved is the addition of 1080p, which Viewsonic is working on. This is a fantastic HDTV at a fantastic price of $1575 currently. It is really hard to go wrong with this TV.

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