Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD Display Review

Feb 15 2007, 12:00am CST | by Shane McGlaun

If you are one of the masses that clings to your iPod, yet are tired of watching your iPod flicks on the tiny screen Apple installed Viewsonic has a display you will be interested in. Viewsonic’s VX2245wm has a built in iPod dock that not only charges your iPod but also streams your video and images to the 22” screen of the Viewsonic VX2245wm. From Gaming to movie watching and listening to tunes form your iPod the Viewsonic VX2245wm claims to do it all, the question is how well does it perform. Read on to find out.

Gallery

7 images

Benchmarks

Specifications & Connectivity
The 22” Viewsonic VX2245wm LCD display has a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 with a 700:1 contrast ratio. Brightness is 280 cd/m2 and the display has a 5ms gray-to-gray response time making it great for gaming. The display area measures 18.7 H x 11.7 W x 22” diagonal. Viewing angles are good at 170 degrees horizontal and 160 degrees vertical. The display weighs in at 18.7 pounds with the stand and measures 20.6” x 19.4” x 8.4” with the stand.

Connectivity on the display is not as robust as some other displays on the market with one DVI and one VGA input. No HD component inputs are offered. To go along with the integrated iPod dock there are two 2.5-watt speakers and one 3-watt sub. The plug that you use to power the display doesn’t power the dock and speakers; rather it has its own power supply. The base of the Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD has four A type USB ports, one B type USB port, audio out jack, audio in jack and a headphone jack. There is also an analog volume knob on the front of the base to control the sound level during iPod playback. On the right side of the Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD’s base is also a card reader that can read SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, SM and CF Microdrive.

Visually the Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD is definitely a very attractive monitor. The glossy black finish looks great, though it does tend to be smudged with fingerprints easily. Around the top and sides of the display is a silver ridge that offsets the black color nicely. The surface of the LCD screen is covered with an anti-glare coating that does a good job of reducing glare on the screen, which in turn makes the display easier on your eyes and helps deliver better visual quality.

Testing
To test out the display I watched some movies and played some games on the Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD. First up was some gaming on the display. I fired up several FPS titles that have lots of fast action and no matter how heated things on screen became I never saw any ghosting, smearing or tearing of on screen images. I played FEAR, Quake 4, Battlefield 2142, and Oblivion on the Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD and it performed flawlessly.

I also watched some movies on the display and chose Underworld: Evolution for the test film. The Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD does a good job with gray scale changes and has decently crisp blacks for the price. Colors are bright and vivid and skin tones look very natural. All in all the color reproduction and black levels are very mush in line with other displays of the price class.

What really sets the Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD apart from the other displays in the size and price class is the integrated iPod dock. The sound quality with the iPod dock is decent, you won’t mistake it for a high-end home stereo, but it does sound good. It is undeniably convenient to be able to dock and charge your iPod right on your display and if you are into downloading movies and TV shows to your iPod, you will love this display.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

Built-in iPod dock and speakers
Attractive design
Great for gaming

Cons

Weak bass
Glossy black smudges easily

Verdict
The Viewsonic VX2245wm 22” LCD display is a good all around performer that has some extra tricks other displays can’t match, namely the integrated iPod dock. If you are a heavy iPod user, this is the display for you. If you don’t own an iPod this display still performs well, but you will be missing the point of the display, which is to play your iPod content on a much bigger screen.

8.0

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Shane McGlaun
Leading our review center, Shane knows technology inside out. His extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at shane@i4u.com.