Viewsonic VX2858Sml Review

The ViewSonic VX2858Sml is a reasonably priced 28-inch monitor that uses Vertical Alignment (VA) panel technology to deliver a sharp HD picture without using a lot of power. It offers two HDMI connectors that double as Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) ports for connecting to mobile devices, but that's pretty much all you get in terms of features. That is disappointing, considering ViewSonic bills this model as a multimedia/entertainment monitor. It's a decent performer, but its gray-scale and color performance can't match that of our Editors' Choice for affordable big-screen monitors, the Acer H276HL($354.18 at Amazon).

Design and Features
The VX2858Sml has the same cabinet as the Viewsonic VX2880ml( at Amazon). Both have ¾-inch glossy-black bezels, a 2-inch-thick, matte black cabinet, and a glossy black speaker grille beneath the bottom bezel. The only difference is the stand; the Viewsonic VX2880ml has a silver, V-shaped stand, while the VX2858Sml has a glossy-black, wedge-shaped stand. The stand allows you to tilt the panel forward 5 degrees and backward 20 degrees, but there are no provisions for height, swivel, or pivot adjustments. The 1,920-by-1,080 panel has a semi-gloss coating that is only slightly reflective.

Below the speaker grille are four touch-sensitive function buttons (up arrow, down arrow, 1, 2) and a power switch. The power switch glows blue when the monitor has accepted a video signal and glows amber when the signal is lost. The function buttons are used to navigate the settings menus where you can make adjustments to Brightness, Contrast, and Color Temperature. There are three Eco modes (Standard, Optimize, and Conserve) and six picture presets (Standard, Game, Movie, Web, Text, and Mono). There's also a Blue Light Filter that helps reduce eyestrain.

Around back are two HDMI ports that also support MHL connectivity, which allows you to view charge and view content from compatible smartphones or tablet on the VX2858Sml's screen. There's also a VGA video input, an audio input, and a headphone jack. There are no USB ports or media card slots on this monitor, but there are two moderately loud 2-watt speakers hiding behind the aforementioned grille. However, they lack bass and sound tinny when cranked up.

ViewSonic covers the VX2858Sml with a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. The monitor comes with a resource CD with drivers and a user guide, an HDMI-to-MHL cable, a VGA cable, and an audio cable.

Performance
The VX2858Sml's color accuracy is adequate for everyday use, but red, green, and blue colors are all slightly skewed. As you can see from the chromaticity chart below, red and green colors (represented by the colored dots and measured with a colorimeter), are outside of their ideal zones (represented by the boxes). Blue is a bit closer, but still not ideal. These inaccuracies aren't severe enough to cause color errors such as tinting, but if you'll be working with photos or other color-sensitive content the VX2858Sml will likely disappoint.

The VX2858Sml did a relatively good job of displaying shades of gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test, but the darkest shade of gray isn't quite dark enough. In fact, the VA panel doesn't display the dark, inky blacks that I saw with other VA-based monitors like the BenQ EW2740L( at Amazon). Light shades of grays transition nicely, however, and highlight detail in my test images looked sharp. Viewing-angle performance is good, but not as good as what you get with most In-Plane Switching (IPS) panels. Still, it's much better than what you get with most TN panels. Blacks become a bit lighter when viewed from an extreme side angle, but there's no obvious color shifting or loss of luminance.

The panel's 6-millisecond (gray-to-
gray) pixel response handles fast motion reasonably well. I observed a few minor motion artifacts while running my Aliens vs. Predator gaming tests, but not enough to be a deal breaker. However, the input lag, measured using the Leo Bodnar Video Signal Lag Tester, came in at relatively high 27.2 milliseconds, which means you can expect some lag between the time you press a controller button and the time you see that action carried out on the screen. By way of comparison, the BenQ RL2460HT($299.00 at Amazon), a 24-inch gaming monitor, produced an input lag of only 10.1 milliseconds.

Like the Acer H276HL, the VX2858Sml doesn't consume much power. It used 29 watts of power during testing while running in Standard Eco mode and used only 20 watts while running in the Conserve Eco mode. The H276HL used 24 watts in Standard mode and 22 watts in Eco mode, while the BenQ EW2740L used 34 watts and 23 watts, respectively.

Conclusion
The ViewSonic VX2858SML won't wow you with bells and whistles, and it's not a top performer, but it does deliver sharp HD imagery on a spacious 28-inch screen for a little more than $300. That said, the lack of USB ports and other features like a card reader or webcam is problematic, since ViewSonic touts this model as an entertainment monitor. At the very least, a more powerful set of speakers would give this display some much needed multimedia cred. If you can live without the speakers and the dual HDMI inputs, the Acer H276HL offers better all-around performance, courtesy of a 27-inch IPS panel, and its list price is around $70 less expensive, which is why it remains our Editors' Choice for affordable big-screen monitors.

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