Introduction

The world of PC displays seems to have two very different sides spiraling out from each other.  On one hand, we have seen an increase in the number of extremely large displays with very large resolutions such as Dell's and HP's 30" monitors that both have native resolutions of 2560x1600.  This is what companies like NVIDIA tout as "Extreme HD" or some other catch phrase to show that PC gaming can exceed qualities of the 720p consoles; fair enough.

The only problem of course is that very few people actually HAVE these types of displays.  Instead the sales of smaller widescreen monitors have been increasing dramatically and are what I consider the best choice for enthusiast gamers.  Looking at our PC Perspective Pricegrabber engine shows that the most popular monitor sizes are 24", 22", 21.6" and 19"; no 30" displays there and prices are as low as $250-300.

Today I am going to briefly review a new Viewsonic monitor, the VA2226w, which falls into this same category: a good, low cost monitor that offers resolution and quality levels above what most first time LCD users will expect.  

Specifications (from Viewsonic.com)

Included Accessories

Monitors are pretty simple devices for the most part; simple passive output only devices that really only require power and a connection to a graphics card. 

The 22" Viewsonic VA2226w display comes includes a simple black plastic stand that seems rather light and flimsy but held the monitor just fine through my testing and lots of movement and adjustment.  There is a standard black power cable as well as some Viewsonic driver software and documentation. 

You'll notice that Viewsonic only includes a standard analog VGA cable from connection from the monitor to the PC or other source.  While some users won't be able to tell the difference between the analog VGA and digital DVI inputs, some will and that might be a strike one on Viewsonic.