1st 1ms LCD on its way: ViewSonic VX2739wm. Too late?

Incredible, the first screen with a 1 ms response time is on its way. It's a 27 inch, the ViewSonic VX2739wm. Now miracles do happen so we're told... but for now we're sceptical.

ViewSonic VX2739wm Find the best price

 
A little breakdown first of all. The screen has a 1920 x 1080 panel (16:9), a contrast ratio of 1200:1 and is a TN. In terms of connectivity, there's an HDMI, a DVI, a VGA, a headphones out and a 4 USB port hub. Energy consumption is reported to be 58 watts (which seems a lot for a TN panel), and 38 watts in Eco mode.

How much will it cost? $349.99 on Amazon USA. We're waiting for confirmation on UK pricing but it looks as if it will be something under £300 including VAT with release earmarked for July.

We prefer 120 Hz, non TN monitors...

$350: will no doubt work through at just under £300, depending on exchange rate fluctuations. What else is there around this price if your priority is:

• responsiveness : the Acer GD245HQ. Officially this is a 2 ms, but it doesn't make much sense just to refer to response times here. It knocks all the competition out of the water! To recap, we haven't been evaluating monitor responsiveness by "ms" with a sensor for some time, but rather the number of frames that are slow to disappear from a moving scene, which is what provokes disagreeable blurring. 5 ms, 6 ms and 8 ms TN monitors are all above 1.1 colour frames more than the frame supposed to be on the screen. 4 ms, 3 ms and 2 ms panels (we have found them all to be the same) allow you to go below a ghosting of 0.8 colour frames. A few rare screens do better. The Acer 120 Hz, the GD245HQ, scores a ghosting of 0.15 frames! Can the ViewSonic VX2739wm claim better? We'll see in its test...

• a good mix of responsiveness / large panel: here the ViewSonic's rival will be the Iiyama ProLite B2712HDS. A great TN this screen. 27 inches, good responsiveness (ghosting of 0.3 colour frames!), true colours, the same connectivity as the ViewSonic (except the USBs) but with a vertically adjustable base. Quite a fight in prospect... if the ViewSonic lives up to its promise in terms of response times. The Iiyama is very well priced when you look at its qualities.

• a big screen, responsiveness, homogenous colours: here you need to take all TN panels out of the equation. The Samsung F2380M is also discarded: not responsive enough. Not as responsive as the TN 2 ms monitors in any case. The same goes for the Nec EA231wmi. The Philips 240PW9 does a little better but is subject to black ghosting. Out! Next: Dell U2410. Full house here... except for the price which is a good deal higher than for TN screens. When will good TN screens get a bit cheaper (we've been asking this for years).

In summary then, there are a lot of good alternatives already on the market. But lets see what the ViewSonic test shows us. With any luck the company won't fall back into its bad habits: release announcements but no stock behind them. Just a bit of buzz. You may remember, they announced their first LCD 1 ms back in 2006!

> Product survey: 23'' to 28'' LCD Monitors

> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products