On paper at least, this VX2262wm from ViewSonic looks very similar to the old VX2240w, which scored five stars back in May, with the only real difference appearing to be the addition of a pair of speakers. However, on closer inspection, it seems that there have been some other changes, too.  In particular, this new monitor is in a much curvier frame than others in the 22'' class, and its new slimline stand is certainly eye-catching.


However, it's all too easy to confuse good looks with ease-of-use, and this new stand only allows for the screen to be tilted backwards and forwards, but not rotated or moved from left to right.  To be fair to ViewSonic, though, very few 22'' monitors do manage to score more than two stars in our harware tests, but it's possibly about time that some manufacturers started innovating on this front.  The Hyundai W220D, for instance, is a step in the right direction allowing movment along three axes.

Unfortunately, it was colour handling that let this monitor down.  Its deltaE score, which measures the difference between the colours sent by the graphics card and those actually shown, is 3.5.  This is just about average, and, while it's hardly a reason to avoid this screen, it's not a ringing recommendation either.  What's more frustrating, though, is that we weren't able to manually adjust the settings of the screen using the OSD to get any better colours out of it. 

Fortunately, the contrast is consistently at around of 800:1, which, again, is a perfectly reasonable score, but we weren't able to improve colour fidelity.

NB -- The start of 2009 will see the release of the VX2265wm, which should be identical to the VX2262 apart from doubling its refresh rate.   It will be one of the first 120 Hz screens, a feature which will most likely attract many gamers to try it.