ASUS VW266H 25.5″ LCD Monitor

[PAGETITLE=Introduction][Top Ad] ASUS has a reputation for making quality products, but truth be told, we haven't had the best experience with their displays. It's not because they were necessarily impaired, they followed the trends of the industry and incorporated the same technology their rivals did. But they failed to offer something different, and the sub par image quality led their products to be tagged as mediocre, which was something I hoped they could improve. In fact, after my VW222 review was published, an ASUS representative contacted me inquiring what changes they could make to better their product line. That illustrated dedication, and I looked forward to reviewing one of their newer models to see how it performed. The VW266H is ASUS' largest display, at 26 inches (or without rounding-up, it's 25.5"). The monitor comes in two flavors, and this particular variant forgoes the inclusion of a web cam. Like most displays in its size range (under 30 inches), it uses a 1920x1200 resolution, what many manufacturers are starting to call "FullHD" (anything over 1080 lines of vertical resolution) in order to provide simpler terminology for consumers. Closer Look. Aesthetically speaking, the display is nearly identical to the company's other models. There is a silver accent that stretches along the bottom over the black plastic housing, which serves to camouflage the controls. The only other visible features are the ASUS logo on the front and back, the HDMI insignia on the bottom-left of the bezel, and the model number on the top-right. The stand is the same included with the ASUS monitor's we've seen before. The snap on circular base offers little in the way of functionality; tilting is the only feature ASUS allows. Unfortunately, the display cannot be heightened, pivoted or rotated. We would have liked to see a higher quality mount, or at least one made out of sturdier material, but it's a small complaint overall, considering VESA mounts are supported. There is a wire management system by way of the plastic clip on the monitor's neck that helps keep wires collected and out of sight, which is always a welcomed addition. Thankfully, ASUS decided not to skimp out on the number of inputs. DVI and VGA are included, but the VW266H also makes way for HDMI and component support. The (surprisingly good) speakers are located near the bottom of the display to transmit audio from any HDMI and RCA cables that are connected, but anyone without the need for the built-in audio can simply disable it from the display's OSD. The monitor's pixel pitch is higher than most displays that share the 1920x1200 resolution, which may be a blessing or a curse, depending on the quality of one's eyesight. I personally prefer monitors with higher density screens that provide sharper image quality, but some people do not notice or care for the difference. Model ASUS VW266H Maximum/Native Resolution 1920x1200 Contrast Ratio 20000:1 Pixel Pitch 0.287mm Viewing Angle 170°/160° Response Time 2ms Luminance 300cd/m² Connector VGA, DVI-D, HDMI, Component, RCA Other Connectors 3.5mm Audio Horizontal Size 23.5" Vertical Size 18.2" Weight 24.5lbs The panel the display uses is in fact a TN panel, which offers reduced viewing angles in exchange for higher response rates (rated grey-to-grey in the table above). Because TN panels are better suited for fast motion, activities such as playing games would benefit, eliminating ghosting, but other panel technologies have matured to a point where the advantage is negligible. The controls on the front of the VW266H include: Spendid/Exit (which select preset color profiles), Volume/Down, Menu, Brightness/Up and the power button. The OSD is the standard system seen on other ASUS monitors, identical to our previously reviewed VW222. In the next section, we'll review how the display preformed in standard desktop, cinematic, and gaming use, including our experiences with other input sources. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Usage Report, Testing] Because the VW266H includes HDMI and component inputs, many customers considering buying the monitor may wish to use other sources, like game consoles or set top boxes, with it to replace a traditional television setup. Therefore, we have revised our customary testing methodology to include experiences with various sources, noting any unforeseen compatibility issues and quality concerns. Computer Use. The ability to multitask with high resolution displays is a blessing that is always appreciated. Windows can be organized and displayed side-by-side, without the need to minimize an application not in focus. The extra space allows more information to be visible at one time, which creates a more efficient work-flow. Not only can you have multiple web pages open at one time, but applications that utilize windows and panes, such as an image editing program, can be arranged to have the tools where you need them, and your project in a large, plain view. Text proved to be very readable. However, because there is so much screen real estate, it is ideal to situate the monitor farther away from you, which may inconvenience users who have less physical depth to work with. Cinematic Use. To test performance with cinema, I watched the widescreen DVD release of Saving Private Ryan, 720p TV show content, as well as 1080p trailers of Speed Racer and G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra. Similarly, the first disc of the Planet Earth series on Blu-ray was also viewed. Though DVDs will never look as good as their higher resolution counterparts, I found the quality to be quite watchable. Yes, the image lacked sharpness and definition, and yes, compression artifacts were still visible, but in this case, because the display offers a duller image (thanks to the higher pixel pitch), the format's shortcomings were masked. The HD content, much to my dismay, was not represented well on the display. While motion appeared smooth (especially in Speed Racer and G.I. Joe), I noticed unusually high amounts of grain when viewing the movie trailers and the Blu-ray disk. For example, the first episode of Planet Earth, titled "From Pole to Pole," shows penguins huddled together in the arctic winds. The scene isn't the sharpest or the best looking of the series, but when the movie was paused, the animals appeared as a grainy blob of black. In my opinion, the monitor doesn't do the content justice, leaving HD video almost looking like it was shoot with a budget camera. Gaming Use. Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 and Track Mania United Forever were used to test the monitor's gaming capabilities. All of the games were tested with an 8800 GT and v-sync enabled. For me, gaming was very enjoyable. Although we already established that the image quality isn't the best, the monitor's size does benefit the overall experience, making games more engaging and allowing room for less powerful graphics cards to render graphics at acceptable frame rates. However, if you're looking for detail and sharpness over sheer size, a smaller display, such as a 24" monitor, or the Lenovo 22" L220X we reviewed last year would fit the bill. Similarly, if you have the power, a 2560x1600 30" display would also suffice. Because games are in constant motion, I did not notice the grain as much as I did with video. I will admit, however, that the problem may be more apparent with certain slower-paced games, such as an RPG, or games with a static background, like an RTS, but I do not think it will have a huge impact. Other Sources. The monitor was used with two additional sources: an Xbox 360, using the component input, and an HD set top box, using the HDMI input. The Xbox 360 looked amazing on the monitor. There were no problems with the component input. The dashboard was crisp, and games looked like one would expect. Fallout 3 and Geometry Wars 2 played and looked exactly how they would on a normal television screen, with the exception of the horizontal black bars on the screen. The VW266H did very well as a television replacement. There is 1:1 support, meaning that the content can be displayed with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen to preserve the aspect ratio, but this may cause a problem for a small percentage of users. For example, if the 1:1 mode is used and your set top box is displaying HD content in 720p, the video will only display in a 1280x720 box in the center of the screen, and SD content would appear even smaller. To remedy this, the set top box must support some form of upscaling, and some older, less intuitive models tend to hide the options. Keep in mind that the tuner (both digital and analog) and IR receiver are included, so a computer monitor will never be a perfect replacement. The built in speakers sound decent overall. They certainly aren't amazing, but they proved to be more than enough for occasional TV watching. An S/PDIF output is included, so it is possible to output the sound (transmitted via the RCA, 3.5mm, and HDMI input) to a receiver, but this functionality was not tested. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Benchmarks, Final Thoughts] We've chosen DisplayMate for Windows, well known for its industry-standard testing capabilities and calibration options, to do the bulk of our benchmarking for our display reviews, because it offers an enormous amount of tools and testing patterns to help insure accurate results, no matter the type or quality of the display. We also used tests from tft.vanity.dk because their tests can be effectively used across different platforms, and offer their tools free for anyone to use. We encourage readers to take the time, if interested, to see how their display performs using these tests. Our benchmarks will test the following categories: Manufacturing defects (dead/stuck pixels, etc.) Color accuracy. Contrast ratio. Backlight quality. Viewing angles and color uniformity. Ghosting and response times. Input lag. In the future, we will incorporate calibration tools to measure Delta E values (the difference between...

ASUS VW266H 25.5″ LCD Monitor

Page 162 –