ViewSonic PT775 review

If you're getting a little tired of squinting at the mediocre quality 14in monitor that came with your PC, an upgrade to a 17in model may be just what your eyes need.

A bigger monitor screen can be packed with more pixels (the dots which make up the image), so you can have more windows open at once.

The PT775 17in monitor is higher up in ViewSonic's range than the V773 we tested in last month's monitor round up. It has an aperture grille tube, which is a display technology that usually gives better contrast and sharpness than the cheaper shadow mask method. When I first switched on, however, I noticed that the characteristic vibrancy of this type of display wasn't as obvious as with some other units.

Vertical refresh rate, which is the number of times the picture is redrawn every second, is an important consideration when buying a monitor. A figure below 72Hz (cycles per second) will result in a noticeable flickering of the screen which may cause eye-strain and headaches. The PT775 can manage a stonking 119Hz at a resolution of 1,024x768 pixels, which is more than enough to completely eliminate any flicker. It can go up to a maximum resolution of 1,600x1,200 pixels, at a refresh rate of 77Hz. Unfortunately, though, the picture quality suffers at very high resolutions, and above 1,024x768 I found the image blurred and defocused. To be honest, using higher resolutions than this on any 17in screen is a tad optimistic. And at 1,024x768 or below, the picture was very good.

As you'd expect of a monitor in this class, the PT775 has a very comprehensive crop of controls, with adjustments to correct almost any kind of distortion in the shape of the picture. The on-screen display menu system is a bit fiddly to use though.

The PT775 is not the best 17in monitor you're ever likely to see; a direct comparison to a model like Iiyama's Vision Master Pro 17 (see last month's Labs) leaves the ViewSonic trailing. But the PT775 isn't quite as pricey as the Iiyama, and it's a good screen.