ViewSonic VX2363Smhl-W review

Smaller IPS monitors are great-value thanks to typically excellent colour accuracy and coverage. Iiyama’s XU2390HS-B1 is our current favourite, but ViewSonic’s 23in, Full HD VX2363Smhl-W comes to close to beating due to its a slightly lower price.

The VX2363Smhl-W has a 1mm plastic bezel, although when switched on there is also a 1cm black frame around the top and side portions of the screen. While it makes no difference to how the screen displays images, we’d rather not see it, especially with the monitor being white. The bezels are thinner than most, though, so you could feasibly buy several VX2363Smhl-W units and use them as part of a multi-screen setup.

The shiny white base looks and feels a little cheap, and is slightly wobbly, but no more so than any other monitor in this price range. There’s no height or swivel adjustment, and it comes with an external power brick, as there’s no internal power supply. The VX2363Smhl-W has a basic selection of connection ports, with a single VGA input and a pair of HDMI ports, one of which is MHL compatible. This means you can plug in a compatible handheld device and mirror its content on the bigger screen. There are also 3.5mm audio input and output ports, and a pair of tinny 1.5W speakers. Sadly, there’s no DVI port here, unlike the Iiyama Iiyama’s XU2390HS-B1.

Image quality is excellent. IPS screens always present more pleasing pictures, and the VX2363Smhl-W follows this trend. Even more challenging images featuring slightly paler shades appear relatively vibrant, particularly for the price, while brighter colours appear to pop out of the screen thanks to excellent sRGB colour gamut performance. We measured colour coverage of 93.5 per cent. Colour accuracy is also fairly impressive, with our calibrator finding only minor deviations between what the monitor was asked to display and what appeared on screen. Only bright reds were off, looking slightly darker than expected. We couldn’t increase the colour accuracy of the screen through calibration, so what you get out of the box will likely be the monitor’s peak performance. There are a few preset image settings available including a contrast-enhancing Game mode and settings for movies, web browsing, text and even a mono setting.

A contrast ratio of 1135:1 is about as high as we’d expect from a screen at this price, and while details on some exceptionally challenging images is lost, with one shade of black, instead of many. Viewing angles are specified at 178 degrees, typical for IPS panels, and you can indeed view the monitor from oblique angles without too much bother. There is a slight blue tinge from these angles, but objects and text on screen are still clear. Backlighting across the panel is mostly even, with little difference from side to side.

The ViewSonic VX2363Smhl-W is a good value monitor that takes advantage of IPS technology to produce visually pleasing images. At this price, it’s hard to beat. If you need a DVI port, consider the Iiyama XU2390HS-B1 instead.