ViewSonic VA2719-SMH 27 Inch Full HD 1080p IPS LED Monitor with Ultra-Thin Bezels, HDMI & VGA Ports - Home Office Computer Screen for Work, Gaming & Entertainment

I ordered a pair of these monitors in an attempt to upgrade my dual-screen KVM system to higher 2560x1440 resolution. My old system used DVI and this uses DisplayPort + 2 HDMI, and I tried two different KVM switches and neither of them worked properly with DisplayPort connections, so I had to end up plugging one system into the monitors DisplayPort and the other into HDMI and manually switch the inputs. This is why my biggest complaint is about the design: Who thought it would be a good idea to not just make the manual input-switching feature something at least a 4-button process in an on-screen menu - which you can't bring up if there isn't at least one working input? (I only had to press one button on my old monitor to switch inputs) And then thought it would be a better idea to put the FIVE buttons that are used to turn on power and set options on the BACK of the monitor instead of the front or bottom? I seriously have to reach under and press three different buttons on the back of the monitor a minimum of four times to switch inputs or turn it on or off. Extremely annoying, especially when it cycles through every input for several seconds whenever you turn it on. The video quality in this monitor is excellent though, but it doesn't look so great when viewed from an angle.The speakers on this monitor are terrible, and I also use a Roku stick in my setup that I plug into HDMI and run the audio out to a speaker. The audio out on this monitor doesn't work properly. I got two different monitors from two different batches and both have the same problem: I can get the audio out to work with an external speaker, but if I unplug that audio cable or try running it through a KVM switch, the monitor stops sending audio through the audio out jack. The internal speakers are still off, and even if you unplug and replug the speaker, I cannot get audio out to work again unless I unplug my audio, the monitor's power supply, the Roku stick, and its power supply. Seriously. Just restarting the Roku doesn't even fix it, it's a problem with the monitor. On two separate monitors. How hard is it to design an analog audio output jack that works without needing to unplug the monitor?I've owned ViewSonics in the past, so I assumed this would be another great one, but alas it is not. I'm giving it 4 stars for the decent video quality (if you look straight at it and not at an angle) and terrible feature controls and audio, but even that's being generous. If you're only going to use it for video on a single computer and don't care about audio or multiple inputs, you'll be fine.This review is after 3 months of use.Monitor is doing okay. However , not 100% perfect. I would still recommend for certain purposes like secondary monitor even with nitpick issues with mine.I do have 2 spots of dead pixels , tiny and can only be seen when looking for it. For the price, not terrible, I can live with it.Bezel is tiny but not the smallest , that goes to LG premium lines. LG is still the very best for top line panels and next gen panels. This viewsonic panel is likely a A- panel especially for the price, not bad. The panel is naturally more warm / yellow (not by much ) compared to LG (which is a little more blue/cool)Panel is 1440p IPS , 60 hz, 10 bit , LED blacklit, VESA mountA positive is that the AC/DC inverter is built into the back so no ugly brick AND uses standard 3 prong / IEC C13 plug . No barrel plug if that mattersGood selection of ports, 2 HDMI 1 DisplayPort . Has audio but I don’t use it , tested fineBright enough due to LED, 300+ nitsOSD /settings is average , fine.Stand is average , easy to remove as wellSome people are complaining about slight blurry but that could be due to the matte finish. Not that badThis is compared to LG GL850 / GL83A panel which cost nearly double at 400-500$ , a IPS 1440p 144hz monitorFor non gaming and average consumer at $200-230, not a bad price . You can definitely get cheaper monitors at same resolution but I wanted the LED blacklit which cost slightly more with better brightness as a result, and decent inputs.I needed a good monitor to replace an older one that was starting to flake out. Being a Mac guy, I looked at their monitors and quickly realized their prices put them far out of the range of my budget. My Mac expert friend recommended this ViewSonic and it's perfect for my needs...great picture quality and it has a tiltable screen feature, which my previous ViewSonic didn't have and which I consider a necessity. I haven't calibrated it but the "Standard" setting seems fine.A couple of quibbles...the unit does not come with a remote, which is fine, but the row of adjustment buttons along the lower right of the screen are a little counter-intuitive to use until you get used to them. There was no manual, only a quick-start guide, but the manual is available online (and I'm finding that to be the case with more and more consumer electronics products). The sound quality of the speakers is pretty mediocre; if you want high-quality audio, use external speakers, but the built-in audio is serviceable for things like Zoom calls. It was easy to set up. I'm happy with it.With spending so much time working from home I was missing the 1440 monitors I have in my office, but I didn't want to spend too much money. This monitor is a good compromise. It's not as good as the VP2770 in my office or a comparable professional series, but it does have a crisp clear display and is lighter weight with a flatter bezel. Since I'm using this for software development I can't comment on refresh rates as I'm not a gamer, but I would highly recommend this for office work. Unfortunately I have 2 pixels out, which is below what is covered under their warranty. It makes it look like there's a spec of dust on the screen, but for the most part it's hard to notice. It's definitely an upgrade over the 23" 1080 display I was using before and I'm glad I upgraded.Update: 2 years later and I'm still happy with this monitor. Every now and then I notice one of the dead pixels and mistake it for a speck of dust, but other than that I have no complaints. I use it all day everyday and really wish my video card could handle a second one of these as if it did I'd get a second without hesitation.Currently I've 5 of them used for trading station and so far I am really happy with this purchase. Very good picture quality, very little (near to zero) backlight bleed in the corners, good colors (after some basic adjustments). For me this panel could be slightly brighter, beside I have 27inch Samsung 4K TN monitor (bottom left corner in my pictures) and in terms of brightness Samsung is a clear winner here.Works with Mac as wellDo I recommend you to buy one ? Yes I do !!!I was disappointed with the quality of the panel on this display, particularly the sharpness in comparison to my other IPS monitors, all connected via displayport. So much so that I sent the first one back for a replacement, there was what I would call colour fringing at the pixel level. The first image is off the replacement monitor, the second is of the first one I received. You can see the yellowish tint and the text is just not as sharp. No matter of tweaking of the display would get rid of it. No dead pixels on both so that's good. I won't bother with Viewsonic in future, even though these are at the value place in the 27 inch 1440p product line I expected more. IPS glow was not too bad on both panels. Lastly, the panel response by default is 16ms, not a problem if not used for gaming, but there is a fast response option in the settings that made no difference to my eyes. My advice would be to pay more, and maybe even another brand,certainly if you want to do some casual non FPS gaming.Already having a Lenovo P27Q-10 but unable to source a second, I wanted another 2560x1440 27" monitor to pair with it. Have used ViewSonic monitors before, so the fact that it was half the price that I paid for the other didn't put me off as I thought costs coming down over time was a contributing factor to the difference. And having used it now for 17 months I think it's fair to say I'm in a good position to both rate it as a monitor, and to compare it against the Lenovo.The frame isn't quite as thin as the Lenovo, but thin enough not to get too in the way, and it's very slightly shorter, but not so much as to look silly when they're side-by-side. Picture seems fine for my day to day use, but I'm not a gamer so can't comment on how it would perform. And having dual HDMI ports like the Lenovo allows me to connect multiple systems without a KVM, so I don't have to move cables when switching from my laptop (for work) to my PC (for pleasure).It does, however, have one seriously annoying bug (I can't really call it anything else) in that every now and then it goes black for a second or two, and then comes back on. Sometimes it rarely does it, while others it can be less than a minute between glitches - when you're trying to read something or write an email it can be very annoying. It's not that the PC thinks it's been unplugged, but based on the resolution messages that pop up from time to time I can only imagine it thinks my resolution is changing and so has to automatically adjust. The thing is, the Lenovo screen doesn't do this, just the ViewSonic.So would I buy another? Probably not. It was very affordable, but should I find myself in the market for any more I think I'd be looking at other brands.I have bought this product two times.The first time the montior had multiple dead pixels throughout the screen, and there was a constant low pitched humming noise that seemed to come and go. I refunded that monitor and decided to buy it again as I presumed I was just unlucky.Second monitor arrived and there were no dead pixels which was nice. Though the low humming noise was still present. After some playing about, I noticed that the humming noise only started if the stuff on my screen was mainly white, and after some more playing about, i noticed that lowering the brightness/contrast/hue of the display seemed to help. Though I had to basically lower everything to 0 for the humming to go away. Looking online this seems to be a known issue with LCD displays (the product is advertised as IPS but the fact that this monitor has these issues makes me think this is infact false), and it seems to link to a lack of sheilding around the transistors on the motherboard. So there is a chance I have just bought another faulty monitor, or the build quality is just poor.This is all a shame, as when the monitor is not suffering from these problems it is great. The bezels are nice and small, the display is clear and good value for money. The in built speakers are piss poor, though I have proper speakers for my PC so this was not an issue for me (though something to bear in mind if you were planning on relying on the monitor's speakers).I have now decided to refund this monitor a 2nd time, and increase my budget by £100 in the hopes I get something without all these issues.The monitor arrived on the date stated, the box had a big hole in one corner and a long rip from the centre to the other corner. The monitor picture as it comes out of the box is no good it was dull washed out, i spent an hour or so going through all the setting to get it to a usable state at 1440.10 bit, there seemed to be a hot pixel but that disappeared and has not come back ....yet. I use a dp cable not not the Hdmi cable that came with the monitor, It took the audio away from my speaker setup so had to go into audio setting on my computer to put it back, i have not used the stand which only has a small amount of tilt as i have it on a twin stand setup, this monitor is going to be used for photoshop menues I have a Benq for colour picture editing which i can now use full screen.So after setting the monitor up it works will for what I need it for. For the price it's an ok monitor just a bit fiddly. I will amend this review in a month or two and will a just my ratings accordingly. As of now because of the condition of the box and the setup time of a monitor that is an ips model 3 is all it's getting.