One more big name in the display industry is ViewSonic. Their products consist of monitors and video projectors. Throughout the years, ViewSonic has been very successful, with their monitors earning them a solid international reputation. They probably have the largest lineup of computer monitors with solutions for both home and professional users at affordable prices. And now, there’s yet another quality product from ViewSonic to add to the 19-inch lineup –the ViewSonic PS790. 
 

This monitor is based on Shadow Mask CRT. With a fine 0.25mm Dot pitch and a 200MHz video clock, the PS790 offers a maximum screen resolution of 1600x1200 and maximum refresh rate of 180MHz. In fact, the PS790 packs the highest refresh rate in this roundup. Using a small footprint, the monitor doesn’t waste space on your desk.  As for controls, there is an onscreen panel, controlled by four buttons to simplify things. The PS790 comes equipped with a CD-ROM with up-to-date drivers and the color math utility  for Windows 95/98 to fine-tune your monitor.

As an added bonus, the monitor also includes both 15-pin mini D-sub and 5 BNC connectors just like the Hitachi SuperScan Elite 751.

The Shadow Mask CRT produces image quality and sharpness that can be closely compared to the Hitachi monitor. At 16-bit color, the PS790 didn’t offer the natural brightness we saw with the Sony GDM-400 PS and the Hitachi SuperScan Elite 751 but the colors were very well balanced. At 32-bit color, contrast was very strong and text was much better than other two monitors.

We tried out Half-Life with the monitor and though it didn’t offer sharp image quality at the level of the Hitachi monitor, the PS790 had very vibrant colors to make up for it. Afterwards, we ran our 50-frame slide show at all resolutions in a 32-bit color depth to test true color support of the PS790. The image representation was better than the Sony monitor and very much similar to the Hitachi monitor. The only difference was the sharpness of the ViewSonic PS790, which had to settle for second place. And what’s more, sharpness at 1600x1200 is lower than the Sony GDM-400 PS. Overall, however, the ViewSonic PS790 was a better performer than the Sony monitor. 

The onscreen controls on the PS790 were very easy to begin with. Four buttons, including a +/- and UP/Down guides you through the onscreen memory. But once you start changing those screen settings it might feel a bit of a hassle, because you have to browse the screen every time, even if you want to make a very simple adjustment.

The ViewSonic PS carries the lowest price tag in our roundup and it also has great overall performance. This monitor is ideal for all round use and the easy controls will be easier for a beginner to follow. 
 
 

Pros and Cons Pros • Lowest price • Easy to use controls • The best overall performance Cons  • Sharpness is not as impressive as the other two  monitors