The V3D231 is a 60 Hz, TN-panel 23” display with 1080p resolution that
also does 3D. Most will be happy to hear that it has a matte finish on
the display, but due to the passive 3D technology, it also has a
patterned retarder on the screen. This is necessary to produce the
polarized image to allow for 3D with the included glasses, but it also
produces a texture to the display that is clearly visible from normal
distances. Some people might not be bothered by this, but I know that I
always have been. It’s more apparent on bright images I find, but as
most monitors will be used with web pages, word processors, and
spreadsheets, there are a lot of white backgrounds that will accentuate
it.
Gallery: ViewSonic V3D231 Exterior Gallery
Since passive 3D only needs simple polarized glasses, ViewSonic has
included both a pair of glasses and a clip-on polarizer for people that
normally wear glasses. The clip-on option is very nice as many active
glasses do a poor job of fitting for people that have to wear glasses in
daily life, making 3D hard for them to watch at all. I wish they had
included an extra pair of the regular glasses so two people could watch
something at once, but given the screen size they might have thought
that was an unlikely situation. ViewSonic has also included a copy of
the TriDef3D software that enables most of your games to take advantage
of the monitor.
The inputs on the ViewSonic are what you might expect, with HDMI, DVI,
and DSub, along with both audio in and headphone out audio jacks. I
still don’t understand why all manufacturers continue to place the
headphone out on the rear of the monitor where it is hard to reach
instead of on the bottom or side of the display, where you could more
easily access it. The only ergonomic adjustment available on the display
is tilt, but it does have VESA mounting holes if you wish to add your
own stand for more adjustments.
The OSD is controlled by four buttons located in the center of the
monitor. ViewSonic has had the same menu control system for as long as I
can recall, and nothing here has really changed about that. The Up
Arrow also functions as a shortcut to the 3D mode selection, and the
Down Arrow is a shortcut to the volume control. Little labels to
indicate this would have been nice to have on the front panel, so you
didn’t need to look it up in the manual or discover it accidentally. I
should also note here that the bezel of the monitor is a very glossy
black, which does reflect back a decent amount of glare as well as
attract fingerprints. All of the controls I would typically look for in
an OSD are available, including being able to set a custom white
balance.
The tilt mechanism of the ViewSonic is pretty stiff and takes some
effort to move it to where you want it, which also makes fine
adjustments hard to do. I’d also prefer that the markings for LED, HDMI,
and 1080p on the front of the monitor be removable once the buyer has
the monitor at home, but they seem to be silkscreened onto the bezel.
It’s curious that they have those, but no label that mentions it is a 3D
display.
Overall, the passive 3D feature is the main feature that sets the
ViewSonic V3D231 apart from other displays on the market today. Pricing
is higher than non-3D displays, but it's also quite a bit less than
active-3D 120Hz displays. Of course, whether it's actually a better
display or not is what we want to determine.
