ViewSonic 17 LCD OPTISYNC DIGITAL/ ANALOG INPUTS HEIGHT 1280X1024 280NITS

ViewSonic's VP720b is well suited for an office, offering various ergonomic adjustments and the option of wall mounting. Its image quality, however, was a mixed bag.

The VP720b performed better in our graphics tests than it did in our text tests. Judges noted the display's impressive rendering of fine colors in our test color scale and our photo of a fruit tart. But in a Microsoft Word document, judges found that the VP720b seemed inconsistent--letters lacked crispness, though icons looked sharp.

A solid-footed monitor is always a plus in my book, and the $369 (as of 2/16/06) VP720b delivers in spades in that regard. It can tilt, swivel, height-adjust, and pivot with the best of them, while the steady base keeping the screen firmly in place.

The VP720b claims a 4-millisecond response time. Screens with lower response times should in theory deliver smoother movement with less motion artifacting, but our real-world motion tests detected no discernable difference in motion quality between this display and products with 8ms or even 12ms response times.

You access a fairly straightforward set of screen adjustments via the display's front-mounted buttons. Software drivers and documentation are included on a CD. The monitor's manual installs itself on your PC as an Adobe Acrobat file.

The VP720b shines when displaying graphics, and a wealth of adjustments add to its appeal.

Kalpana Ettenson