LAS VEGAS—PC displays are rarely sexy, but Viewsonic showed off several decidedly cool displays on the CES show floor Tuesday.
One of the more intriguing monitors is their new VSD240 smart display. Whether it’s a “smart display” or an Android Jelly Bean-powered All-in-One PC is arguable, since the Tegra 3 processor offers pretty robust CPU and graphics performance in its own right. You can just run the VSD240 as an Android-based computer or connect it to a Windows based PC. This isn’t Viewsonic’s first smart display, but it’s the first to use Tegra 3. Earlier models used TI’s OMAP 4 processor.
The VSD240 is also a capable 1080p monitor when connected to a PC. As you’d expect from a computer, the monitor includes USB ports, SD card slots, an Ethernet jack and support for 802.11n Wi-fi. If you connect the display to a Windows 8 system, you have limited touch capability—mostly basic swipes and UI gestures since the VSD240 only supports 2-point touch, rather than the 10-point touch required to be fully Windows 8 certified.
The VSD240 will be shipping in April, with a suggested retail price of $499.
Viewsonic embraces Windows 8
The company also showed off several Windows 8 certified monitors, all offering full 10-point touch support. The mainstream TD2740 offers 1080p (1920 by 1080 pixels) resolution and uses an IPS panel for better color reproduction and improved viewing angles. The TD2740 includes DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA inputs, along with USB HID compatibility when used as a touch display. Both displays sit on flexible stands that allow the monitors to slide out at an angle or even go horizontal for additional options when using them in touch mode.
The TD2740, along with the similarly equipped 23-inch TD2340, ships in April at $599 (estimated) for the 23-inch display, and $799 (estimated) for the 27-inch monitor.
Big kahunas
If you want something really large, you could consider the Viewsonic 32-inch TD3240. At roughly $2500, it’s not an inexpensive display, but it’s usable as a presentation monitor or as a tabletop gaming platform connected to a Windows 8 PC.
The TD3240 ships with a screen resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. If you want more density, you might have to wait a little longer – but maybe not much longer.
Viewsonic had a prototype VP3280 32-inch, 4K (3840 by 2160 pixels) monitor on display here as CES. No ship date or pricing yet exists for this massive display, but it’s clearly targeted at professional markets, with full 10-bit color support. The company will say only that that they might bring a 4K product to market before the end of the year.
For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation’s largest consumer electronics show, check out complete coverage of CES 2013 from PCWorld and TechHive.