Pixel response times on an LCD – or the time it takes for a pixel to change from one colour to another – keep on dropping, and now we present you with the fastest unit to hit the market yet: the ViewSonic VX924 which is capable of refreshing at 4ms.With present technology, this is about as fast as you can get.

It’s a swanky looking unit, with a minimum of controls to keep the fascia clean and uncluttered. At the rear, there is both a D-Sub and a DVI input. Unless you have an older video card choose the DVI input as it will give a clearer picture.

Of course the picture is the most important thing here, and we have to say it is a fantastic screen for the money. This monitor trades off image quality while it ramps up the speeds. While the fast grey-to-grey (GtG) response time makes the screen perfect for movies and gaming, the raw screen itself has diminished image quality compared to much slower TFTs that have smaller pixels. The 4ms response time is still in its infancy, and we’d expect improvement. We tested the screen with DisplayMate (www.displaymate.com) and also some action DVDs, and the picture remained rock solid, with very little blurring even in fast moving scenes.

There are some problems though: due to the size of the monitor, at a normal viewing angle the bottom of the screen is slightly off-axis – meaning there is a very slight discolouration. This makes the only comfortable position to view this monitor head-on. But if you get the angle right the colours are very consistent across the screen. It has a 550:1 contrast ratio, which provides blacks that equal most CRTs.

This is a great monitor for the price; it’s easy to setup and looks great. While it isn’t the best choice for graphics professionals, gamers and the occasional movie watcher will thrill at its ability to respond quickly to fast moving scenes.