Despite their rather large feet, the bases do feel very solid, and the ability to swivel 270 degrees, pivot and easily raise and lower the panel by 110mm is excellent. The 17mm bezel makes tiling monitors a breeze.

Using an Aten VS-164 DVI video splitter we tested the two side by side. Both offer crisp desktops even small fonts are sharp. We had no problems using any Office applications either. Playing Far Cry showed the 8ms response times to be adequate for gaming and colours looked vibrant, too facets which all carried through to watching movies. Our digital photos looked good, though specialist higher-response time panels are better.

Our DisplayMate tests separate the men from the boys, and both displayed our pixel tracking patterns perfectly. Both screens were evenly lit, and colour uniformity proved no problem. In the colour combinations, coloured text became a little diluted when set against dark blue. However, the VP930b only displayed 246/255 light grey boxes on a white background before everything turned white the VP730b managed 251. Both were excellent at producing dark shades, managing 254/255 dark shades of grey before turning black. In the real world this means that the 19in panel may struggle showing detail on a bright white background clouds in movies may be bleached, for example.

Colour and greyscale blended ramps looked good, though the VP930b did sport a harsh band passing through white and green. Light grey blends tended to go slightly yellow. Only faint banding was evident on the VP730b, and both blended colours very well.

Other features include a second D-Sub input and ViewSonic’s PerfectSuite software which provides test patterns, asset-tag management and theft deterrence (with a PIN). The OSD includes many colour temperature adjustment and sRGB.

Finally, there’s ViewSonic’s excellent 90-day zero-pixel defect warranty which reverts to ISO13406-2 Class II for the remaining three years. At $459 the VP730b is totally superior to our previously A-Listed BenQ. The VP930b is certainly a good monitor whose stand and features will tempt many. However, most are better off saving the $131 and going for ViewSonic’s A-Listed VX924.