The Viewsonic VX3218 wants to be your next monitor
So you just got yourself a brand new gaming PC and you can’t wait to dive headfirst into some games. But all that gaming graphics horsepower won’t do any good if you don’t have a suitable monitor or display to hook it up to. The Viewsonic VX3218-PC-MHD (definitely a mouthful) monitor is aiming to be just that. The monitor hails from Viewsonic’s new Omni lineup of monitors which focus on gaming at a wallet-friendly level. But does the VX3218-PC-MHD have what it takes? Let’s find out.
Right off the bat, the VX3218 doesn’t look like a gaming monitor. That also goes to show you that you shouldn’t judge a monitor by the box it comes in. It’s once you hook up the monitor to your PC that you understand what makes it special. For starters, it’s a curved 32” Full HD (1920×1080) resolution panel with a refresh rate of 165Hz (via Displayport 1.2) or upto 144Hz if used with an HDMI cable. For best performance, using the included Displayport cable is recommended. The curvature of the panel is to provide a more immersive experience when gaming or watching videos or movies.
(Image Credits: Viewsonic)
In terms of the panel used, the VX3218 packs a VA panel. While IPS panels have better viewing angles, thus making them perfect for PC use, VA panels also have a few tricks up their sleeve. They are a better choice for watching content in dark rooms, since they have improved contrast allowing for deeper blacks to be displayed.
The VX3218 also boasts a contrast ratio of 4,000:1, and supports 8-bit colour accuracy. It also has a 103% sRGB rating and a 72% NTSC colour gamut. If none of these make sense, it simply means that the VX3218 is a good monitor for those looking to get an affordable gaming monitor without leaving a hole in your wallet.
Setting it up
Thanks to the way Viewsonic has packaged the monitor and its related accessories, setting it up was a breeze. The packaging includes the monitor, along with the base and the stand that can be screwed together and then locked onto the back of the monitor, and that’s it, you’re done. All I needed to do after that was to make room on my table, and connect the AC power brick to the monitor and connect the Displayport cable and I was good to go.
If you’ve never used a high refresh rate monitor before, you should make a note that once connected, the monitor will only be at 60hz as opposed to the monitor’s native refresh rate (in this case 165Hz). So until and unless you go into your PC’s display settings and adjust the refresh rate, you won’t be making maximum use of the VX3218. Enabling the higher refresh rate also means that if you have a graphics card capable of giving you more than 60fps in a game, (preferably around 165fps to match the monitor), your games will be significantly smoother and you can actually feel more responsive in your games.
Game on!
I tested the VX3218 across a number of games such as Apex Legends, Call of Duty Warzone, God of War, and Genshin Impact. My graphics card was able to comfortably handle all of the games at high to ultra settings while giving me high enough frame rates to make use of the VX3218 since it was running at Full HD resolution. Ideally at 32”, you’d want a 1440p resolution display, but the panel was good enough that I didn’t see any pixelation or weird graphic stretches that are commonly seen in larger panels with the same resolution.
The VX3218-PC-MHD is a 32” Curved Full HD Monitor with a refresh rate of 165Hz (Image Credits: Amazon)
The curvature of the panel does mean that games are more immersive, especially if you’re into FPS (first person shooter) or racing games where you see from the view of the person in the game. There were a few instances where the colours did tend to get a bit washed out on the sides of the display due to the curve but if you’re into fast paced gaming, you’re not likely to notice. An added advantage of the VX3218 is that it has a pair of inbuilt speakers. While they are nowhere close to my Logitech Z623s, they are useful if you want to watch a movie or video without waking up the whole household (or neighbourhood in my case). It’s also useful if you’re planning to hook up the VX3218 to a console such as an Xbox or Playstation so that in addition to the speakers, you can also make use of the high refresh rate. You can even connect a Nintendo Switch if you’re in the mood to, although your games will be limited to a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz.
How much is the Viewsonic VX3218-PC-MHD?
This is where things get dicey. Because of the current economic situation in Sri Lanka coupled with the rise in the dollar rate as opposed to the Sri Lankan Rupee, everything has basically gotten more expensive. As such, the VX3218-PC-MHD is priced at LKR 110,000 at the time of publishing this article. Just a few months ago, you would have been able to get an MSI Optix MAG272CQR which is a 27” WQHD (2560*1440) 165Hz Curved gaming monitor for around LKR 96,000. There were also models like the MSI Optix G272 27” 144Hz Monitor and the Optix G27C4 37” 165Hz monitors each priced at LKR 77,000.
I’m not saying that the VX3218-PC-MHD is a bad buy. Not at all. It has a lot going for it and in terms of it being a gaming monitor, it leaves quite an understated impression that I find quite appealing. But because of the increase in the prices of almost everything in the country, spending almost LKR 100,000 on a monitor might be a little out of the average person’s budget. However, if you are able to snag one of these via Amazon or Newegg and can get it to Sri Lanka for cheaper, that might be a viable option. At the end of the day, if you want a good gaming monitor that ticks most of the boxes, the Viewsonic VX3218-PC-MHD might be worth taking a look at.
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