Every video display manufacturer on the planet is fighting for a larger share of the U.S. consumer market, which guzzles 25 million televisions each year. Of course, most of these companies are focusing on flat-panel TVs because that’s what everyone seems to be buying these days. For now, established brands like Sony, Hitachi and Mitsubishi have the advantage. But given the dizzying technological changes occurring in the TV world, computer monitor manufacturers feel they can get a jump on the name brands. After all, the computer industry seems to change technical standards almost weekly, so these manufacturers are used to it.

As we have come to expect of a plasma TV, the VPW5500 comes with a generic remote used mainly to teach the control codes to a fancier, touchscreen-style universal remote. (Click image to enlarge)

 
ViewSonic is one of the latest computer monitor companies to set its sights on your living room. The sleek 55-inch VPW5500 is the largest display in ViewSonic’s line. It lacks a built-in TV tuner (digital or otherwise) and speakers, which exposes the VPW5500’s computer roots, though ViewSonic has made both items available separately. The company also offers an elegant, swiveling table-top stand, a surprisingly uncommon but immensely useful accessory.
 
The display has other consumer-friendly features as well. For one, it uses a 1366 by 768 grid of pixels to recreate the widescreen picture. That is more than enough to qualify it as a high-definition TV. A built-in audio amplifier lets you connect external speakers, either your own or those available from ViewSonic, without having to connect an external amplifier. And a picture-in-picture function allows you to view two sources simultaneously. If you don’t have two external TV tuners, though, this function may be less useful than it is on a regular TV.However, like many computer-industry stalwarts,ViewSonic does not seem to understand the needs of typical consumers as well as the Panasonics and Sonys of the world do. The VPW5500, for example, has a handful of hard-to-reach, unlabeled buttons on the bottom of the panel that make it rather difficult to adjust the TV.  Your primary interface will instead be the remote control. But the TV comes with a nondescript remote that does not complement the panel’s look.

ViewSonic includes a slick touchscreen-type remote with the optional digital TV tuner; this remote can also control other components in your equipment rack. Here again, though, ViewSonic fails to address consumer concerns because the touchscreen remote that comes with our review sample is not programmed to control the TV. We must program the plasma’s product ID code into the remote in order for the latter to operate the television. ViewSonic insists this is not typical and that all remotes are preprogrammed at the factory. (Click image to enlarge)

If you have the TV professionally installed, the installer should do the programming, so this will not be a concern. If the remote does not work, though, you have clear evidence that not only did your installer fail to program your remote, he or she did not calibrate the TV for the best picture, either. Time for a new installer.

Fortunately, ViewSonic did its homework in the place that is most important: picture performance. As calibrated by the factory, the set is perfectly suited for the average user. This means that colors are mildly exaggerated to give them more pop. The color balance is tinted ever-so-slightly blue, which makes bright white objects appear, well, brighter, without making you realize that they are not exactly white. Combine these attributes with the “black enhancement” feature, which darkens black images, and you get a punchy image with excellent contrast, vivid colors and great detail. Purists should know this set can reproduce a “by the book” image that looks basically the same as what you would see in a TV production studio. Unlike so many panels we have reviewed  lately, the ViewSonic includes advanced color management and color temperature controls that allow a trained and equipped technician to fine-tune the picture. Doing so results in an image with rich colors and subtle nuance, yet the image remains bright enough to almost pop off the screen. Not only can these parameters be adjusted simultaneously for all inputs, but parameters like contrast, brightness, color, tint and sharpness can be tweaked for every input so that each source signal looks its best. The fact that the panel is interlaced is the only feature that might detract from the overall performance. Interlacing divides the pixels into horizontal rows, with odd and even numbered rows being activated alternately just like your old-fashioned tube-type television set. This process conserves power, since only half the pixels are on at any one time, but it can create occasional jagged diagonal edges and moiré patterns, particularly with movies. The effect is similar to a progressively scanned panel that lacks 3:2 pulldown, a feature that compensates for film-based sources and eliminates these artifacts.

Even if you use an external processor, the television produces the same effect.

However, it does not appear often—and if you have not noticed these anomalies on your old interlaced television, you may not notice them here.

Whether or not ViewSonic is able to crack the TV market will probably be a matter of marketing, because the raw performance of the VPW5500 is outstanding. The company still has some work to do on ergonomics and features, but the picture’s color and contrast more than makes up for the set’s idiosyncrasies.DESCRIPTION
HDTV-ready 55-inch plasma monitor. Requires separate speakers or sound system. Requires separate TV tuner, cable box or satellite receiver to view TV programs.

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Native 16:9 widescreen display. Accepts 720-line progressive and 1080-line interlaced HDTV, computer signals up to SXGA (1024 x 768 pixels), and 480-line progressive and interlaced signals.

CONNECTIONS
Video: DVI digital video input with HDCP copy protection, DB-15 connector for RGBHV or component input, three-RCA input for RGB, component or composite input, one three-RCA input for component or composite, S-video input, SCART multipin video input (for European market),  composite video output.
Audio: Two 3.5mm minijacks for stereo analog audio input, five RCA-type stereo analog audio inputs, RCA-type stereo analog audio output.

DIMENSIONS/RESOLUTION
DIMENSIONS: 33.7 x 54.9 x 4.1 inches (hwd)
RESOLUTION: 1366 by 768 pixels

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: $7,999, swivel stand $499
CONTACT: 800.888.8583, www.viewsonic.com