[PCM2]

I know many of you will have gotten very excited to see a thread started by me, PCM2. It doesn’t often happen! Perhaps you were expecting a hugely detailed post on the topic in the title. Well, prepared to be disappointed! This thread simply contains some musings on VA viewing angles from a distance. I appreciate that I often recommend VA models for movie watching and suchlike. A lot of my own testing is done in a desktop PC usage environment, sitting quite centrally at a desk and using the monitor from there.

Viewing angles are explored briefly, in videos that are included in our reviews. But I thought it would be good to focus a bit more on the viewing experience of VA models like this if you’re sitting a little way away from the monitor and are a bit below it – on a bed or a sofa (couch). When ‘VA glow’ is shown in our viewing angle videos, for example, it is often seen as an obvious ‘bloom’ from sharper viewing angles in particular. This prompted a user on our YouTube channel to question whether such a model, the Philips 328E1CA in this case, would be suitable for viewing on a bed. He was particularly concerned about ‘VA glow’, but general viewing angle performance is also a consideration. My response to him was:

“It depends on how close your bed is to the screen and how low down it is. The vertical viewing angles on VA models are generally fine from a distance. The ‘VA glow’ bloom shown here is from reasonably close and sharp angles. If you’re some distance away (2m say) and a bit lower than the screen, things should actually look alright on VA models like this. It’s sharper viewing angles (often with closer viewing) and horizontal shifts that are the challenge with VA models.”

So the viewing situation when you’re sitting or lying on a sofa or bed is quite different to when you’re closer to the monitor and viewing it from a sharp angle. The colours maintain good richness and ‘VA glow’ is nicely contained. Less noticeable than if you’re sitting at a desk viewing the monitor, in most cases. Problems can arise if you’re close to the monitor and sitting below it or if you’re not just below it on your sofa or bed, but also offset to the side by a fair degree. In our review of the ASUS CG32UQ we touched upon this a bit more, as the monitor is marketed towards console gamers and it felt appropriate to look at this sort of viewing situation. More specifically, the section of the video review below highlights this with respect to perceived gamma behaviour (shifts in relative brightness of shades):

And the section of video review below, which looks at colour consistency from a distance:

[Kachongui]

Your attention to detail is really impressive. Thank you so much.

[PCM2]

Thanks for the kind words and also for prompting this thread with your excellent questions on YouTube. 🙂

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