dailynewsnblog
Pros & Cons
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Single-cable connection for two displays -
Slim and lightweight for two displays -
Convenient, flexible design
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Mediocre panels -
Top display is soft -
65-watt pass-through power could be limiting
The ViewSonic VG1457 is the kind of portable monitor that a road warrior might dream of. It folds up small like a 14-inch laptop, weighs even less at 2.8 pounds and yet lets you add two extra displays to your laptop for a triple-monitor setup anywhere. You can flip the top display over and share the second screen with clients or a desk mate, potentially running each display independently.
Both displays even run off a single USB-C cable. It’s cleverly built, too, with an almost-360-degree hinge between the displays plus a kickstand that supports a variety of angles. You can stack the monitors vertically or prop them up side by side. Sadly, the reality of its performance might wake you from this multimonitor dream.
Mark Knapp/CNETThe first issue is the screens themselves. They’re 14-inch, 1200p panels, which should look fairly sharp. However, the upper display appears softer than the lower display when stacked vertically. When sharing the top screen in tent mode, this softness disappears, but that doesn’t help with solo use.
Mark Knapp/CNETThe panels are otherwise mediocre, too. The displays max out at 65% coverage of the sRGB color space, which makes them OK for general work use. But even spreadsheets, if they have any color cells, will look drab. The upper display puts out 210 nits, and the lower 222 nits, which doesn’t qualify as bright, nor does it reach the advertised 250 nits. Also, neither screen hits 160 nits when powered by a laptop alone. The wimpy, 2-watt speakers also wouldn’t go to full volume when powered from a laptop, and require an external power source to drive them at full strength.
Surprisingly, both panels beat their advertised 800:1 static contrast ratio, mustering over 1,200:1 each. ViewSonic advertises a silly 50,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. This performance doesn’t pull them out of the muck, however, and making matters worse, the image suffers at off-axis viewing angles for both screens, reducing perceived contrast considerably.
Mark Knapp/CNETLastly, while there’s a third USB-C port for 65 watts of pass-through power, that may be a little low for some machines. For instance, one day I was out working with a gaming laptop that needed at least 100 watts for USB-C charging, and the laptop only had one USB-C port, so I was out of luck when its battery got low.
Mark Knapp/CNETUltimately, the ViewSonic VG1457 is fine if you want a couple of extra displays for easy peeks at data when you’re on the go or regularly set up a makeshift workspace. It proves fuss-free compared with the Acer PD163Q and has a more polished design, though it is way less colorful. It’s also cheaper than visually superior options like the Monduo 14-inch Pro Duo and Asus Zenscreen Duo OLED MQ149CD, which are almost double the price, although Asus’s non-OLED model could be a solid alternative, since it’s $349 and has a much wider color gamut. The Minisforum MDSA156 also offers more display for the money, but it’s bulkier and has similarly drab panels.
Mark Knapp/CNETHow we test monitors
Measurements for the ViewSonic VG1457 were taken using a Spyder X2 Ultra colorimeter using DataColor’s Spyder X2 software for SDR. Color accuracy measurements results are reported in Delta E 1976 using Datacolor’s 48-color patch test.
On the most basic models, we may stick with just brightness, contrast and color gamut, while on more capable displays, we may run tests of most user-selectable modes for gaming or color-critical usage, uniformity and so on. For the color work, we may also run tests to verify how white point accuracy varies with brightness. We also use Blur Busters’ motion tests to judge motion artifacts (such as ghosting) or refresh rate-related problems that can affect gaming.
