ViewSonic XG320U

The ViewSonic XG320U monitor features a 32-inch Ultra HD 144Hz IPS panel and an HDMI 2.1 input supporting 4K 120Hz signals and VRR. This screen is designed for Ultra HD gaming on PC and PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

 

Presentation

The ViewSonic XG320U monitor features a 32-inch IPS panel with an Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160 px. It stands out from the competition thanks to its compatibility with a native frequency of 144 Hz and the presence of an HDMI 2.1 input supporting 4K 120 Hz signals and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), perfectly in line with the Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5 game consoles. It also benefits from careful ergonomics, a USB hub for comfortable use on PCs and a few little extras such as a guide for the mouse cable, a headphone support or a black image insertion system.

Ultra HD 144 Hz monitors are expensive and the ViewSonic XG320U is no exception to the rule, as this model is sold for about $1,200, more expensive than a 48-inch Ultra HD 120 Hz OLED TV like the LG 48C1, which is also FreeSync/G-Sync compatible and has four HDMI 2.1 inputs. That said, the latter does not use DisplayPort and is obviously more bulky. Ultra HD 144 Hz monitors under $1000 are quite recent on the market and the direct competitors of the ViewSonic XG320U are the Asus TUF VG28UQL1A, AOC U28G2XU, Samsung S28AG700NU, Acer XB273KGP and Gigabyte M32U-EK, which are sold for around $900.

 

Ergonomics

As is the current trend, the ViewSonic Elite XG320U, although aimed at gamers, is aesthetically sober. No red, fluorescent or flashy colors: this monitor is entirely adorned with black plastic.

The stand allows for ±25° rotation to the left or right. It's not much, but it allows you to widen the viewing angles a bit.

The ViewSonic XG320U has a height adjustment of 12 cm and a tilt adjustment between -5° and +20°. The stand does not allow switching to portrait mode.

The rear of the chassis is entirely made of good quality black grainy plastic, while the connectivity is oriented downwards. The screen is also compatible with 100 x 100 mm VESA mounts once the stand is removed. It is also equipped with a handy headphone holder. No cable management system here, just a hole in the middle of the stand to group them.

What would be a game monitor without the famous RGB LEDs that can be customized as much as you want? This one connects to the PC via a microUSB connector in order to manage the colors more easily without having to go through the system integrated into the screen.

 

 

Rather original, the ViewSonic offers a retention system for the mouse wire, present on both sides. It allows the mouse wire not to drag on the desk and not to get caught on surrounding objects. An accessory that will be appreciated by some gamers.

The connectivity consists of two HDMI inputs, one of which is HDMI 2.1 compatible (4K 120 Hz/VRR), a DisplayPort 1.4 input, a headphone output, a microUSB port for managing the LEDs and three USB 3.0 ports. This model also includes two 5W speakers that are far from exceptional, but which can be used for system sounds and short videos.

The monitor features a joystick for easy access and modification of settings, as well as two buttons: one for exiting the menu, the other for powering on. If the joystick remains the most efficient way to navigate the menus, they lack clarity. The interface does not seem to be adapted to the screen definition and the texts are not very readable.

On our 140 x 60 cm desk, the ViewSonic Elite XG320U and its 32-inch screen are almost too big. This is due to a very deep stand (26.5 cm) and especially to a screen that is very far from the wall. Despite its high resolution, it is still too close. We therefore recommend a desk of at least 70 cm deep, or even 80 cm, to properly use this model. The latest versions of the Windows and macOS operating systems also handle the Ultra HD definition perfectly and allow effective scaling to 150% or even 200% (Full HD equivalent). Text elements are large enough to be readable and the image is perfectly sharp.

The 32-inch panel's native 3840 x 2160 px resolution, or 138 pixels per inch (ppi), is usable without scaling if you have good eyesight or are close enough to the screen. Note that photo editing software such as Photoshop manage it perfectly in the interface, but display the images with the native definition of the slab, which allows to benefit from a very high level of detail for lovers of editing. In games, Ultra HD brings a notable gain in precision. However, on a PC, you'll need a high-performance graphics card to exploit the 144 Hz of the monitor, or 144 fps.

 

Colors and contrast

Right out of the box, the image quality of the monitor is not bad, but suffers from a rough colorimetry. The temperature curve is perfectly stable with an average measured at 6970 K, quite close to the reference value of the video standard (6500 K). The gray levels are good: the gamma curve is perfectly stable over the entire spectrum, but the average of 2.4 is not set on the right reference value on PC (2.2).

Finally, with an average delta E measured at 7.3, the colors cannot be considered faithful. The human eye begins to perceive a difference between the colors requested and those displayed when the delta E exceeds 3. Once the standard preset mode is chosen and the brightness is lowered to 55, the gamma is set to the reference value while the color temperature is still as good. With an average delta E measured at 5.3, color accuracy improves slightly, but still cannot be considered faithful. It's a pity because the calibration with a probe shows that this monitor has great resources. This calibration allows to obtain a color temperature even closer to the reference value (6530 K) and perfect colors with a delta E of 1.

The native contrast of 1020:1 is a bit behind those measured on the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ and the AOC 27G2U, both above 1200:1. This contrast is average for an IPS panel, without being bad. In any case, this device remains far from the contrast found on the best VA monitors on the market, such as the Philips Momentum 436M6 or the MSI Optix MAG271CR, which benefit from a rate higher than 4000:1. The darkest scenes and black solids look grayish, especially in a dark room, but this will not be a problem during the day.

The average white uniformity deviation is 5% on this 32-inch panel. This means there is no variation in brightness perceptible to the eye. We didn't notice any light leaks in the corners or clouding on our test model. The IPS technology also offers very good viewing angles with very little variation in the angles.

As for the image quality in HDR, an important criterion for those who want to play with a console, it is good, although the color fidelity could be better.

 

 

Responsive

The ViewSonic XG320U does not use pulse width modulation (PWM) to adjust brightness, so it's flicker-free and won't cause headaches for those who are sensitive to flicker. It also has a Low Blue Light mode to reduce blue light emission.

This monitor supports FreeSync - and by extension G-Sync - between 48 and 144 Hz and therefore works optimally when the graphics card sends between 48 and 144 fps. The supported range is therefore very wide and covers all uses. However, we recommend a high-performance graphics card, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT or the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, in order to take advantage of the native Ultra HD definition and a high frame rate. In any case, the fluidity is there and the image does not suffer from problems of tearing or micro-stuttering.

This screen offers the possibility of activating the black image insertion system via backlight scanning (PureXP), which only works above 100 Hz. This system allows you to take advantage of the absence of tearing and micro-stuttering, while enjoying a perfect sharpness of moving objects.

We measured the remanence time at 7.5 ms with the overdrive set to "fastest". We did not notice any difference between the different overdrive modes offered. Even with this value - the highest available - we did not see any reverse ghosting. This is often a sign that the display can do even better. This is a good remanence time for an Ultra HD IPS panel. This monitor does better than the Asus TUF VG27AQ, which with 8 ms is considered the most responsive Quad HD IPS monitor on the market. However, we find more "impulsive", like the VA models Samsung Odyssey G7 27" and 49G9 with a remanence time of only 4.5 ms, but not yet in Ultra HD.

Finally, we measured the input lag at 9.9 ms (at 60 Hz). So there is no lag between the mouse action and its repercussion on the screen.

 

 

Power consumption

By lowering the brightness to 55 to obtain a white at 150 cd/m², the ViewSonic Elite XG320U consumes about 40 W, that is to say a relative consumption of 142 W/m², largely higher than the average of the tested monitors (100 W/m²). At minimum brightness (74 cd/m²), it "burns" 31 W. At maximum brightness in SDR (204 cd/m²), consumption rises to 45 W - these values are measured at 60 Hz.

When switching to 144 Hz, the monitor consumes between 3 and 5 W more. In HDR, the peak brightness is measured at 540 cd/m² on a 10% window with a power consumption that reaches 63 W.

 

Conclusion

The ViewSonic Elite XG320U is a good Ultra HD monitor that unfortunately lacks color accuracy to be truly versatile, especially when it comes to photo editing. As it is, it will be a very good companion for gamers who value raw performance more than image precision and accuracy, especially since it offers small extras that can make a difference (headphone support, mouse wire guide, etc.).