I am not sure, but the following makes me suspect the panel used in a TN panel
#1. No mention of Overdrive Technology and the use of 8ms as the reaction time. Unless Overdrive Technology is used, other panels types are unable to acchieve a 8ms response time. They don't mention whether the 8ms is grey to grey or ISO. If its ISO, only TN panels quality for 8ms ISO, and only the best overdriven MVA type count for 8ms (grey to grey)
#2. Cost. TN panels are generally cheaper to manufactor. Since Widescreen in the 20" vareity carries a slight premium over 20" standard, I guess I find it fishy to market a more expensive MVA panel in a 19 widescreen format for less than a quality 19" standard monitor
#3. Viewing Angles are listed as 160. Typically both MVA/PVA and IPS type panels list viewing angles as 170-178.
#4. Relatively Poor Contrast. Most PVA/MVA panels list contrast at higher than 500:1. This would typically be TN/IPS levels
#5. I haven't see a modern viewsonic that didn't use either a TN or a MVA panel.
I dislike TN panels as they are typically packaged with Poor Stands, not very many input options and compromise various qualities that I need. I prefer (personally) S-IPS or S-PVA type panels. See below.
For someone interested in going Widescreen, the Dell 2005FW is really a fairly good option. It uses a S-IPS panel which has better colors/blacks/viewing angles than a TN panel without giving up too much response time (especially over an 8ms TN). It also has the full set of options such as a great stand and multiple inputs. On special, I have seen it as low or lower than 400 dollars shipped (before tax). I have heard a -rumor- that Dell may revamp their monitor lineup and move to S-PVA panels for most of the monitors.
BTW, the Dell 2005FW and the Apple 20" Widescreen are very similar monitors. They certainly have the same panel dimension. It is usually easy to find a Apple monitor at a BM store.
As far as panels go, I am not the "expert" and if you are really interested, there are great breakdown across the internet, but here is a brief version
TN/Overdriven TN (Samsung, Viewsonic, Dell, list goes on and on) (Made by every manufacturer)
Pros:
Fast (best response Time)
Cheap
Wide Variety
Cons:
Only 6-bit Color Depth-->Less colors can be displayed. (is really only a issue if you need or want the most accurate colors as most 6-bit panels can produce for the casual user a very good picture)
Very Poor Viewing Angles--> This means that the image will visuably dim or color shift as your angle changes. (This can be very bad on say a widescreen since the angle from the edge pixels to your eye may be significant enough such that the image "dims" on the sides)
Poor Contrast/Black Levels --> Essentially the same thing, this means the monitor doesn't do a good job of rendering true blacks or accuracte dark colors. Most games have significant dark sections
IPS/S-IPS (Apple, HP, Sony, Dell) (made alot by LG.Phillips)
Pros:
Good Response (used to be medium response)
8-bit color
Cons:
Black levels --> Although better generally than TN panels, these panel types have relatively poor black and dark color rendering
Viewingangle --> Although pretty good viewing angle in terms of brightness, people report this type can often have a color shift which means colors aren't reproduced the same way
MVA/PVA (Samsung, Viewsonic, Dell...) (PVA is Samsung, MVA is AU among others)
Pros:
8-bit color
best Contrast/Blacks
best Viewing Angle
Cons:
Poor Response, that can be very terrible response. These panels will ghost and be noticable for the majority of people.
the new kid
S-PVA/P-MVA/Overdriven MVA (Samsung, Viewsonic, Dell...)
Pros:
(same as PVA/MVA)
Medium Response, As good as a TN and better than IPS/S-IPS, only the overdriven TN is faster
Cons:
Using the overdrive technology can create artifacts on the screen. This is especially true in medium such as movies where subtle color gradients shift quickly. Not as noticable in Desktop/Application/Game enviroments
Whew, lucky I had most of that in a Copy/Paste location
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