The ViewSonic XG2431 is a 24 inch, 1080p gaming monitor. It's the only 240Hz monitor in ViewSonic's OMNI lineup, and it comes with native FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing, and it also has G-SYNC compatibility. It supports Low Framerate Compensation to ensure you get a nearly tear-free gaming experience even if the frame rate of your game drops too low. It has Blur Busters Approved Certification for its motion handling. There's a backlight strobing feature that lets you adjust the pulse width and phase to your liking, which most monitors can't do. It has an adjustable stand and a few extra features to enhance your gaming setup, like cable bungees and a headphone holder.
Our Verdict
The ViewSonic XG2431 is good for most uses. It's impressive for gaming because it has a high 240Hz refresh rate, VRR support, a quick response time, and low input lag for a smooth and responsive gaming experience. It's also good for office use because it has great ergonomics, wide viewing angles, and good peak brightness if you need to use it in a well-lit room. However, it's just decent for content creators, and it's not the best for watching multimedia content because the 24 inch screen and 1080p resolution don't deliver an immersive experience, and blacks look gray in the dark. It's also mediocre for HDR because it can't display a wide color gamut or make highlights pop.
-
Great ergonomics.
-
240Hz refresh rate.
-
Quick response time at any refresh rate.
-
Low resolution.
-
Small 24 inch screen.
-
Low native contrast.
The ViewSonic XG2431 is good for office use. It has wide viewing angles and great ergonomics that make it easy to adjust the screen if you need to share it with a coworker or client. It also has good peak brightness and great reflection handling, meaning it's a good choice for well-lit offices. Sadly, it has a limited 1080p resolution, and the 24 inch screen size isn't big enough for multitasking.
-
Great ergonomics.
-
Good SDR peak brightness.
-
Great reflection handling.
-
Low resolution.
-
Small 24 inch screen.
The ViewSonic XG2431 is impressive for gaming. It has a high 240Hz refresh rate with variable refresh rate support to reduce screen tearing. It also has a customizable backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur. Motion looks smooth thanks to the quick response time across its refresh rate range, and it has low input lag for a responsive feel. Sadly, it doesn't perform well in dark rooms because it has low contrast, and blacks look gray.
-
240Hz refresh rate.
-
Native FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility.
-
Quick response time at any refresh rate.
-
Low input lag.
-
Low native contrast.
-
No local dimming feature.
The ViewSonic XG2431 is decent for media consumption. It's good if you're watching videos in a bright room because it has good peak brightness and great reflection handling. However, it isn't as good in dark rooms because blacks look gray, and there's no local dimming feature to improve the contrast. Also, the 24 inch screen and 1080p resolution don't provide an immersive viewing experience.
-
Good SDR peak brightness.
-
Great reflection handling.
-
Low resolution.
-
Small 24 inch screen.
-
Low native contrast.
The ViewSonic XG2431 is decent for content creators. It has great out-of-the-box accuracy, and it displays a wide range of colors in the sRGB color space, but it has limited Adobe RGB coverage used in photo editing. Also, the small screen size and low resolution aren't enough to view your entire work area and see crisp images. Luckily, it has wide viewing angles if you need to share the screen with someone else, and the great ergonomics make it easy to adjust the screen.
-
Great ergonomics.
-
Low resolution.
-
Small 24 inch screen.
-
Limited Adobe RGB color gamut.
The ViewSonic XG2431 is mediocre for HDR. It fails to display the wide range of colors needed for HDR, and it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray in the dark. Also, it lacks a local dimming feature to further improve the contrast. The HDR brightness is decent, but it's not enough to make small highlights stand out.
-
Low native contrast.
-
No local dimming feature.
-
Small highlights don't stand out in HDR.
- 7.6 Mixed Usage
- 7.6 Office
- 8.4 Gaming
- 7.1 Media Consumption
- 7.6 Media Creation
- 6.0 HDR
- Updated Apr 14, 2023: Tested the monitor's compatibility with 1440p on the PS5, but it doesn't work.
- Updated Jun 07, 2022: Measured the response times in the 'Native' Color Temperature to see if there's any difference.
- Updated May 26, 2022: Review published.
- Updated May 19, 2022: Early access published.
- Updated May 13, 2022: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated May 11, 2022: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated May 08, 2022: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
- Updated May 06, 2022: The product has won our suggestion poll, so we'll buy and test it soon.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 24 inch ViewSonic XG2431. It's part of their OMNI lineup that includes other 1080p gaming monitors, and it's the only one with a 240Hz refresh rate, so there aren't any variants.
If you come across an XG2431 with a different panel type, or if it doesn't correspond to our review, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit of the ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 was manufactured in May 2021; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The ViewSonic XG2431 is an impressive 240Hz gaming monitor with a 1080p resolution. Although you can find 1440p monitors with a 240Hz refresh rate, this one is cheaper and is a great monitor if you're an esports gamer and don't care so much about the resolution or screen size. The customizable backlight strobing is also a unique feature and helps with the appearance of motion.
See our recommendations for the best 240Hz monitors, the best 1080p monitors, and the best gaming monitors.
The BenQ ZOWIE XL2546K and the ViewSonic XG2431 are both 240Hz gaming monitors with a few differences. The ViewSonic has an IPS panel with wider viewing angles, and while the BenQ has a TN panel. The response times are similar between both. The overall picture quality is better on the ViewSonic because it gets brighter and has better accuracy. It supports HDR, which the BenQ doesn't, but the HDR doesn't add much.
The Dell Alienware AW2521HF and the ViewSonic XG2431 are both impressive gaming monitors. They each have a 240Hz refresh rate with native FreeSync support. The Dell has slightly better motion handling, and the Dell is slightly better for bright rooms because it gets a bit brighter and has better reflection handling. However, the ViewSonic has a backlight strobing feature that the Dell doesn't have. Also, unlike the Dell, the ViewSonic supports HDR, though it doesn't add much.
The ViewSonic XG2431 and the ViewSonic Elite XG270 are similar 1080p gaming monitors with a 240Hz refresh rate, although the XG270 is slightly bigger. Motion handling is fantastic between each of them, but the XG2431 has a more customizable backlight strobing feature as you can control the pulse width and phase. The XG2431 also accepts a 10-bit signal, which the XG270 doesn't, so there's less banding with shades of similar colors.
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG259QM and the ViewSonic XG2431 are both great gaming monitors. They both have similar motion handling but the ViewSonic has a more versatile backlight strobing feature as you can adjust the pulse width and phase to your liking. The ViewSonic is also better for console gaming because it downscales a 4k image, which the ASUS can't do. Although both have 240Hz refresh rates, you can overclock the ASUS to 280Hz with a DisplayPort connection.
The ViewSonic XG2431 and the Samsung Odyssey G4/G40B S27BG40 have similar features, but the ViewSonic is better overall. Despite each having a 240Hz refresh rate, the motion handling is much better on the ViewSonic, and it has a more customizable backlight strobing feature. The ViewSonic is also better for console gaming because it can downscale 4k signals, which the Samsung monitor can't do.
The Dell Alienware AW2521H and the ViewSonic XG2431 are both impressive gaming monitors with a few different features. The Dell is a native G-SYNC monitor with a 360Hz refresh rate, so it's a better choice if you play high-frame-rate games on an NVIDIA graphics card, but FreeSync doesn't work on it. If you need FreeSync, the ViewSonic has native FreeSync support and G-SYNC also works on it, but it has a lower 240Hz refresh rate.
The ViewSonic XG2431 and the Sony INZONE M3 are both 1080p, 240Hz gaming monitors with similar performance, but the ViewSonic has a few extra features. The ViewSonic can downscale 4k signals from the PS5 and Xbox Series X, which the Sony monitor can't do. This results in a sharper image than a native 1080p signal. The ViewSonic also has a customizable backlight strobing feature and better overall motion handling than the Sony.
Test Results
The ViewSonic XG2431 has a simplistic design with an all-black body and a bulky stand. It has a few design features to enhance your setup like cable bungees for your mouse and a pull-out headphone rack to hang your headphones.
The build quality is good. The all-plastic body is well made and the back panel doesn't flex much. It's stable on the stand, and even if the ergonomic adjustments feel stiff, the screen stays in place. While it doesn't have any premium materials like metal, it's a solid monitor.
The ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 has great ergonomics. It's easy to adjust, but because you can only rotate it into portrait mode in one direction, the inputs always face to the left, which isn't ideal if you have your PC on the right. Adjusting the stand feels stiff, but at least the screen stays in place. Luckily, there's a detachable hook that you can use for cable management.
The stand takes up a lot of space, and because the base isn't flat, you can't put stuff on top.
There are five buttons to navigate the on-screen display and a power button underneath the right side of the screen.
- DisplayPort cable
- USB-A to USB-B cable
- Power cable
- Cable management clip
- User documentation
The ViewSonic XG2431 has a low native contrast ratio. Blacks look gray in the dark, and there's no local dimming feature to improve it.
The ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 doesn't have a local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming.
The ViewSonic XG2431's SDR peak brightness is good. It's bright enough to fight glare in rooms with a few lights around, and it maintains its brightness consistent across different scenes. These results are from after calibration in the 'Standard' View Mode with the Color Temperature set to 'User Color' and the Brightness at its max.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has decent HDR brightness. It's bright enough to make some highlights stand out, but because it doesn't have a local dimming feature, small highlights aren't brighter than the rest of the screen. The EOTF follows the target PQ curve well for most scenes, but dark scenes are too bright, and there's a sharp roll-off at the peak brightness, causing a loss of fine details in bright scenes. These results are with HDR set to 'Auto' as there are no picture settings in HDR.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has an excellent horizontal viewing angle. The image remains accurate even from the sides, and someone sitting next to you won't have any issues viewing it.
The vertical viewing angle is okay. It loses accuracy quicker than the horizontal viewing angle, but this is normal for most monitors. It's fine if you're standing up and looking down at the screen.
The ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 has great gray uniformity. The edges of the screen are a bit darker, which you'll notice with full-screen webpages or games with large areas of uniform colors, but there's hardly any dirty screen effect in the center.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has poor black uniformity. There's backlight bleed and clouding throughout, which can get distracting in dark scenes, and there's no local dimming feature to improve it.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has great out-of-the-box accuracy. There are some inaccuracies to most colors and the white balance, but they're minor, and the color temperature is fairly close to the 6500 K target. The 'Standard' mode is very similar to the sRGB mode as it doesn't effectively clamp some reds and yellows to the sRGB color space. Also, gamma doesn't follow the sRGB curve well as dark scenes are too dark, and brighter scenes are over-brightened.
The accuracy after calibration is incredible. All colors are in the sRGB color space, and the white balance is nearly perfect. Gamma is also better as it follows the sRGB target curve.
The SDR color gamut is fantastic. It has perfect coverage of the sRGB color space used in most web content, and it displays colors well. However, it has limited Adobe RGB color space coverage, and greens and cyan are off. It isn't ideal if you're a photo editor and use this color space.
The ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 has incredible SDR color volume. It displays colors as bright as pure white, but it struggles with darker colors due to the low contrast.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has a mediocre HDR color gamut. It doesn't display the wide range of colors needed for a satisfying HDR experience, even in the commonly-used DCI-P3 color space.
The HDR color volume is alright. It's limited by the narrow color gamut but displays brighter colors well.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has great reflection handling. The matte finish does a good job of absorbing and diffusing light across the screen. Combined with the good peak brightness, it performs well in rooms with a few lights around, but don't put it opposite a bright window.
The text clarity is decent. Due to the 1080p resolution, text doesn't look the sharpest, but enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) helps make letters easier to read.
The gradient handling is fantastic. You won't see any banding in scenes with shades of similar colors, like a sunset.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has an incredibly high refresh rate that you can achieve over HDMI and DisplayPort connections. The max refresh rate is lower with 10-bit signals over HDMI due to bandwidth limitations, so you need to use an 8-bit color depth to achieve the full 240Hz refresh rate over HDMI.
Although the ViewSonic XG2431 isn't certified to be G-SYNC compatible, it still works over its entire refresh rate range with NVIDIA graphics cards over a DisplayPort connection.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Advanced | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at its max refresh rate of 240Hz is fantastic. Motion looks smooth and there's minimal blur trail behind fast-moving objects. The recommended Response Time setting is 'Advanced' because it has a quicker response time than 'Standard' and 'Ultra Fast' has too much overshoot.
The ViewSonic XG2431 performs differently depending on the Color Temperature setting you use. The above measurements are with Color Temperature set to 'User Color' after calibration, but you can also see results from before calibration with it set to 'Native':
- Recommended Overdrive Setting: Ultra Fast
- Rise / Fall Time: 2.6 ms
- Total Response Time: 4.0 ms
- Overshoot Error: 0.1%
- Worst 3 Rise / Fall Time: 3.0 ms
- Worst 3 Total Response Time: 4.7 ms
- Worst 3 Overshoot Error: 1.4%
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables |
| Standard | Chart | Table |
| Advanced | Chart | Table |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table |
The main difference with the 'Native' Color Temperature versus 'User Color' is that 'Ultra Fast' has a lot less overshoot in 'Native' than in 'User Color' and it's the best overdrive setting, but it visually performs like 'Advanced' in 'User Color'.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Advanced | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
The ViewSonic XG2431 has an incredible response time at 120Hz as it's even quicker than at 240Hz. Once again, the best overdrive setting is 'Advanced' because it's quicker than 'Standard' and there's a lot less overshoot than 'Ultra Fast'.
The ViewSonic XG2431 performs differently depending on the Color Temperature setting you use. The above measurements are with Color Temperature set to 'User Color' after calibration, but you can also see results from before calibration with it set to 'Native':
- Recommended Overdrive Setting: Advanced
- Rise / Fall Time: 3.3 ms
- Total Response Time: 6.1 ms
- Overshoot Error: 0.5%
- Worst 3 Rise / Fall Time: 4.3 ms
- Worst 3 Total Response Time: 10.3 ms
- Worst 3 Overshoot Error: 4.2%
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables |
| Standard | Chart | Table |
| Advanced | Chart | Table |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table |
Unlike at the max refresh rate, the response time isn't much different between 'Native' and 'User Color' at 120Hz. The 'Advanced' overdrive setting is about the same between the two, and while 'Ultra Fast' has less overshoot in 'Native', there's still noticeable overshoot with dark transitions.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Advanced | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 60Hz is great. The 'Advanced' Response Time setting has a bit more overshoot than at higher refresh rates, but it's a good set-and-forget mode if the frame rate of your game regularly drops and you don't want to constantly change it.
The ViewSonic XG2431 performs differently depending on the Color Temperature setting you use. The above measurements are with Color Temperature set to 'User Color' after calibration, but you can also see results from before calibration with it set to 'Native':
- Recommended Overdrive Setting: Advanced
- Rise / Fall Time: 3.4 ms
- Total Response Time: 11.5 ms
- Overshoot Error: 1.8%
- Worst 3 Rise / Fall Time: 4.3 ms
- Worst 3 Total Response Time: 20.8 ms
- Worst 3 Overshoot Error: 8.0%
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables |
| Standard | Chart | Table |
| Advanced | Chart | Table |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table |
The 'Advanced' overdrive setting performs similarly in the 'Native' and 'User Color' Color Temperature settings, and there's no visual difference. Like at 120Hz, the 'Ultra Fast' setting is better in 'Native', but there's still a lot of overshoot.
The ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 has an optional backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur, and it's certified in the Blur Busters Approved Certification Programme. You can adjust the PureXP setting to different modes to see which one you prefer the most. There's also a 'Custom' mode that allows you to control the pulse width and phase, and the overdrive, if you download the ViewSonic Strobe Utility application with the USB-B cable connected to the computer. The photo above is at 240Hz in the 'Ultra' mode, and you can also see the performance with other modes and refresh rates below:
| BFI Setting | 240Hz | 120Hz | 60Hz |
| Light | Photo | Photo | Photo |
| Normal | Photo | Photo | Photo |
| Extreme | Photo | Photo | Photo |
| Ultra | Photo | Photo | Photo |
| Custom | Photo | Photo | Photo |
| Custom Settings | Settings | Settings | Settings |
The ViewSonic XG2431 has a flicker-free backlight with all brightness levels, reducing eye strain and image duplication. The graphs have noise from the backlight, but it isn't an actual flicker.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has low input lag for a quick and responsive gaming experience.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has decent compatibility with the PS5. It downscales 4k signals, resulting in a sharper image than a native 1080p image. Sadly, it doesn't support the PlayStation's VRR feature.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has great compatibility with the Xbox Series X, and it downscales 4k images without issue. Although it works with 1440p @ 60Hz signals, you need to bypass the signal, and it disables the VRR. Still, VRR works without issue with other signals.
You need to plug in the USB-B to USB-A cable to your computer for the USB ports to work.
The ViewSonic XG2431 works with recent MacBooks, but there are some limitations. VRR works with games, but it flickers on the desktop. In HDR, colors look washed out, and the contrast is off. It's best to use it in SDR with a fixed refresh rate. Windows go back to their proper screens when waking up from sleep, but at times they didn't after closing the laptop lid.
The ViewSonic XG2431 has a few extra features to improve the user experience, including:
- Advanced Dynamic Contrast Ratio: Changes the black levels on a per-scene basis.
- Blue Light Filter: Removes blue light to reduce eye strain.
- Black Stabilization: Adjusts the gamma so you can see opponents better in the shadows.
- Custom BFI Tool: Lets you change the backlight strobing pulse width and phase (see BFI section for more details).
- Eco Mode: Limits the power your monitor needs.
