All aspects of the display itself are good - horizontal viewing angles are nearly 180 degrees, color accuracy is very good out of the box, and color saturation is very good as well thanks to its low black levels.
The single legged stand can be adjusted from flat to 60 degrees, allowing it to lay flat on a table, nearly upright, or at many angles in-between. The tilt can be lifted or lowered with just one hand by pressing or pulling on the top of the monitor. It also doesn't bounce in regular use.
For added flexibility, there are VESA mounting screw ports on the rear which lets you mount this to a wall or a monitor stand.
The front of the display is a single piece of glass, which looks attractive (almost like the front of a very large tablet). Beneath it is a mostly-clear plastic which lets raises the screen above the table or desk, and allows you to see the single photo-frame-like stand on the rear.
There are 6 physical buttons on the right side near the bottom which you have to use to navigate the menu. These feel very dated, especially on a monitor that costs over $500 considering there are better solutions like a joystick or even using the touchscreen itself.
The built-in stereo speakers aren't the highest quality around, but they will get the job done in a pinch. It's nice to have them if you need to move your computer around, as it's less hardware and cords required to carry around.
There are 4 total USB ports on this monitor: 1 is an upstream port (to connect to your computer), and 3 are downstream ports (which you can connect peripherals to, such as a mouse, keyboard, and an external hard drive. This allows you to free up ports on your computer, and also helps keep your cords managed in one spot.
Response time on this monitor is 5ms, which is suitable for even high-level gaming. Response time is the time delay between when the monitor receives a signal and when it refreshes the screen to reflect that new signal. While a low refresh rate generally benefits gamers most, its effects can help make your entire system feel just a touch more responsive for any task.
The speakers built-into the T272HL may be stereo, but they don't offer a great listening experience overall. The bass is severely lacking, and clarity is alright for the odd soundbite but you'll want to add external speakers for movies or other media.
This monitor has many peripherals built-in, and unless you use them heavily they will do the job just fine. Unless you feel the need for dedicated hardware, the built-in stereo speakers work well enough, and the webcam and mic are acceptable quality for occasional recreational use (for business calls or other uses where quality is important, you'll want to upgrade to dedicated hardware).
It really does look like a massive tablet with a kickstand - but that's not a bad thing. There's no stand visible, leaving the front looking very clean. The stand can angle anywhere from 15-70 degrees which allows for flexible use, or it can be folded in and used flat on the desk or even mounted using the VESA mounting holes.
Without using the ECO mode, this monitor requires about 50 watts to power it. This is double than other monitors. There are different levels of ECO modes, however these dim the display and barely get down to the power level of other monitors when they are all enabled.
The response time is 12ms, which isn't lightning fast, but it's still quick enough to make the system feel more responsive than cheaper monitors. While not fast enough for high-level gaming, this monitor won't make your system feel slow or unresponsive.
The black levels are respectively low at 0.16cd/m², which helps the contrast ratio achieve 1100:1 which is much lower than the advertised 5000:1, but still quite good.
The MVA panel (multi-domain vertical alignment: in-between of TN and IPS technologies) doesn't reproduce colors very accurately. It scores just 82% of the sRGB color gamut, while other panels offer high 80s and even above 90%. This display's weakest points are with the green and cyan shades, while reds and blues appeared just fine.
This monitor has all the internals needed to run Android 4.3.1 Jelly Bean (Tegra 4 processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of storage). This gives you the flexibility to run Android apps and games, or use it as a display for your computer or laptop. If you have limited desk space, or want a touchscreen on a budget (without the need to buy a computer), the ability to use it without a computer is a very intriguing option.
Built-in are two 2 watt stereo speakers, a 2MP webcam, as well as a microphone. These allow you to use it as a stand-alone Android device for Skype, Google Hangouts or other video chats, or they can be used in place of dedicated hardware when plugged into a computer (although dedicated hardware would provide better quality).
This monitor looks like any old monitor. Other monitors in this category have much more interesting designs, and add form to the function of adding a touchscreen monitor to your setup. The un-original base and plastic bar beneath the screen are both aspects you'd expect to find on older, cheaper monitors but are still present here.
Android Jelly Bean 4.3.1 was released in July of 2013, and is a dated operating system. While core features like web browsing will still work fine, some apps require new APIs (application programming interface) which are only available in newer versions of Android. If there are Android apps you want to run, make sure to check their compatibility on the Play Store
The monitor is help up by a traditional looking stand with a square base. The stand can be raised or lowered slightly (which the other touchscreen monitors in this category can't do), and the display can be tilted 90 degrees so that it can be perfectly vertical, or perfectly horizontal (or anywhere in-between) depending on your set-up preferences.
The contrast ratio is important for having a wide depth of colors available, and the ViewSonic Smart Display doesn't disappoint with a very good 1000:1 contrast ratio. Response time is similarly good, and will display images 5ms after receiving them. This response time is good enough for even high-end gamers, but will also appear to make the entire system a bit more responsive and faster.
The menu is complete, and includes things like screen mode pre-sets, a custom color mode, sharpness, and aspect ratio as well as the basic contrast and brightness options.
You can turn off power to the USB ports while in idle, which will save on energy if you plug your mouse and keyboard into the monitor (although then you can't use them to turn on the monitor or wake the system).
There is also dynamic dimming, which controls the brightness and can save power as well.
The black levels are surprisingly high, which means the screen will noticeably glow even when displaying a pitch black image. This leads to a very poor contrast ratio of 190:1 - many high-end monitors achieve a contrast ratio of 1000:1. The contrast ratio is the difference between the darkest and brightest colors - a high contrast ratio is desired for a more appealing viewing experience.
The stand moves anywhere from 10 degrees to 60 degrees allowing lots of tilt for media watching (nearly vertical) to typing on the on-screen keyboard (nearly horizontal). You can also mount this monitor to a wall or monitor stand, as it is VESA mount compatible.
The base is a combination of two horizontal bars - the front bar is stationary while the bar behind it moves backwards or forwards depending on the desired tilt. The front glass panel itself covers the whole front - there is no plastic visible on the front at all.
When first plugged in, there is a noticeable grayish hue across the display. If you have the equipment to calibrate monitors, you can adjust this...however most people don't. Color accuracy itself was also poor - cyan had a delta error of nearly 7, and gray shades' error was at least 3.
While it's a touchscreen monitor, there are 4 physical buttons used to navigate through the menu. Joysticks, or even using the touchscreen itself would have been a much easier, more natural way to navigate through the menu.
With 178 degrees of both vertical and horizontal viewing angles, this monitor can be used at an angle with no problems, and if watching media with other people they will still see a clear picture even if they are viewing it off-angle.
With only 5ms of response time, this monitor will display images nearly instantly after they are received. This is important, especially for touchscreens where a delay in touch input and the displayed image moving would be very noticeable. 5ms is also considered good enough even for high level gaming, although world-wide top players will prefer even lower response times.
The white glossy base and rear of this monitor may not suit everybody, but it certainly gives it some personality which sets it apart from other monitors. The contrasting colors can look sharp in many setups, although not all of them.
While many other monitors in this price range offer USB pass through as an added feature, this one lacks any extra USB ports. You can't plug in any mice, keyboards, or external hard drives into this monitor.
Colors are somewhat accurate, as this monitor scored 86.8% of the sRGB color gamut...however when compared to other IPS panels which typically score 95% or higher this is a disappointing result (after calibration it still fell short at around 91%).
Black levels are measured at 0.32cd/m² which means that when pure black is displayed on the screen, they will appear gray-ish instead of a true black. This leads to a lower than advertised contrast ratio of 519:1 (it is advertised at 1000:1), which isn't impressive at all.
The stand allows for 30 degrees of tilt, which is more than adequate for traditional monitors - however this is sub-par for touchscreen monitors. Touchscreen monitors benefit from tilt adjustments more than traditional monitors, as different uses work best at different angles. For example, watching a movie or web browsing is best done in a near-vertical position, while typing on an on-screen keyboard is most comfortable at a large angle which can't be achieved with this monitor.
There also is no swivel, pivot, or height adjustment.
The stereo 2 watt speakers aren't mind blowing, but they provide sufficient audio for the odd video. It's a nice inclusion to have, although if you plan on watching many movies or listening to music, you may want to invest in dedicated speakers.
The contrast ratio is measured at 736:1, which is slightly lower than the advertised 1000:1, however still high enough to provide good contrast between lights and darks. A panel with a high contrast ratio provides vivid colors, which leads to a more pleasing viewing experience.
This monitor comes with a stylus which has a slot it fits in when not in use (very useful, as stylus are often the most misplaced accessories). It's a nice addition, as it helps improve touch accuracy over a finger and doesn't leave oily smudge marks. However, it requires a bit of force to register and offers more resistance than expected making scrolling and selecting more of a hassle than required.
Blue is the only color that appears true-to-life on the display - reds and greens don't display accurately. This is a big deal for anybody hoping to edit graphics, video, or any other color sensitive work. Some users might not notice the low (86%) sRGB gamut, but others will.
Virtually every other touchscreen monitor offers at least 5-point touch, but most offer 10-point touch (some even offer 20-point touch). 2-point touch still allows for multi-touch gestures such as pinch to zoom and two-finger scrolling, however 3-point gestures won't register. You may find other limitations depending on which apps you use.