The BenQ EW2420: Too good to be true?

NCX said:
Hello every one. I specifically signed up here to help those who want to know about the new BenQ series.

Check out my review which includes PixerPixAn results and calibrated settings/results:
http://wecravegames.com/forums/gadg...3-000-1-ansi-contrast-led-monitor-review.html

To the OP: How is the backlight on your unit compared to mine (which is terrible and the main downfall of the unit)?
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Hi there i read your review a couple of days ago, the op (pcm2)said earlier in the thread his unit suffered no backlight bleed and felt it was maybe your unit that was faulty.

I will be picking mine up later today and will report my findings here after i have had a good tinker with it.
 
Scrolled through page 3 too quickly, I see now some one allready posted a link.

Just to further add for people concerened about the response time, you really shouldn't be as the BenQ is currently the fastest "affordable," high contrast LCD right now.

It will look much better then ANY other LCD except the 2010 Samsung F2380xx revisions and the more expensive Eizo EV2333W-BK (which have more pronounced color streaking).

I saw some one expressing concern about wanting to play L4D. The BenQ performs fine except during the ugly daytime levels where dark trailing is present on the fast moving zombies and some color streaking will be visible during very fast high FPS camera pans.

If the response time is really off putting I suggest waiting for the Eizo Foris FS2311
http://www.eizo.se/default.aspx?page=11&product=FS2331-BK&smlang=ENG
 
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Thanks for your valuable input NCX :). Really, whichever way you look at it, the EW2420 is a great buy for the price. I am actually finding as I use it more that the lack of responsiveness is becoming easier and easier to ignore. There are times when the 'smokey trails' occur - like in the example you gave of particularly dark objects (zombies) moving against a lighter background (daytime scene). One such scenario I encountered recently was on Arma2: Opreration Arrowhead in the dark desert. I did notice the trailing and thought 'ah well'... But somebody opened up with a machinegun and filled the night sky with green tracer fire. That is, in a not at all sad way, the most beautiful visual I've seen on a game and it is largely due to the excellent contrast of this thing - seeing as I have recently used a Samsung XL24 and a high-end CRT as well I think that is saying something.
 
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Trifid - to aid your decision (or perhaps hamper it slightly) I have had confirmation from BenQ that the BL2400T has a more aggressive matte anti-glare coating. I can tell you that one of the reasons the colours are so lovely and vivid on this thing are from the semi-gloss coating. Less light is absorbed in this layer and you don't get that same 'grainy' effect - that's not to say the BL2400T won't give exellent visuals, it's just that I am really liking the EW2420's coating. It seems similar to something I have seen on Samsung OLED prototypes and I'm sure it's this way for emissivity reasons.
 
The BL costs 200$ more here (Canada), which is a rip off.

The Semi Gloss screen of the EW will give colors an extra degree of vividness, text (like interenet browsing) also looks much better compared to a Matte LCD. Overall the screen will just have a more "Clean," look to it.
 
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crackerbear said:
Presuming they use the same panel, which I believe they do, the BL2400PT would probably be better if you wanted a decent stand and non glossy bezel. I also think I read that the BL2400PT has a full anti-glare coating rather than the semi anti-glare on the EW2420 - but don't quote me on that, my memory is getting a little hazy with the amount of reviews and comments I've read.
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i prefer non glossy yes, thanks for info :D
 
NCX&PCM2 i don't have a calibration eye could you recommend some settings for the EW2420 i'm picking it up at dinner time and don't want to spend hours trying to get the setting right.

and first port of call is the langom test page to check for dead pixels lol
 
NCX said:
The BL costs 200$ more here (Canada), which is a rip off.

The Semi Gloss screen will give colors an extra degree of vividness, text (like interenet browsing) also looks much better compared to a Matte LCD. Overall the screen will just have a more "Clean," look to it.
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EW2420 model?
 
NCX said:
Just to further add for people concerened about the response time, you really shouldn't be as the BenQ is currently the fastest "affordable," high contrast LCD right now.

It will look much better then ANY other LCD except the 2010 Samsung F2380xx revisions and the more expensive Eizo EV2333W-BK (which have more pronounced color streaking).

I saw some one expressing concern about wanting to play L4D. The BenQ performs fine except during the ugly daytime levels where dark trailing is present on the fast moving zombies and some color streaking will be visible during very fast high FPS camera pans.
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PCM2 said:
I am actually finding as I use it more that the lack of responsiveness is becoming easier and easier to ignore. There are times when the 'smokey trails' occur - like in the example you gave of particularly dark objects (zombies) moving against a lighter background (daytime scene). One such scenario I encountered recently was on Arma2: Opreration Arrowhead in the dark desert. I did notice the trailing and thought 'ah well'... But somebody opened up with a machinegun and filled the night sky with green tracer fire. That is, in a not at all sad way, the most beautiful visual I've seen on a game and it is largely due to the excellent contrast of this thing - seeing as I have recently used a Samsung XL24 and a high-end CRT as well I think that is saying something.
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I'm really torn by this. Both of you admit there is a visible ghost/trailing problem and yet effectively say it's nothing to worry about.

NCX in terms of response rate, how does it compare to the Acer G245H which you also own? From your review of the Acer, you basically say it doesn't have any response rate problems, at least not visibly.

I don't know how often you or PCM2 play games, but from a gaming point of view how would you rate the monitors? Do the positives (i.e. colours, contrast, black levels) far out weigh the negatives?

To put it in another way, would I be sorely disappointed with the colours/contrast of the Samsung P2450H/B2340H (which as far as I know, has no response rate problems) compared to the EW2420?
 
bigjimmyauk said:
NCX&PCM2 i don't have a calibration eye could you recommend some settings for the EW2420 i'm picking it up at dinner time and don't want to spend hours trying to get the setting right.

and first port of call is the langom test page to check for dead pixels lol
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I'm afraid too much depends on the individual unit you have to recommend any settings. I can see that my unit behaves, by default, very differently to NCX's panel. There's also the issue of preference which to be honest is the most important aspect of 'tweaking' - if you need critical colour accuracy then a proper calibration is a must. For entertainment purposes and my general enjoyment of the monitor (which is what it is for) I found on my unit that the colours were surprisingly well balanced once the contrast was raised to 58 (from default 50) and brightness lowered to 68 (from default 100). This does result in a fairly bright image and if I'm working late at night I do lower the brightness accordingly.

@crackerbear.

Whichever monitor you go for you will be left wondering what you're missing out on. The contrast and colour reproduction of this is noticeably better than any other panel I've used of this price (i.e. TN panel) whilst the responsiveness is noticeably worse. Having said that the responsiveness is becoming less and less of an issue as I use the screen more and more - I don't ever adjust to the contrast and colours of a TN panel in the same way, I'll say that much.

I have been gaming quite a lot on this recently (partly to try to get used to it and of course partly for the sake of the review). I usually do enough gaming to be good at the games I play and therefore I demand a capable system overall (including monitor) - but I haven't found the EW2420 detrimental to my in-game ability at all.
 
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kmetek said:
EW2420 model?
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Yes

crackerbear said:
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The Acer G245H is essentially as fast as the Samsung 275t/PX2370 which are the fastest 60hz panels. It shows a bit more trailing in the PixerPixAn images then the 275t in my review. It would get a 4.25/5 compared to 4.5/5 on the 275t/PX2370.

You would be hard pressed to see any ghosting during gaming though, and there is none in movies.

Being matte the P2405 which has an even lower contrast ratio then the G245H and the lack of a Glossy Screen will leave you questioning your purchase. In a daytime room the G245H's screen really helps makes up for the lack of contrast, it still doesn't look as good as the 3,000:1 models, but right now because of the medicore backlight it has the advantage over my BenQ in terms of overall image quality.

@bigjimmyauk

Settings are usually pretty close across the same LCD models in my experience, however because of the backlight on my unit my settings will probably off to be used universally.

So either try my settings posted in the review or just go Brightness 30 (close to 120cdm/2 brightness), Contrast 85 (When I calibrated the monitor with lower contrast/high brightness I found under 75 raises the gamma when the brightness is high) and R/G/B 75. I recommend turning up the sharpness once or twice as well.
 
NCX said:
Being matte the P2405 which has an even lower contrast ratio then the G245H and the lack of a Glossy Screen will leave you questioning your purchase. In a daytime room the G245H's screen really helps makes up for the lack of contrast, it still doesn't look as good as the 3,000:1 models, but right now because of the medicore backlight it has the advantage over my BenQ in terms of overall image quality.
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If given the choice and taking into account from a gaming perspective, which would you go for, a Samsung P2450H or the BenQ EW2420?
 
So you're happy then? By the way I am probably going to keep my EW2420. You know how fussy I am so this should say something about the quality to price ratio we are talking about here. :D
 
PCM2 said:
So you're happy then? By the way I am probably going to keep my EW2420. You know how fussy I am so this should say something about the quality to price ratio we are talking about here. :D
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Very happy mate having trouble setting the colour the default is terrible lol

i tend to like my monitor more warm than anything else and i'm actually using the background of the ocuk forum to set the colour and it's worked out pretty well.

i just did a quick test of splinter cell conviction using the sonic goggles. which show characters in white and everything else in grey and black and to be honest ghosting or trail was not a problem at all.

and i love this semi gloss screen it really brings things to life
 
That sounds good. I often find the colour balance to be out of kilter on LED-backlit monitors (far too cool - a strong blue tint) but this is the first LED-backlit monitor I've used that hasn't suffered from this. Compared to my recently calibrated CRT reference display there is no noticeable tint either way. I have found that individual panel variation can play a significant role in this though - it's always recommended to try your own settings and see what works for you and your monitor. I remember reviewing two XL2370s a few months apart and one of them suffered a slight blue tint whereas the other an insanely high blue tint with a little too much green too. You may want to try setting the gamma to "2.0" instead of "2.2" and see if that pleases you (it can be a quick fix on some monitors).

Absolutely agree about the semi gloss coating - think it's a great 'compromise' although I don't really see it as a compromise but rather... Progress ;).
 
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