Associate
Hmm, £300 for a monitor isn't cheap for me (Wish it was) but I guess it is for some people.
Are Benq's really that bad in image quality?
- Thread starter Grimezy
- Start date
Hmm, £300 for a monitor isn't cheap for me (Wish it was) but I guess it is for some people.
None of the BenQs I've ever bought have looked cheap - build quality is reassuringly solid and they usually have a nice range of inputs and features/functions.
My main gripe with the 2420 really is tho they are bright and colorful out the box if you stick them beside another monitor that has decent image quality or even a so so TN that happens to have fairly accurate color reproduction it just looks so out. Even with the best possible calibration something always sticks out - they are great gaming monitors but I wouldn't buy one if it was my sole use for desktop stuff :S
My main gripe with the 2420 really is tho they are bright and colorful out the box if you stick them beside another monitor that has decent image quality or even a so so TN that happens to have fairly accurate color reproduction it just looks so out. Even with the best possible calibration something always sticks out - they are great gaming monitors but I wouldn't buy one if it was my sole use for desktop stuff :S
Last edited:
Just an update on my new Benq XL2411T. It's a fantastic monitor, wish I'd taken reviews with a pinch of salt more than I had done as I was being put off by every little critique. Not sure if I just got amazingly lucky but I see nothing wrong with my colours out of the box, maybe my eyes are just really unaccustomed to what proper colours should look like. I did use the PCMonitors settings guide and tweaked some of the settings slightly which made it look a little bit nicer, however my Red setting keeps resetting itself everytime I turn my monitor off and on, any ideas? Tried saving a profile and it didn't work. At 100 I see a red tint in my top left corner on white screens which goes away when I tweak it down to 96.
I haven't had a huge chance to test it but what I would say is 120hz is not as clear to me as people made it out to be. I know it is down to individual preference but now that I own a monitor I feel I can give my input and say that it's not as game-changing as people make it out. Yes it is very smooth at 120hz, especially on battlefield, I have no issues at all tracking a running target and my gun seems to stay with them as I fire. But I don't feel like I would rip my eyes out going back to 60hz as I was playing Planetside at 40fps at one point due to it being a busy and it still looked perfectly fine with no jolting or stuttering. What I would say is the difference is probably more noticeable if you dropped from 120 down to below 60. But playing a game at a consistent figure seems fine even if you aren't near 120fps and the monitor still performs brilliant with its non-existent input lag and response rate. Don't get me wrong, 120hz is fantastically smooth but better image quality may be more worth while for people who play single player games more.
The build quality is fantastic, was slightly worried at the pure amount of plastic that it appears to have but it really is solid and sturdy, stand is very adjustable and doesn't move at all during normal use. OSD is awkward to navigate as each time you scroll down the picture modes it flicks off to show you the new one rather than you scrolling down quickly and being able to just apply you want. It would not surprise me if benq have done this on purpose to make the S-Switch more appealing in the Benq XL2420T. I would definitely see the benefits of it now.
Overall, I would not hesitate to buy this monitor again, good image quality (even though my settings probably still aren't quite right, good build quality, fantastic responsiveness and smoothness. And at £220-£240 it's only around £60-£70 more than what you'd pay for a 60hz TN or IPS panel unless you go for really cheap. Size is also staggering, I wasn't quite expecting it to be so large, very pleased I didn't go for a 27 inch now, my desk wouldn't have fitted one on! My only other downside is everytime you turn it on you're presented with a lovely bright purple screen with Benq written on it... Minor downside I'm sure I'll learn to live with!
PM me if you still have any queries
I may not have covered everything. I have yet to try 3D or the lightboost trick and I did see some flickering when I set my monitor to 144hz so I chose to turn it down! Apparently a common issue but no bothers for me really.
I haven't had a huge chance to test it but what I would say is 120hz is not as clear to me as people made it out to be. I know it is down to individual preference but now that I own a monitor I feel I can give my input and say that it's not as game-changing as people make it out. Yes it is very smooth at 120hz, especially on battlefield, I have no issues at all tracking a running target and my gun seems to stay with them as I fire. But I don't feel like I would rip my eyes out going back to 60hz as I was playing Planetside at 40fps at one point due to it being a busy and it still looked perfectly fine with no jolting or stuttering. What I would say is the difference is probably more noticeable if you dropped from 120 down to below 60. But playing a game at a consistent figure seems fine even if you aren't near 120fps and the monitor still performs brilliant with its non-existent input lag and response rate. Don't get me wrong, 120hz is fantastically smooth but better image quality may be more worth while for people who play single player games more.
The build quality is fantastic, was slightly worried at the pure amount of plastic that it appears to have but it really is solid and sturdy, stand is very adjustable and doesn't move at all during normal use. OSD is awkward to navigate as each time you scroll down the picture modes it flicks off to show you the new one rather than you scrolling down quickly and being able to just apply you want. It would not surprise me if benq have done this on purpose to make the S-Switch more appealing in the Benq XL2420T. I would definitely see the benefits of it now.
Overall, I would not hesitate to buy this monitor again, good image quality (even though my settings probably still aren't quite right, good build quality, fantastic responsiveness and smoothness. And at £220-£240 it's only around £60-£70 more than what you'd pay for a 60hz TN or IPS panel unless you go for really cheap. Size is also staggering, I wasn't quite expecting it to be so large, very pleased I didn't go for a 27 inch now, my desk wouldn't have fitted one on! My only other downside is everytime you turn it on you're presented with a lovely bright purple screen with Benq written on it... Minor downside I'm sure I'll learn to live with!
PM me if you still have any queries
I may not have covered everything. I have yet to try 3D or the lightboost trick and I did see some flickering when I set my monitor to 144hz so I chose to turn it down! Apparently a common issue but no bothers for me really.
Soldato
Owned the XT2420T and now the XT2411T and much prefer the later. Ergonomically its superior as the on button ACTUALLY WORKS for a start, compared to the extremely poor touch design of the 2420T. 144hz is also really nice as a bonus by going with the 11T model instead and makes the difference when it comes to using 3D. I use the 2411T in standard RGB colour mode (not a fan of what black equiliser does as it slaughters the colours, making blues and reds look seriously weird) with AMA set to premium. Fast enough for any FPS game and great colours in this mode straight out of the box. The 2420T really needs some tweaking out of the box though.
Can I ask why you say that? I actually watched someone playing BF3 on my XL2411T from possibly the narrowest angle I could look sensibly from and about 6 feet away and honestly I saw very little difference in colours (I'm not being a new fanboy, these are my genuine observations). I have noticed that sometimes the top of the screen can be a bit dark when sat directly infront of it but I assume that how I'm sat as I'm quite low compared to my screen.
I genuinely am a little baffled as to why I took all of the negative views on board before I purchased mine. I assume it's because I can't miss something that I've never had i.e. 1440p IPS panel.
I was not referring to the BenQ specifically but more just TN panels in general. Sure they have their advantages when your playing fast action packed games with their fast G2G response time and 120hz+ and their are in general cheaper to purchase. My gripes is all the TN panels ive owned have suffered horrible backlight bleeding or very close to horrible and yes I know I am being picky here. Also there is color reproduction and resolution.
Don't get me wrong, im using a s27a950 from Samsung and its has been for the most part a fantastic monitor spite being a TN panel.
Been looking for someone who owns this monitor, I am on the verge of buying one for my xbox, but keep hearing conflicting reviews on it. Let me know how it is when you get it mate.
Soldato
Just an update on my new Benq XL2411T. It's a fantastic monitor, wish I'd taken reviews with a pinch of salt more than I had done as I was being put off by every little critique. Not sure if I just got amazingly lucky but I see nothing wrong with my colours out of the box, maybe my eyes are just really unaccustomed to what proper colours should look like. I did use the PCMonitors settings guide and tweaked some of the settings slightly which made it look a little bit nicer, however my Red setting keeps resetting itself everytime I turn my monitor off and on, any ideas? Tried saving a profile and it didn't work. At 100 I see a red tint in my top left corner on white screens which goes away when I tweak it down to 96.
I haven't had a huge chance to test it but what I would say is 120hz is not as clear to me as people made it out to be. I know it is down to individual preference but now that I own a monitor I feel I can give my input and say that it's not as game-changing as people make it out. Yes it is very smooth at 120hz, especially on battlefield, I have no issues at all tracking a running target and my gun seems to stay with them as I fire. But I don't feel like I would rip my eyes out going back to 60hz as I was playing Planetside at 40fps at one point due to it being a busy and it still looked perfectly fine with no jolting or stuttering. What I would say is the difference is probably more noticeable if you dropped from 120 down to below 60. But playing a game at a consistent figure seems fine even if you aren't near 120fps and the monitor still performs brilliant with its non-existent input lag and response rate. Don't get me wrong, 120hz is fantastically smooth but better image quality may be more worth while for people who play single player games more.
The build quality is fantastic, was slightly worried at the pure amount of plastic that it appears to have but it really is solid and sturdy, stand is very adjustable and doesn't move at all during normal use. OSD is awkward to navigate as each time you scroll down the picture modes it flicks off to show you the new one rather than you scrolling down quickly and being able to just apply you want. It would not surprise me if benq have done this on purpose to make the S-Switch more appealing in the Benq XL2420T. I would definitely see the benefits of it now.
Overall, I would not hesitate to buy this monitor again, good image quality (even though my settings probably still aren't quite right, good build quality, fantastic responsiveness and smoothness. And at £220-£240 it's only around £60-£70 more than what you'd pay for a 60hz TN or IPS panel unless you go for really cheap. Size is also staggering, I wasn't quite expecting it to be so large, very pleased I didn't go for a 27 inch now, my desk wouldn't have fitted one on! My only other downside is everytime you turn it on you're presented with a lovely bright purple screen with Benq written on it... Minor downside I'm sure I'll learn to live with!
PM me if you still have any queries
Hi, I'm pretty sure you can turn the BenQ splash screen off from within the menu. The below quote was taken from this TFT Central Review of the XL2420T.
'You can also access the screens factory menu if you want, which tells you a bit of information about the screen including the panel part being used (AU Optronics M24HW01 V8). You can also turn off the BenQ boot-logo of the screen which is useful. Use this section at your own risk!:
Access: Hold the second from bottom touch-sensitive button while powering on. Once turned on, press any button to bring up this service menu
Return: Turn off and turn on power normally'
Hope this helps.
Another update from my Benq XL2411T after about 2 weeks of owning it. The screen is still performing very well and makes gaming a pleasure. In hindsight, I probably could have settled with a 60hz monitor as most of the latest games only run at around 60fps on max settings with my GTX670 and still look fantastic. The only games I've really seen 120hz is BF3 and L4D2 which are very smooth and it does seem to improve my performance but I wouldn't say 60hz is obselete in the slightest. I played planetside 2 at a steady 40fps and I think as long as it's a consistent frame rate then you should have no issues with 'laggyness'.
I have come across one problem though. I'm playing Farcry 3 at a steady 60fps using Nvidia's optimise tool and I do notice in fast motion there are lines at the bottom of my screen. I can only really see it on the ground rather than the sky but it's genuinely quite distracting. I'm not the kind of person who normally would pick up on ghosting or input lag or sensitive to flickering and it is still bothering me. I heard of flickering problems when playing at 144hz due to the voltage control or something so I've had my monitor on 120hz since both in my nvidia control panel and on my desktop. I can't for the life of me work out what this flickering is. I don't seem to have it in any other games... I don't think I do anyway, it's almost like the lines you used to get on analog screens.
Other comments are that the vertical viewing angles really are quite poor. Obviously this is to be expecting with the panel type but I was expecting a little better. Horizontal angles seem fine but I was watching something on catch up the other day sitting about 6 feet away from a slightly lower angle and the screen was practically pitch black. It was quite a dark program so I thought it was normal but when I stood up and looked at it straight on it was so much more clear. I personally didn't think I would be using the screen from different angles but it turns out I have done a couple of times and I wouldn't suggest it if you do plan to use it to watch films, etc from anywhere but infront of your screen. I even notice the bad angles sat square-on though especially at the top of the screen.
I have also noticed some backlight bleed on black screens but makes it look very cloudy and blotchy but this is not noticeable when gaming, etc. I only really notice it on the Farcry loading screens. I have yet to play a dark game like amnesia so can't comment on that yet.
The other thing is the menu is a bit of a pain, especially changing presets. If you expect to do it a lot, I'd suggest the XL2420T with the S-Switch. I would quite happily use one now after experiencing the OSD of the XL2411T. I also don't like the restrictiveness of changing the black equalizer in certain presets. I use the standard mode and it won't let me change it and it won't even tell me what it's on. Games have occasionally look a bit washed out in dark areas and I do wonder if this is the cause for it.
Overall it's a very good monitor and good for what it sets out to do. My friends have had a go on it and even though they can't really notice the 120hz they like it as a monitor in general. It is very solid and adjustable although I've barely had to adjust the stand because of my seating position. It's a good feature but a bit of an obsolete one if you don't plan to constantly adjust your position and potentially overkill for somebody like me. The colours are better than expected although do need a slight tweak (not as bad as it sounds) and the responsiveness is very good. Many a time I've had close calls in BF3 and come out on top which I can't help but feel is because of the screen.
A good monitor but with some minor downsides. If you purely plan to play FPS's online then it's fantastic, if you're planning to play a lot of single player campaigns, I would suggest a standard monitor unless you have a rig capable of 120fps on max settings.
P.s. Sorry for the rant but I struggled finding actual user reviews when I was looking to buy mine. Also if anyone could shed some light on the issue I have playing Farcry it would be much appreciated!
I have come across one problem though. I'm playing Farcry 3 at a steady 60fps using Nvidia's optimise tool and I do notice in fast motion there are lines at the bottom of my screen. I can only really see it on the ground rather than the sky but it's genuinely quite distracting. I'm not the kind of person who normally would pick up on ghosting or input lag or sensitive to flickering and it is still bothering me. I heard of flickering problems when playing at 144hz due to the voltage control or something so I've had my monitor on 120hz since both in my nvidia control panel and on my desktop. I can't for the life of me work out what this flickering is. I don't seem to have it in any other games... I don't think I do anyway, it's almost like the lines you used to get on analog screens.
Other comments are that the vertical viewing angles really are quite poor. Obviously this is to be expecting with the panel type but I was expecting a little better. Horizontal angles seem fine but I was watching something on catch up the other day sitting about 6 feet away from a slightly lower angle and the screen was practically pitch black. It was quite a dark program so I thought it was normal but when I stood up and looked at it straight on it was so much more clear. I personally didn't think I would be using the screen from different angles but it turns out I have done a couple of times and I wouldn't suggest it if you do plan to use it to watch films, etc from anywhere but infront of your screen. I even notice the bad angles sat square-on though especially at the top of the screen.
I have also noticed some backlight bleed on black screens but makes it look very cloudy and blotchy but this is not noticeable when gaming, etc. I only really notice it on the Farcry loading screens. I have yet to play a dark game like amnesia so can't comment on that yet.
The other thing is the menu is a bit of a pain, especially changing presets. If you expect to do it a lot, I'd suggest the XL2420T with the S-Switch. I would quite happily use one now after experiencing the OSD of the XL2411T. I also don't like the restrictiveness of changing the black equalizer in certain presets. I use the standard mode and it won't let me change it and it won't even tell me what it's on. Games have occasionally look a bit washed out in dark areas and I do wonder if this is the cause for it.
Overall it's a very good monitor and good for what it sets out to do. My friends have had a go on it and even though they can't really notice the 120hz they like it as a monitor in general. It is very solid and adjustable although I've barely had to adjust the stand because of my seating position. It's a good feature but a bit of an obsolete one if you don't plan to constantly adjust your position and potentially overkill for somebody like me. The colours are better than expected although do need a slight tweak (not as bad as it sounds) and the responsiveness is very good. Many a time I've had close calls in BF3 and come out on top which I can't help but feel is because of the screen.
A good monitor but with some minor downsides. If you purely plan to play FPS's online then it's fantastic, if you're planning to play a lot of single player campaigns, I would suggest a standard monitor unless you have a rig capable of 120fps on max settings.
P.s. Sorry for the rant but I struggled finding actual user reviews when I was looking to buy mine. Also if anyone could shed some light on the issue I have playing Farcry it would be much appreciated!
I just noticed this thread and could'nt belive the title! I bough the xl2410t from overclockers about two years ago its fanf*&kin tastic! Best picture i have ever seen, not one dead pixel or bit of back light bleeding whatsoever! Responsive, crisp bright the lot. Looking to get the new xl2720t next summer coz i'd love a bigger one.
Soldato
- Joined
- 28 Oct 2011
- Posts
- 8,405
And I think the benefits are good, but massively overrated. Of course it's totally worth it when you can get the best of both worlds, but at the moment you can't really.
Associate
Unfortunately, *some* OLED can have problems with motion blur, too. Choose your OLED panel carefully. See:
Why Do Some OLED's Have Motion Blur?
If you buy a Spyder4 or i1 Pro colorimeter, you can get much better color quality. Totally worth the $150 purchase for a colorimeter, and software that automatically calibrates the best possible picture on your display from the sensor. Sometimes it even looks better than uncalibrated IPS (except for the viewing angle problem).
Eventually we need 120 Hz IPS with stroboscopic backlights, but that's a while away. So is good motion-clarity inexpensive OLED.
Last edited:
Associate
It bears worth noting that 120 Hz can have very different motion clarities.
Testing have shown the following:
120 Hz IPS overclock .................... 40% less motion blur than 60 Hz LCD -- (8.3ms sample and hold + streaking)
120 Hz TN panel ........................... 50% less motion blur than 60 Hz LCD -- (8.3ms sample and hold)
120 Hz LightBoost ........................ 85% less motion blur than 60 Hz LCD -- (2.4ms stroboscopic flash)
120 Hz LightBoost(10% setting) ..... 92% less motion blur than 60 Hz LCD -- (1.4ms stroboscopic flash)
120 Hz CRT ................................. 90% to 95% less motion blur than 60 Hz LCD -- (~1-2ms for visible phosphor decay)
Among the flat panels, the LightBoost 120 Hz displays (stroboscopic backlight, enabled via LightBoost HOWTO or other sites via googling "LightBoost") are unsurpassed, with some impressive testimonials, including from former CRT die-hard:
The FW900 is a famous 24" widescreen CRT that has been a long-time favourite of CRT die-hards. There's other reviewers and articles too. One warning though, you do need a very powerful GPU capable of running at 120fps@120Hz, or you don't get the full benefits of LightBoost during video games. And yes, it's TN color quality, not as good as IPS color quality. But again, we're talking about the best possible motion clarity here! And for users who need that!
120 Hz, especially with LightBoost, is worthwhile if you have a very fast GPU.
Running at 60fps @ 120Hz doesn't have much benefit. Especially if you're not a video gamer.
But if you can run at 120fps @ 120Hz, the motion clarity during fast-action gaming become tremendous.
Last edited: