BenQ GW2750HM

Medo

Medo

Medo

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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-062-BQ&groupid=17&catid=1120&subcat=

I am thinking of getting this monitor but I am scared of buying a VA panel after the disastrous Iiyama VA panel I got last year. The Iiyama in question was the Prolite X2775HDS, which I had to return after a day of usage because it was causing dizziness, eye ache and other stuff due to ghosting/response time or whatever it's called. I know this is a problem specific to VA panels and I don't want to go through that experience again.

Supposedly such problems have been fixed with the new generation of VA panels, like the one inside the BenQ I want to buy. What I want to know is, will this monitor be any good for movies? I read the TFT Central review of this monitor and I got the impression that it is a good monitor, but it was unclear to me whether this monitor is good with movies. Is there ghosting and colour banding on this monitor when watching movies? If so is it as bad as the Iiyama I mentioned?

I find the price of this monitor very appealing, sounds like it could be a really good 27" monitor for movies, especially after a little bit of calibration, also I love the contrast of VA panels.

PS: I really love TFT cetnral and read your reviews all the time, but most of it goes over my head and I'm left confused. A simpleton like me expects to see a star rating to see if it's good or not. :p
 
There's certainly been some improvements in VA panel response times recently and the GW2750HM is one of the first 27" models to offer that change that I can think of. There should be much less blurring as a result and it should be able to handle movies fine

Are you sure your eye fatigue was caused by poor response times though and not perhaps by pulse width modulation?

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/pulse_width_modulation.htm

The contrast ratio is certainly a strong point of the BenQ for movies but you will have to live with the limited stand adjustments and somewhat restrictive viewing angles. If you've owned a VA panel before you'll know what to expect there at least
 
Hey Baddass went for the GW2450HM based on your excellent reviews, got the HP LP2475W before that also based on your excellent reviews!

I'm coming from an IPS to a VA (though not directly as the BenQ is a replacement for a different monitor) because it seems to be a nice middle ground between TN (which I have never really liked for colour shift) and IPS and fancied trying out this VA panel.

Based on your experience of the GW2450 and 2750 would you say the PWM would be something that is noticeable, considering it's going to be used mainly for office work?

Medo, I should be getting the 24inch version Mon/Tue and although I think there are some slight differences between the panels in the 24 and 27 inch versions I will let you know my thoughts on it.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Baddass I don't think it was PWM that caused my eye fatigue, otherwise I would have noticed this with other monitors before. Not that I know if any of my previous monitors had PWM, but I'm assuming they did since it is a very common implementation in monitors. I had the 24" DGM VA panel for 4 years that I bought from OCUK and that monitor never gave me eye fatigue. Now I have the AOC i2353Ph and likewise it doesn't bother my eyes.

The problem I am talking about that I had with the Iiyama is to do with colours, especially dark colours like black leaving 'smears' behind in fast moving action. I don't know what this is called but I think it's caused by poor response?

@Martian aphid: I look forward to your impressions of the 24" version. :)
 
martian_aphid said:
Based on your experience of the GW2450 and 2750 would you say the PWM would be something that is noticeable, considering it's going to be used mainly for office work?
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It is your own personal experiences that this will have to be based on. Everyone has different sensitivity to the rapid on-off pulses of pulse width modulation. I certainly wouldn't let that put you off what is otherwise a very capable all-rounder.

@ Medo

Poor response times can actually cause a dizzying sensation. I haven't known it to cause eye fatigue, though. It also isn't the case that a monitor either has or doesn't have PWM - the flickering frequency differs on different models that use PWM and it depends on the brightness you are using. I would again suggest going for the BenQ and seeing how you find it. Try not to be put off by experiences on your Iiyama - it's a very different monitor really. :)
 
Hey PCM2, I'm not put-off, in fact it was Baddass's review that helped me to decide to order it! I think I mainly asked as I was curious as to what Baddass's perception of it was given the number of monitors he has been able to compare. I can't say that I've been able to notice it on a previous monitor but I imagine these things aren't always consciously perceived but can still have an effect - sort of like refresh rates on old CRTs. It's reassuring to hear that you think the monitor is a decent performer though :-D
 
martian_aphid said:
Hey PCM2, I'm not put-off, in fact it was Baddass's review that helped me to decide to order it! I think I mainly asked as I was curious as to what Baddass's perception of it was given the number of monitors he has been able to compare. I can't say that I've been able to notice it on a previous monitor but I imagine these things aren't always consciously perceived but can still have an effect - sort of like refresh rates on old CRTs. It's reassuring to hear that you think the monitor is a decent performer though :-D
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I can't personally say ive ever experienced any problems with any PWM monitors but some people do find it s problem. I'd say it's probably quite a small percentage overall though certainly. If you've not had problems with eye fatigue or headaches I'd be surprised if you found it a problem on the BenQ.
 
martian_aphid said:
Hey PCM2, I'm not put-off, in fact it was Baddass's review that helped me to decide to order it! I think I mainly asked as I was curious as to what Baddass's perception of it was given the number of monitors he has been able to compare. I can't say that I've been able to notice it on a previous monitor but I imagine these things aren't always consciously perceived but can still have an effect - sort of like refresh rates on old CRTs. It's reassuring to hear that you think the monitor is a decent performer though :-D
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I certainly do. I also wrote quite a positive review on the model which is certainly one I'd consider if I was looking for a general purpose monitor for under £200. I am not sensitive to PWM flickering - I do notice it if I'm looking for it but it doesn't seem to cause me any issues.
 
martian_aphid said:
Thanks for the info Baddass and PCM2 :-D

PCM2, where can I find your reviews, I tried pcmonitors.info from your sig but it doesn't seem to be working for me :-(
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That is the right place but the server is down currently. Should be back up later today! It is a new server and the configuration is taking some time. :)

Edit: Server up now, review is there on the main review menu.
 
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Hey Medo, sorry I didn't get back to you earlier but it's been a hectic week :S

So I got the GW2450 on monday. It only comes with VGA and as I was in a rush this is what I hooked it up to at first. Out of the box, as is usually the case, it was way too bright so I dropped it down to about 50 but from the reviews I think it should go less - I haven't had the time to do much more calibration than that.

The extra resolution is useful from what it was coming from [1280x768] but having the HP LP2475W as my personal monitor I am still an advocate of 16:10 for work monitors - the black bars in movies are never that noticeable and the extra vertical pixels make a difference to me at least.

I did a quick pixel check and noticed no dead/stuck pixels which is a relief as I'm doubtful that this monitor would be backed by the same pixel policy as the HP. Panel uniformity seems good and in a fairly dark room [curtains drawn] I could not notice any backlight bleed. Overall the blacks produced are pretty good and I would say better than the HP which is something I was expecting and was pleased to see. I did notice some of the points from the reviews - viewing from wide angles produces a contrast shift, with the image becoming fairly washed out at extreme angles, However, the point at which this occured would mean it wouldn't be noticed in day-to-day usage.

With the VGA connection I noticed a faint shadow/halo effect. This was most noticeable on long vertical lines (doing CAD work) where a sort of ghost line maybe 3mm offset to the right from the original would be visible and in these scenarios was pretty distracting. Fortunately I also purchased a DVI cable at the same time and swapping out the VGA for that removed the effect completely. I'm not entirely sure why VGA is still bundled as default as most PCs have been using DVI for years and I find it's always produced a better quality image. As for text - I found it did need a bit of tweaking with the cleartype tuner - though this is something I also had to do with the HP so not really an issue.

One other thing I did notice was banding on gradients though perhaps this is something that can be remedied by doing some more advanced tweaking of the monitor settings.

If there's anything specific you want to ask feel free.

PCM2, great website :-) also bookmarked and will be checking back there. I really appreciate people who share their knowledge to others so thanks a lot for that - If it wasn't for TFTcentral I probably wouldn't even have 1/10th of the knowledge of monitors I have now!
 
Thanks Martian Aphid. Have you tried any movies on it yet? I think I'm 90% likely to buy this monitor. :)

I was flirting with the idea of getting the Samsung 970 prior to this but I just can't justify the 800 quid price they sell for.
 
Movies are generally best on modern VA panels like the BenQ. The colour variety and consistency is quite strong and the contrast is excellent - things generally look as the director intended. Just reviewing the Dell S2440L at the moment which is the only VA panel I've used since the BenQ. It is certainly s good one for movies!
 
I tried some 1080 trailers on it (though the machine struggled a bit with them!) everything looked great and as the experts have metioned the blacks are going to be a benefit of going VA, then again I never had any issues with them on my IPS and they aren't usually known for great contrast!
 
My monitor arrived today at 9:00 and I must say I am extremely pleased with it after using it for about an hour. I was just watching BBC's Life documentary on blu ray and the colours are amazing. The contrast is breathtaking, excellent blacks and whites, splendid greens and beautiful reds. Basically, I am really really pleased with the colours so far.

Response time is good too, no blurring in fast moving scenes. This was the thing I was worried about most and I am very relieved to say the least. :) The VA panel I got last year and had to return couldn't cope with some black transition scenes at all, for example in dark scenes with lots of shadow, things in shadow would leave red trails, eg, peoples would leave a red smear if they moved their heads fast. Anyway, I digress.

I have reduced brightness to 50% and contrast is same at 50%, gamma at setting 4. However I can't seem to change the individual RGB settings, the menu just skips over the red, blue and green, as a result they all remain at 100%. I am using user mode and still can't change them. Having said that, I am still very happy with the colours. :)

The brightness is still a bit too high at 50%, I am thinking of reducing it to 30% or lower.

Edit: I forgot a few details, there are no dead or stuck pixels, and a tiny bit of backlight bleed on the bottom left hand corner, almost not noticeable, compared to my previous monitor it is negligible. :)
 
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