The BenQ EW2420: Too good to be true?

[PCM2]

PCM2. I hear what you are saying about the new Dell, but I would steer clear of brand new models. At least wait till some reviews are out and any problems in production, are ironed out.

With the ZR24W, he is getting a tried and tested product which rates high amongst most users. If he gets a brand spanking new DELL, he will not only have to wait for it be released, but if he adopts early, he will most definitely pay a higher price and also, he may get a product which isn't as good as the ZR24W.

If he is in no rush to buy, then there is no harm in waiting to see how the DELL pans out and if the reviews are good...then he can buy.

Most of Dell's recent monitor launches (the narrow gamut ones) have undergone fairly superficial changes since their introduction. Their older models, most noteably their WCG-CCFL models, were plagued with issues and were revised several times on the hardware level. There is no reason to think that the U2412M won't be a fantastic monitor straight from the off - but obviously the reviews and user experiences are worth paying attention to first. It doesn't sound as if monographix is in a massive rush as he is looking to upgrade what one would assume to be a fully functional monitor.

 

[PCM2]

On the sky by any chance? It's just poorly implemented DX9 'weather effects' not the monitor.

 

[PCM2]

- Unless you are needing to do 'colour critical work' I would suggest using familiar desktop backgrounds, icons and perhaps the end section of the Windows 7 calibration tool to try to refine colour balance. I would also use LCD tests on the website Lagom.nl to help with optimal contrast levels. The black level test and white saturation tests are particularly good for this - really you want to set the contrast as high as you can without the image becoming bleached (whites) and get as many black squares visible as you can. If I recall correctly contrast isn't exactly the ZR24W's strong point so don't stress if the results on these 'tests' seem disappointing. The default contrast level should be pretty much optimal anyway on this model. And brightness can be set to whichever level you're comfortable with but due to the relatively high black levels the ZR24W tends to work better with relatively low brightness levels.

- The overdrive is best left off on the ZR24W. It actually still uses overdrive even if it is 'off' - this is really just an 'overdrive boost' function. Sadly this boost introduces some troublesome negative artifacts without really reducing conventional trailing.

- Dynamic contrast is a plague. Leave it off.