The BenQ EW2420: Too good to be true?

If you want to stick with 24 inches and don't think you'll be soured by spending that amount of money (i.e. the same as the EW2420 costs) then I'd go for the B2430L. It's the 24 inch version of the monitor I suggested before and includes DVI inputs. The build quality and image quality is better than the BenQ G2420HDBL. The HDBL is partly the reason I'm so pleasantly surprised by a lot of what the EW2420 offers. :p
 
crackerbear said:
Sorry to be a nuisance, but do you know any of the answers I posed above in my previous post?

I know it's a bit like asking you to predict the future, but you have a much broader sense of the monitor market than I will ever have, so would value your opinion :)
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I'm not aware of any. The only ones to look out for that I know of are LG's upcoming LED-backlit IPS monitors due out in Q1 next year. They are very unlikely to be in the same price range though.

THE DOC said:
ok and a couple of questions
the difference between the b2430h is slightly bigger screen and hdmi connection is that right


and how would it affect me for playing games compaired to my old dell 2407
as in quality the angles is not a problem i sit right in front of my screen
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I don't think the 'L' does have a smaller screen it's just a blip in Samsung's specifications. The actual monitor has exactly the same dimensions so I don't see the screen being 0.4" smaller on the 'L'. I think the HDMI input is the only real difference.

TN panels display what I refer to as 'colour shifting' - that is to say that even if you are sit directly infront of it a given colour will appear quite different depending on its position on the screen. In games the actual shift is not usually noticed but it does cause shade-crossover and you lose subtle distinctions between colours. Whether or not this is important to you is subjective - for me I can live with it but I much prefer higher quality panels for lack of this problem.
 
This is the 2407WFP right? It has an S-PVA panel. I don't mean to backtrack but if you don't take any issues with the responsiveness of the 2407WFP then the EW2420 should be just fine too!
 
Sorry for the confusion... I just didn't really switch on to the fact you were using a 2407WFP - the responsiveness of the EW2420 is similar. The reason I recommended the B2430L is because you mentioned you would be playing games such as CoD Black Ops - personally I wouldn't be comfortable playing that kind of title on a *VA panel but that's just me. :) Whichever way you look at it -

- The EW2420 has better contrast than the 2407WFP and B2430L

- The EW2420 has better colour reproduction than the B2430L and is perhaps closer to the 2407WFP (the latter being broad gamut but the semi-gloss screen on the EW2420 seems to bring things a bit closer visually)

- The EW2420 has better responsiveness than the 2407WFP but the B2430L is better than either of these:


dell_2407wfp_hc.jpg
Dell 2407WFP

EW2420-ghosting-AMA-on.jpg

BenQ EW2420

The first image if from the TFT Central review with the 'worst case' 2407WFP responsiveness on the right. The second image is one captured from my EW2420 for the worst case scenario. Despite the images looking different due to the size and colour differences (different camera, different monitor etc.) the responsiveness based on this test is comparable if not in the EW2420's favour.
 
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The side bezels are 22.5mm each (so under 1 inch). Top one is 23mm and the bottom one is about 30mm including the roller thingy at the bottom (through lack of a better term).
 
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In terms of what? Responsiveness? Yes. In terms of everything else, as covered in this thread, it would be a large upgrade. Is that monitor still working so you could test PixPerAn or not?
 
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Haha. Yeah blacks on this thing really are excellent (as they often are on Vertical Alignment panels). If you go on 'Streaky Pictures' by pressing F6 it should have a car moving along at the fastest 'tempo' (16 I believe). If you take a picture of that with a camera at the highest ISO (actually 200-400 should be fine) that should do the trick. It's difficult to see the extent of the trailing just by looking so the camera bit really helps. :)
 
Oh dear... Yeah half of the problem with this responsiveness malarky is that once you've noticed it you keep on looking for it obsessively. The PixPerAn car chase test doesn't necessarily capture this but lighter objects (especially white) moving against a darker background can leave 'black ghosting' that is usually not found on a TN panel. I think this can best be explained by an example - using a thermal sight in Armed Assault 2: Operation Arrowhead and moving the mouse at a fast pace towards the right:

Black-ghost.jpg


You can see it (ghostly figure on left) has displaced impressively far from the actual image (white man on right). If the mouse is moved more slowly then it doesn't displace as far but it's still there.

If you move your mouse at a moderate pace against the dark blue background of overclockers as you type a post do you notice a strange black ghost image or just white-grey trails?
 
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I think there are some things on PixPerAn like white or light blocks moving against a darker background - obviously a black background is no good as there will be no 'black ghosting' on that. It sounds from your mouse cursor test as if you are experiencing a typical trailing I'd expect from a 60Hz TN LCD. The problem with the 'dark trails' is that they are more noticeable than a trail of the same colour as the actual object. This is why I find the responsiveness of this monitor generally worse on night-time maps. Dirt 2 for example looks absolutely fine during the day but at night you get those very noticeable dark smeary trails.
 
Yes it was - incidentally it seems to be an artifact of the 'AMA' (response time compensation) mode. If I turn the 'AMA' mode off then the trail is a smokey blend of the two colours moving against one another and it's actually a lot worse. Very odd.
 
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Well I have put in a returns request because it can take some time to process but I haven't agreed to anything yet. I'm really giving it some thought because in many ways I do really like it and it does seem to be growing on me.
 
bigjimmyauk said:
i think i might have to get one, i mean i do everything at my desk from play pc,ps3,360 and watch blu rays etc etc i think it might just turn out to be the good all round monitor i'm after

does it have a audio output on the monitor itself so any output from the monitor can go directly to my speakers.


also what does this mean in the benq specs
Response Time(Tr+Tf) typ. 25ms, 8ms (GtG)
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Response times are covered half way down this monitor technology article.

The EW2420 has a headphone line-in on the side which I assume could be used for speakers.
 
Very interesting - although it seems he got a slightly duff panel. He talks about a 'problem' with the LED backlight causing 'too much blue', especially in the corners of the screen, which upsets colour balance. I can tell you that this is actually the only LED-backlit monitor I've used that doesn't suffer from an overly cool colour tone - and there is no noticeable backlight bleed (which has nothing to do with whether it is LED backlit or not) anywhere on the screen. Obviously individual panels are all slightly different but if some of the issues he raises in the review concern you just remember that they are nothing to do with the EW2420 as a model but his screen as an individual unit.

Edit: I think he realised this was a problem with the individual unit and he sent it back for replacement. Luckily we don't have that dodgy Texan stock over here. ;)
 
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Just a superquick update: The stars and tracer fire lighting up the pitch dark sky on Arma2: Op Arrowhead is just out of this world awesome. I've never seen such fantastic tracers burning a hole in my retina on a game before. :p
 
The EW2420 also has 5 USB ports (four down, one up). Hilariously they excluded the 'game' preset from the BL2400PT - what a shame. If you want a horrendously sharp and oversaturated image with crappy contrast you'll need to select 'movie' or 'photo' mode instead.
 
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