BenQ EW2420 24" LED VA-LCD review!

Grall

Invisible Member
Legend
Bought this thing earlier today, literally only a few hours ago, so this will just be some first impressions to start with.

This is - as topic indicates - a 24" computer monitor, it uses white LED edge backlighting and has a stated full 8 bit per channel semi-glossy VA (Vertical Alignment) LCD panel built by...whomever. It also features:

  • VGA in
  • DVI in
  • HDMI in (x2)
  • Analog audio in
  • Stereo speakers @ 1.5W
  • Headphones out (on left side of unit)
  • Detachable headphones holder (on rear of unit)
  • 4-port USB 2.0 hub (2 ports on back, 2 on left side)
  • 8ms Grey-to-grey switching time (extremely bogus spec)
  • Ridiculous stated dynamic contrast (also extremely bogus)
  • Puny cable management system

This monitor is made of plastic. It's glossy black around the front, which looks nice if you like that sort of thing, but could look tacky to some. It also has a tendency to reflect light sources into the eyes of the user, which is kinda bad. The rear of the unit is mostly matte, but should be facing the wall in most cases.

The included stand is quite short in height, if you don't like looking down on your monitor you might get annoyed. That, or else you put something underneath, like a couple old phone books or something, as there's no height adjustment either. ;) ...Correspondingly, you can't rotate the screen either, but there IS what appears a VESA-compatible set of holes on the back, meaning you could always use your own stand, one that has the adjustments you need.

The stand's built-in cable management clip is a bit of a joke too it might be added. It hardly lets a DVI connector through, and if filling up all the connectors it will get very crowded...

The LCD screen itself isn't totally glossy like an Apple device, but not fully matte either. It's sort of half-and-half. I myself like glossy because it really makes colors pop (and I'm smart enough to not try to use it with a spotlight shining over my shoulder), but I know many don't fancy glossy, so these people might only sorta hate this monitor. :LOL:

Being VA, it features better color accuracy, viewing angles and contrast than the cheap and ubiqutous TN panel type, but also slower pixel response time. Noticably slower in fact, particulary on dark colors, where noticeable smearing occurs when gaming. If this bothers you, well, then you're in a bit of a bind as TN monitors are faster but give shite contrast in dark areas instead, so you're hardly any better off really! ;)

I myself am not bothered by the smearing, I've played on much worse panels from years past than this one just fine. Also, the degree of ghosting varies a lot from game to game. A mostly bright and colorful - and very very fast-paced - title like Team Fortress 2 plays really well on this screen, I don't really notice any ghosting here. A darker game like Half-Life Ep. 2 reveals more artifacts, but it's still not an issue; the screen never becomes a mess.

Scrolling browser windows and other bright graphics did not reveal any truly noticeable ghosting. Text is sharp even while scrolling, and I can't really see any pixel overdrive artifacts either. There could be some extremely slight yellowing on changes from dark-to-white, but it could also be my imagination.

Viewing angles are pretty good. I don't know how true the claimed 178 degrees side-to-side or whatever might be (how do you determine that anyway? Colors and contrast shift gradually on LCDs, it's not as if there's a point where the screen just turns pitch black all of a sudden.) The image shifts more when moving your line of sight vertically than it does moving horizontally it seems to me. Just tilt the screen so it points straight at your face when sitting down in front of it, then you should be OK.

Windows Update can download the appropriate monitor .INF and color profile automatically, which is very convenient. Windows also identifies the USB hub automatically of course, and I am pleased to report that it works (tested with a HD webcam). You even get a USB A-to-B connection cable in the box so you can hook it up to the PC straight away, which is a nice bonus. It's kind of on the short side though, but what the hell. It's a freebie. There's also a VGA cable (of dubious quality no doubt), but no DVI or HDMI cable. You probably want to supply your own anyway.

The built-in sound system is strictly analog in nature (and undoubtedly extremely low quality and tinny in nature; I have not tested). It does not function as a USB or HDMI audio device. There's also no mic in/output, so hooking up a headset to the monitor is kinda pointless. The speaker grilles are naught but tiny holes located on the underside of the bezel, meaning it won't compromise the visuals of the unit, but it won't be doing the already most likely poor audio quality any favors either. Probably good for as a speaker for Skype calls or such, but hardly any more than that.

The monitor has several image processing presets, including "Standard", "Movie", "Gaming", "Photo" and "sRGB". The picture is very very bright on Standard setting. Colors are quite vivid. There's some banding visible on the level loading screen of Team Fortress 2, but I'm not sure if it's the panel or the artwork that causes it. sRGB setting is noticeably drab-er. Colors are more muted, and overall brightness is lower when all other settings (the few of them there are) kept identical. There's also an "eco" option that supposedly lowers power useage, but I could notice virtually no difference from sRGB from a visual standpoint so I don't know what real use it has, nor have I checked how much power it saves - if indeed any at all really. The unit doesn't even get warm to the touch after extended use in max-brightness Normal mode, so it's not hungry on juice even at max brightness.

The Gaming/Movie/Photo presets utilize dynamic contrast processing for a purported 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio. No, I'm not shitting you guys, it's what they actually say. It doesn't even need mentioning how untrue that particular claim is btw. ;) Setting the screen to Gaming mode made the first title screen of HL:Ep.2 look VERY dark, and did not look good at all. I didn't test any further, but will in a bit.

"Standard" is from what I gather from the manual your everyday PC useage mode, it might actually even be better for gaming than the Gaming profile... sRGB is calibrated to try to match print, the manual says. Usually you want to set your computer screen to sRGB for the best color accuracy, but for this unit it makes the colors look fairly dull so I'm not so sure that's the best option here. I'd rather have more inaccurate but also more spectacular colors, than a more accurate, slight sepia/grey tint to everything...

There is also a toggle option in the on-screen menus called "ANA", which the manual describes as improving the gray-to-gray response time. Even with it on the monitor can't match a TN panel; I haven't tested properly yet with it disabled so I don't know if it makes any visible difference at all. It's probably very slight at best I would surmise.

Pluses:
  • VA panel for better visual quality.
  • Inputs. This monitor has mojo video inputs! All that's lacking is a displayport connector; component video is kind of obsolete these days so probably won't be missed by the vast majority of people (except those with ancient xbox 360s perhaps.)
  • Brightness. These LEDs pack quite a wallop.
  • Integrated USB hub.
  • Price! This thing is pretty darn cheap, only TN shit can beat it; IPS monitors cost noticeably more and might not offer a compelling advantage for those who just surf or game rather than do video-related work on their PCs, esp. as IPS tends to be the slowest in pixel response time, and cheap IPS units probably don't offer the best quality level of panels anyway.

Mehs:
  • No mic connectors.
  • Cheap audio hardware.
  • Flashcard reader could have been nice. :)
  • A little thick. Maybe because VA could require more depth than TN.

Minuses:
  • Glossy bezel. (If appliccable.)
  • Semi-glossy panel. (If appliccable.)
  • No height adjustment.
  • No rotation.
  • Sorta cheap, plasticy appearance.
  • Very slow-responding on-screen menus.
 
Ah, right. :D I thought it would be so obvious I just kinda forgot, considering it's a 24-incher... :oops: My bad!

It's a 16:9 full-HD unit, IE 1920*1080 pixies.

Oh, and I was wrong. The built-in audio does indeed support HDMI, so now I have to find my DVI-to-HDMI cable I bought for my PS3 to hook up to my old monitor and test it with this one so I can check out what the speakers sound like.
 
Thanks. :D

Also, how much did it cost? I didn't see a price in my google search.

Sadly, it's not available in the US yet. :(
 
Bah, another POS, 16:9 ratio. /sigh. And no rotation or height adjustment makes it worthless for me anyway. :p So still nothing on the market good enough to replace my 6-7 year old monitor.

Regards,
SB
 
They dumped digital vibrance years ago, didn't they? Never saw that slider in the drivers for my 8800GTXes anyway. It wasn't a very good feature as it caused image saturation very easily. I'm not seeing any similar issues here, not in the Normal image setting anyway. Perhaps in the more extreme Gaming or Movie presets, but I'm not using those.

I.S.T: I paid just under SKR2400 for the monitor, which is about US$366 at current exchange rate; the dollar's pretty low which drives up the difference (and also includes 25% sales tax, so the "raw price" is more like US$275ish.)
 
Eastmen, that's clearly a TN panel display. I wouldn't recommend it, I've been there, and never again. Invest in something better.

By the way, I had the opportunity to check the black-level; my previous LED-lit BenQ (the aforementioned TN panel monitor I had) had monstrously uneven backlighting. There was a large blob of brightness on the left side, and the lower-right corner was also noticably much brighter. This monitor on the other hand does a much better job here. The left side is again a little brighter perhaps, but it's not concentrated to a spot and rather evenly spread-out instead.

Seems BenQ did a much better job getting the lighting even in this panel. If this means some kind of diffusor, or calibrated LEDs, or just more LEDs total I dunno. But the evenness on the backlight of THIS monitor (the EW2420, which the topic is about) is absolutely on the same level as good CCFL LCDs. IE, not totally perfect, but quite good for the most part nevertheless.
 
the problem is that there isn't much here on the market, they are either cheap tn panels are really expensive (over $500 ) for an ips panel.
 
Dell for example has some cheaper IPS models, or you could pick this VA panel too... ;) It's not going to be $250 for an IPS monitor though I believe, but around $400 should be possible methinks.
 
Dell for example has some cheaper IPS models, or you could pick this VA panel too... ;) It's not going to be $250 for an IPS monitor though I believe, but around $400 should be possible methinks.

yea its tough out there for someone trying to make a make shift eyefinity pass. the dell ips is $550 which is way out of my price range.

I can't find the benq anywhere in the states.
 
Hm! I didn't think Dell's IPSes would be that high in price, although maybe the weak dollar has something to do with it.

I noticed the Benq monitor wasn't listed on the US version of their website, but it's surprising it's not available at all. Maybe it's simply too new...hurm. Well, I dunno.
 
Hm! I didn't think Dell's IPSes would be that high in price, although maybe the weak dollar has something to do with it.

I noticed the Benq monitor wasn't listed on the US version of their website, but it's surprising it's not available at all. Maybe it's simply too new...hurm. Well, I dunno.

my cousin works for samsung and can get me that monitor i posted for $150 so i think i will go with that for the time being and wait for ips and the likes to drop.

I have a 24.6 1920x1080 and 24inch 1920x1200 so the 1920x1200 will get replaced some time in the next year. So i can make that ips.

I notice that benq hardly makes it over here which is a real shame
 
Yeah, Benq monitors have virtually disappeared from the US over the past couple years for some reason. I had originally thought they'd gone out of business.

Regards,
SB
 
Dell's 23" IPS, the U2311H, drops to $240 + tax every so often; the 22" U2211H is a bit less. Both are 1080p with tilt & swivel & pivot base and a 3-year warranty (that IIRC covers any dead pixels--but not the tint issue--and is advance exchange). Hardforum's Displays subforum has a huge thread on them and every other IPS display if you want to read all the possible nitpicks. The main knocks against them are the same as with any cheaper IPS (as opposed to the much more expensive professional) panels: possible tint issues and text that may not be as sharp as on a TN b/c of the anti-glare coating. You can read all about the pros and cons over there.

I got the U2311H a couple of months ago, and it's great. I really thought that I'd pick up on the defects everyone mentions, but I guess I lucked out (which I realize isn't exactly a glowing recommendation for any product). The tinting might be there but it's too subtle for me to care, it seems fast enough for the occasional night of TF2 or Civ4, black levels seem fine, and no obvious backlight bleeding (but I haven't tested in a dark room yet). Viewing angles are good enough for portrait use. If you're going to be using it in the dark, then the main problem is the blue power LED (nothing tape or a Sharpie can't fix).

ElektroDragon compared the U2311H with the NEC EA231WMi. I would have went with the NEC if the Dell wasn't considerably cheaper.

HP's ZR22w (another IPS) is probably worth considering, too, as its regular price is decently lower than that of the other recent 23" IPSes (and Dell's standard 2211 and 2209 pricing, though they go on sale regularly enough). 1080p at 23" is a comfortable dpi for me at arm's length, so 1080p at 22" might have been slightly too small.

It's a tougher call if you're comparing to a $150 TN, but I think the nicer base (height, pivot) of the cheap IPSes make the real price difference less than $150 vs $240.
 
You got any further information with regards to this 'tint' issue...? I've only heard about it in passing before (just like here, really lol), but never seen any proper explanation of it.
 
Apparently one side of the screen has a green tint and the other a red one. It's easiest to see on a white screen (like the Apple yellow tint issues, "white" isn't uniform over the whole display). A somewhat recent post in the HardForums said the tinting was a function of (IIRC) color temp, so could be reduced via monitor adjustments.
 
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