Official BenQ FP241VW (not FP241W) Thread. Reviews and Pics

Wish I could get it at these prices... Benq Canada has it for $649 + $102.81 next day shipping only ... must be the foreign exchange and super white/ivory glove delivery. :(
 
Oh man.. so tempted to get the FP241VW for $449 shipped now that I have the cash... Should I wait until Black Friday for better deals or should I pull a trigger on this one?

and just to be clear, it's an MVA panel correct?
 
I really like this monitor, but am I the only one not happy with the casing around it ? It makes it look bulky, and I want to have 2 of them side by side...so its not going to look right....with this huge gap in the middle..

Any word on BenQ changing this bulky crap or coming out with a new panel any time soon?
 
Oh man.. so tempted to get the FP241VW for $449 shipped now that I have the cash... Should I wait until Black Friday for better deals or should I pull a trigger on this one?

and just to be clear, it's an MVA panel correct?

I honestely believe that $449 free shipping for a good MVA as BenQ FP241VW is the best you can get on market. This free shipping could end on 11/15 so you might want to make your decision before then.
 
I recently bought the FP241VW and I'm quite satisfied with it. But I have the version without the Overscan controls. I phoned BenQ and they told me that the upgrade is free under warranty (in Poland). I certainly would like to use it with a PS3, but I read it is possible to use it through DVI with the PS3 and HDMI with the PC without problems. Are there any other features of the new firmware to make it worth sending it for 2 weeks to change the firmware? Won't there by any problems with HDCP when I connect a PS3 through a HDMI to DVI adapter? Does the PS3 have black out problems through DVI? (I experience blackout sometimes with my old Radeon 9800, but I read that newer cards don't have this problem).
 
A couple of questions about this monitor. I'm pretty set on it, but one thing I noticed is that it has no RCA audio inputs. I want to use this for my PS3 (HDMI), Wii (component), PC (DVI) and PS2 (composite), so how will I be able to get the audio? For the PS3, am I right in assuming that it will pass audio from HDMI to the headphone jack (which I would then plug into my PC speakers)?

Also, does BenQ's website charge tax on their orders? I can't find out without going through the checkout process and entering credit card info.

Thanks to everyone who has provided info in this epic thread, it has been exceedingly helpful.
 
A couple of questions about this monitor. I'm pretty set on it, but one thing I noticed is that it has no RCA audio inputs. I want to use this for my PS3 (HDMI), Wii (component), PC (DVI) and PS2 (composite), so how will I be able to get the audio? For the PS3, am I right in assuming that it will pass audio from HDMI to the headphone jack (which I would then plug into my PC speakers)?

I'm going to be doing the same thing, and multiple inputs is one of the primary factors in my decision on this monitor.

Yes, you will be able to plug a 3.5mm headphone jack into the monitor and get the HDMI audio to your speakers that way. As for component/composite/DVI, if you've only got a single 3.5mm jack to work with, it's less than ideal. You might have to end up using a couple RCA (x2) to 3.5mm adapters, and a single 3.5mm extension, which could be had from Monoprice for less than $10.

Something like these, but in the lengths you need and with the appropriate male/female connectors. Monoprice will have pretty much anything you need to make it work.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021804&p_id=666&seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=663&seq=1&format=2

My setup is a bit different than yours though. I'm running an Xbox 360 (HDMI), PC (DVI), Wii (Component), and maybe an N64 off of composite from time to time, a laptop through VGA occasionally. The item that's going to enable me to do this is a 5.1 HTiB system I snagged about a year ago for $94. I'm going to run optical audio from the Xbox, analog from the PC via one of those 3.5mm to RCA adapters (until I upgrade to optical), and for the Wii things get a bit trickier. At the monitor, I'm going to have to use two RCA couplers to get to an RCA extension to run the audio back to the analog inputs on my HTiB. I should be able to conceal it fairly well behind the monitor, though. Despite the initial impression this post may give you, I despise wire messes. :D

It seems a bit complicated, but having this much multifunction use along with 5.1 sound at this price point seems like it will definitely be worth it to me.

I'm presently mounting my speakers in preparation for my monitor's arrival tomorrow. ^_^ I think I'm going to use http://cableorganizer.com/wire-cover/ to get the wires to my rear surrounds. I'll just run it straight up the wall and across the ceiling, it should look nicely finished when it's all said and done.

3020645186_2c5c5c2781_o.jpg


The white cutout represents the dimensions of the FP241VW's base. I'm using this to try to figure out how I'm going to lay everything out, and to bisect the room and determine exactly where I'm going to mount the speakers.

3019814003_23fec4b0b4_o.jpg


The monitor's going to be huge compared to my laptop's screen, and at 17", it's not a lightweight either!

3019814053_547c51211d_o.jpg


Getting ready to mount the speakers and a signum to conceal the wires. Yeah, this is my bedroom. I'm a student.

Sorry about the picture quality, just took a few snapshots with the iPhone. And while they might not be that informative, I know quite a few of you are receiving yours soon, too. I hope you're as excited as I am. :)
 
I'm going to be doing the same thing, and multiple inputs is one of the primary factors in my decision on this monitor.

Yes, you will be able to plug a 3.5mm headphone jack into the monitor and get the HDMI audio to your speakers that way. As for component/composite/DVI, if you've only got a single 3.5mm jack to work with, it's less than ideal. You might have to end up using a couple RCA (x2) to 3.5mm adapters, and a single 3.5mm extension, which could be had from Monoprice for less than $10.

Something like these, but in the lengths you need and with the appropriate male/female connectors. Monoprice will have pretty much anything you need to make it work.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021804&p_id=666&seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=663&seq=1&format=2

My setup is a bit different than yours though. I'm running an Xbox 360 (HDMI), PC (DVI), Wii (Component), and maybe an N64 off of composite from time to time, a laptop through VGA occasionally. The item that's going to enable me to do this is a 5.1 HTiB system I snagged about a year ago for $94. I'm going to run optical audio from the Xbox, analog from the PC via one of those 3.5mm to RCA adapters (until I upgrade to optical), and for the Wii things get a bit trickier. At the monitor, I'm going to have to use two RCA couplers to get to an RCA extension to run the audio back to the analog inputs on my HTiB. I should be able to conceal it fairly well behind the monitor, though. Despite the initial impression this post may give you, I despise wire messes. :D

It seems a bit complicated, but having this much multifunction use along with 5.1 sound at this price point seems like it will definitely be worth it to me.

I'm presently mounting my speakers in preparation for my monitor's arrival tomorrow. ^_^ I think I'm going to use http://cableorganizer.com/wire-cover/ to get the wires to my rear surrounds. I'll just run it straight up the wall and across the ceiling, it should look nicely finished when it's all said and done.

The white cutout represents the dimensions of the FP241VW's base. I'm using this to try to figure out how I'm going to lay everything out, and to bisect the room and determine exactly where I'm going to mount the speakers.

The monitor's going to be huge compared to my laptop's screen, and at 17", it's not a lightweight either!

Getting ready to mount the speakers and a signum to conceal the wires. Yeah, this is my bedroom. I'm a student.

Sorry about the picture quality, just took a few snapshots with the iPhone. And while they might not be that informative, I know quite a few of you are receiving yours soon, too. I hope you're as excited as I am. :)
I was just thinking about the same solution you posted. I'm going to be using a component stereo unit that has an RCA auxiliary input on the back as my speaker system. It's old, but I absolutely love it and can't imagine any 2.1 computer system sounding any better (it's a JVC gigatube). So, I'm going to be running the PS3 audio from the headphone jack via a 3.5mm --> RCA cable, and then for the Wii and PS2, I'll will do as you will, using RCA extension cables from the back of the monitor. I'm planning on using an RCA switch like the following so I don't need to constantly alternate between three audio sources (correct me if I'm wrong about this working as I hope):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001AM1L6E/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2NK89850H0GO2&v=glance

I appreciate your response though and look forward to your feeback on the monitor. I haven't ordered mine yet, but soon enough. :)
 
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I'm planning on using an RCA switch like the following so I don't need to constantly alternate between three audio sources (correct me if I'm wrong about this working as I hope):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001AM1L6E/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2NK89850H0GO2&v=glance

Cool stuff. And yeah, that should work fine. In fact, I was looking for something similar before I decided to purchase the monitor. I may have to snag one to hold me over until I get optical out on my PC.
 
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I just picked one of these up today for $400 Canadian. My local shop had them listed at $499 on their website but when I showed up they were marked down to $400! It was open box but it came with all the packaging and cables and it was displayed behind the counter so no grubby fingerprints. Any other Canadians might want to check out Memory Express as they had 2 more at the same price at the location I went to!
 
I would probably recommend sending it in for the upgrade. The HDMI is not very good for computer use. It is "video level" HDMI which means it has "high" black level. What this means is that the HDMI will resolve any color perfectly fine between R,G,B, levels of 16 to 255, which means any color that is R,G,B 0 to 15 is shown as black. So, in essence any color that has red, green, or blue 16 to 255 level.

This works fine with consoles that have a selectible black level, but with computers you will get an overly contrasted display and lose dark details in dark games and images. I would probably recommend getting an HDMI switch or something and hooking it into the DVI with an HDMI to DVI cable. I'm not sure how well this works with an ATI 9800 though.

Otherwise the PS3 will still work fine even with the approximately 5% overscan over HDMI.

Both DVI and HDMI fully support HDCP.

I recently bought the FP241VW and I'm quite satisfied with it. But I have the version without the Overscan controls. I phoned BenQ and they told me that the upgrade is free under warranty (in Poland). I certainly would like to use it with a PS3, but I read it is possible to use it through DVI with the PS3 and HDMI with the PC without problems. Are there any other features of the new firmware to make it worth sending it for 2 weeks to change the firmware? Won't there by any problems with HDCP when I connect a PS3 through a HDMI to DVI adapter? Does the PS3 have black out problems through DVI? (I experience blackout sometimes with my old Radeon 9800, but I read that newer cards don't have this problem).
 
I got mine a few days ago. It survived the 3 day freight + 14hr's on the local delivery truck with no dead or stuck pixels.

FP241VW - Manufactured July 2008

I've seen so many positive things about this monitor I was somewhat disappointed with it and given the lack of criticisms i feel compelled to share the shortcomings I've seen. My day job is as an SDE-T (SDE+QAE) which tends to make me a bit of a critic of things that go unnoticed to most. So this post is for all of the perfectionists out there - this is a good monitor, i won't be getting another one but i doubt I'll be returning it ;)

In truth I'm not sure where this monitor stands in the field of 24" around this price point but here are my criticisms - please don't take this and an anti FP241W post. I'm just trying to give my honest here's your issue list opinion.


My List of Issues with this Screen:
- This screen uses dithering to smooth the N bit/channel limits - You can see the dithering crawl in all image modes except 'standard' where dithering is still used but its not 'active'.
- I can see the refresh grid (LCD color wheel?) when my eyes pan - checkerboard pattern visible on most LCD's as your eyes pan over the screen (likely close to 30-60px/sec). I see this when tracking my mouse, scrolling text, or when my eyes are tracking some other slow moving object over solid colors or 'slow' gradients.
- over sharpening of the image with a sharpness better than 4 on a scale from 1 to 5 (in the OSD where 1 is the sharpest). Some of the worst artifacts of this are seen when a white to light gray line is moving over a dark background at what is probably 60px/sec (such as a fps graph) - the line ISN'T gray it's magenta and green! I can see the leading edge of my mouse flitter green and magenta as it moves too :( and in the worst case i've observed (EVE fps) the magenta/green segments are about 4-8px tall so it's highly noticeable to me.
- The 'Perfect Motion' and 'Game Mode' settings are useless to me, the 'black frame insertion' causes a classic 60hz monitor strobe headache and eye strain.
- Color banding is good but still visible as colors approach black (luminosity < 15)
- Dark grays have a green tint to them, though much less so then many other LCD's I've seen.
- Not a fan of the stand... It looks good but it's not functional. I need to buy a monitor shelf or wall mount to lift the screen - i wish they had offered it with their ergo stand.
** Even without perfect motion or game modes turned on this monitor fatigues my eyes after a couple of hours of viewing. This is by far my largest complaint.
 
Just ordered one from benq. Despite its flaws (which most all LCD's have) it should still be a nice improvement over what I was using before. Cant wait.
 
Pulled the trigger just now. It will be my 1st LCD as well. I'm still a little confused about firmware dates though. Which date is considered 'safe' and whatnot? And is there anything crucial I need to know in general about this LCD that most people may have overlooked?

I'll be sure to post pics when it arrives :)
 
I received my monitor last week.

It seems to have a few pixel defects, but I'm not exactly sure how to classify them. They certainly seem smaller than the pixel 'squares', so I almost want to say they're subpixels, but scouring the monitor further, I found some even smaller defects. Can anyone help me clarify what might be going on here?

Basically, when using a utility like Dead Pixel Buddy, the example images used to show you what a dead pixel would look like (which look to be using just one illuminated pixel) are much more apparent than what I'm seeing. So if I've just got stuck subpixels or whatnot that aren't very apparent (but still can be seen when looking directly at the area), I might not want to return it in fear of getting a much more obvious defect.

So far, what I've been able to find --

  • Two stuck green pixels in the bottom left.
  • In the space between those two pixels (3-4") there are four very faint stuck (sub?)pixels, two green, one blue, one more of a reddish color that can only be seen in a dark room on a black background.
  • Another fluorescent green stuck pixel in the top right.
  • Another fluorescent green stuck pixel in the bottom center, near the BenQ logo.
  • Finally, what looks like two stuck white pixels in the center, but they change color depending on the angle, so I wonder if it's something stuck underneath the monitor. I can see the "screen door effect" between the two, though, so I'm guessing they are indeed pixels.

While this may seem devastating, again, none of these are really apparent. So much so, that I thought I had received a perfect panel for a day or two after I received it, until I looked at it very closely in a dark room. And I'm something of a perfectionist (hence my asking for advice here), so I'm not just letting obvious defects slide. Right now I'm thinking that I'll try to exchange it, but I'd like to get some opinions. If these larger dots are merely subpixels, then what are the even smaller defects?

What tends to bother me even more than these small points of light is the black levels of the monitor. Perhaps I've been spoiled, but my Dell e1705's laptop screen (a 17" 1920x1200 screen which I'm guessing is TN) has much deeper blacks, and seemingly much higher contrast. I'm running the BenQ off of DVI from the laptop, and displaying the same image on both screens yields a noticeable difference. The e1705 also has a distinct advantage as far as pixel pitch goes, but that's obvious.

Also, the first thing I noticed when I turned the monitor on was a bit of color banding on my wallpaper http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/downloads/01707_spectrumofthesky_1920x1200.jpg. Perhaps this was because I haven't calibrated the monitor much yet, but it certainly didn't show up on the laptop. It may even be a problem with the source image, because I haven't noticed any major problems elsewhere. Not a huge deal to me, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Finally, my last gripe are the viewing angles. Specifically, the supplied stand. One of the reasons I purchased an MVA panel was for the increased viewing angles. Still, despite that, because the stand doesn't allow for height adjustment, even with the monitor tilted upward, I still see some distortion in the lower corners of the monitor under normal viewing conditions. Blacks take on a more reddish hue as the angle increases. Again, maybe I've just been spoiled with my laptop's display, which seems to have comparable viewing angles but with much less backlight bleed (and thusly those deeper blacks). Unlike most people, I love the aesthetics of the stand, but the height drawback is there.

Anyway, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. A monitor I used to use at work (22", 1680x1050, TN) had a stuck green pixel that was almost the same color as what I'm seeing, but it was infinitely more visible. My girlfriend's DS has another stuck green pixel that makes it almost worth replacing the handheld. Why are these dots there on my display, but very faint? Hrm.
 
Mine also had something in it that changed colors depending on viewing angle. I figured it was a tiny fuzz catching the backlight and neighboring subpixels, but I'm not certain.
 
I decided on the benq fp241vw. I got it last week and find it very uneasy to play to the point where I think its giving me motion sickness. Even slow movement frome side to side creates a double image. This is using a Playstation 3 through HDMI input. Just looking for some help on this. Perhaps I'm not optimizing it correctly. I think it is the motion blur, or ghosting.

I have taken some pics and a video. Trying to figure out if this is normal.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vige3E-8VRA

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32542420@N04/3040314120/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32542420@N04/3039475987/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32542420@N04/3040313854/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32542420@N04/3040313638/
 
Mine came in today via fedex as i was leaving for work. Ordered on saturday. I live in texas so i guess thats why it was so fast. Will take some pics later after I get home and set it up. Crossing my fingers for no dead or stuck pixels or other issues.
 
Ordered noon on Saturday, just arrived today at 5PM... I couldn't be happier

Just finished checking for dead pixels and there are none! Wheee!

Now this is my first LCD coming from 17" CRT and Laptop and HOT DAMN... I'm still in awe...

I'll take pics and post some later together with any questions I have.. Thanks everyone on this forum for all the information thus far. Keep it up :)
 
I received my monitor last week.

It seems to have a few pixel defects, but I'm not exactly sure how to classify them. They certainly seem smaller than the pixel 'squares', so I almost want to say they're subpixels, but scouring the monitor further, I found some even smaller defects. Can anyone help me clarify what might be going on here?

Basically, when using a utility like Dead Pixel Buddy, the example images used to show you what a dead pixel would look like (which look to be using just one illuminated pixel) are much more apparent than what I'm seeing. So if I've just got stuck subpixels or whatnot that aren't very apparent (but still can be seen when looking directly at the area), I might not want to return it in fear of getting a much more obvious defect.

So far, what I've been able to find --

  • Two stuck green pixels in the bottom left.
  • In the space between those two pixels (3-4") there are four very faint stuck (sub?)pixels, two green, one blue, one more of a reddish color that can only be seen in a dark room on a black background.
  • Another fluorescent green stuck pixel in the top right.
  • Another fluorescent green stuck pixel in the bottom center, near the BenQ logo.
  • Finally, what looks like two stuck white pixels in the center, but they change color depending on the angle, so I wonder if it's something stuck underneath the monitor. I can see the "screen door effect" between the two, though, so I'm guessing they are indeed pixels.

While this may seem devastating, again, none of these are really apparent. So much so, that I thought I had received a perfect panel for a day or two after I received it, until I looked at it very closely in a dark room. And I'm something of a perfectionist (hence my asking for advice here), so I'm not just letting obvious defects slide. Right now I'm thinking that I'll try to exchange it, but I'd like to get some opinions. If these larger dots are merely subpixels, then what are the even smaller defects?

What tends to bother me even more than these small points of light is the black levels of the monitor. Perhaps I've been spoiled, but my Dell e1705's laptop screen (a 17" 1920x1200 screen which I'm guessing is TN) has much deeper blacks, and seemingly much higher contrast. I'm running the BenQ off of DVI from the laptop, and displaying the same image on both screens yields a noticeable difference. The e1705 also has a distinct advantage as far as pixel pitch goes, but that's obvious.

Also, the first thing I noticed when I turned the monitor on was a bit of color banding on my wallpaper http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/downloads/01707_spectrumofthesky_1920x1200.jpg. Perhaps this was because I haven't calibrated the monitor much yet, but it certainly didn't show up on the laptop. It may even be a problem with the source image, because I haven't noticed any major problems elsewhere. Not a huge deal to me, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Finally, my last gripe are the viewing angles. Specifically, the supplied stand. One of the reasons I purchased an MVA panel was for the increased viewing angles. Still, despite that, because the stand doesn't allow for height adjustment, even with the monitor tilted upward, I still see some distortion in the lower corners of the monitor under normal viewing conditions. Blacks take on a more reddish hue as the angle increases. Again, maybe I've just been spoiled with my laptop's display, which seems to have comparable viewing angles but with much less backlight bleed (and thusly those deeper blacks). Unlike most people, I love the aesthetics of the stand, but the height drawback is there.

Anyway, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. A monitor I used to use at work (22", 1680x1050, TN) had a stuck green pixel that was almost the same color as what I'm seeing, but it was infinitely more visible. My girlfriend's DS has another stuck green pixel that makes it almost worth replacing the handheld. Why are these dots there on my display, but very faint? Hrm.

Taikero by the sounds of it to me this is devastating and you could likely get a DOA replacement. I suggest you contact BENQ - if it is in the DOA class they will pay shipping both ways :D


(edit added >)
... I just checked out that wallpaper on my 241 - i also see the color banding. As i stated in my other post this monitor appears to band when the colors fall under a luminosity of 15 or so. It took me a while to tune the colors on it and the image improved alot - I too have been spoiled by my Toshiba satellite S35 (2003 model laptop) that panel was awesome.

I'm eyeballing this stand i think it it'll work well with this monitor, and complement it too http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Offi...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1227070505&sr=8-1 (i'm unsure of the edges of the stand - it might not work out so well)
 
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I loaded 10e color settings with the attached file, but didn't notice a huge change. I'm assuming it shouldn't be very drastic?

Can anyone else comment on that?
 
just placed my order. $450 shipped can't be beat. this will be my first LCD ever. my nec fp2141sb just isn't cutting it anymore. i hope it lives up to the hype. please god no dead pixels
 
What's the purpose of the Game Mode button and Perfect Motion button?

When I push them all it seems to do is make everything on the screen really dark. I don't notice much wrong when not using them so should I even bother?
 
mine was delivered a few days ago, at first it really hurt my eyes, but after messing with the color settings i love this baby.

btw... ITS HUGE! much bigger than my 20.1"

and no dead/stuck pixels ^^
 
wow so i have ordered it twice and benq keeps canceling my orders for no reason and without telling me. when i call them, they keep telling me it might be something wrong with billing address however bank of america confirms that all my information is correct. and since the free shipping code expired yesterday they are saying i might have to pay shipping even though i have ordered this twice in passed 2 weeks.

*edit - unbelievable, so far customer service has been god awful.

**edit - so after speaking with 2 different level managers they still cannot tell me why my orders were canceled. so i used a different card and she supposedly put in a request to have the $50 off coupon and the free shipping coupon applied but i have to pay the full price up front...sounds like they are trying to screw me. i will send send it back if they do not give me the coupons.

***finally got it sorted it out. the monitor will be here tomorrow. i will post pictures and reviews. ill also follow up and see if benq actually gives me my money back for the coupons i was supposed to get...if not im sending the thing back.
 
What are some negative things about this monitor?

I currently am debating between the FP241VW and the V2400W.
 
Just a status update:

I RMA'd my monitor due to pixel defects, and Benq receieved it about a week ago. They created a new order as usual, etc., but today I receieved an email saying that my order had been canceled. I just called and the representative told me that the product that been discontinued about an hour ago in their system and will no longer be available.

So, unfortunately for me, I've got to start monitor shopping again. Feh! Monitors with component inputs/1:1 are so hard to find. I guess I might go with the Dell 2408 . . . but the input lag scares me. :(

Perhaps this is why they had the sale going on for it, getting rid of their remaining stock. <shrug>
 
wow so benQ is outa these? wonder what we will get if we RMA now.

They'll credit your card.

Edit: Looks like the salesperson was being honest. The monitor's availability status is now backordered.
 
Discontinued? But they just re-released the monitor this summer. Why would they do all that and stop making them 4 months later? They still have it on their website for order, the buy button hasn't been removed yet.

http://store.benq.us/benq-us/product.aspx?sku=3269055&culture=en-US

No idea why it was discontinued, or why it was put on sale shortly after being rereleased; however, as far as the buy button still being there goes, I was told that all orders were being canceled because they couldn't be fulfilled -- mine included. And my order was placed back on the 9th, I didn't get the cancellation email until the 16th.
 
So the "newer" versions of this monitor have low input lag? I've been looking for a good monitor that has little to no input lag because I game competitively on consoles.
 
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