Benq XL2410T - 120hz is the real deal for FPS gamers

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Agisthos

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If you are a long suffering FPS gamer who has had to put up with LCD monitors, the 120hz screens are the real deal and the first major step forward in LCD technology in years. Perhaps the kiddies of today have never experienced what a good CRT monitor was like for FPS games. You had a limited horizontal view, sure, but every other aspect was much superior.

LCD monitors suffer from blur and smearing in motion, but also a constant pixellation that is a result of the laggy screen processing, not the video card rendering. In fact I have found myself in recent years playing a lot of PC titles on the X360, because there you can at least rely on a good TV's 200hz interpolation to lessen the LCD effect on fast motion.

I have now been through 5 LCD screens since 2006. I also build gaming machines for customers, so have got a chance to play with most new TN panels from Asus, Viewsonic, Samsung and LG e.t.c I can say without doubt that every screen disappointed for FPS games. I was resigned to waiting for OLED with 1ms response time to save the day.

But that day has come early, with the Benq XL2410T 120hz panel. I realize that Samsung and LG have had 120hz panels out for the last year, but I never buy the first iteration of any new technology, so I cannot comment on them. This Benq monitor kicks some major ass for FPS gaming. Along with smooth and sharp motion is the bonus effect of less eye strain. The 120hz effect also gives a noticable improvement when browsing the Windows OS.

Of course, this is a TN panel, so does not have as good color saturation, black levels, banding as an IPS screen, .........but who cares, buy this monitor!! Samsung also have a new range of 120hz coming next month, with both 23" and 27" sizes.

UPDATE : Remember to manually change the monitor/adaptor display settings from 60hz to 120hz. If you just plug the new screen in Windows will NOT automatically do this for you.
 
I looked at that monitor. It is pretty awesome. But $450 for a 23 inch, you could buy the HP 24 inch IPS for that much..
 
I have a Acer GD235hz, LOVE it, its amazing for games. It's next to my dell 2005FPW ips. I use the dell for my daily productivity stuff and the Acer for gaming. Works great :)
 
It's bad enough the 120hz models have poor color but 2 separate reviews say the XL2410T also has issues with crushing blacks (lost shadow details) I'd probably be looking at another model if I wanted to go 120hz.
 
The XL240T has horrible quality control and the pixel response time is actually slower than most 60hz displays, making it a terrible choice as there are plenty of 0ms lag 60hz displays with better color and pixel response times for half the price.
 
I have the Alienware AW2310, at the time is was the best 120hz, I'm pretty sure it's still up there.
 
NCX said:
The XL240T has horrible quality control and the pixel response time is actually slower than most 60hz displays, making it a terrible choice as there are plenty of 0ms lag 60hz displays with better color and pixel response times for half the price.
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0ms gtg lag? or 0ms input lag?

Benq has the 2nd lowest input lag next to the LG. In terms of pixel response time it's at 5ms, but with overdrive and 120hz it's a lot faster. I don't see anyone buying this monitor and not having those two enabled, would defeat the purpose of this monitor.
 
NCX said:
The XL240T has horrible quality control and the pixel response time is actually slower than most 60hz displays, making it a terrible choice as there are plenty of 0ms lag 60hz displays with better color and pixel response times for half the price.
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Your criticism of pixel response/input lag is an example of theory vs reality. There are no 60hz displays that compare on a subjective level like this one. Why game on a cheaper 60hz with all their defects?

But yes quality control is an issue. I have backlight bleed along the bottom horizontal edge, and color uniformity across the screen is not perfect. There issues are completely unoticable while gaming,
 
Why game on a 60hz LCD? Why spend 400$ on an LCD that shows ghosting when there are plenty of sub 220$ 60hz panels with better QC and color presets that don't? The entire point of getting a 120hz panel is to elminate ghosting in games. Here you can see for yourself that the BenQ is slower than some of the 60hz panels, nothing subjective about it.

The only advantage of the BenQ is running games w/o Vsync and screen tearing due to the 120hz refresh rate. Luckily there are better 120hz options like the Asus/Alienware and some up coming models.
 
I also have spent too much time in measurement and calibration land. Time to come back to reality. Every 60hz panel has absurd amount of ghosting and trailing.

This panel has no ghosting that is visible in real world use when playing FPS. It is like night and day compared to the best 60hz panels.(I have had more than a dozen recently). The 120hz and overdrive does something that obviously cannot be measured, or TFT Central forgot to turn on the 120hz setting.
 
Time to come back to reading comprehension and understanding of the matters being discussed.
 
I had read that review before purchasing, and it was the most negative I had seen an almost put me off purchasing. Im glad I did not.

From the perspective of FPS gaming at 120hz, it helps to actually have real world experience, instead of pointing to one part of one review and making a judgement.
 
NCX said:
The entire point of getting a 120hz panel is to elminate ghosting in games.
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No it isn't, not for me at least. First and foremost, I want the improved smoothness that 120Hz offers. Ghosting is a secondary concern for me.
 
NCX said:
Why game on a 60hz LCD? Why spend 400$ on an LCD that shows ghosting when there are plenty of sub 220$ 60hz panels with better QC and color presets that don't? The entire point of getting a 120hz panel is to elminate ghosting in games. Here you can see for yourself that the BenQ is slower than some of the 60hz panels, nothing subjective about it.

The only advantage of the BenQ is running games w/o Vsync and screen tearing due to the 120hz refresh rate. Luckily there are better 120hz options like the Asus/Alienware and some up coming models.
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Well considering that my BenQ makes my FPS games incredibly fun to play, I would say I don't give a crap about reviews and am perfectly happy with my purchase. For some reason you seem bitter that people are actually happy with their purchase. I would hate to have to play on a 60hz monitor again, even if it was the best 60hz monitor in the world. If you're still playing on a 60hz... well you're missing out.
 
DumpALump said:
Well considering that my BenQ makes my FPS games incredibly fun to play, I would say I don't give a crap about reviews and am perfectly happy with my purchase. For some reason you seem bitter that people are actually happy with their purchase. I would hate to have to play on a 60hz monitor again, even if it was the best 60hz monitor in the world. If you're still playing on a 60hz... well you're missing out.
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I'm sure 120hz is nice but I'd have to go 16:9 aspect to get it which I'm not about to do. For what it's worth my 2yr old BenQ V2400W has been awesome for FPS games, which are all I play. No lag at all and colors are great for a TN. I also realize I got a good panel too because there is no bleed for me anywhere when screen is blank.
 
For me the subjective experience trumps what a measurement device says. The visual cues of ghosting are not perceptible or insignificant compared to the advantages gained by 120hz. For FPS games anyway.

I read every forum thread on these 120hz monitors and was convinced by arguements such as those pointed out by NCX, but just took the plunge anyway. Im soooo glad I did.

So what is next for the desktop monitor, 240hz?
 
All of the new 23" Generation 120hz are perceptibly the same in terms of performance. The numbers they vary in are extremely small. Im talking quarters of frames maybe 1-1.5 ms response variations.

If you did a blind performance test, you could NOT tell the difference. Between a 60hz yes, easily.

The only thing you really have to worry about is the picture quality, and on a TN, they all suck.
Connections / speakers / bezel uniformity for eyefinity, very niche considerations.

I'd like to see sample-and-hold nullification before anything else, for LCD's anyways. As far as i can tell right now this introduces input lag. However ive yet to see measured results.
 
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dowant120hz said:
the reason they don't exist is 120hz costs like 1 dollar more to produce
and the monitor manufacturers won't pay that kind of money because they think there is no market
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thats a real shame:(
well hope for the best...
 
There have been strong improvements in response time for IPS LCD tv's. Just a matter of time before TV technology gets introduced into monitor tech. Its how the cycle goes.
 
Inu said:
Just a matter of time before TV technology gets introduced into monitor tech. Its how the cycle goes.
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Monitor tech should come first!

Graphic designers, artists, pc enthusiasts and hardcore pc gamers should have the latest tech, not grandma!! ARGHH!!!:)
 
Agisthos said:
Along with smooth and sharp motion is the bonus effect of less eye strain. The 120hz effect also gives a noticable improvement when browsing the Windows OS.
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120 Hz vs. 60 Hz refresh for text-based applications doesn't reduce eyestrain on LCD monitors. CRT's, yes. LCD's no.

Please provide more details as to how a 120Hz refresh rate improves normal "Windows OS" browsing.

Definitely when you quickly swing your mouse pointer quickly from one corner of your screen to the opposite, you'll see smoother updates, but that doesn't contribute to/nor reduce eyestrain.
 
dowant120hz said:
don't worry
the pcmonitors.org author doesn't really know what he's talking about
120hz ips/pva have always been possible

the reason they don't exist is 120hz costs like 1 dollar more to produce
and the monitor manufacturers won't pay that kind of money because they think there is no market
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Well there isn't a market for it. You have to understand that we are but a fraction of there business , there isn't a giant group of cash cows waiting for 120hz IPS/PVA panels for computer use. 120hz TN panels barely get the kind of business regular 60hz TN panels do.

Until the need becomes worth while it just won't happen.
 
This monitor makes a dramatic difference in my gaming. This is not due to the 120hz but the 5.6ms input lag. It's so responsive I ALMOST feel like I'm using a CRT again. I still can't do jumping full-auto AK spray head-shots like I can on a CRT but almost (I'm definitely out of practice). I enjoy the 120hz improvement. Mouse movement is much more fluid and you can definitely notice the improved responsiveness in Windows and Games. It seems like not all games allow 120hz. Battlefield Bad Company 2 only maxes out at 100 but even there I see a pretty big difference.

Seriously, input lag needs to take a more prominent section in Monitor reviewing. It's not just in FPS games, I notice the improvement in League of Legends (RTS) and PVP in WOW.

The AG coating is PERFECT and the stand is excellent. I forgot how much I appreciate height adjustable stands as specially with a TN panel. My monitor was manufactured in November of 2010. There is a little bit of LED glow on the right and bottom edge of the screen but it's not too bad. I've seen much much worse back light bleeding.

I have firmware version 5.
 
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dowant120hz said:
don't worry
the pcmonitors.org author doesn't really know what he's talking about
120hz ips/pva have always been possible

the reason they don't exist is 120hz costs like 1 dollar more to produce
and the monitor manufacturers won't pay that kind of money because they think there is no market
Click to expand...


Then monitor manufacturers are idiots. There is a clear demand for relatively cheap IPS and VA panel monitors amongst more picky gamers. Thats why we see new models about every year. Why not make 120hz ones too for bit more? I know I would gladly dump my 32" TV for 23/24" VA (preferably, I like real deep blacks) real 120Hz monitor. Or 27". But I can always dream...
 
I'm not exactly sure why people bash the XL2410T. I can understand that some individuals received units with higher amounts of backlight bleeding, but come on, it's not just BenQ, a lot of other companies have this sort of problem. When it comes to mass production with streamline production all big producers suffer from this problem. Better QC only means slapping on higher costs to the product which in the end affects the consumer's decision.

With fierce competition in the LCD industry, plus with companies moving towards producing products with shorter product life spans, this is the resulting factor. It's unfortunate, but if you're not doing it, it'll drive you out of business.

The good news is, the XL2410T is a great monitor. I don't understand why there are reviews out there that are actually testing it by actually running games. Look, I have seen them work fine, and all this bickering about backlight bleeding is highly subjective. Just because one person is extremely picky and likes to operate his rig in complete darkness and sees it, doesn't mean the majority of individuals out there would do it too. Honestly I've been through dozens of monitors from various brands, some of them with backlight bleeding as well, but when I'm using it I don't notice it at all and it's not affecting anything I do. What's the big deal REALLY. I don't understand the whole fuss about backlight bleeding. I don't know anyone that complains about backlight bleeding, but it seems to be such a hot topic on forums.

I think the XL2410T is a great monitor, but honestly not because its 120hz and 3D ready. But because of its other features. If you want a 120hz TN panel + 3D ready monitor there are other options. But its the fact that you get a very nicely and functional design with it. The adjustability on this monitor is phenomenal, if you get a chance to look at it you'll agree. If you don't then either 1) adjustability isn't a concern for you, or 2) you're being biased to another brand. Fact is there aren't that many monitors in the market with such ability to have such room for adjustment. It is also VESA mount ready. It comes with LED backlight, and Picture by Picture options.

Overall the XL2410T is a great deal for me and those who own it are generally happy with it. I won't go to the extent to argue its the best monitor in the world, but I think it's completely wrong to judge its is a poor monitor based on some numerical measures, especially if you haven't had a chance to lay your hands on it.
 
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