Benq BL3200PT (32" 1440p)

[NCX]

My understanding is that the Acer is "better" calibrated out of box for office use and watching movies?

From post #872. I recall you asking questions I answered in previous posts before, please read posts more carefully.

I just double checked TFT Central's review, and the Acer has better color presets (specifically the gamma since the BenQ suffers from strong black crush and when using the preset, Gamma 3 setting) while the BenQ's gamma needs to be change from 3 to 1. Their presets accuracy is very similar once the BenQ's setting is change, but the Acer should be slightly better even after the BenQ's gamma setting is changed from 3 to 1.

Hold the E button when the monitor is powered on and an F should appear in the top right of the menu, hit the < key to get down to the OD text and reduce it while looking at the Test UFO Ghosting Test until the overshoot ghosting (example=BL2710PT's AMA Premium) disappears or is barely visible.

If the B326HUL's OD is set to 9, 4 & 5 should offer a nice balance between fast pixel transitions and minimal overshoot ghosting.

 

[Mangonz]

If you can't live with it, Bestio, maybe the Eizo FlexScan EV2736W is an option for you. It has hardly any IPS glow.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/eizo_ev2736w.htm

You'll give up the deep VA blacks, but you will have wide viewing angles, even in the dark. It's also sharper (higher PPI) and faster (less input lag, slightly faster response times).

I have a BenQ BL3200PT (along with a X-Rite i1Display Pro) due to arrive in a couple of days, once it gets here I'm going to compare that to a EV2736w I managed to find and keep the best one for dark colours.

The EV2736w is pretty good but still does still have a touch of IPS glow.

This particular unit also has a bit of backlight bleed in the lower left corner but is still way better than the Asus PA279q it's next to in the second photo.

I'll do a side-by-side of the EV2736W with the BenQ once it gets here.

 

[grandpatzer]

I'm assuming that you will primarily be using this with a PC at its native resolution and just want to know how it will perform when connected to a console...otherwise it would make far more sense to purchase a cheaper, larger 1080p display.

If you're asking about the scaling, in my opinion it is excellent. One of the first things I did after I swapped out my Samsung with the BenQ is fire up a few games and see how they looked at 2560x1440 60hz since I had been gaming at 1920x1080 120hz for the past couple of years. Well there was one game where I simply started playing and forgot to go into the video options and change the resolution. I played for a good 30-45 minutes thinking about how great the game looked before I realized that I was playing it at 1920x1080. When I finally changed it to 2560x1440, it's not like the difference was astounding. Some textures got noticeably sharper and of course jagged edges were reduced by going to the higher resolution, but the scaler was doing a fine job at the lower resolution. I expect it'd do just fine with PS3/PS4 if used primarily as a PC monitor.



They are going to be comparable. The differences will not be that exaggerated. I think he was saying that the Acer has faster pixel response time at the expense of overshoot ghosting. Now, the BenQ can easily be changed from the default AMA setting of High to Premium (highest setting) which will improve pixel response times but will also make the monitor exhibit obvious overshoot, so now it's basically doing what the Acer is doing at default settings. Likewise, you should be able to go into the Acer's service menu and change the overdrive setting to reduce overshoot at the expense of pixel response time, but then you're just making it perform like the BenQ at default settings...and having to do that every time I turned the monitor on would drive me absolutely nuts.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. The differences between the BenQ/Acer/Samsung are not going to be night and day.

but I would only have to go into service menu if I physicaly press the powerbutton?
Or does idle mode (orange led power button) also warrant having to access service menu to adjust overshoot ghosting?

Edit--> As I said earlier I dit order the Acer, not sure if overshoot ghosting will bother me, but now that I have read this thread I'm sure I will be looking for it
So basicaly where there is Black and Light the ghosting will be visible?
So I guess for dark movies, horror movies, sci-fi movies this overshoot ghosting will be mostly visible then?

 

[Bestio]

I can see a bit of "VA cone" or VA gamma shifting from up close with the BenQ, but it doesn't seem to be nearly as noticeable as the S32 pics you've shown.

This is taken with camera in Auto/NoFlash, you can see some of the effect, but that's partially due to the camera trying to gather more light with a long exposure since the scene is so dark:

Here's the same pic taken in manual mode, trying to get it to look like what my eyes see.
Notice that the left-hand menu bar and the blue compass in lower-right are oversaturated above, compared to pics below:

Here's manual mode shots from close up + extreme side angles:

...

Thank you,it's difficult to understand the difference well just from a photo, but it seems less noticeable tnan mine.

If I slide my head in front of the monitor with a dark image, I see clearly the cone that follow my look, and I can see it even if I'm standing in front of the monitor, and it's really annoying.

 

[cswiger]

Thank you,it's difficult to understand the difference well just from a photo, but it seems less noticeable than mine.

If I slide my head in front of the monitor with a dark image, I see clearly the cone that follow my look, and I can see it even if I'm standing in front of the monitor, and it's really annoying.

Yeah, I can see a bit of the "VA cone" if I get really close to the display, or look at an extreme angle, but it's not bad.
I found that if I moved the BenQ back a little bit, so that the pixels looked about the same size as on my old 24" LCD, that extra distance really helped.

 

[Siamese Almeida]

The viewing angle cone is just a fact of life with VA screens, especially on a huge model such as this one. If you move far enough, the cone eventually disappears.

This never bothered me with my screen and as I understand, BenQ new VA's have a less pronounced cone. It's not actively intrusive so you stop noticing it eventually. I realize it only bugs me when I decide it's gonna bug me and I move my head around while watching a movie. As soon as you stop actively thinking about it though, you don't notice it anymore.

 

[Church]

Moving far enough will nullify main feature of this screen that sets it's apart from rest though - it's big size. It's due this feature i have chosen & bought it, for more immersion in games due wider POV. Though then again this cone never bothered me, so i'm satisfied with this monitor as is.

 

[Murzilka]

Actually, Acer has paler colors then BenQ. I liked how BenQ output image better, it was more vibrant. If not for the banding issues...

 

[grandpatzer]

Actually, Acer has paler colors then BenQ. I liked how BenQ output image better, it was more vibrant. If not for the banding issues...

didn't know that, one would think the colors should be equal considering they use same panel?

Have many owners of this monitors recieved bad dead pixels?

Edit---> looks like the Acer is OOS so I have to cancel the order.....
Is the Qnix version inferior to the Samsung/Acer/Benq?

I think the biggest problem is warranty.

 

[phinix]

Just want to sum up a bit - some peeps found banding in their screens, there are no other issues with this monitor - is that correct?
How's the input lag and etc in fast games, like COD, or scrolling games like Diablo etc?
Is it a screen for casual gamer? I'm not a pro gamer, so to be honest never noticed lags etc in any of my screens during games. I play randomly, different games, nothing serious.

 

[NCX]

Actually, Acer has paler colors then BenQ. I liked how BenQ output image better, it was more vibrant. If not for the banding issues...

The Acer's gamma is more accurate while the BenQ's is too high, and combined with VA viewing angles, causes slightly black crush.

 

[Lateralus]

Anyone try the BL3200PT ICC profile on TFT Central and if so, what do you think? I must not have a very discerning eye for these things because I can't tell a big difference with it vs. just reducing the brightness. When I load the profile, nothing seems to change.

 

[[X]eltic]

Just want to sum up a bit - some peeps found banding in their screens, there are no other issues with this monitor - is that correct?

I have several other issues with my screen, but these are very, very minor:

1.) Menu lights don't turn off automatically after a cold startup of my PC. I have to manually turn the lights off. Have to do this just once a day, so I don't really mind it.
2.) Very rarely, the monitor doesn't turn on again after my PC goes into power savings mode. Could be a videocard or software issue, but I didn't have it with my HP ZR24w.
3.) I had not a single dead pixel when I first got my monitor, but I have one dead (sub)pixel now. It's always off and only barely noticeable up-close. Not a big deal.

Other things that I don't like, but certainly not a defect or bug of the monitor:

1.) Power button light is always on. Quite bright. I 'fixed' this with a small piece of black duct tape. Blocks all outgoing light. Can only see the tape if you know it's there.
2.) Eco sensor is entirely useless. Occasionally turns the monitor off even when I'm behind my desk. So I use the Windows power savings mode instead.
3.) If I use the headphone jack of the monitor, instead of the headphone jack on my soundcard, the sound quality is noticeably worse. Maybe fixeable through settings.
4.) And speaking of the headphone jack, I wish it was on the left side. I don't really understand why BenQ put it on the right, where my mouse is too. Weird position.

That pretty much sums it up. Still very happy with this monitor.

How's the input lag and etc in fast games, like COD, or scrolling games like Diablo etc? Is it a screen for casual gamer? I'm not a pro gamer, so to be honest never noticed lags etc in any of my screens during games. I play randomly, different games, nothing serious.

For a casual gamer, there's not much wrong with this screen, in my opinion. I don't notice input lag, but there is definitely some ghosting. Nothing truly severe and games are playable without much trouble. Unlike other people, I even find the AMA Premium setting useable. Useability depends on the game, but if it works, I don't mind the overshoot and the game experience seems smoother.

That said, if you only ever used TN panels - don't know if you did - you should know that this monitor is slower.

 

[cswiger]

Just want to sum up a bit - some peeps found banding in their screens, there are no other issues with this monitor - is that correct?
How's the input lag and etc in fast games, like COD, or scrolling games like Diablo etc?
Is it a screen for casual gamer? I'm not a pro gamer, so to be honest never noticed lags etc in any of my screens during games. I play randomly, different games, nothing serious.

My BenQ has a touch of banding (see pictures earlier in this thread), but I can't see it except with a very dark grey screen and no ambient light. I can't see the banding in-game at all, and I've looked carefully. Otherwise, the monitor is pixel-perfect.

I think it's a great monitor for gaming so far. Unless you're a pro/twitch gamer and actively looking for a fast 120Hz or 144Hz TN screen, it should be fine...otherwise, maybe look towards the new Asus ROG Swift PG278Q.

 

[Mangonz]

Anyone try the BL3200PT ICC profile on TFT Central and if so, what do you think? I must not have a very discerning eye for these things because I can't tell a big difference with it vs. just reducing the brightness. When I load the profile, nothing seems to change.

I have the same calibrator as TFT Central and used it on my BL3200PT (arrived yesterday).

Most of the colour/brightness/gamma tweaks seem to have been made at a hardware level on the screen as it supports automatic hardware calibration adjustment.

If TFT Central use the same ICC colour profile as the calibrator generated then I think it would only have very minor adjustments where the granularity of hardware settings would not allow, e.g quarter or half a percent adjusments, etc.

 

[grandpatzer]

Are AMVA panels considered better for eye strain versus ips?

So far my understanding is that AMVA does NOT have lightbleeding, badblacks, "shiny whites on black backgrounds".

 

[[X]eltic]

Are AMVA panels considered better for eye strain versus ips?

I don't know, but I do know that this panel has a flicker-free backlight that might help with eye strain. It also has a light anti-glare coating with very little shimmering effect. Compared to my previous monitor's coating, it's very easy on the eyes.

Other things that might help with eye strain: a relatively low PPI for easier readability and a lower brightness level. The BenQ's PPI is not super high and equivalent to 24 inch 1080p monitors.

So far my understanding is that AMVA does NOT have lightbleeding, badblacks, "shiny whites on black backgrounds".

My monitor has just a tiny bit of bleeding in the lower left corner, only visible on a completely dark background. No idea if VA panels have less bleeding in general, but my VA screen has almost none. And the blacks are very deep indeed; this is certainly one of the main strengths of VA panels. IPS panels have roughly 1000:1 contrast ratios, but VA panels easily reach 3000:1 or even more. It's an enormous difference in everyday use and it is precisely the reason why I like this monitor so much. As for shiny whites on black backgrounds, this is, sadly, still present to a limited degree. Some people call it the 'VA cone effect' and I can see it too. But I have to say, it is certainly not as bad as the 'IPS glow effect' of my previous monitor. Not even close.

 

[Obecny]

Hello everyone,
just ordered my bl3200pt from official benq.eu online shop, is there anyone who has some experience with them ?
the monitor was in stock, I've ordered it today morning around 9AM paid by paypal, got email from paypal confirming my money was transferred with no problems, but until now I didn't get any confirmation of my order from the benq shop, is this normal ?
Tried to contact them but no answer as well

thanks

 

[Lateralus]

I have the same calibrator as TFT Central and used it on my BL3200PT (arrived yesterday).

Most of the colour/brightness/gamma tweaks seem to have been made at a hardware level on the screen as it supports automatic hardware calibration adjustment.

If TFT Central use the same ICC colour profile as the calibrator generated then I think it would only have very minor adjustments where the granularity of hardware settings would not allow, e.g quarter or half a percent adjusments, etc.

Thanks.

What brightness level are you guys using on the BL3200PT? I adjusted mine down to 26 as per TFT Central's recommendation, but it seems too dim (even after a couple days of trying to get used to it). Also, it seemed to make whites more yellow...but maybe that happened because of the other adjustments that I made (changed gamma to 1 and applied the ICC profile).

I do love the level of detail that I'm getting in dark games, but on the Windows desktop it just seems too dim. I was previously at 50% brightness because at 100% it was like staring at the sun. Is there a way for me to preserve the true blacks and detail levels in dark scenes while making things a little brighter to help with readability? Just curious what settings other people are using.

 

[[X]eltic]

My brightness setting is even lower. I have this now:

Picture Mode - User
Brightness - 17
Contrast - 50
Sharpness - 5
Gamma - 2
Color Temperature - User Define (R100, G94, B99)
Hue - 50
Saturation - 53
AMA - High

Seems bright enough to me. From an angle, I also have a slight yellow tint, but this is due to the 'VA cone effect' I think. Even with brightness at 100, it is not gone.

But I'm pretty sure my colors are not accurate, because I don't have a hardware calibrator. I used these pages to 'calibrate' my monitor:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Gamma.htm

I also upped the saturation a tiny bit; I like that better. Brings the colors back to life at lower brightness levels, too.

Oh, and don't forget to re-calibrate the Windows ClearType settings. Won't help with yellowish tint or dimness, but it made a huge difference to my text.

 

[Meelapo]

My brightness setting is even lower. I have this now:

Picture Mode - User
Brightness - 17
Contrast - 50
Sharpness - 5
Gamma - 2
Color Temperature - User Define (R100, G94, B99)
Hue - 50
Saturation - 53
AMA - High

Seems bright enough to me. From an angle, I also have a slight yellow tint, but this is due to the 'VA cone effect' I think. Even with brightness at 100, it is not gone.

But I'm pretty sure my colors are not accurate, because I don't have a hardware calibrator. I used these pages to 'calibrate' my monitor:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Gamma.htm

I also upped the saturation a tiny bit; I like that better. Brings the colors back to life at lower brightness levels, too.

Oh, and don't forget to re-calibrate the Windows ClearType settings. Won't help with yellowish tint or dimness, but it made a huge difference to my text.

What's this calibration you're referring to? One thing I've noticed with this monitor is that the text looks a bit like garbage. It's quite noticable and something I imagine a review would point out. I'm assuming its just me or something with the DisplayPort cable I used (the throw in). I was going to switch to the DVI cable to see if that made a difference. It would be great if this calibration process would fix the font issue.

 

[[X]eltic]

Just the Windows ClearType tuner. You'll have to go through that a few times until you like the text.

Start -> Run -> cttune.exe

 

[gman11]

I am looking at purchasing 3 or 5 of these 32" 1440p displays. This one seems to have more activity than the Acer or Samsung one on this forum.

Does the "Eye Protect Sensor" work well?

Is there any comparison between the three brands available?

Are the bezels on this better suited for 3x1 landscape or would they work okay for 5x1 portrait?

Thanks

 

[Chaoss]

Does anyone know a good second monitor to go with this?

 

[Tschus]

My brightness setting is even lower. I have this now:

Picture Mode - User
Brightness - 17
Contrast - 50
Sharpness - 5
Gamma - 2
Color Temperature - User Define (R100, G94, B99)
Hue - 50
Saturation - 53
AMA - High

Seems bright enough to me. From an angle, I also have a slight yellow tint, but this is due to the 'VA cone effect' I think. Even with brightness at 100, it is not gone.

But I'm pretty sure my colors are not accurate, because I don't have a hardware calibrator. I used these pages to 'calibrate' my monitor:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Gamma.htm

I also upped the saturation a tiny bit; I like that better. Brings the colors back to life at lower brightness levels, too.

Oh, and don't forget to re-calibrate the Windows ClearType settings. Won't help with yellowish tint or dimness, but it made a huge difference to my text.

I'm using an even lower brightness settings

I use a colormunki display colorimeter and set the target color temperature to 5000K and the white point to 60cd/m2. Below is the settings I got:

Brigthness 11
Contrast 50
Gamma 1
R99 G82 B71

The measured contrast is 2000:1. It's a bit lower than usual, I guess it's because the color temperature is set to 5000K instead of 6500K.

 

[acccc]

From post #872. I recall you asking questions I answered in previous posts before, please read posts more carefully.



Hold the E button when the monitor is powered on and an F should appear in the top right of the menu, hit the < key to get down to the OD text and reduce it while looking at the Test UFO Ghosting Test until the overshoot ghosting (example=BL2710PT's AMA Premium) disappears or is barely visible.

If the B326HUL's OD is set to 9, 4 & 5 should offer a nice balance between fast pixel transitions and minimal overshoot ghosting.

I currently have the Acer, and the overshoot/negative ghosting is really bad, see here:

I've been trying to have it fixed before I resort to having it returned. I followed the instruction of holding e + power, the service menu pops up when I click on 'e', see here:

however there is no OD/overdrive configuration setting. Any ideas?

Clicking on each menu:

If this option doesn't exist, does anyone think Acer may fix this (or have overdrive included in the service menu with a software update), or should I just return it and get the BenQ? Like I said if this can be fixed from a service menu (even if I have to do it every time I turn on the monitor) then I'll be very happy as the screen is excellent in every other respect.

 

[grandpatzer]

Do you notice ghosting only in the blurbuster app?

Or do you actually see ghosting in movies and using the PC?

 

[acccc]

It's very noticeable in games and films, and against contrasting backgrounds. Here's a video demonstrating moving the mouse cursor over a yellow background: Mouse trails ghosting on Acer B326HUL (Video running native 2560x1440 via Display Port).
If you'd like videos of anything specific let me know.

 

[grandpatzer]

Has anyone tried overclocking succesfully and if so what hz and does it skip frames while gaming?
I'm considering either the Acer or Benq.

I think the sweet spot would be 80-88hz for me not sure if it's doable however.

 

[acccc]

Has anyone tried overclocking succesfully and if so what hz and does it skip frames while gaming?
I'm considering either the Acer or Benq.

I think the sweet spot would be 80-88hz for me not sure if it's doable however.

For the most part I would highly suggest avoiding the Acer if your doing anything apart from looking at static images. The negative ghosting is extremely unbearable, I would hope mines just a faulty unit and I would love to hear the opinion from anyone else who has the Acer.
For now I'm going to get a refund, I've already ordered the BenQ only for the fact it has overdrive control, it's a shame the Acer has removed this option from both user and service menu's, leaving you with no control over the terrible ghosting, rendering the monitor unusable.

TLR: Avoid the Acer, get the BenQ if you plan on doing anything apart from looking at static images.

 

[dpoverlord]

Im using a dell u3014 interesting if it can beat it.

 

[grandpatzer]

For the most part I would highly suggest avoiding the Acer if your doing anything apart from looking at static images. The negative ghosting is extremely unbearable, I would hope mines just a faulty unit and I would love to hear the opinion from anyone else who has the Acer.
For now I'm going to get a refund, I've already ordered the BenQ only for the fact it has overdrive control, it's a shame the Acer has removed this option from both user and service menu's, leaving you with no control over the terrible ghosting, rendering the monitor unusable.

TLR: Avoid the Acer, get the BenQ if you plan on doing anything apart from looking at static images.

ok, I guess Benq is better compared to Acer, did you try overclocking the hz on the display?

 

[acccc]

ok, I guess Benq is better compared to Acer, did you try overclocking the hz on the display?

I'm not quite sure how to ^^ give me a brief tutorial and I might give it a go.

 

[Church]

Google for overclocking monitors. In general it means making up custom mode & using it for nvidia or something with customizing EDID for ati IIRC. I feel fine with BL3200PT's refresh of 60hz & it's lag, so i don't bother.

 

[NCX]

However there is no OD/overdrive configuration setting. Any ideas?

I figured it would have a OD setting in the service menu, guess not, which is a shame. The overshoot should be less pronounced compared to the BenQ's AMA Premium setting.

----------------

These monitors can not overclock, multiple people have already proven that they drop frames when set above 60hz, in this thread. The QNIX QX320QHD/QX323QHD can overclock.

 

[grandpatzer]

I figured it would have a OD setting in the service menu, guess not, which is a shame. The overshoot should be less pronounced compared to the BenQ's AMA Premium setting.

----------------

These monitors can not overclock, multiple people have already proven that they drop frames when set above 60hz, in this thread. The QNIX QX320QHD/QX323QHD can overclock.

NCX do you know why the Qnix can?
It's still same panel and using DVI/DP/HDMI?

Still my impression is that a 85hz IPS / AMVA is not equal to a TN 85hz for FPS gaming experience because various reasons responce time and input lag being two reasons.

 

[Megalith]

Can this do 72 Hz?

 

[Megalith]

Okay, apparently it can. Impressive.

 

[phinix]

I can't find any samples on youtube of this monitor during playing games - have you guys seen any?
If not, could someone who has it please add some on youtube so we could see if there is any lag or ghosting in fast paced games?

 

[Lateralus]

It's going to be pretty hard to get an accurate picture of that with just a video.

By ghosting, do you mean blur? Or possibly overshoot ghosting? If you mean blur, we've already indicated that it does have some blur. It's a VA panel, after all. The question you have to ask yourself is, is it acceptable to you? Some people don't really notice it or aren't bothered by it; others won't tolerate much of it at all.

I switched from a 120hz TN panel to this and I have found gaming to be very enjoyable on it. Sure there is more blur than with the TN but I'm not bothered by it. Don't even really notice it once I get immersed in the game, which doesn't take long at all with the size of this thing.