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Benq BL3200PT (32" 1440p)
- Thread starter MrMike
- Start date
Update:
K2 Google Earth location = no flicker
Titan Quest = No flicker
Skyrim, snow landscapes = no flicker
ARMA 3 JPG = flicker, but none if I turn AMA off.
That Pixel page = No flicker except within the browser window.
Not sure what to make of this, except that all my other games and apps are fine with light backgrounds.
K2 Google Earth location = no flicker
Titan Quest = No flicker
Skyrim, snow landscapes = no flicker
ARMA 3 JPG = flicker, but none if I turn AMA off.
That Pixel page = No flicker except within the browser window.
Not sure what to make of this, except that all my other games and apps are fine with light backgrounds.
Comixbooks
Fully [H]
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Fucking BENQ
You want Frys with your flicker....
You want Frys with your flicker....
Has anyone purchased this monitor and is actually pleased with it, even if it does have some problems?
I'm trying to gauge if this is a monitor best left alone or if it's worth putting up with it's shortcomings because it's a nice panel with a good quality display maybe?
I'm not sure what other choice there is for a decent 32" non-4K monitor with a different panel, there isn't one is there?
I'm trying to gauge if this is a monitor best left alone or if it's worth putting up with it's shortcomings because it's a nice panel with a good quality display maybe?
I'm not sure what other choice there is for a decent 32" non-4K monitor with a different panel, there isn't one is there?
Does anyone having this monitor notice a darker shade or something at bottom center of the screen, right above the light sensor? It is clearly visible on white or lighter backgrounds. I don't know if it is "normal", and if I should better send the unit back for a replacement...
Lateralus
More [H]uman than Human
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- 18,494
Very happy with mine. There seemed to be quite a few of us that were pleased with this monitor in the first part of the thread, before all of the reports of flashing. I haven't experienced it on my unit.
Do you think it's because you got yours before July 2014 and something must have changed in the manufacturing process such as a different panel being fitted?
Anyone received a monitor manufactured from say September/October onwards that doesn't have any of these reported issues?
The panels are all the same panel. There may have been a different revision, or a particular batch that encountered issues during manufacturing. It's hard to say whether the people in the first half of the thread did not have flashing or just did not notice it.
I've come to learn that with nearly all monitors, it's a lottery.
I'd like to revisit this post now that I've had it for a little while with the display.
First, the one I have does flicker. I noticed it in a game, and wondered why I didn't see it when testing before. It's simple -- I was testing incorrectly.
The display does not readily flicker just because you're dragging a window of this around. It has to do with the percentage of the screen being covered by this. If you re-size this window bit by bit, it will flicker. You'll see the grid/lines that normally extend from the window horizontally disappear and reappear as it flickers. On all other displays I have, the horizontal grid/lines remain no matter what you do, and there is no full screen flicker.
Likewise, it flickers when moving over or zooming in and out certain tile-sets in Google Maps.
The flickering that occurs in a game is much worse than what you see happen just by re-sizing or scrolling around a window with material that the screen is sensitive to. The ARMA3 video posted in the thread earlier is pretty accurate.
It does not happen with sharpness at 1. Most games are playable with this setting, but general use is unacceptable.
The small amount of bleed/clouding in the middle of my screen doesn't bother me at all, and I really like the dot pitch, so I'm sad to get rid of it. I like the contrast and colors of VA as I've been living with a VA display for years now.
Based on the other reports in this thread, it doesn't seem worth it to try the Samsung or HP versions. I would have thought an issue like this wouldn't be related to the panel but to the firmware or motherboard, considering sharpness at 1 stops it from doing it.
Unfortunately, this leaves me without many options, as I want >30". 27" 1440p is just too small with my desk setup and coming from the 37" Westy. I'm going to try a 34UM95 next as I'd rather have that than 3x23.8"/24". I'm trying to stay in the range of what I can drive with a single 980 with AA off.
Luckily, I haven't noticed flickering in games, but I don't have ARMA3 to test. Other than buying ARMA3, is there a way for me to rule out flickering in games? Maybe with a 2560x1440 screenshot of the troublesome area in ARMA3? As suggested earlier, I tried Google Maps and the pixel test already. No flickering in Google Maps, but the pixel test does flicker. Although not sure how relevant the pixel test is, since many other monitors supposedly produce visual artifacts on it too.
Have you considered the 40 inch Philips? It is 4K, but you should be able to run most games with your 980 on it quite well, especially on normal settings.
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Guys BenQ support have just advised me that they have escalated my series of complaints to their management in the hope to fully investigate this problem we've had with the flickering and banding etc. Can we somehow make up a list of the specs of the monitors that are affected by these issues in the hope to help with their investigation to see if it's specific to one particular batch? They have assured me that they will personally check to ensure that any replacement does not have these issues before sending them out so that's at least something. I am however really really frustrated that it may end up being my FIFTH ATTEMPT in getting a monitor that works the way it's supposed too!!!!
[X]eltic;1041265134 said:
I saw it a couple times in FC3, but only in vegetation dense areas during the daytime. It did not happen in towns/villages for me. I cannot confirm, but I bet it can happen in Crysis 1 as well. Other users noted Skyrim during the daytime.
I do not think the ARMA3 picture is a fair test, but mine does flicker on that. To do that test properly, open the picture posted in the thread earlier in full screen, zoom in, and drag it around with the majority being the flashing portion of the side-by-side screenshot. The reason I don't think this is a fair test, is because the flashed picture is what's making it flicker.
The pixel test does wacky stuff on nearly every display I've tried, so I don't really consider it a fair test. I just wanted to point out that I was testing incorrectly before when I said it did not flicker. The fact that my Macbook has artifacts on that test suggests to me that it's outside the scope of normal use. Today at work I tried it on a U2412M and it's the only display I've tried that has zero artifacts on this test. I have a rather large selection of Dell's at work
To me, Google Maps is a fair test. It can be difficult to find the right spot in Google Maps as well, and the window needs to be at least ~75% of the screen for it to happen.
[X]eltic;1041265134 said:
Thanks. I've been reading that thread, and I'm a little concerned about the panel being used with the pixel shape/size issues being discussed lately. Response time on the 40" 4k panel floating around doesn't seem to be known, but I realize none of these are going to be a TN (and I have no interest in a TN panel.)
I'm also concerned about what the actual price will be. Rumored monitor pricing has turned out to be a load of crap more than once, the most recent example being the U3415W that people was suggested to be $800-$900. Now we're talking $1200-$1300.
I got one of the last 34UM95's from Amazon last night for their sale price. If it has horrid backlight bleed or I end up hating 21:9, it will head on back and I'll hope the Westy doesn't fail completely before something else I want comes out.
My 980 isn't a beastly overclocker, but I tried 4k DSR on the Westy and some games were good. Crysis 1 was rough, which I thought was funny after all this time.
Found a browser game that works well to reproduce flickering when scrolling/zooming on the overworld map. C&C Tiberium Alliances (can make free account/use Origin account to test this). Flickers like crazy on certain portions of the world map where there is a lot of light-colored patterns.
I think I am going to end up returning the monitor after all. While rare, I do get the occasional flicker in Skyrim - and who knows what else down the line.
Moved the full resolution screenshot of ARMA 3 around in my picture viewer, like someone earlier did in the YouTube video, and I don't see the big flashes at all. Not even once. I do see a tiny bit of flickering/shimmering if I move my browser window quickly back and forth, but this is due to ghosting/streaking, so nothing extraordinary. No real visual artifacts either, like a horizontal band or vertical lines. Also tried the Google Earth mountain range again (Shaksgam Valley) and there's still nothing unusual to be seen.
So far, my monitor only failed these tests:
http://www.gdargaud.net/Hack/DeadPixel/GreenMagenta.html
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/clock_phase.php
With these tests, I see big flashes, a lot of vertical lines and/or a big horizontal band that extends beyond my browser window. Within the horizontal band, my wallpaper loses detail too, as if it became an 8-bit picture. Pretty weird, but I'm not worried about these visual disturbances if they do not pop up in regular use. So far, in months of daily use, I never saw anything strange at all, so I guess my monitor is good (except for a pesky darker vertical band - another known issue).
All in all, the flashing looks like a new issue to me. That's probably why it wasn't reported previously in the thread. Perhaps a bad batch of panels or a flawed new revision.
P.S.
I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 and a GeForce 680 GTX (driver version 337.88). Extremely slim chance, but is it conceivable that the monitor is fine after all and that it is actually a software and/or hardware compatibility issue? Any AMD people with flashes? Linux users?
So far, my monitor only failed these tests:
http://www.gdargaud.net/Hack/DeadPixel/GreenMagenta.html
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/clock_phase.php
With these tests, I see big flashes, a lot of vertical lines and/or a big horizontal band that extends beyond my browser window. Within the horizontal band, my wallpaper loses detail too, as if it became an 8-bit picture. Pretty weird, but I'm not worried about these visual disturbances if they do not pop up in regular use. So far, in months of daily use, I never saw anything strange at all, so I guess my monitor is good (except for a pesky darker vertical band - another known issue).
All in all, the flashing looks like a new issue to me. That's probably why it wasn't reported previously in the thread. Perhaps a bad batch of panels or a flawed new revision.
P.S.
I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 and a GeForce 680 GTX (driver version 337.88). Extremely slim chance, but is it conceivable that the monitor is fine after all and that it is actually a software and/or hardware compatibility issue? Any AMD people with flashes? Linux users?
pepesilv1a
n00b
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- Dec 1, 2014
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oh man... i was about to pull the trigger on 2 of this monitors mostly to work, and ocassionally play games like RTS or 4x styles.. its weirds that on reviews never say a thing about the flicker problem, and everyone recommend it..
im still not sure what to do about it. maybe is not that much ppl that have this problem but happens to search a way to fix it and then gets here and write the problem and find all the others with the same issue.
the ones with no problems will not come here and say that everything works fine..
im still not sure what to do about it. maybe is not that much ppl that have this problem but happens to search a way to fix it and then gets here and write the problem and find all the others with the same issue.
the ones with no problems will not come here and say that everything works fine..
Does anyone having this monitor notice a darker shade (or something like that) at the bottom of the screen, in the middle , right above the light sensor? It is clearly visible on white or lighter backgrounds. I don't know if it is "normal", and if I should better send the unit back for a replacement...
I'll include a picture with the approx. location.
I'll include a picture with the approx. location.
Oddly, my monitor has developed the flicker issue. Last week I only had the flicker problem with the Pixel test site but today, it started doing it in SWTOR and in Titan Quest.
Sending back for a refund. I love the monitor, but I do not want to deal with the hassle of going through 2 or more just to win the lottery.
Sending back for a refund. I love the monitor, but I do not want to deal with the hassle of going through 2 or more just to win the lottery.
In the additional week I've had it, I've run into the flicker issue more and more.
I can now reproduce flicker in:
Shaksgam Valley, Google Earth
Skyrim
Titan Quest
C&C Tiberium Alliances
Battlefield 4
Some are worse than others but it's pretty infuriating. Monitor is going to go back.
I can now reproduce flicker in:
Shaksgam Valley, Google Earth
Skyrim
Titan Quest
C&C Tiberium Alliances
Battlefield 4
Some are worse than others but it's pretty infuriating. Monitor is going to go back.
Well, this sucks. My monitor is not immune after all. I've discovered a location that flickers on my monitor. Open these coordinates in Google Earth:
-35.869005, 137.128539 (or direct link here).
The two fields of farmland flicker on my monitor. But only the fields, nothing around it.
-35.869005, 137.128539 (or direct link here).
The two fields of farmland flicker on my monitor. But only the fields, nothing around it.
You guys are never going to be happy (EVER) with a monitor if you constantly, constantly look for a flaw of some sort - kind of obsessive to a degree. If you have only noticed this via GE on one set of GEO coordinates, I would imagine the monitor works rather well. This forum causes us to be overly subjective at times, you can find a flaw with almost anything, if you look hard enough.
Nikyo,
Keep a watch on bright, light textures, especially in games. Despite what anyone says, flashing and flickering should never be acceptable on a $600+ monitor.
Mine had a manufacturing date of July 2014.
Hopefully yours will continue to be picture perfect.
-Wilo
Keep a watch on bright, light textures, especially in games. Despite what anyone says, flashing and flickering should never be acceptable on a $600+ monitor.
Mine had a manufacturing date of July 2014.
Hopefully yours will continue to be picture perfect.
-Wilo
Will do.
I've had my unit for a little over 30 days now, and I've run majority of the tests in the thread outside of playing Titan's Quest or a few of the other games mentioned. I may give those a go later, but I seldom use this for gaming; mostly movie watching.
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I think your principle is right in that nothing's perfect and that you have to accept the flaws in any purchase, but once you see it in a game yourself, you're done. For regular desktop use or movies, it's just fine if you can accept the black band 1/3rd from the left.
I've been using the LG 34UM95 since last Wednesday now, and while I'd like perfection for the $200 more I paid over the BL3200PT, it's deficiencies are less noticeable to me. I used the BL3200PT from 11/25 to 12/3 when I received the LG. I also got one of the Acer 32"s to try, and it was much worse than the Benq in terms of quality. It was September manufacture and still had the flashing, though. My Benq was July and my LG is November.
Ultrawide is not for everyone though. I noted in another thread that if LG made a 16:9 or 16:10 30"+ panel like the 34UM95's, it would sell like hotcakes.
Out of curiosity I tried some of the flash tests on the 34UM95. The green/magenta test doesn't even flash inside the browser window when moved or resized. I'm starting to wonder if it's a TN/VA thing that tests like this create extraneous effects or overlays.
I got this screen, it flickers in 1440p. Manufacture date June 2014. Im playing a game, everything looks really great, then i see white flickers, what a joke.
But to be fair 1440p is pretty brutal on my pc, i have 780 SLI and using 1440 increases temps and fan noise, so im not so sore that im back on 1080p, my system isnt being abused so much.
But now do i try and sell the screen on ebay? I dont have the original box or manuals or the OSD Dongle thingy, so warranty seems impossible, plus ive had the screen for about over 3 months now.
Sigh i guess i can put it on ebay... but the flicker... nobody is gonna like that. Damn it.
But to be fair 1440p is pretty brutal on my pc, i have 780 SLI and using 1440 increases temps and fan noise, so im not so sore that im back on 1080p, my system isnt being abused so much.
But now do i try and sell the screen on ebay? I dont have the original box or manuals or the OSD Dongle thingy, so warranty seems impossible, plus ive had the screen for about over 3 months now.
Sigh i guess i can put it on ebay... but the flicker... nobody is gonna like that. Damn it.
so i put the monitor osd contrast setting to zero, and the brightness on 100, and i played around with the nvidia control panel color settings and now i get no flicker, but the image is abit dark or overcast looking so to speak, but hey, no flickering, and image quality is about 90% ish as good compared to when the monitor contrast was on 50.
I tried to overlook the flaws. I really did. But when you have flashing/flickering like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9U-RvS2Nik
You just can't overlook it.
(Shows flickering in Google Earth, Titan Quest, and C&C Tiberium Alliances - also happens in Skyrim and BF4 and who knows what else)
Ordinarily, I'd agree with you 100%. I find little bothersome things in tech all the time that I live with, and even though I'm picky, I just chalk it up to the reality of things.
But, as others have said, this can't simply be overlooked. There's no value to be had in a product that exhibits this kind of behavior.
Someone has already said that Benq is aware of the problem, so I'd give it a few months for new, workable stock to replace existing stock before trying again.
Astral Abyss
2[H]4U
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That was painful. My eyes hurt.
Vegan_Sausage
n00b
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I got the monitor this morning and so far I have not been able to reproduce that flickering. I saw all of those videos on youtube showcasing the problem. I do not have ARMA 3 nor C&C but I tested Google Earth, Skyrim, World of Tanks, Titan Quest, Far Cry 4, AC: Unity, AC: Black Flag, Risen 3, Elite Dangerous, Doom 3, Deadfall, DA: Inquisition, Max Payne 3, L4D 2. Each game on max/ultra settings and no flickering whatsoever. I tested using out-of-the-box settings, then on 100% brightness and I am now on 65% brightness and 50% contrast. AMA is set on High. Connected via DVI-D. The dead pixel test flickers if you drag it but it flickers on TN and IPS panels as well. This monitor is awesome and gaming is amazing once you get used to the size of the screen (took me a few hours). I would not worry about the input lag - I used to play on LG W2486L (very fast but otherwise a POS) and could not tell a difference in that regard.
Bought it from CCL for £460 (I'm in UK), not a single dead pixel, no light bleed. Fingers crossed it will not develop any problems as I really wouldn't like to have to return it.
Good to hear.
Could you look at the back of the monitor and post the manufacturing date for reference, please?
Vegan_Sausage
n00b
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- Dec 8, 2014
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Sorry, forgot to mention it. It's August 2014.
pepesilv1a
n00b
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- Dec 1, 2014
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i got 2 of them even after reading all the issues with the flickering. is mostly for work and some games like civ5 age of wonders III WOW. once i got them i will post results of both of them i guess i will receive nov batch?.. i dont know in 10 days it arrives.. i got it from amazon but i live in Venezuela so it will take a while to get here.
Vegan_Sausage
n00b
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All right, so I guess I must revise what I wrote in my first post.
Skyrim - flickers during daylight, when I walk around any dense forest.
Google Maps/Earth - here - when I zoom in/out or pan.
AMA off reduces the flickering, AMA high or premium increases it. Reducing brightness and contrast to 0 makes the flickering go away but obviously the quality of the picture sucks then.
I suppose it is just a matter of finding the right conditions in other games/applications then...
Skyrim - flickers during daylight, when I walk around any dense forest.
Google Maps/Earth - here - when I zoom in/out or pan.
AMA off reduces the flickering, AMA high or premium increases it. Reducing brightness and contrast to 0 makes the flickering go away but obviously the quality of the picture sucks then.
I suppose it is just a matter of finding the right conditions in other games/applications then...
All right, so I guess I must revise what I wrote in my first post.
Skyrim - flickers during daylight, when I walk around any dense forest.
Google Maps/Earth - here - when I zoom in/out or pan.
AMA off reduces the flickering, AMA high or premium increases it. Reducing brightness and contrast to 0 makes the flickering go away but obviously the quality of the picture sucks then.
I suppose it is just a matter of finding the right conditions in other games/applications then...
I'm so sorry, but at least you found it quickly within the return window.
Hey everyone,
I joined the forum just to mention that I had the same issues with this monitor. The flickering, a few dead pixels I think too, I actually really liked the monitor apart from these problems. I am in the process of returning the monitor.
Now I don't know what to do. Should I get a replacement? It seems in this thread getting a replacement hasn't solved the issue that's why I'm not too sure on this. What about an alternative? I really liked the 32 inch and generally apart from the two issues above couldn't fault it. Do I go for 27 inch at 1440p or possibly stick with 1080p at 27 inch? Does the BenQ at 27 inch suffer from the same problem?
My usage is, light/moderate PC gaming, TV, office work and PS4.
Any help would be appreciated.
This thread was super helpful. Thanks.
I joined the forum just to mention that I had the same issues with this monitor. The flickering, a few dead pixels I think too, I actually really liked the monitor apart from these problems. I am in the process of returning the monitor.
Now I don't know what to do. Should I get a replacement? It seems in this thread getting a replacement hasn't solved the issue that's why I'm not too sure on this. What about an alternative? I really liked the 32 inch and generally apart from the two issues above couldn't fault it. Do I go for 27 inch at 1440p or possibly stick with 1080p at 27 inch? Does the BenQ at 27 inch suffer from the same problem?
My usage is, light/moderate PC gaming, TV, office work and PS4.
Any help would be appreciated.
This thread was super helpful. Thanks.
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I have had this monitor about half a year now. Does not have any flickering.
I tested Google Earth links you posted and games Titan Quest and Skyrim.
Manufacturing date is April 2014.
Monitor is connected through display port and I have been using tft centrals settings with brightness 0-40.
Only minus is light banding that is noticeable if you look for it on solid color test images.
Banding is not noticeable on normal use.
I tested Google Earth links you posted and games Titan Quest and Skyrim.
Manufacturing date is April 2014.
Monitor is connected through display port and I have been using tft centrals settings with brightness 0-40.
Only minus is light banding that is noticeable if you look for it on solid color test images.
Banding is not noticeable on normal use.
Ah crap, bought a BL3200PT that flickers. The flickering seems to be less frequent than in some of the YouTube videos, but maybe I just haven't played the right games yet. It gets triggered by the Google Maps link posted above, when scrolling around. Additionally, that green/magenta window from Lagom causes serious sideways dark banding -- is that "normal" or have we decided that it's not supposed to do that?
In other aspects, the monitor is pretty good -- I have 5 dead sub-pixels, not in the middle of the screen, and not noticeable, and no banding whatsoever and good uniformity. But the flickering is super-annoying.
What should I do, guys?
It's still within return window from Newegg, and will be until 31st of January (under their Iron Egg replacement policy). Should I try to get a replacement from BenQ or has that not helped others in this thread? Or, should I wait until January and try to do a replacement, hoping that by that time Newegg gets a new batch of monitors?
In other aspects, the monitor is pretty good -- I have 5 dead sub-pixels, not in the middle of the screen, and not noticeable, and no banding whatsoever and good uniformity. But the flickering is super-annoying.
What should I do, guys?
It's still within return window from Newegg, and will be until 31st of January (under their Iron Egg replacement policy). Should I try to get a replacement from BenQ or has that not helped others in this thread? Or, should I wait until January and try to do a replacement, hoping that by that time Newegg gets a new batch of monitors?