BenQ GW2x50(HM) thread.

It seems that in general retailers in UK take up slack. eg re Dell monitors that have onsite warranty, you dont in general contact the seller. re BenQ the major retailers will process the first years warranty. 1 year seller warranty is typical for consumers, I think 90 days for business buyers. Some retailers have special agreements with the maker eg Asus 3 years warranty for motherboards, my online retailer will handle the full 3 years.

In UK we also the have the Sales of Goods Act that can provide upto 6 years warranty for things expected to reasonably have long lives. But to exercise it you have to go to court and prove the item was faulty and not just worn out due to excessive use for instance. Dont know if any one uses this law.

I am surprised that BenQ USA, in such a large market ,seems to be so poor & run by just 2 people?
 
Just left them the final voicemail (though I still remained polite and professional). After I finish this post I will be shutting down the PC and boxing up the monitor (I'll keep it offline until the new monitor arrives this afternoon). These guys are horrid with customer service and I would recommend that anyone else just avoid BenQ products. YMMV, of course.
 
I think you should say Medion - Avoid BenQ in the USA? Seems like other countries eg XoR in Poland found them satisfactory.
 
You can try you luck with the Philips 273E3QHSB this one uses the same panel but has another panel controller or wait for the 120Hz VA Monitors they should be out in 1-3 months.
 
I think you should say Medion - Avoid BenQ in the USA? Seems like other countries eg XoR in Poland found them satisfactory.

I can concur with this.

You can try you luck with the Philips 273E3QHSB this one uses the same panel but has another panel controller or wait for the 120Hz VA Monitors they should be out in 1-3 months.

No more gambles for me, I went back to a sure thing, the Samsung S27B550v. I'm happy :)
 
received my GW2450HM today and can confirm for anyone else that may care that 71.928hz works :) monitor also seems alot better than my samsung 2333t :cool:
 
I did get the green hue but that was easy to remove by setting RGB green to 94 and black depth green to 46.
Can you please tell me exactly how you did it? i too have a green hue, and i want to get rid of it.
 
Can you please tell me exactly how you did it? i too have a green hue, and i want to get rid of it.


Look back at page 12 - Kikou's comments nearly at the bottom. #237

You can control the "bright" tone RGB from the OSD PICTURE/COLOR. I used standard mode ( from OSD PICTURE ADVANCED/PICTURE MODE, some modes u cant change the RGB colour in I think ) I have actually now reduced mine to 88 and the red to 94. I originally just changed the green to 94. make changes slowly a little at a time. I have a tv tuner in my pc so was able to sample a variety of programmes comparing with another tv.

As Kikou mentions this doesnt change the tint of the dark tones - there is a hidden setting in the monitor. There is a free program called SoftMCCS that will do the job -

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/lib/softmccs.shtm

I am lucky as my intel video driver for my G41 board can actually change both these RGB values without using the monitor menu or SoftMCCS.

Kikou explains how to use SoftMCCS.

Dont feel obliged to use all his settings ( brightness,contrast etc) For the moment my RGB video black levels Green=46 seems ok, leaving Red & Blue at 50 ( the default )

Choosing the correct RGB values by eye not easy lol. I found looking at old B/W cinema films helped - but some dont have neutral blacks/greys/whites. "Winchester '73" was showing on TV at the time and seemed very neutral. I also looked at a wide range of skin tones, especially looking for untanned natural "white" avoiding unnatural lighting or time of day distortions etc .

Hope this helps a bit
 
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So my BenQ GW2450HM arrived today.
The black levels are better than on my TN and IPS monitor i has but i still got this grayish over blacks i think this is caused by the shitty LCD backlight. The viewing angle on this monitor is in my option not good because it's only a little bit better than on a TN monitor.
But i still decided to keep this monitor because it's an 8-bit color monitor and if i watch a dark movies i don't have IPS-Glow.
I would retrun it and try out the Samsung VA Montior that was posted in this topic but I'm going to buy in a few months a plasma TV i'm sick now of trying out LCD's to replace my CRT.
 
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Pretty much everyone who got one of the BenQs here reported problems with it. Based on reviews here, I'm not sure why you'd think yours would be any better really. Personally I'm not sure why anyone would want to keep a monitor with grayish blacks, bad viewing angles and from a company with terrible customer support. And that's overlooking the color accuracy and ghosting problems people also had.

Another option, is forget a-mva and just go for a used c-pva or s-pva... some tradeoffs there, but it won't have glow and should have at least acceptable blacks.

As for plasma, they make rather terrible monitors from what I've read here. They may be okay for gaming, but aren't so great as a general usage sort of monitor.
 
So my BenQ GW2450HM arrived today.
The black levels are better than on my TN and IPS monitor i has but i still got this grayish over blacks i think this is caused by the shitty LCD backlight.

You're using HDMI, aren't you? If so, I can fix this. If not, then it's another problem.
 
Pretty much everyone who got one of the BenQs here reported problems with it. Based on reviews here, I'm not sure why you'd think yours would be any better really. Personally I'm not sure why anyone would want to keep a monitor with grayish blacks, bad viewing angles and from a company with terrible customer support. And that's overlooking the color accuracy and ghosting problems people also had.

Another option, is forget a-mva and just go for a used c-pva or s-pva... some tradeoffs there, but it won't have glow and should have at least acceptable blacks.

As for plasma, they make rather terrible monitors from what I've read here. They may be okay for gaming, but aren't so great as a general usage sort of monitor.

I had an TN and IPS and this one has less grayish but still it suck because i have no grayish on my CRT. And customer support is not a problem for my i have 1 year seller warranty and can send it back to amazone and get full money back. And color and ghosting was the same on the IPS i had.

After testing TN, IPS and MVA I come to the conclusion that LCD is crap and the best CRT replacement is a plasma. I tried a Plasme at a friends house and i haven't notice any problems like i had on the LCD's.
 
Yes i have HDMI i tried a lot what fix do you have?

If you're on Nvidia, it's sending the wrong black levels (16-235 as opposed to 0-255) via HDMI. This is a bug in Nvidia's driver, one they've ignored for a few years now. As more monitors become HDMI capable, they're going to have to address it eventually. AMD fixed theirs a few drivers back.

Basically, you have two options. You can either accept it, and change the monitor's black level to low (this gives you the corrected 16-235 output), or you can modify your GPU driver to get forced 0-255 output. First first option is easy, just hit the menu button on the monitor, look for the HDMI black level, and fix it. If you want the second option, give me the driver version you're on and I'll make you a modified version.
 
I had an TN and IPS and this one has less grayish but still it suck because i have no grayish on my CRT. And customer support is not a problem for my i have 1 year seller warranty and can send it back to amazone and get full money back. And color and ghosting was the same on the IPS i had.

After testing TN, IPS and MVA I come to the conclusion that LCD is crap and the best CRT replacement is a plasma. I tried a Plasme at a friends house and i haven't notice any problems like i had on the LCD's.

Plasma is awesome. Only problem is image retention. But black levels, ghosting, color, far superior to LCD.
 
If you're on Nvidia, it's sending the wrong black levels (16-235 as opposed to 0-255) via HDMI. This is a bug in Nvidia's driver, one they've ignored for a few years now. As more monitors become HDMI capable, they're going to have to address it eventually. AMD fixed theirs a few drivers back.

Basically, you have two options. You can either accept it, and change the monitor's black level to low (this gives you the corrected 16-235 output), or you can modify your GPU driver to get forced 0-255 output. First first option is easy, just hit the menu button on the monitor, look for the HDMI black level, and fix it. If you want the second option, give me the driver version you're on and I'll make you a modified version.

I connected the LCD via VGA and the colore looked more vibrant and less grayish but i found a fix for the HDMI problem if i switch in the Nvidia option "Digital color format:" from "RGB" to "YCbCr444" than i have the same result with HDMI like connecting it with VGA.
 
I connected the LCD via VGA and the colore looked more vibrant and less grayish but i found a fix for the HDMI problem if i switch in the Nvidia option "Digital color format:" from "RGB" to "YCbCr444" than i have the same result with HDMI like connecting it with VGA.

If you can't tell the difference, then you're fine (but there is a difference). When using VGA, your GPU is telling the monitor, "Hey, I'm using 0-255, suck it up," and you don't have the option to change the monitor's value. With YCbCr, your GPU is saying, "Hey, I'm using 16-235, suck it up," and again, you don't have the option to change the monitor's black level value. With RGB, your GPU can send either signal, so your monitor gives you the choice of matching it up.

What you did by using YCbCr is the same as using HDMI with a low black level. You're still not getting the same level you'd get with VGA or corrected HDMI, but if you're happy then it doesn't matter.
 
I connected the monitor now via VGA to be save, but it's nice to see the 15€ investment in an HDMI cable paying off. :rolleyes:
 
I connected the monitor now via VGA to be save, but it's nice to see the 15€ investment in an HDMI cable paying off. :rolleyes:

Like I said, it's an Nvidia issue that can be worked around. You just have to edit one file in notepad. I could do it for you and link to it if you'd like.
 
Yes what file must i edit and what line?
Would be good to use the HDMI cable till i buy my new PC with a DVI-D cable because the VGA cable is short and waits for me in the drak to fall over it.
 
After testing TN, IPS and MVA I come to the conclusion that LCD is crap and the best CRT replacement is a plasma. I tried a Plasme at a friends house and i haven't notice any problems like i had on the LCD's.
Well, I like plasma TVs, but I don't think they are the most practical PC monitors. Anyhow, good VA monitors should not have "grayish" blacks. With luminance at 110 cd/m2, my Samsung cPVA has a black level of 0.04 cd/m2 -- the same as my plasma TV (admittedly, not the nicest plasma in the world). That black level is not as good as on the mid-range plasmas available today, which are closer to 0.015, but it doesn't suck. And the cPVA's contrast is more pleasing than on my old CRT monitors, because the maximum luminance level was very low on the CRT monitors I owned. If PRAD's S24A650D measurements are accurate, then there are VA monitors available that will hit 0.03 cd/m2 at my preferred luminance level of 110 cd/m2. For a relatively inexpensive PC monitor, that is very good contrast.
 
Anyhow, good VA monitors should not have "grayish" blacks.

It's not the monitor, it's a known HDMI issue with Nvidia GPUs.

Yes what file must i edit and what line?
Would be good to use the HDMI cable till i buy my new PC with a DVI-D cable because the VGA cable is short and waits for me in the drak to fall over it.

Download your driver and start the installation process. After it extracts the driver, quit out before it does anything, then go to the Nvidia folder on your main drive and go to the display drivers folder, folder for corect version etc. until eventually you get to the "nv_disp.inf" file and then every single time you need to go in and edit it, what you do is:

edit: C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\####(whatever driver install you are trying to change)\WinVista_Win7_64(or whatever fits your system)\International or English\Display.Driver\nv_disp.inf
find the "[nv_miscBase_addreg__01]" sections and then right after each one add the line:
"HKR,,SetDefaultFullRGBRangeOnHDMI,%REG_DWORD% ,1"

So for instance you get:
"[nv_miscBase_addreg__01]
HKLM,"Software\Khronos\OpenCL\Vendors" ,nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",AddDeviceSequence,% REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak",NoPages,%REG_DWORD% ,0x40120518
HKLM,"Software\Wow6432Node\Khronos\OpenCL\ Vendors",nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_MULTI_SZ%,"ACR,2A1 ,71;"
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_SZ_APPEND%,"ACR,01 26,70; "
HKR,,UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165- C5035994A3F5}"

[nv_miscBase_addreg__02]
HKLM,"Software\Khronos\OpenCL\Vendors" ,nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\DRS",DRS_DefaultProfile,%REG_SZ % ,"3D App - Default Global Settings"
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",AddDeviceSequence,% REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak",NoPages,%REG_DWORD% ,0x40120518
HKLM,"Software\Wow6432Node\Khronos\OpenCL\ Vendors",nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_MULTI_SZ%,"ACR,2A1 ,71;"
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_SZ_APPEND%,"ACR,01 26,70; "
HKR,,UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165- C5035994A3F5}""

etc. for all the __##s
make sure to add it for all the miscbase0addreg's there might be like 20 of them

into:
[nv_miscBase_addreg__01]
HKR,,SetDefaultFullRGBRangeOnHDMI,%REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\Khronos\OpenCL\Vendors" ,nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",AddDeviceSequence,% REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak",NoPages,%REG_DWORD% ,0x40120518
HKLM,"Software\Wow6432Node\Khronos\OpenCL\ Vendors",nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_MULTI_SZ%,"ACR,2A1 ,71;"
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_SZ_APPEND%,"ACR,01 26,70; "
HKR,,UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165- C5035994A3F5}"

[nv_miscBase_addreg__02]
HKR,,SetDefaultFullRGBRangeOnHDMI,%REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\Khronos\OpenCL\Vendors" ,nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\DRS",DRS_DefaultProfile,%REG_SZ % ,"3D App - Default Global Settings"
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",AddDeviceSequence,% REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak",NoPages,%REG_DWORD% ,0x40120518
HKLM,"Software\Wow6432Node\Khronos\OpenCL\ Vendors",nvcuda.dll,%REG_DWORD%,0x00000000
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_MULTI_SZ%,"ACR,2A1 ,71;"
HKR,,MonitorCapabilityList,%REG_SZ_APPEND%,"ACR,01 26,70; "
HKR,,UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165- C5035994A3F5}"

then you go back one directory and run setup.exe and install the driver
 
Pretty much everyone who got one of the BenQs here reported problems with it. Based on reviews here, I'm not sure why you'd think yours would be any better really. Personally I'm not sure why anyone would want to keep a monitor with grayish blacks, bad viewing angles and from a company with terrible customer support. And that's overlooking the color accuracy and ghosting problems people also had.

Another option, is forget a-mva and just go for a used c-pva or s-pva... some tradeoffs there, but it won't have glow and should have at least acceptable blacks.

As for plasma, they make rather terrible monitors from what I've read here. They may be okay for gaming, but aren't so great as a general usage sort of monitor.

I think many of the "problems" ppl having are social delusions. Buyers here are being influenced by what they have read, starting to see things. It is very easy to do. Greyish blacks? I dont think so. May be the gamma or contrast needs to be changed? If you want to see greysh blacks come and see my IPS Toshiba TV. Medion seems to have a legit case, but that applies only to the USA. Other ppl have reported happy dealing with BenQ( Poland ). Yes there is a viewing angle issue, but thats the technology not BenQ. Yes there is a greenish tint but that is very easy to correct. They are cheap - in the UK they sell for as little as £132 ( 132 UK pounds) As far as I see they are selling well in the UK. I think more than 50 from Ebuyer in the last month. I have had mine 5 weeks now and has been used a great deal as I use it as a TV/Media screen. And its doing well so far.
 
@Medion
Thank you this works now. :)

@mercalia and MechanicalMan
I had a 700€ CRT and i never liked the pictues on the LCD's i don't know way if it is because of the backlight or if it is because of the AG-Coating i don't know. What i know is that i like the pictures on a plasma more in a drak room.
I don't say this monitor is bad but i hoped for more. A friend has the GW2750HM an he loves it but he is also coming from a TN Monitor. :D
 
@Medion
Thank you this works now. :)

@mercalia and MechanicalMan
I had a 700€ CRT and i never liked the pictues on the LCD's i don't know way if it is because of the backlight or if it is because of the AG-Coating i don't know. What i know is that i like the pictures on a plasma more in a drak room.
I don't say this monitor is bad but i hoped for more. A friend has the GW2750HM an he loves it but he is also coming from a TN Monitor. :D

I am no fan of lcd technology. CRT had great motion handling but sooner or later suffered gun alignment with colour fringing and blurring of fine detail. I still remember the size and weight of smallish widescreen CRT tvs.

Your bad luck,Outbreaker, is your reference (CRT/Plasma) cant be got ( anymore) in small screen format, so nothing can please you? I've almost forgotten what its like to have no ghosting ( as on CRTs) As with your friend it pays to come from some thing worse. The BenQ GW monitors are intended as general purpose ( for home or office ) not some super duper holy grail as some here seem to think they should be. Some people though are finding them much better than that humble role suggests. I had almost given up finding a cheapish monitor with good contrast/blacks that also had hdmi, dvi and vga and sound in/out. The blacks on my ( oldish & expensive) IPS TV, in the dark, I couldnt stand.
 
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Unfortunately most today monitors can have awesome contrast ratios with "on the shelf" settings, but almost none of them have proper contrast ratios when calibrated properly, and with 120 cd/m2 luminance, which is most likely the way it will be used.
Have you tried photographer's neutral filters to darken an image slightly, down to under 120 cd/m2? They are like clear glass or plastic that has a grey color, so things look darker without affecting color tint or color temperature.

I used one for my projector, I wonder if they sell large sheets that can fit an excessively-bright monitor.
 
I think many of the "problems" ppl having are social delusions. Buyers here are being influenced by what they have read, starting to see things. It is very easy to do. Greyish blacks? I dont think so.

That's possible (regarding being influenced by what they read). As for greyish blacks, it looks like in this case it was an hdmi issue. Although I do recall another person here saying that blacks only looked good in the center of the screen and were washed out on the sides, so that'd be color shift. And in that case, not much could be done about it.

For a cheap-ish monitor, the BenQ probably isn't that bad (so long as it doesn't break). I think the biggest issue with this monitor is that people expect it to be something it isn't -- or hoping for a better image, better angles, that this panel can really do.

And you are right when you mention it's what your reference is (CRT in this case) that can influence your opinion of any monitor. I've used CRTs for years and only recently (this year) went to an LCD as my main monitor. I ended up getting a used NEC 2490 myself, and have a small Eizo VA as a secondary. I also had a used NEC 2190 (before it broke). They were very expensive monitors when new ($800+), with the 2490 being unique regarding angles and glow due to the A-TW polarizer. And for myself, I just find these monitors 'acceptable'... still flawed, but good enough when compared to an elderly CRT.

If I was going new, I'd probably go with one of the samsungs (va or pls). I have a feeling outbreaker may like the Samsung VA a bit more than the BenQ, but it's also more expensive.
 
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@Medion
Can you quick post the cons and pros about the GW2450HM vs the S24B350 ?
I'm little bit annoyed about the viewing angle on the GW2450HM.
 
Just got the sa650s ytd. The ghosting is a little more than what I like, on fastest response time, it over compensate.
I considered the benq, but after reading the horror stories I'm looking for an alternative. Atm I have this next to a g2220hd (too small), which is noticeably less ghosting, albeit not by much.

I also have a potalion 2710qw (resolution too high), LG IPS231 (ridiculous ghosting)
I had the 2412m (sparkles), sold them, so thats out of the equation.

anything 24 inch, decent tn with slightly better than average color shift would do also. I'll be using these in 5x1 portrait.
Thanks!
 
Just got the sa650s ytd. The ghosting is a little more than what I like, on fastest response time, it over compensate.
I considered the benq, but after reading the horror stories I'm looking for an alternative. Atm I have this next to a g2220hd (too small), which is noticeably less ghosting, albeit not by much.

I also have a potalion 2710qw (resolution too high), LG IPS231 (ridiculous ghosting)
I had the 2412m (sparkles), sold them, so thats out of the equation.

anything 24 inch, decent tn with slightly better than average color shift would do also. I'll be using these in 5x1 portrait.
Thanks!

I think there is only one horror story here and that is Medion's re customer support in the USA. Also soldierblue seemed to have a badly made one. I just spent a short time looking at the 20 or so pages of comments. Most refer to gamma shift issues & viewing angles. Some to ghosting ( but some find that aspect ok or tolerable ). A few refer to colour issues ( then some think they are fine) - washed out colours, reds that are maroon, reds that are not red & whites that are purple/indigo; a few report greenish tints (then one atleast doesnt), one describes a massive green bias. One reports eye strain. Atleast one reports "banding" (in games). Atleast one describes an effect attributed to the monitor that is really elsewhere ( grey blacks). A couple of people are prepared to write off the monitors as duds or having such faults as only fit for the bin.
 
I think there is only one horror story here and that is Medion's re customer support in the USA. Also soldierblue seemed to have a badly made one. I just spent a short time looking at the 20 or so pages of comments. Most refer to gamma shift issues & viewing angles. Some to ghosting ( but some find that aspect ok or tolerable ). A few refer to colour issues ( then some think they are fine) - washed out colours, reds that are maroon, reds that are not red & whites that are purple/indigo; a few report greenish tints (then one atleast doesnt), one describes a massive green bias. One reports eye strain. Atleast one reports "banding" (in games). Atleast one describes an effect attributed to the monitor that is really elsewhere ( grey blacks). A couple of people are prepared to write off the monitors as duds or having such faults as only fit for the bin.

There is one light pixel on my sa650, it's almost like it's bleached, I only notice it on pure white, & even then i gotta look to find it, so doesn't bother me. BLB is limited, which is more than I can say for the korean ips.
I'd prefer something that doesn't fail in a month, ie. benq AMA.
People who usually say grey blacks just have too high expectation, anything on a MVA is already much better than anything else you see on anything but MVA, unless the thing is defective. I've seen most of the benq MVA panels in person, it's pretty decent.

I'm thinking I'll just go with 3xTN that has 2ms respond time GLOSSY/semi gloss and call it a day.
 
@Medion
Can you quick post the cons and pros about the GW2450HM vs the S24B350 ?
I'm little bit annoyed about the viewing angle on the GW2450HM.

I'll save you the long writeup. If viewing angles are you concern, get an IPS. I know you've been against them, but that's your last resort.

In terms of viewing angles, comparing the GW2750HM and the S27B350/550 that I've owned, the GW2750 has MUCH better vertical viewing angles. I was floored about how I could stand up and the monitor's image would shift only slightly, whereas on the TN panels it was horrid (although I am used to it). As far as horizontal viewing angles go, it's a tough call. The GW2750 had an immediate gamma shift that was noticeable head on for very specific solid colors but it was not something that I noticed in a game. Examples would be the top gray bar on the Google main page or the horizontal red bars on the [H] forums. This doesn't occur on the TN panels. However, the GW2750 doesn't seem to shift much from that point to the edge, whereas the TN panels do shift slightly. Overall, I'd give the TN panels a slight edge on the horizontal due to the better frontal view shift.

Seriously though, between VA, IPS, and TN, it really is a case of pick your poison. Perhaps TN will be the best compromise for you. Try one of the Samsungs, but do it before buying. Otherwise, time to try an IPS.
 
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I'm curious to know - which monitor has worse viewing angles the Benq GW2750 or Asus VG278H?
 
I'd prefer something that doesn't fail in a month, ie. benq AMA.

I think only one person has reported that issue of AMA failing( Advanced Motion Accelerator, BenQ name for Overdrive ), hardly a reason for looking else where. To some extent this forum reminds me of the film 12 Angry Men, out to "get" this monitor lol.
 
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