BenQ GW2x50(HM) thread.

The new 24" panel revision (the V7 I mentioned earlier in the thread) matches the power usage for the new Dell S2440L. So its going to be in there. We'll see how that turn out. But my guess is that its going to be pretty much the same but glossy and less LEDs to reduce powerusage and thus brightness.

There's also the Philips 249C4QHSB reviewed by Prad. But I think its the old panel revision.
 
I contacted TFTcentral regarding their GW2750HW review. The reply I got re the fault was this

"..but it does seem that the problem is normally characterised by a severe overshoot (very obvious dark trailing) or an AMA function which completely stops working after a while of use. . We saw neither
of these problems on the sample of the GW2750HM we had, and so I don't believe it to be a faulty example.....Looking at the playwares review of both versions there does seem to be some very minor
improvements in pixel response times as well... Some minor improvements seem to be possible with the latest revision but they are unlikely to be picked up by our tests at such low levels."

They said if they can get hold of a revised model they may do another review

It looks like that Medion got one of the bad ones, since his AMA failed after 6 weeks. The issue may not just be a matter of response optimisation but actual AMA failure; any one in the USA/EU need to be very beware, Medion's experience may not be an isolated example. I nearly got the 27" rather than the 24". Glad now I got the 24" :) Oh my GW2450HM still going fine after 9 weeks of heavy use.
 
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It is true that many of BenQ display is defective? I shouldn't buy old revision? What if I don't have a choice?
 
Did anybody link this review?:
http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/3055/benq-gw2250hm-gw2450hm-and-gw2750hm-review
They get a bit weird results though. GW2750HM seems to get way too good response time values. I like how they have some measured values for viewing angles, though. Even if they might not reflect reality its still interesting to have something to compare and get a general idea.

I also went by a monitor stand at a store and happened to spot a GW2250HM stuck in there between a bunch of TNs. It fairly much killed the competition there. In that environment I guess these monitors are golden. Semi-glossy, viewing angles, bright, good contrast. Not sure how they are back at home, though.
 
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The GW2450HM you get for 160€ in this price range you won't find any better monitor even in the 300€ range.
The GW2750HM has little bit better contrast but lower response time and it cost 70€ more so the GW2450HM is the better deal.
I would also wait for a review of the new DELL S2440L (MVA).
 
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AlexW said:
It is true that many of BenQ display is defective? I shouldn't buy old revision? What if I don't have a choice?
Click to expand...

I think a previous report which gave the serial numbers of suspect ones in Korea amounted to 1300 units, but was that just Korea? I personally would steer clear of the 27" for the present time - maybe look at the product code of presumably old ones and wait for it to change ( I see this has happended already to updates to the 24", though here not an update to correct a faulty one), I certainly wouldnt buy one in the USA ( viz Medion's experience )
 
CrabJuice said:
Did anybody link this review?:
http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/3055/benq-gw2250hm-gw2450hm-and-gw2750hm-review
They get a bit weird results though. GW2740HM seems to get way too good response time values. I like how they have some measured values for viewing angles, though. Even if they might not reflect reality its still interesting to have something to compare and get a general idea.

I also went by a monitor stand at a store and happened to spot a GW2250HM stuck in there between a bunch of TNs. It fairly much killed the competition there. In that environment I guess these monitors are golden. Semi-glossy, viewing angles, bright, good contrast. Not sure how they are back at home, though.
Click to expand...


nope a new review addition - thanks.

Well as I have said before, I use mine as a TV, thru Windows Media Centre. Does a cracking job there, even in the dark - beats my presumably IPS Toshiba TV by a considerable margin. One reason I got my 24" was that reviews said no light spillage at the corners or edges - which would be very irritating for non 16:9 material. BUT you do need to play around a bit with colour adjustment - many have reported them having green tints - some people here were being driven quite mad by it. You need to download a free tool to do it properly ( see previous page 12 #237). One nice thing, due to the high contrast, you dont need to run the monitor at high brightness levels -mine as a TV is just 23 ( from 100 ) @ 17 watts!
 
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I have just ordered a Benq GW2250HP VA monitor. I've read with interest the posts here about Benq; it seems to get good marks for picture quality (with some reservations) but poor marks for service. Let's hope mine is trouble free. (I compared a lot of monitors, but this one was $125, and the 24" version was over $200, so it seemed the right pocketbook choice.)

(I have an ATI Radeon HD3850 (4x AGP) on a Pentium III/133 mhz-- yes, 133 mhz).

I'm an average joe kind of user and won't be able to assess all the technical criteria some of you guys like, but I will share my subjective impressions of this screen/VA technology in a bit.
 
max mccall said:
(I have an ATI Radeon HD3850 (4x AGP) on a Pentium III/133 mhz-- yes, 133 mhz).
Click to expand...

That can't be right. The Pentium TWO started at 233mhz, and the PIII started at 400mhz. Only the original Pentium was offered in a speed of 133mhz (and I'm fairly certain there was no MMX variant at that speed). I don't think there was any AGP motherboard that supported the original Pentium, but I could be mistaken. So I'm genuinely curious as to what CPU you actually have.
 
max mccall said:
I have just ordered a Benq GW2250HP VA monitor. I've read with interest the posts here about Benq; it seems to get poor marks for service. Let's hope mine is trouble free. (I compared a lot of monitors, but this one was $125, and the 24" version was over $200, so it seemed the right pocketbook choice.)

.
Click to expand...

Well I also truly hope you have no trouble - did you really read the long set of posts by Medion and his abysmal trouble with BenQ USA who at the end of the day have to repair it? I do suggest u really give it a thorough test within your warranty period with the retailer & at the slightest doubt return quick - as u wont get any joy from BenQ USA it seems. I think other countries are ok - One person from Poland had good dealing with them. no quibble replacement. I hope you have a good one!
 
Medion said:
That can't be right. The Pentium TWO started at 233mhz, and the PIII started at 400mhz. Only the original Pentium was offered in a speed of 133mhz (and I'm fairly certain there was no MMX variant at that speed). I don't think there was any AGP motherboard that supported the original Pentium, but I could be mistaken. So I'm genuinely curious as to what CPU you actually have.
Click to expand...

Maybe he meant 133 mhz fsb?
 
So I took another gamble with GW2750(HM) and again I got hurt. This is recorded with camera from ancient era but it serves its purpose to show the problem which is extremely evident on groud textures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6PWKlgBB0&feature=youtu.be - its like whole screen darkens a bit when moving, all textures are becoming darker, its as if the whole screen is blinking which is extremely annoying to say the least.. Of course its evident only when grey shades meet light/another grey/black shades (absolutely no problems when playing bright collored games like torchlight II, civilization V, etc) so it is only problem at night (in-game) but none the less it is very, very annoying. It exhibits the same symptoms with all AMA, contrast/brightness possible settings. At night I can actually see as if whole screen is blinking on/off at a very fast rate (when looking at the bezel of monitor it is evident that screen is blinking at fast rate, again no such problem with bright only colors) when I'm walking in-game. Again it can only be seen when there are a lot of grey/dark textures. FW version is dating back to march but I honestly do not know how to describe this problem when filling RMA form.
 
laukinisvilkas said:
So I took another gamble with GW2750(HM) and again I got hurt. This is recorded with camera from ancient era but it serves its purpose to show the problem which is extremely evident on groud textures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6PWKlgBB0&feature=youtu.be - its like whole screen darkens a bit when moving, all textures are becoming darker, its as if the whole screen is blinking which is extremely annoying to say the least.. Of course its evident only when grey shades meet light/another grey/black shades (absolutely no problems when playing bright collored games like torchlight II, civilization V, etc) so it is only problem at night (in-game) but none the less it is very, very annoying. It exhibits the same symptoms with all AMA, contrast/brightness possible settings. At night I can actually see as if whole screen is blinking on/off at a very fast rate (when looking at the bezel of monitor it is evident that screen is blinking at fast rate, again no such problem with bright only colors) when I'm walking in-game. Again it can only be seen when there are a lot of grey/dark textures. FW version is dating back to march but I honestly do not know how to describe this problem when filling RMA form.
Click to expand...

well can u get your money back - or is it too late? could it be your video card? try another monitor? what about connection - vga or dvi? What happens if u put up max brightness - you know that brigthness is controled by turning the leds on and off very fast, at full brightness they are on all the time. ( though I doubt this the cause as u would see it all the time even when no motion) I wonder if the effect is more apparant than real? when u move the picture details merge from separate white & grey into a grey as they over lay one another? Have u set refresh rate correct/non standard monitor settings in video card?
 
It's already too late (havent played dark games to really notice this...). I thought maybie I was just imagining things so I brought few friends to see it and they immediately said I wasnt paranoid and the problem was very real. I tested it with HD4000 throgh DVI VGA and HDMI, with ATI 7850 through HDMI DVI and VGA and GTX 670 through HDMI VGA and DVI, the same darkening/flickering resulted in all case. Yup even at 100 brightness (which is way too bright) I see absolutely the same thing, AMA off, high or premium made no difference too. I even hooked it up to a laptop. And yes it is way more annoying in real life than it looks in youtube. It looks as if there is more black color than there should be, I can still see green ground texture but black lines are becoming very pronounced and it is the same through all AMA settings, grey/dark textures genuinely looks darker when I walk than it when I stand still, hence the flickering effect. Tried standard/non standard refresh rate and issue remains.
I honestly do not know if it's issue at all because all my friends only have TFT monitors which do not have this issue, the colors do merge because of response rate but they do not change the contrast (????) of textures, it just looks blurrier.
 
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laukinisvilkas said:
I honestly do not know if it's issue at all because all my friends only have TFT monitors which do not have this issue, the colors do merge because of response rate but they do not change the contrast (????) of textures, it just looks blurrier.
Click to expand...

I suggest trying a couple of different games, and maybe a couple of movie clips, see if it happens all the time.

Compared to the screens I have seen (IPS + S-PVA) you have somewhat extreme blurriness w/movement there -- or at least more than I am used to seeing. It looks like your overdrive is either off, or not working quite right.

You could try to warranty it, but based on Medion's experience here, I'm not so sure that would go very well.
 
laukinisvilkas said:
So I took another gamble with GW2750(HM) and again I got hurt. This is recorded with camera from ancient era but it serves its purpose to show the problem which is extremely evident on groud textures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH6PWKlgBB0&feature=youtu.be -
Click to expand...

Am I right in thinking it seems the bottom right corner? Even with out movement seems darker than other sections? The movement just exagerates it? If so faulty led strip/poor evenness of illumination?

Can you arrange a total dark screen then look at in the dark to see it un even? or a total grey screen look for the same?

is the AMA working at all? Have you tried PixPerAn, watch the little car go across screen and change the AMA and see if it gets less blurred when u change AMA settings?

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/testsoftware/pixperan.html

If you are in the USA then maybe follow Medions course of action after attempt RMA ( and fail ) - do a charge back?
 
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lpakto said:
I haven't seen it mentioned in the thread yet, but, for prospective buyers of the GW2750HM, be aware of what version you buy.

It looks like there's a disproportionate number of this model with a defective or unsatisfactory AMA/response time overdrive.
Just a few weeks back, BenQ Korea issued a press release announcing a new firmware upgrade for the GW2750HM focused on correcting the AMA and offered Korean buyers up until july 31 to bring/send back their monitors to their support center for free servicing, although they made it clear that refunds or exchanges were impossible.
In this thread dedicated to the GW2750HM, a BenQ Customer Service Representative links to a site listing the serial numbers of the potentially defective models present in the Korean market and advises any unlucky owners to take up BenQ on their free servicing offer. He then goes on to add that the new firmware is dated june 2012 and that all new monitors bought in Korea after june 15th are safe (i.e. they have the new firmware).

Unfortunately it all becomes murky outside the Korean market as it is clear that there is quite a number of old version GW2750HMs still available through retail in the US and Europe. For example, the monitor used in the tftcentral review is an old version as can attest this screengrab taken from their site where we can see that the firmware is dated March 2012.
As they haven't said a word outside of Korea, maybe BenQ looks to get rid of the current stock of their Euro/US old version models before these are replaced with the revised versions while hoping the vast majority of customers don't notice anything. I don't know. Anyway, check the firmware version before buying.

How to check the firmware version through factory mode screen: Hold down the menu button while the monitor is being powered up. Then, press Menu again. If the firmware is dated March 2012, you have the old version. If the firmware is dated June 2012 you have the revised version and should be safe.

Playwares review of the old GW2750HM (already linked earlier in the thread): http://www.playwares.com/xe/23283703
Playwares review of the revised GW2750HM: http://www.playwares.com/xe/23624550​
Click to expand...

My Review of the 2750HM: Guess I got lucky.

I have a June 13th firmware model and it has been running like a dream for the last three weeks. I've found everything about it stellar for a $250 monitor. It's a real shame that this is another Benq monitor that was released with sub-standard firmware. I was fortunate on my XL2410T and the GW2750HM in that both were the latest firmware and didn't have the AMA overdrive issues. My experience with this monitor matches TFT Centrals review exactly. Totally thrilled with the responsiveness, low input lag and contrast ratio. No backlight bleed and I adore the semi gloss ag finish they used on this display, it's the perfect balance between AG and glass.The stand is useless but I paid $300 Canadian (After tax and electronics fee) so what more can you say. I calibrated using TFT centrals RGB settings and their ICC profile (Like I do for all my monitors). The out of the box image on this monitor is one of the worst I've ever seen. The light output is simply blinding. Using the TFT Central review settings and calibration ICC profile resulted in a dramatic, almost laughable, improvement.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_gw2750hm.htm

Note about myself: I've bought and returned five IPS panel monitors in the last 2 years because of awful AG coatings and excessive IPS glow and/or backlight bleed. I'm pretty picky and the 2750HM was a pleasant surprise.
 
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ooooo, pretty

GW2450: lovely picture, all tests come out positive on Lagon.com, no bleeding, no dead pixels...(yet?), low levels of ghosting.
I don't play games, but my nephew is visiting soon and he's a game addict, so I'll let him test it further.

...my (what used to be called) CPU clock speed is 1.13 (the Tualatin is rated to 1.3, but mine won't go that high or overclock).

Everything looks like the monitor was well worth the $125 price (including 2nd day shipping!).
 
mercalia said:
Am I right in thinking it seems the bottom right corner? Even with out movement seems darker than other sections? The movement just exagerates it? If so faulty led strip/poor evenness of illumination?

Can you arrange a total dark screen then look at in the dark to see it un even? or a total grey screen look for the same?

is the AMA working at all? Have you tried PixPerAn, watch the little car go across screen and change the AMA and see if it gets less blurred when u change AMA settings?

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/testsoftware/pixperan.html

If you are in the USA then maybe follow Medions course of action after attempt RMA ( and fail ) - do a charge back?
Click to expand...

Screen is even when looking at dark/grey picture in a dark room, only vertical gamma shift is present (20- maybie 30 degrees change affects how black/grey picture looks). Yes AMA is working, I can definetely see transition from off->high->premium (and it is positive transition at that). I can reproduce it 100% of the time with this screenshot http://postimage.org/image/yf5ada03b/ , I filmed myself dragging screenshot while changing brightness in nvidia panel and how it affects whole darkening/flickering (again only changing brightness in windows affects flickering/darkening, if I change brightness from 0 to 100 in monitor settings it is absolutely the same, only darker/brighter and AMA settings makes no difference at all) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2s7k3kpLjY&feature=youtu.be And I'm from Europe where I will have some problem to prove that this is actually a defect...

Edit: the last 20 seconds clearly shows how it affects trees, If I had HD camera it would be able to show the details how it affects whole screen and not only trees. Even my old xerox xa7-19i didnt acted like that - it all just became a blurry mess but not some psychedelic light show.
 
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I can't see you problem on your video but after testing it mysefl i see also the flickering it improves 2x if i set AMA from Off to Premium. I can't say if that's normal because i didn't had a lot of LCD's.
Good that i have still 10 mouths return policies. ^_^ But for now there is nothing else out there with good blacks and fast response time. I hate it when black are grayish.
 
It cant be clearly seen because the quality of recording is very low, but from 0:45 seconds, tree's and their branches sort of merge/flicker (and actually they are flickering very annoyingly, now image if whole screen is flickering like that and not only trees...) when picture is moved, and that is going on with all dark gray (basically evident only in a very dark games, when it is not a total blackness) textures once in-game :confused: So basically I'm deprived of possibility to enjoy true dark tones of colors what this monitor offers...
 
tftcentral.co.uk will have a soon a review up for the Dell S2440L lets se hop this one is better.
But i would take the flickering over the bad contrast.

medium_ac038f36aadee4acbd4f4f60273bcc47.jpg
 
So if I play a lot of games I shouldn't buy GW2750HM!? I already return back my XL2420T because color is really terrible (red tint everywhere even using TFTcentral setting / icc) and I can't see really difference between 60 Hz and 120 Hz.
 
laukinisvilkas said:
It cant be clearly seen because the quality of recording is very low, but from 0:45 seconds, tree's and their branches sort of merge/flicker (and actually they are flickering very annoyingly, now image if whole screen is flickering like that and not only trees...) when picture is moved, and that is going on with all dark gray (basically evident only in a very dark games, when it is not a total blackness) textures once in-game :confused: So basically I'm deprived of possibility to enjoy true dark tones of colors what this monitor offers...
Click to expand...


The only thing I can think of is that the AMA overdrive is faulty. If you look back at TFTcentral's reply to me, they indicated the faulty 27" either had AMA that failed or overdrive with a great deal of (black) over shoot. This could be the effect you are seeing, since it would darken the picture where there are moving objects - it doesnt seem to affect the sky in your YouTube videos? If you decide thats what it is I can forward the email reply to you from TFTcentral to put on RMA, if u give me an email address


I ve just looked at my GW2450HW - a liitle of what you see. I also tried on my other (Tn) monitors that I think predate overdrive and have lots motion blurr as a result - very little there but a smidgen.
 
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Thank you for your help.
You would be enraged if it was as bad as mine :( Although the worst cases of said flickering are in The elder scrolls series games (oblivion, skyrim, soon will replay morrowind if graphics overhoul 3.0 comes out next month), Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. All of them are modded with higher resolution textures which have a lot of details and that seems not liked by the BenQ because those details are lost in the darkness of BenQ incompetence. Games like bonderlands (the first) are not one tiny bit affected by this, because theme is so bright. Even in Elder Scrolls series games everything is fine between 8 am and 10 pm, it is just the late evening/night/early morning which are affected by it the most. Well I guess from roleplaying perspective it is what I can not clearly see at night while moving :rolleyes:
 
I see this flickering sometimes more sometimes less but it is ture that it makes the monitor flicker blurry.
With AMA Off i always thought i had a smoother picture but i thought my brain would playing tricks on me but now i think my brain was right.
I also did a flicker video but it is really hard to see the problem when it is recorded with a smartphone camera.
http://youtu.be/-PN51RkBjS4
For me it looks like you see this fickering a lot if you have a dark picture with high-resolution dark textures.
Hop a reviewer like tftcentral.co.uk with better equipment can take on this problem in his reviews.
 
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Outbreaker said:
http://youtu.be/-PN51RkBjS4
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It's marked as private video so we're not able view it.
Outbreaker said:
For me it looks like you see this fickering a lot if you have a dark picture with high-resolution dark textures.
Click to expand...
Indeed it is most evident when there are very detailed high res dark textures on screen. In oblivion (even with high res texture packs which are very low quality when compared to skyrim hi rer texture replacers) the screen is definitely flickering but it is far less annoying and less intense.
 
laukinisvilkas said:
Thank you for your help.
......Even in Elder Scrolls series games everything is fine between 8 am and 10 pm, it is just the late evening/night/early morning which are affected by it the most. Well I guess from roleplaying perspective it is what I can not clearly see at night while moving :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like your have some kind of power issue? maybe reduced voltage
 
Outbreaker said:
UPS wrong YouTube setting, it's fixed now.


I have the "GW2450HM" with the Firmware "v03/20120416"
.
Click to expand...


hmm my GW2450HM - I seem to have an earlier one - V01/20120309. Mine works ok for TV and fast motion you see there. Dont have any games ( probably just as well lol) Oh I see I have the same fw version as TFTcentral ( looks like lucky me?)

I think we all need to remember these are sold as cheap general purpose monitors for office and home, not some super duper gaming monitor.
 
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laukinisvilkas said:
Thank you for your help.
You would be enraged if it was as bad as mine ...
Click to expand...

I just tried my GW2450HM with AMA off and on. It seems like I get your motion flicker when I turn AMA OFF and not when I set it to Premium. I tried to make a video using the video capabilities of my little Kodak still camera, but too poor to look at.

I still therefore think u have faulty AMA, inspite of what you said - maybe is the over shoot mentioned by TFTcentral. So RMA with faulty RMA and mention what TFT Central told me

I just looked at my old Philips TN monitor which has no over drive and bad blurr - When I smooth scroll text I see the issue u seem to be having...
 
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mercalia said:
I just tried my GW2450HM with AMA off and on. It seems like I get your motion flicker when I turn AMA OFF and not when I set it to Premium. I tried to make a video using the video capabilities of my little Kodak still camera, but too poor to look at.

I still therefore think u have faulty AMA, inspite of what you said - maybe is the over shoot mentioned by TFTcentral. So RMA with faulty RMA and mention what TFT Central told me

I just looked at my old Philips TN monitor which has no over drive and bad blurr - When I smooth scroll text I see the issue u seem to be having...
Click to expand...

What about "high". Did you seen this on high?
 
mercalia said:
Sounds to me like your have some kind of power issue? maybe reduced voltage
Click to expand...

I meant in-game time - not real time :D Btw my firmware model is V01/20120416, I tried to change ama settings from off->high->premium->off again while in motion and it made no difference to dark shade of grey while moving (when I stand still I get one color but while moving it looks like that dark shade of gray is either darkening or lightening, do not know which one for sure, but for sure it not changing color while being in motion, but once I stop it once again returns to the same color I had before I started to move, again it is only for dark shades of gray), only blurring amount was different.
 
AlexW said:
What about "high". Did you seen this on high?
Click to expand...


yes I do see the flicker movement when I only use the High setting on my GW2450HM. But it mostly goes away on Premium, which is what I use for TV. It is still there a bit with Premium - but compared to Off it is a big improvment. On Premium I only see the flicker with small movements. The large sort of movments u see on TV - no flicker.

In my opinion very useable for my purpose.

I think it is the panel type - Benq is working against the grain, they are inherently slow. All the firmware revisions in a short time indicates this. I seem to remember reading somewhere that most VA type panels go into TVs, they work well there and any shortcomings dont show them selves


This is the static picture I used -

http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk384/byron03_02/57-288798.jpg
 
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Oh one other thing I just remembered - I assume people here using Windows 7? Do people here use Aero. I seem to remember that the EVR video renderer needs Aero to be on to work best
 
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Another 24" alternative to the GW2450HM but at a much higher price, in the UK at the same price as the BenQ 27"


"....The Dell S2440L performs quite similarly to the GW2450HM in terms of blur, but the dark overshoot is more pronounced....."


.."Interestingly the Dell S2440L does not use PWM at all for dimming of the backlight....."

maybe significant for those who suffer from PWm flicker.

"...The luminance range of the screen was good. At the top end the panel reached 192.96 cd/m2 which was actually a fair bit short of the specified maximum of 250 cd/m2.."

the review -


http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_s2440l.htm

The made an interesting point about using HDMI and Nvidea -

"When connected via HDMI on an NVIDIA graphics card the screen by default will not look right, and the black range in particular is poor. In fact we obtained static contrast ratios of only ~400:1 in the default mode before making this change and originally thought the screen was at fault. In fact you need to go into your NVIDIA control panel > adjust desktop colour settings and change "digital colour format" from the default RGB to YCbCr444. You will notice that in the OSD of the S2440L the "input color format" option in the 'color settings' section has also automatically changed to "YPbPr" instead of RGB. This improves the colour and black range significantly when using HDMI on this screen, allowing us to obtain the results in the next section."

Does this also work with the Benq?

There is a nice, sobering, table summarising the contrast ranges and black depth of various makes of monitor and technology.
 
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