BenQ V2400W by Jim

Jim Robbins

Weaksauce
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Oct 9, 2006
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Ok, you have probably all seen 10e's sweet review by now. I am a little behind, but I have some extra pics and comments as I was one of the five... Here it is below, or full text on my site at http://www.bexox.com/BenQV2400W.htm

BenQ V2400W Monitor
See Last Year's Showdown for some comparisons.

By Jim Robbins - June 2008
jim XdotX robbins XatX gmail XdotX com

Well, I have in my hands another 24" computer monitor. This one arrived at my home under some bad mojo and my review is a week later than I intended. You see, the day before it arrived my sump pump failed and I had to take everything out of my basement (computers, theater, desks, furniture) and try to dry it all out. Of course, the basement didn't dry well, so I had to trash the carpet and cut out the lower 4 feet of all my drywall. Now, it's like I have an unfinished basement and my insurance company is trying to get out of paying for all they should.... But I digress. On to the Monitor!

It arrived at my house directly from BenQ and it was double boxed. The box seemed pretty light, so I wondered if there was even a monitor inside. Of course, it was in there, along with a standard power cord, VGA cable, Warranty card, and useless instruction sheet and CD. Does anyone actually use the CD that comes with their monitor? I was pretty disappointed that it didn't come with an HDMI or DVI cable. At least one of those should have been included. No one will want to use VGA on a 24" monitor. Here are a few pics of the unboxing.



(Note: All source images are in 1600x1200. You have been warned.)

The images I had seen of this particular monitor didn't seem to do much for me. I thought I would hate the base with the offset stand support and the silver color, but I was wrong. I was really pleasantly surprised with the overall look of the unit. The shiny black edges were nice, as well as the two tone black and silver in various places. It looks really nice sitting by my PS3. In the following shots you can get a little of the look and feel and also see the DVI, HDMI, and VGA ports. there is also a standard power jack to the left of those inputs. Oddly, there is a headphone jack on the left side of the monitor. I don't thing the screen has any audio inputs, so this must be an output. The only way to get audio to this screen however, would be through the HDMI port. I'll have to try that later...



It looks like this is a TN based panel, so it won't have the viewing angles that the PVA/MVA/IPS panels have, but it seemed better than other TN panels than I have used in the past. Also, since the retail price is right around $500 and I paid several hundred more for my non-TN panels last year, it seemed to be an acceptable compromise. Check out the angle shots below. Notice how the angles are pretty decent unless you are looking up at the screen. Btw, that last shot with the grey is supposed to be a solid color. You can see the shift some, but it isn't very noticeable in a normal viewing height. I am using a DVI cable for the computer hook up, btw.



Ok, now that you know you shouldn't sit on the floor and watch this thing, you are probably wondering if it blurs while you are gaming. Well, it's an LCD right? So it has to blur some, but is it acceptable? Good ol' PixPerAn has a few tests that will show that off for you. I tried it with AMA off for the first shots. The last pic has AMA on, so it looks like it helps to diminish the blur. Also, this year's version of AMA doesn't make the screen seem to flicker.



I did some solid color testing to see how good the color uniformity was at normal viewing height. You can see the results here. Also, you can notice that there is a minor amount of backlight bleed at the top and slightly more at the bottom. For normal desktop use, you can't see it. It is slightly visible in dark movie scenes or games but it still didn't bother me too much. YMMV. The last few shots show some gradients and convergence. The pictures are a little grainy here, but the convergence was fine and the gradients smooth enough.





Now, on to some Input Lag Testing!! At 60fps, one frame is on the screen for 16.6ms. LCD monitors run at a solid 60fps at all times. Well, that's how fast it's theoretically updated anyway. In my tests, I could find no input lag. That seems impossible to me. No input lag? Really? Well, in the following images, the CRT is on the left and the BenQ is on the right. I was using Virtual Stopwatch Pro from Spring Creek Software and my my smallest shutter speed on my camera to take the pics. In like 95% of the cases where I could see the image from the CRT side, the numbers were identical. Even when the Scaler was set to Aspect it was still the same. But, is it really the same? Well, I am guessing it must be less than 16ms, as that's how long it takes the screen to refresh so it can't actually put the numbers on there faster than that. So, I even cranked up the crt to 85HZ and left the LCD at 60hz. It was still virtually identical most of the time. I suspect the video card (EVGA 8800GTS G92) was updating both screens at the same time even with different refresh rates since I was in Clone-screen mode. Anyway, I am pretty satisfied that this is the fastest 24" panel I have used, and certainly less than 1 frame per second. Check out the pics... Aspect mode for 1280x768 for the left two, and 1600x1200 in 1:1 mode for the right two.

-

One person on the forums asked if AMA had any additional lag. In the next few shots you will see it with both panel scaling on and AMA on. Looks like it is still no lag, or at least less than a frame's worth. You can see that there is a hint of fading in or out on these shots. It must be a part of the way the AMA works.



In my last set of reviews I plugged in nearly every device I had to the monitors. This time, I only tried my PS3 since it was the only console easily accessible from the pile of junk in my garage. I had to throw everything in there from my stupid basement flood, you know. Anyway, I used the HDMI cable for the hookup and just checked the main menu at 1080p and Spiderman 2 on Blu-ray. Well, the main menu all worked fine, but the BD had some strange frame tearing at first. I went in, changed the scaling to 1:1 and the Overscan to Off on the BenQ and the tearing went away. I am not sure what was causing it but it's gone now. Even though the tearing was gone, there was still a bit of odd video noise that was visible above and below the normal 1920x1080 viewing area. I don't know if the was the fault of firmware or something the PS3 was sending with the signal, but it was only visible on scenes that were completely black. *shrug* Oh, and don't try to send a 24p signal over HDMI to the monitor; use 60p only! I think I crashed it because I couldn't do anything with the menu buttons or even switch the inputs until I turned the PS3 and BenQ off then back on. The first pic shows the frame tearing on the dude's tie, then some normal pics and then the main menu.



Everything seems pretty good so far, right? Well, not exactly. As I was pulling out the BD, I was about to put in a PS3 game and give it a run then I noticed a stuck on green pixel in the upper left. Man, stuck on pixels tick me off so bad. I tried to rub it a bit, but it didn't go away and I didn't want to break the screen or anything. I didn't notice this at first, but seems all too obvious now. It is visible in some of my screen shots but not in others but it is most certainly stuck on all the time now. Dang, only 2 hours of use and this! Argh! Well, that's not the only thing wrong. The touch buttons are also terrible. Now, me and touch sensitive buttons don't get along. I don't know if it it's because I wash my hands all the time, or if I am just not an electrical kind of person, but I have to touch these buttons two or three times before the recognize the input. I don't think manufacturers should EVER use stuff like this. It frustrates me almost as much as a stuck on pixel.



Well, overall a decent monitor with just a few drawbacks. I think I like last year's panels a little bit better as they have better viewing angles, no stuck pixels, and buttons that I can actually make function. Of course the older guys have higher input lag, but still not terrible. I'll still die easily in games even if I have a slight blur or lag a frame or two. Now, this monitor has less inputs than my other BenQ as well, but it can be had for half the price, and the older model is now very scarce. I do know that BenQ has awesome customer service as my older FP241Z developed a strange line across the bottom. I called them up, they issued and RMA, I sent it off and got a screen back with a new panel in just under 2 weeks total. So, perhaps if I call them they can get me a screen without this dang stuck on green pixel. Anyway, If you have any questions please shoot them over to me in the forum. Thanks!
 
Great job Jim,

Sorry to hear about the pump induced flooding. Hope all is getting better daily.

My input lag measurements were the same but I don't have a CRT. The V2400W is one fast monitor it seems from your review.

I would say that the A-MVA panels on the FP241W/VW/WZ are a bit nicer in regards to viewing angles, but I find the V2400W to have better calibration overall than my FP241VW (same panel as your WZ). Though after running the VW through BasicColor and the Eye One Display 2, the calibration is excellent. You are more than welcome to the ICM profile if you'd like. I can e-mail it to your e-mail address.

You might want to try rubbing around the stuck pixel. My FP241VW had the same issue but weirdly enough, pressure on the panel to the left and below the stuck pixel seemed to fix it and it's stayed fine since.

I used your old monitor showdown as a reference for 2407 vs. FP241WZ/VW vs. L246WP.

Great job and best of regards,

10e
 
BUT, can anyone who has used or knows about both the BenQ G2400W and the new V2400w answer
which is REALLY better? Especially for gaming on PC and Xbox 360 HDMI? Because check out the Face to Face comparison and the G2400W is actually WAY FASTER with LESS LAG???

http://www.digitalversus.com/d...&mo2=304&p2=2943&ph=12

Any reviewers please chime in on your thoughts of which of the two are better. I also went to Best Buy and looked at the Gateway FHD2400 (since I need HDMI and DVI-D HCDP) and I could not stand that the monitor totally changed colors and darkened when you move your head up or down at all. I also heard that you can not have your computer hooked up DVI and get your post/bios screen to show. Is this true? I am coming from using a Samsung 214T which is a 1600x1200 21inch MVA screen. The colors and viewing angles are excellent, but I need widescreen 1080p now and a faster panel for games. I don't want to waste $500 on a monitor I can't stand, especially if better technology (better viewing angles, especially vertically and less lag/faster response) monitors are coming out soon. Obviously I am looking for the best looking, fastest for gaming, and has both HDMI and DVI with HDCP for use with PC (DVI and need to see my bios!), Xbox 360 HDMI, and future blue ray. I would rather be able to pick up the Gateway FHD2400 locally at Best Buy in case of stuck pixels or backlight problems for an easy return, but if one of the BenQ's are way better for all my needs (like any gamer), I would risk going mail order.

P.S. A little off topic, but if money is not an issue (if well spent, futureproof), would I be better off just getting a
nice 120hz Sony or Samsung 32-40" 1080P HDTV to use as a PC monitor and for the XBOX 360? I know the picture
and viewing angles on the HDTVs are way better than any 24" monitor, but how do you know the real response time
and lag on a HDTV? Are they faster or slower than these 24" monitors and how do they look (internet/text wise) as
a computer monitor?
Thanks
 
If you want low input lag forget the HDTV's. Nearly all HDTV's exhibit around 30ms of lag and sometimes higher. I believe the newest LCD's from Samsung are still in the 30-50ms range. I have a SXRD Sony 60in RPTV (A3000) and it's around 30ms which is about as good as it gets for HDTV's now days.

Bottom line: If you want very low input lag (below 1 frame) and a decent panel this sounds like your best bet in the below $500 range.
 
Could you let us know if BenQ will exchange your monitor with only the 1 stuck pixel?
 
Great review.

I'm wondering where you got the desktop background, would like it as my own. Also what tests/applications did you use for the color testing and the two grey block test?
 
Great review.
I'm wondering where you got the desktop background, would like it as my own. Also what tests/applications did you use for the color testing and the two grey block test?

Desktop background from Interfacelift:
http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details.php?id=1336
Also check out their HDR category if you like images like this one:
http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/categories.php?id=77

I used CheckMON for the color testing:
http://www.ykwong.com/checkemon.html

The Gamma test in PixPerAn is where the grey boxes are located. I used the screen to see the color shift in the grays instead of what it's for, setting the gamma. *grin*
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/testsoftware/pixperan.html
 
Thanks for the great review Jim, I'm considering this monitor as my FW900 needs a 24" LCD buddy. Did you test input lag with overdrive enabled? If not would you mind giving it a quick spin, many members here would probably enable it for gaming. Thanks again.
 
Thanks for the great review Jim, I'm considering this monitor as my FW900 needs a 24" LCD buddy. Did you test input lag with overdrive enabled? If not would you mind giving it a quick spin, many members here would probably enable it for gaming. Thanks again.

Yeah I would like to see that too
 
If you want low input lag forget the HDTV's. Nearly all HDTV's exhibit around 30ms of lag and sometimes higher. I believe the newest LCD's from Samsung are still in the 30-50ms range. I have a SXRD Sony 60in RPTV (A3000) and it's around 30ms which is about as good as it gets for HDTV's now days.

Bottom line: If you want very low input lag (below 1 frame) and a decent panel this sounds like your best bet in the below $500 range.
Going to have to disagree with you there. The new Samsung HDTVs have an HDMI input specifically for a computer that bypasses all that image processing resulting in practically no input lag at all. A forum user on AVS did a test and saw the same timer on both his laptop display and the HDTV that he had it hooked up to. Without the PC input, he was getting around 20-30ms lag. As seen here and here.
 
Going to have to disagree with you there. The new Samsung HDTVs have an HDMI input specifically for a computer that bypasses all that image processing resulting in practically no input lag at all. A forum user on AVS did a test and saw the same timer on both his laptop display and the HDTV that he had it hooked up to. Without the PC input, he was getting around 20-30ms lag. As seen here and here.

I didn't know that. That's good to hear. Maybe some of the other makers will start to get the message and do the same thing. It's ridiculous we aren't seeing more lag-free HDTV's considering gaming is a top use. I think they figure most people just won't notice 50-60ms of lag and they are likely right.

Input lag sucks. I game on my A3000 and it's not that bad but even I am considering switching over to the V2400W for a while until I can save up for a larger lag-free TV. It seems the V2400W is very close to the G2400W in input lag which is very low.
 
Any updates on the status of the green stuck pixel? Have you mannaged to remove it? If you can't get rid of it it's a no-sale for me, straight away.

Joe
 
I don't get why the V2400W is any better than the G2400W? The G2400W has less lag, and they both have the same inputs, color accuracy, and lousy viewing angles. Is the V2400W any better vertical viewing angle wise, if not then the G2400W is still the better monitor?
 
Had a busy weekend trying to clean up and organize from my stupid basement flooding... Anyway, I'll get some new lag testing added this evening so we can see if AMA is slowing down the response. I am not sure why I didn't think of it. Must have had some water on the brain... *sigh* Anyway, I'll post the CRT/LCD comparison pics as soon as I can.

Oh, and as far as the stuck pixel? I am waiting to hear from Kyle the [H]ard since he arranged the monitor stuff for us all. I don't think I technically own this monitor yet, so I didn't want to try and swap for a new one if this isn't mine. *grin* I'll let you all know as soon as I find out on that one, too. Later...
 
Had a busy weekend trying to clean up and organize from my stupid basement flooding... Anyway, I'll get some new lag testing added this evening so we can see if AMA is slowing down the response. I am not sure why I didn't think of it. Must have had some water on the brain... *sigh* Anyway, I'll post the CRT/LCD comparison pics as soon as I can.

Oh, and as far as the stuck pixel? I am waiting to hear from Kyle the [H]ard since he arranged the monitor stuff for us all. I don't think I technically own this monitor yet, so I didn't want to try and swap for a new one if this isn't mine. *grin* I'll let you all know as soon as I find out on that one, too. Later...
thanks Jim, looking forward to the AMA input lag results.
 
I tested input lag vs. the G2400W using clone mode and I found no distinct differences between the two monitors with it On or Off.

Input lag rising with overdrive is more of a problem with Samsung PVA panels than TN panels. Also the overdrive can produce some inverse ghosting effects on desktop, as I've listed in the review. But the nice part is that it is something that can be toggled on and off.

Thanks for the efforts Jim.

10e
 
Ok, I'm going to pull the trigger on a BenQ monitor after reading good feedback here, thanks guys.
But I am very confused about which monitor to get. With the promo code, the V2400W is about the same price as the G2400W and G2400WD. I am looking for the best monitor for fast fps gaming on the PC over DVI and the XBOX 360 over HDMI. I know it is a TN, but I am hoping the vertical viewing angle isn't horrible like the Gateway FHD2400 I had to return. That is why I am leary of buying online where it is a pain to return it. I also need the model with the speaker output to hook up to a stereo system for the XBOX HDMI use. From what I see at face to face, the older G2400W is actually faster/less lag than the new V2400W?
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=48&mo1=365&p1=3386&ma2=48&mo2=304&p2=2943&ph=12
I don't care about the slight difference in prices of these 3 models, or the external looks. I just want to get the best one for me (best viewing angle vertically, best picture, and lowest lag, fastest response time and all the input/outputs I need). Can someone who has used two or three of these models let me know which to buy? And a stuck pixel would definately drive me crazy, so I assume I should buy directly from Benq in case I need to return it. Thanx
 
Well, I added some screenshots to the initial post. Once again, there seems to be no lag, even with AMA on, and even while scaling. I popped on to Age of Conan for a few mins tonight (haven't played in 2 weeks since my basement flooding), but the monitor seems solid. Of course, a game like that will have more lag than the monitor, but I tried to see if there was any odd color smearing or lag from mouse to screen movement, and the screen seems pretty solid. I did notice that if I slouch too low, then the top of the screen dims a little from that angle. However, if my eyes are about even with the top of the screen or higher, I wasn't seeing the fade out. Side to side movement of my head resulted in minor color shifting. Of course, this is to be expected from a TN panel, but shouldn't be a problem for the average user staring at the screen by themselves.

I am still waiting to hear more info about the stuck pixel. *shrug* Later all!
 
Any updates on the status of the green stuck pixel? Have you mannaged to remove it? If you can't get rid of it it's a no-sale for me, straight away.

Joe

I had that same problem and couldn't fix it. Since I am a conventional customer I'll pass along my experience :) I had a bright stuck pixel in the upper half/middle of the screen. I called BenQ and they said they would replace it under warranty and would issue an RMA. After a few days with no RMA (supposedly some confusion regarding my email address) I got one via email along with a UPS shipping label. I sent the screen back, they got it two days later on June 19th and will send out a new one on June 26th. It looks like my experience will be consistent with the other person who had a 2 week turnaround for their monitor. I'm really looking forward to getting the new one since it looks so much better than my Viewsonic vx2235. Overall I'd say they were pretty responsive and accomodating.

The reviewer having a stuck pixel might cast some doubt on the ideas put forth by our resident conspiracists.
 
Looks like BenQ will be swapping out my monitor for one without the stuck on pixel. Yeah! I don't have the RMA information yet. I think the person I am working with is probably in marketing because the of the monitor deal and reviews through HardOCP. Anyway, I am sure there will be a new V2400W on my doorstep in a couple of weeks and all will be well. :cool:

Later Guys!
 
This is the third week since I sent mine back. They haven't shipped out a replacement yet because they went out of stock. Such is life - we need some crappy reviews to slow down sales so I can get my screen ;)
 
*laugh* I sent mine out a week ago Friday for the exchange so I can have one without the stuck pixel. Since I was one of the reviewers, I haven't paid anything for it yet. So, if one never comes back to me, I guess I didn't lose any money. But, really, for the regular price, it's a pretty decent monitor.

No wait... It's total crap. Don't buy one so we can get ours back !! :D

Later!
 
Mine came Monday so about 2.5 weeks door-to-door (got the send date wrong above). The new screen is perfect, no dead/stuck pixels and the slight amount of BLB my first screen had is almost non-existant on this one. This is about as happy as I could be with a TN panel since the height and angle adjustability fall well within my requirements.
 
Looks like my new monitor came at the end of last week. I have been running all this week so far, and no problems... No dead pixels, no stuck on pixels, just a good monitor! It got here much faster than I anticipated. That's a plus for BenQ. Excellent customer service and pretty fast as far as replacement and RMA stuff is concerned. Later all!
 
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