Bout to pull the trigger- BenQ XL2420T

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I am without a monitor at the moment and been doing some research and had my mind set on the Samsung S27A750D due to how sexy it looks and the solid performance and the price of $399 that TigerDirect had it for- not any longer. Then I started reading about all of the various issues people have- some are due to poor QA others depend on the connection type use to power the monitor...........

Then I cam across the BenQ http://shop.benq.us/ProductDetail.aspx?id=347 which seems to be decent- not as slim and sexy as the Samsung but it's got some things going for it and I love the height adjustable and some of it's other features. I can't find too many reviews but from what I can see it should be decent and it is $399 shipped. I know it's 3 inches smaller then the samsung so I am really confused.

Only thing I am worried about is the 1 year warranty and ordering from the BenQ Store directly? Anyone have experiences with them?

Any suggestions/comments are welcome and appreciated.

Looking for 120HZ for gaming- 3D dont matter to me- without too many issues- something simple. Using an ATI 6990 atm with DVI and like 4 mini display ports. Budget is $500.
 
I went for it- was gona get 2day shipping but needed to pay $32 NY Sales Tax (per BenQ- they are registered in NY and other states) so had to settle for Ground. It's Fedex so hopefully I get it next Friday assuming it ships today :)
 
The BenQ seems to be getting glowing reviews in terms of speed, i'd jump on it right now myself if it weren't for the anti-glare. I've yet to see how aggressively rated it is yet.
 
I am also interested in the BenQ EW2420, VA, LED, 8ms,1920x1080 semi-glossy screen.
As a gamer I am concerned with the ms of 8. Will this be fast enough?
Or should I stick with a TN panel type?

My budget is around $500, so can not consider the s27a850dw PLS 5ms
Would the S24a850dw be the same quality?

I want a LED, don't care about 3D, do not want the AG coating prefer glossy screen
like my current HP w2408h has.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated
 
Bah- ordered 11 AM EST this morning 8 AM PST and the monitor didn't ship out even though they said it would :mad:
 
I would like to hear impressions on this monitor when you get it. I am itching to upgrade from a 20WMGX2 and I'm trying to make the decision between a newer IPS monitor or a 120hz monitor.
 
I will post my take on it once I get it towards the end of this coming week :)
 
Subscribed to this thread. Waiting to hear more feedback on this from actual users, some pics on a real desk would be nice too ;)
 
Signed up to this forum to try and help you guys out who are on the fence about this.:)
Got this monitor yesterday morning, so far really pleased coming from a hp W2408H like you quatrain.:) The AG coating isn't aggressive, I was scared to buy a monitor non glossy because that's all I've ever used but it hasn't been a problem. I play a lot of fps's and its really smooth, colours are super bright out of the box but are great once you have a play with the settings. Nice menu layout, easy to navigate with the smart little touch buttons on the side. I was originally looking for a 2560x1440-1600 monitor but because I was buying this for gaming only, and I'm sensitive to lag and ghosting, It made more sense my getting the benq. I brought mine from amazon so I cant comment on the benq store!

0 Problems, 0 dead pixels. Happy to help if you have any more questions:)
 
FpsBeast87 said:
Signed up to this forum to try and help you guys out who are on the fence about this.:)
Got this monitor yesterday morning, so far really pleased coming from a hp W2408H like you quatrain.:) The AG coating isn't aggressive, I was scared to buy a monitor non glossy because that's all I've ever used but it hasn't been a problem. I play a lot of fps's and its really smooth, colours are super bright out of the box but are great once you have a play with the settings. Nice menu layout, easy to navigate with the smart little touch buttons on the side. I was originally looking for a 2560x1440-1600 monitor but because I was buying this for gaming only, and I'm sensitive to lag and ghosting, It made more sense my getting the benq. I brought mine from amazon so I cant comment on the benq store!

0 Problems, 0 dead pixels. Happy to help if you have any more questions:)
Click to expand...

Are you sure you didnt get the 2410 on amazon? I cant seem to find the 2420 on there.

Edit: After reading your comments on the 8ms I believe you bought the EW2420 on Amazon not the XL2420T. Sorry to the OP, not trying to hijack ur thread, im really interested in your results.
 
Last edited:
my error...I was looking at the BenQ EW 2420.
This is the one I am interested in.
It has a VA panel, 16.9, 1920x1200, 3,000;1
and 8ms.

I am also thinking of the Samsung s24a850dw PLS
and
Asus Pio Art2460 IPS
 
Be sure that you want 16:9 because it sucks for everything except movies. Games look better, web looks better, and hell everything, even movies look better @ x1200 res.

I know this one is 120hz but if you are not going to use 3D spectacles?? lol with it then turn off vertical sync and you are good to go.

But nice monitor though!

I use Asus PA246 x3 screens and the colors are amazing. There is virtually NO input lag or ghosting that my little old 5000fps eyeballs can detect using display port. I am sure DVI runs the same as well but these monitors will never get accursed blasted DVI plugs hooked up bleh.
 
I just order one of these... hoping I like it. I am very limited to my choices in Korea and this is one of the few 120hz monitors I could get.
 
Seems like there is some confusion, the monitor I brought from amazon was the benq XL2420T, I'm in the uk so I got it from the uk site. P33k really don't think you could of gone wrong with one of these, it's a great monitor. Im VERY fussy when it comes to lag, screen tearing etc and I really can't fault it! Havent tried the 3D out simply because I feel I would need to go sli and I'm not a fan of dual cards. Will post some pictures once i finish work.
 
Any word when the 420TX will be out? Seems impossible to get a lightboost nvidia monitor.
 
quatrain said:
my error...I was looking at the BenQ EW 2420.
This is the one I am interested in.
It has a VA panel, 16.9, 1920x1200, 3,000;1
and 8ms.

I am also thinking of the Samsung s24a850dw PLS
and
Asus Pio Art2460 IPS
Click to expand...

It's 1080p, ie. 1920x1080, not 1920x1200. BenQ doesn't make 1920x1200 monitors since the V2400W and G2400W.

The S24A850 is over-priced and not worth it. Everyone is getting a unit with back-light bleed.

The Asus PA238Q is 1080p as well, but if you get a good one is an excellent display.

tangoseal said:
Be sure that you want 16:9 because it sucks for everything except movies. Games look better, web looks better, and hell everything, even movies look better @ x1200 res.

I know this one is 120hz but if you are not going to use 3D spectacles?? lol with it then turn off vertical sync and you are good to go.

But nice monitor though!

I use Asus PA246 x3 screens and the colors are amazing. There is virtually NO input lag or ghosting that my little old 5000fps eyeballs can detect using display port. I am sure DVI runs the same as well but these monitors will never get accursed blasted DVI plugs hooked up bleh.
Click to expand...

You're not going to find any 120hz 1920x1200/16:10 monitors right now. Maybe when DP 1.2 becomes more popular.

The PA246Q is a good screen with fairly low input lag and quite good color accuracy, but even that would look somewhat slow next to the XL2420T.
 
bkny07 said:
Any word when the 420TX will be out? Seems impossible to get a lightboost nvidia monitor.
Click to expand...

Both the T and the TX are lightboost monitors. The only difference is that the TX has a built in emitter for those that don't already have 3D vision glasses with a USB emitter. Also the TX can do HDMI 3D (PS3, etc) and the T cannot.
 
I know i need the TX, the asus vg278h is impossible to find seems to be discontinued or something also. There is just zero lightboost monitors on the market other than the T model of benq, of course i need the TX though so i have no hope of getting either anytime soon lol.
 
So instead of waiting for the TX, if i just buy the T all i have to do is buy the nvidia 2 kit and it will be the same monitor? Wont use it for a ps3 just pc.
 
Got mine tonight. Sadly the DVI splitter I had was DVI-I not DVI-D so I can't do a 1:1 comparison of lightboost vs not. I also only have an automatic point and shoot camera. I tried to keep the shutter speed held at the same speed, but its far from perfect. The images do capture the feeling of lightboost vs not. With lightboost on the image is brighter, essentially the same picture quality as with the glasses off, but with just a slight tint from the glasses. With the old monitor the image was darker and lost some details in low contrast and shadows, and the ambient lighting in the room was much worse (you couldn't read the keys on the keyboard for example)... I took photos with both V1 and V2 glasses and you can see there isn't really any brightness PQ difference, it all boils down to comfort




I also have a backlight pic. Thought the image suggests otherwise the bleed isn't as noticeable as the 2410 where there was a clear bleed at the bottom. It is more uniform, though still cloudy. In general the monitor is just too damn bright. Granted I'm only a few hours in but getting deep blacks and non-blinding settings has meant turing contrast brightness way down like 10/100 for brightness and 30/100 for contrast.



I've only played with it for a couple hours, but so far:

Pros:
  • Great design. Monitor looks great, capacitive buttons and menu wedge are so much easier to use. Headphone holder is a nice touch. Easy to put together
  • Better menu layout in general
  • Quick set to flip between "saved" settings and ability to upload/download settings to others seems great
  • Lightboost is awesome
  • 120hz is still awesome

Cons:
  • Out of the box picture quality is garbage. It defaults to FPS mode which is gross. Over sharpening halo on text, over saturated colour, blinding bright...
  • Too bright/bad black levels. Great for 3D, takes some series dialing down in 2D mode
  • Two stuck pixels. Sides of screen, I only see them in a fully black screen and even then I sort of have to hunt them down. Not sure if I will exchange or not... any thoughts?
  • In general the modes go to extremes. FPS washes out blacks, makes everything crazy bright. Photo mode oversaturates, etc.

Notes:
  • Ghosting seems about the same so far, tho dialing back the lightboost/contrast may make it a bit better than the 2410. Need more time.
  • There are strange PQ controls like a sharpen that when set to 5 seems to be "normal", but when 10 puts crazy over sharpening halos on text and at 0 blurs the screen (might be great for M.A.M.E.?). The defaults for some of these settings are really strange depending on the mode you pick. Though the PQ is "ok" after muddling around a bit I really had to spend some time tweaking.

BenQ if you are still out there listening you really need to come up with some reasonable defaults for non-gaming desktop usage where the over saturation, haloing, over-brightness are brought back in check. The 2410 had the same issue. I hate having to spend so much time tweaking only to wonder if decent PQ is even possible...

Overall I'm happy with the monitor for gaming especially in 3D, but so far it leaves a bit to be desired in desktop usage (as did the XL2410 IMO). This monitor wins on industrial design, but PQ wise the VG278H had a way better out of box experience (though twice the price in my area).
 
Much like everything else, this isn't a high end IPS or Panny plasma, your black levels won't be as good and things will be washed out a bit compared to those. Again I haven't color calibrated properly so mileage may vary.

I followed NCX's steps and I'm happier with the desktop performance, again I wish there were deeper blacks tho.
 
I had high hopes for this monitor - though I'm dissapointed in some of the videos via youtube and the attached images in this thread. The image quality leaves a lot to be desired - it's basically 3D or nothing. I still want to have a monitor that looks great in 2D as well - the colors look too washed out. I noticed this in a lot of their posted advertising videos as well.
 
All in all it looks like I made right decision when I ordered IPS screen.
 
Tup3x - I wouldn't necessarily believe that you can't get a good TN panel - there are some great displays lately - they have come a long ways. BTW, what IPS did you get?
 
astonish said:
.
Click to expand...

If you are still using the 30/100 contrast like you posted before I wouldn't expect good black levels since you are reducing the contrast. Try setting it back to default.

Prad and Extra Hardware CZ's units had good contrast around 900:1 by default and after calibration which is great for a non-VA panel. Very, very few TN's achieve higher contrast and those that do have slower response times and are 60hz.
 
I'll double check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure my settings for desktop are 50 contrast, 10-15 for brightness, normal colour (a bit blue IMO), and gamma 5 (gamma 1 is too washed out). I'm fine with these settings, though I slightly prefer the way my XL2410 looks, its hard to get setting parity thought. Other than gaming I do some coding and surf the net on my monitor and the little bit I have done so far with the new settings things are much better. NCX can you share the specific numbers they use for bright/contrast/etc?

My primary use case is gaming. 3D gaming where the game supports it. In this regard I'm happy with the monitor. With the lightboost the 3D image is about as good as the 2D and I can see much more detail with the added brightness. If you are going to do 3D gaming then make sure to get a lightboost monitor. I played a couple hours of Trine last night and had a great time. I found my eyes didn't get as strained playing compared to the XL2410. I have yet to try playing 2D 120hz stuff, but maybe I'll play some DOTA tonight and see how that goes.

I also watched a 3D bluray yesterday and was pretty surprised, it looked good. It isn't rock your world picture like a high end plasma, but it was good and didn't feel washed out like I thought it might.

In some ways I wish I would have grabbed the Asus (assuming they work out that backlight issue), the 27" would make the 3D pop more (I usually move the screen closer when doing 3D) and the HDMI 3D would have been nice for PS3, but budget and space sizes have kept me from doing so. Short of the few stuck pixels (which I never notice in regular usage) I've been pretty happy so far and will probably just hold on to this monitor.
 
philstat said:
Tup3x - I wouldn't necessarily believe that you can't get a good TN panel - there are some great displays lately - they have come a long ways. BTW, what IPS did you get?
Click to expand...
Fujitsu P23T-6P IPS, I'm still waiting but it should be in stock any day. The thing is that many 120Hz TN panels are overpriced and Samsung for some reason doesn't seem to have any intention to give proper stands to their 120Hz panels or VESA mounts.

In the end it's all about trade offs when buying new monitor.
 
Monitor was delivered a day early :D Set it up real quick this morning and so far so good- looks beautiful- haven't messed around it too much. Quick question- do you guys recommend installing the drivers that came with it?
 
This thread needs some more info - the 5th of February is the last day to do a pre-order and save $20.
 
astonish said:
NCX can you share the specific numbers they use for bright/contrast/etc?.
Click to expand...

They only provide the settings I posted. I would use the default contrast setting and keep your current brightness

philstat said:
This thread needs some more info - the 5th of February is the last day to do a pre-order and save $20.
Click to expand...

These are the only reviews, but they are the best reviews.

http://www.prad.de/new/monitore/test/2012/test-benq-xl2420t.html#Einleitung
http://extrahardware.cnews.cz/benq-xl2420t-120hz-rychlik-pro-narocne-hrace-recenze
 
philstat said:
This thread needs some more info - the 5th of February is the last day to do a pre-order and save $20.
Click to expand...

Not any more, apparently.

"Promo code: gamer$
20.00 off pre-orders valid until 12:00AM 2/14/2012"

They also have the 2410T for $199 refurb, which is where I'd go if I just wanted 120hz and not 3d. Yea, the 2420T/TX is better but $200 price differential for 2d/120hz only, no question.

My goal is online racing (iRacing) in 3d so Lightboost and the 2420TX are where, after 10 years of hanging on the fringes of stereovision, I've finally bought in. I'll have to replay Portal1/2 just to get ill falling in impossible directions :)

I've browsed here, overclockers, mtbs3d, and 3dvision-blog, an unpacking video I've lost the URL for and the prad.de review, and everything I hear is positive. The only issues are from people who have temporary brain freezes about DVI-D cables or setup menus.

The universal opinion on all fora is that you must immediately change the setting from the default 'FPS' before your eyeballs explode.

Speaking of which, NCIX, any chance you might take that near-calibrated setup and upload it as a profile?
 
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