My BenQ FP241WZ

Thanks higgy, I have to look into it. It's such an amazing price, especially if I can dodge the customs tariff and VAT. It´s a good price anyway though.

Anyone knows about the coloring? Is the pure black ones only sold in the US or aren't there any for sale at all(Benq have pictures of a black screen on their homepage)?
 
Higgy, try turning your monitor off, then also turn off your computer. Then turn them both back on and see how long it takes before you get the blank signal problem.
 
peTeMelster said:
Higgy, try turning your monitor off, then also turn off your computer. Then turn them both back on and see how long it takes before you get the blank signal problem.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, am I the only one who that confuses? Why would that induce the problem?
 
M4rvin said:
Anyone knows about the coloring? Is the pure black ones only sold in the US or aren't there any for sale at all(Benq have pictures of a black screen on their homepage)?
Click to expand...
The only color that I have seen advertised in the U.S. is black.
 
It's not inducing the problem. It's seeing if the problem will occur in normal operation (turning off the monitor and computer, then turning them back on).

I don't trust a week of time with no problems. If it can go a month without problems, then I'll feel better, but preferably two or three months.
 
Aerobahn said:
btw higgy do you have a link to that mic? looks just the right size for me :)
Click to expand...
I think this is where I bought it http://www.advancedspeech.com/warehouse.htm but I'm not sure. You might want to shop around for a better price. It's a really nice microphone. It will put up with a lot of background noise. I'm using it right now to type this with Vista's voice recognition. Which is cool because I can't type worth a crap. No problems with Vista either. :D
 
M4rvin said:
Thanks higgy, I have to look into it. It's such an amazing price, especially if I can dodge the customs tariff and VAT. It´s a good price anyway though.

Anyone knows about the coloring? Is the pure black ones only sold in the US or aren't there any for sale at all(Benq have pictures of a black screen on their homepage)?
Click to expand...

I'm also residing in Sweden. I considered importing one from the US too. Due to the weak dollar and prices listed with no tax it looks like it's twice as expensive here in Sweden, where prices always are listed with tax.

However due to the uncertainty about not knowing what the shipping costs might turn out to, the taxing, the warranty problem (what if it busts, will BenQ.se accept it?) and the need to buy a voltage converter I decided not to order one from the US. It's simply too many factors that can go the wrong way. :(

Say the shipping is $150, if not more. The monitor might get double taxed, once in the US and then in Sweden. We are not probably well above the swedish retail price. Add to that the cost of the voltage converter and the anxiety plugging your monitor into it and turning it on. :D :eek: No thanks! ;)
 
RockoW said:
Say the shipping is $150, if not more. The monitor might get double taxed, once in the US and then in Sweden. We are not probably well above the swedish retail price. Add to that the cost of the voltage converter and the anxiety plugging your monitor into it and turning it on. :D :eek: No thanks! ;)
Click to expand...

Same here in the UK, with shipping, then import duty and VAT it will not be worth the hassle.

I am just waiting to see if some more UK retailers get them in stock, as the bigger cheaper retailers only have the W at the moment, a few specialist and bleeding edge (and expensive) retailers have the WZ. Cheapest so far is £693 I have found.

Mike
 
Yeah, the information in the article is incorrect about the panel type. I don't know about their quote on the lag time. If I had a CRT monitor I could sit it next to mine and show you like this guy did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi2OE6hSh00 Maybe someone else that buys one will have a CRT monitor to compare it to. It is definitely not the WZ in the video. I see buttons on the front bottom right.
 
higgy said:
Here is a pretty good deal, $785 with free shipping.
http://www.buy.com/prod/benq-fp241w...-active-matrix-tft-0/q/loc/101/203608094.html
Click to expand...

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the buy.com deal. They didn't have them in stock, but I am guessing they will in the next week or two. You might be able to get this monitor a little cheaper if you have been emailed a Buy.com coupon, or if you find a coupon code somewhere on the web. My total was $760.99.

I have been agonizing over buying a 24" monitor for nearly a year now. I guess the $750 range is about my limit, and hopefully this monitor will serve me as well as my 20" (visible) crt has done. If they actually get some in, and I receive one in the near future, I'll post some of my findings and some pics.

I can try out several input devices (PC / VGA and DVI, XBox, XBox 360, Toshiba HD-A2 HDDVD player, Dreamcast and Sega Saturn). Yeah, I know. I won't have that stuff hooked up to it all the time, but I thought you might like to know what it can do. Heck, I do!

*fingers crossed* No dead pixels... No dead pixels... Happy thoughts... No Dead Pixels!!

Later...


Jim Robbins
 
I am expecting mine today. I don't know if I can post pics today because I will be busy after work. I will post some tomorrow for sure, including some PC game shots and PS3 shots.
 
dacalo07 said:
I am expecting mine today. I don't know if I can post pics today because I will be busy after work. I will post some tomorrow for sure, including some PC game shots and PS3 shots.
Click to expand...

Daca, can you double check 1080p from the PS3 is using the correct output to the monitor and working with 1:1 mode.

It seems the FP241W has some issues with the latest firmware after all:

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1030728272&postcount=3061

With 1080p it should ONLY display a black border on the top and bottom, but it appears that the black border is on all 4 sides...... Not good.

Cheers,

Mike
 
higgy57
 
stormyuk said:
Daca, can you double check 1080p from the PS3 is using the correct output to the monitor and working with 1:1 mode.

It seems the FP241W has some issues with the latest firmware after all:

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1030728272&postcount=3061

With 1080p it should ONLY display a black border on the top and bottom, but it appears that the black border is on all 4 sides...... Not good.

Cheers,

Mike
Click to expand...

Sure, I am well aware of this problem, I have been following that thread as well. We will see... :)
 
*sigh* The Dell 2407WFP came out to $660 shipped today ($100 less than the BenQ). I ordered one of those and canceled my BenQ order at Buy.com (it wasn't in stock yet). I figured if the Dell has problems, I am only out shipping back to them. But, if the new BenQ has problems, I am out a 15% restocking fee AND shipping (about $150). Call me paranoid, but the Dell Rev A04 should be ok for my uses. I know it isn't quite as nice as the BenQ, but it may do the trick. We shall see, I guess...

Jim
 
I had about an hour to play around with the monitor last night and I am VERY impressed. No backlight bleeding, no dead pixels. I was using Dell FPW(?)2005 prior to this. I ordered from TigerDirect and I am happy with their service.

I hooked up my PS3 via HDMI and gave it a go. 1080p 1:1 mapping problem still persists, there are black bars on all four sides. However, running on aspect ratio mode fixes this and there are black bars only on top and bottom. A bit disappointed, but not a problem for me. Played Tekken 5 for a few minutes and there were no ghosting. Also played a 1080p trailer from Playstation Network and it looked fantastic.

Did not try any of other features but I will do some tonight when I have some time. Texts are clear (I used the monitor to do work on Excel) and colors are vibrant. Have not ran any PC games on it yet (I don't know if my 7800GTX can handle the resolution:p ).

The monitor came with both DVI cable and HDMI cable. Overall, the monitor gets a big thumbs up.
 
Hi all
I have beeen reading this forum for a long time now, and at last gave in and ordered the WZ.
Got it yesterday :D

This is my first LCD, but so far i like it. No dead pixels, no backlight bleed.

I have noticed some yellowish ghosting, I especially see this in Counter-Strike Source on the map dust2, in the dark tunnel (for those of you who play cs). It's not noticeable "outside" where the map isn't dark.
When enabling perfect motion this ghosting is almost eliminated :) (but the flickering is a turnoff for me, so i'll stick with the ghosting for now.. I will of course be testing PM thoroughly, though)

I have also noticed a slight input lag when Vsync is enabled. Hopefully i will be able to get used to it, there is a lot of tearing with vsync disabled on my system.
If anyone know how to minimize input lag with vsync on i would appreciate any advice!
 
If you are using Vsync with Triple Buffering, try disabling triple buffering. It causes input lag if your video card can't keep up with the resolution (not uncommon with displays this large).
 
dacalo07 said:
I hooked up my PS3 via HDMI and gave it a go. 1080p 1:1 mapping problem still persists, there are black bars on all four sides. However, running on aspect ratio mode fixes this and there are black bars only on top and bottom. A bit disappointed
Click to expand...

Ooh :( does the Aspect mode stretch the picture in anyway then or does it display a pixel perfect image (if its 1920x1080) with black borders at the top and bottom?

I really cannot get my head around why in 1:1 its displaying a border at the left and right side. :confused:

Can you please test a couple of PC resolutions (if you have chance) say 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 with 1:1. Does this work correctly? Is it just 1080p external sources with the problem? I wonder what the PS3 would do via HDMI to DVI.. Hmmm..

Thanks for the update.

Mike
 
stormyuk said:
Ooh :( does the Aspect mode stretch the picture in anyway then or does it display a pixel perfect image (if its 1920x1080) with black borders at the top and bottom?

I really cannot get my head around why its displaying a border at the left and right side. :confused:

Can you please test a couple of PC resolutions (if you have chance) say 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 with 1:1. Does this work correctly? Is it just 1080p external sources with the problem? I wonder what the PS3 would do via HDMI to DVI.. Hmmm..

Thanks for the update.

Mike
Click to expand...

Mike,

On PS3: Aspect ratio mode is pixel perfect (1920x1080). Only bars on top and bottom. If it wasn't, this monitor would be going back. Trust me, I am anal about this. :)

PC resolution stuff, I will try tonight.
 
dacalo07 said:
PC resolution stuff, I will try tonight.
Click to expand...

Hehe, cheers mate. If that works and the 1:1 is working with the PS3 and 1080p input in a fashion with the aspect mode then it might not be a deal breaker and I could still go for this monitor.

Incidently, how does 720p with the PS3 look in 1:1, does that work?

I was a bit worried when someone on the W thread said his WZ is "blurry" with an ATI card though as I would be driving mine with a ATI X1900XT.

Cheers again,

Mike
 
This model seems to have PIP for all inputs and 1:1 pixel mapping out of the box. Why couldn't benq have done that with the "w" model? Benq makes OK products but it appears the the end-user is the beta-tester.
 
dacalo07 said:
Mike,

On PS3: Aspect ratio mode is pixel perfect (1920x1080). Only bars on top and bottom. If it wasn't, this monitor would be going back. Trust me, I am anal about this. :)

PC resolution stuff, I will try tonight.
Click to expand...

Okay, this has been the issue. Aspect ratio displays just fine, but the 1:1 has a border around the whole image. A 1:1 image with black borders that is supposed to be 1080p simply cannot be 1080p. It has to be a lower resolution. The theory over here and elsewhere is that when you use aspect mode on the BenQ FP241W and WZ, that it is actually taking that smaller resolution that you see in the middle of your screen on 1:1, and stretching it to fill the screen at the correct aspect ratio. If this is the case, you are losing detail, and even though it fills the screen with black bars at the top and bottom, if it just enlarged a smaller image, you're looking at scaling a smaller resolution image up to fit the screen. You'd definitely be losing quality if this were the case. If the 1:1 mode is just messed up, and Aspect somehow maps the pixels perfectly, then there is no issue, but people on those NCIX forums seem to think that it's stretching a smaller image. They've even gone so far as to say that BenQ has told them they were maybe going to be releasing even more firmware for these things.

Is there any way you can set your PC to display at exactly 1920x1080, and set your monitor to 1:1 and see if that looks okay? I'm worried that if you do this your videocard will still output 1920x1200, but will put the black bars on before it even gets to the monitor, so I don't know how we'll know if this is accurate. The only thing keeping me from getting this monitor is the fact that it might be enlarging a smaller image to fit in the Aspect mode.
 
FloppyDrive said:
I was seriously considering this monitor until I saw the flickering in this video. I'd rather have ghosting than bad flickering. Flicker like that will tire your eyes out.
Click to expand...

You do know that the only reason you see the flickering is because it's video footage, right? Haven't you ever seen video footage of CRT monitors? They look the same way in a video, but you don't see flickering with them in reality. Other people have said that you can notice the flickering with the perfect motion turned on and viewing a static image, but I seriously doubt it's anything like how you see it in that video. If it was, the technology would be useless.
 
FJimbo said:
FP241W and WZ, that it is actually taking that smaller resolution that you see in the middle of your screen on 1:1, and stretching it to fill the screen at the correct aspect ratio. If this is the case, you are losing detail, and even though it fills the screen with black bars at the top and bottom
Click to expand...

Aspect mode does indeed stretch the image to fit into the aspect ratio without distorting.

But I don't see how that can apply to the PS3 outputting 1920x1080, the monitor only has 1920 pixels in the horizontal so even if you use aspect with the PS3 is can't be stretching the width as its already using as many pixels as it can, the fault imo lies with the 1:1 mapping itself I think thats why dacalo says he is happy.

How do you know the firmware in 1:1 mode is not shrinking the picture? No one knows if the 1:1 mode is actually working right, its only people who own the monitor who can confirm or deny what they see with their own eyes. The 1:1 issue may be something with the HDMI input, we just don't know enough to make the call yet.

The problem with losing detail would only apply to resolutions with a smaller vertical height than 1920. Such as 720p which is why I asked dacalo to test it. Thats also the reason I asked dacalo to test PC resolutions of 1600x1200 and 1280x1024 in 1:1 to see if they work correctly via another input, say DVI. I would also be interested if a PS3 with HDMI > DVI would work correctly, that would issolate the HDMI port but my gut feeling is that its something to do with HD signals (1080p, 720p) and the firmware. This would be apparent if the PC resolutions work fine with 1:1.

Its annoying indeed because I was all set to buy this monitor but I am like you still not 100% convinced its working good enough for me.

Cheers,

Mike
 
dacalo07 said:
Mike,

On PS3: Aspect ratio mode is pixel perfect (1920x1080). Only bars on top and bottom. If it wasn't, this monitor would be going back. Trust me, I am anal about this. :)

PC resolution stuff, I will try tonight.
Click to expand...

Dacalo07,

could you please verify the non-distortion behaviour of the Aspect mode?
I have heard there is an picture viewer in PS3. Could you please display following picture with it?

http://www.sweb.cz/protie/checkerboard_1920_1080.gif

You should see fine smooth pattern without any irregularities. It should look like 50% gray from a larger distance without circles, rectangles or other freckles. When you look closely you should see very fine checkerboard wihout any bluring.
You can play with the picture in the Windows viewer first to see what it looks like when you resize the Windows viewer window. You will see a desired picture when you press F11 in Windows viewer.

Let me know if you need other file format. I don't know what formats are supported.
 
dacalo07 said:
I will let you know tonight.

EDIT: I just remembered. I played Resistance demo which runs in 720p in aspect ratio mode and it looked great.
Click to expand...

Does 1:1 work with 720p though or is it broken like 1:1 and 1080p?
 
higgy said:
But I do have 1080i over HDMI.
http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u285/higgy57/?action=view&current=001-1.jpg
Click to expand...

This looks wrong, as per the 1080p problems in 1:1 (It should not have borders all the way around)

higgy said:
This is 720p.
http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u285/higgy57/?action=view&current=002.jpg
This is 480p.
http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u285/higgy57/?action=view&current=003.jpg
Click to expand...

They could be correct as for those resolutions at 1:1 you would expect full black borders, but its not really possible to see from a picture of video if its pixel perfect or being distorted by the monitor in some way.

Higgy, can you also photograph 1080i in aspect mode?

Thanks,

Mike
 
WOOT GOT MINE!

this was the first monitor that I got with zero backlighting issues. I mean NONE. no dead pix's either.


I tested 1080p on PS3 via HDMI = perfect with two small black bars on top and bottom.
I tested 1080 on xbox360 via VGA = Perfect with two small black bars on top and bottom.



I did have some innitial issues however. During a ps3 game the monitor lost connection for a split second causing me to crash and lose a race in motorstorm :(. hasnt happened again however.

also had some scaling issues on VGA, but shutting off the monitor then turning it back on fixed the issue.

Have a x800 pro and had issues with the monitor not finding a signal from DVID after getting latest 7.2 ATi drivers fixed it.


ALL IS GOOD AMAZING MONITOR!~
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top