Official BenQ FP241W Thread !!! Info, Pictures, Reviews

Are there any issues with this monitor and Windows Vista premium or ultimate? I should have ultimate tomorrow.
 
Hi there. I'm new to this forum but the information here has been great (thanks for all the information!). I'm considering purchasing a FP241W sometime today but I want to get some feedback before I buy it. :) I'm still new to all this HD stuff, so hopefully one of you who has this monitor would be able to answer. Since the FP241W does not have speakers for audio, how would someone "extract" the audio signal from the HDMI signal? For example, let's take the Playstation 3 (a popular reason to purchase this monitor). If you're using HDMI to get 1080p video, is there some sort of HDMI "splitter" or receiver that allows you to separate out the audio and video signals? I guess with the PS3, there is always the option to use the optical output, but what if optical wasn't an option? I guess what I'm ultimately asking is, for those who have this BenQ monitor and you're using it for home video/entertainment purposes, what solutions are you using for your audio setup? Great forum and I look forward to the response. Thanks in advance!
 
Tasc said:
Does anyone who has this monitor have a problem with it being TOO bright? I had a Dell 2405 awhile back, and it was so bright I had to turn the brightness down to zero and still use the nvidia control panel to lower other settings to reduce brightness even more.

Just wanted to make sure that the brightness on the Benq can be tamed down enough for dark environments.
Click to expand...

I agree it's too bright. I have the monitor setup in a dimly lit room (not a lot of ambient light) and I have the contrast at 40-50 and the brightness down to 4, and it's still almost too bright. What does everyone else have their contrast/brightness set to? The picture looks great but the brightness is a strain on the eyes. I had a few dell lcd's before this one and I never remember them being this bright, even new. I think I had them set to around 20 brightness and 100 contrast. I might try adding some more light to the room to see if that helps...Anybody use the spyder2 or huey calibration on this monitor? Did it make any improvement?
 
Ordered mine from NCIX on the 23rd (I think), and the Canadian tracking site said the estimated delivery date was today... Fingers crossed... I also had the delay in inventory verification, because of the firmware update... No big deal... They're also processing my request for a price adjustment...

I really don't want to read back through thousands of posts to find links to test patterns etc for brightness, dead pixels, overscan, etc, so if anybody wants to repost those, it'd be great.

We'll see...
 
Gridneo said:
Ordered mine from NCIX on the 23rd (I think), and the Canadian tracking site said the estimated delivery date was today... Fingers crossed... I also had the delay in inventory verification, because of the firmware update... No big deal... They're also processing my request for a price adjustment...

I really don't want to read back through thousands of posts to find links to test patterns etc for brightness, dead pixels, overscan, etc, so if anybody wants to repost those, it'd be great.

We'll see...
Click to expand...


search tool
 
Hey all,

Just wanted to give a status update. I ordered from NCIX on 1/19 and it's now 1/30 and still no monitor! This is with no paypal issues and the unit arriving at the border at 1/25.

This is with express shipping! What I found out was that I got express shipping to the Canada/US border. :eek:

The estimated date of delivery was today 1/30 so hopefully I'll get it. If you guys are used to having quick shipments like through the egg then 11 days is an eternity! hahaha...

I wish the postman would stop using my monitor to play games... Sigh...
 
Flexion said:
Hey all,

Just wanted to give a status update. I ordered from NCIX on 1/19 and it's now 1/30 and still no monitor! This is with no paypal issues and the unit arriving at the border at 1/25.

This is with express shipping! What I found out was that I got express shipping to the Canada/US border. :eek:

The estimated date of delivery was today 1/30 so hopefully I'll get it. If you guys are used to having quick shipments like through the egg then 11 days is an eternity! hahaha...

I wish the postman would stop using my monitor to play games... Sigh...
Click to expand...

Haha, They have an expected delivery date of the 13th on my display. I live only 15 hours away so they're driving 50 minutes per day on average.
 
First, thanks to all who answered my previous post.

Second, I suspect the monitors available to me (I live in Finland) all have got the old firmware and it would probably cost me an arm if I'd have to send it to the US to upgrade it. Would I get any real benefit from 1:1 scaling since I'll only use it as a computer monitor (I don't even own any consoles)?
 
1:1 as a PC monitor isn't the end all be all. Has anyone but 1 user gotten a firmware fixed display from Newegg?

Kind of odd that with Neweggs stock they only had 1 display that had a firmware fix..
 
Ferris23 said:
1:1 as a PC monitor isn't the end all be all. Has anyone but 1 user gotten a firmware fixed display from Newegg?

Kind of odd that with Neweggs stock they only had 1 display that had a firmware fix..
Click to expand...

I don't know, maybe that guy didn't really know what 1:1 mapping was and just said he had it.
 
What a massive thread.

I have read a good portion of this saga but still have a few questions for some people who are lucky enough to have one already.

1) My GFX Card is a bit older (Msi NX 6600GT) and I was wondering what the supported resolutions for this monitor were... ie: can it be run at less than the native high res without going totally crap? (unreadable text, blurriness etc)

2) The Xbox 360 info has been a little mixed... does the component connection look any good or is the VGA the only real option? Or do both look crappy?

3) Is there any issue (assuming I get an upgraded firmware) that this monitor won't be as good as another 24" for playing the Xbox 360... will it make me as happy as I want to be? :)

I really appreciate all the work thus far... would love to be even more confident of my potential purchase - plus it will help convince the wife :)
 
higgy said:
That is the reason that I am buying a new monitor. My old monitor will not work with Windows Vista premium content, they say.
Click to expand...

Vista needs an HDCP display if you want to play HDCP content(hd-dvd, blu-ray, etc). For a monitor to be "Vista Ready" it also need to be DDC/CI;
From TFTCentral:
"Vista Compatibility (DDC/CI Compliance) One of the requirements for a Vista compatible monitor is DDC/CI (Display Data Channel Command Interface) compliance. This provides full bidirectional communication between host (PC) and display. Through DDC/CI support, user can use appropriate software to adjust the monitor instead of using the limited monitor control keys."

But i doubt it's obligated to have it the be able to use all of vista's features.... The FP241W is HDCP, and has DDC/CI but for the last one you'll need an updated one(the infamous firmware update also fix this and the 1:1) (taken from TFTCentral again...)

music_guru said:
Hi there. I'm new to this forum but the information here has been great (thanks for all the information!). I'm considering purchasing a FP241W sometime today but I want to get some feedback before I buy it. :) I'm still new to all this HD stuff, so hopefully one of you who has this monitor would be able to answer. Since the FP241W does not have speakers for audio, how would someone "extract" the audio signal from the HDMI signal? For example, let's take the Playstation 3 (a popular reason to purchase this monitor). If you're using HDMI to get 1080p video, is there some sort of HDMI "splitter" or receiver that allows you to separate out the audio and video signals? I guess with the PS3, there is always the option to use the optical output, but what if optical wasn't an option? I guess what I'm ultimately asking is, for those who have this BenQ monitor and you're using it for home video/entertainment purposes, what solutions are you using for your audio setup? Great forum and I look forward to the response. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

For the PS3, if you dont have optical inputs you can always use the old connection(like the ps2 had) with the red and white RCA for the sound. But i've never heard about an hdmi splitter thingy....
 
Onesimus said:
What a massive thread.

I have read a good portion of this saga but still have a few questions for some people who are lucky enough to have one already.

1) My GFX Card is a bit older (Msi NX 6600GT) and I was wondering what the supported resolutions for this monitor were... ie: can it be run at less than the native high res without going totally crap? (unreadable text, blurriness etc)

2) The Xbox 360 info has been a little mixed... does the component connection look any good or is the VGA the only real option? Or do both look crappy?

3) Is there any issue (assuming I get an upgraded firmware) that this monitor won't be as good as another 24" for playing the Xbox 360... will it make me as happy as I want to be? :)

I really appreciate all the work thus far... would love to be even more confident of my potential purchase - plus it will help convince the wife :)
Click to expand...

1) You'll run native res for your desktop, right? So that should be fine. With the 1:1 fix you can run games at a lower res, and it will just be centered in the middle of the screen (black bars around the side).

2) Component should look great on the display.

3) This display kicks ass - nothing else can beat it (currently)
 
Has anyone seen any production model reviews of the FP241WZ (or VW for that matter)? Seeing as BenQ refuted the claims of that early review's problems as a result of the monitor being a test model, I have been waiting to see a review of a more production monitor.
 
Quanticles said:
1) You'll run native res for your desktop, right? So that should be fine. With the 1:1 fix you can run games at a lower res, and it will just be centered in the middle of the screen (black bars around the side).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply... I am pretty sure my gfx card can just handle the resolution for the desktop... if it was unable are any lower resolutions supported? Or is it a full res or no res kind of issue?

Another question... There is a great deal of discussion over the best locations to buys things... but I am in Australia... Has anyone had any luck finding an upgraded firmware model in Australia? And what about good prices?
 
Onesimus said:
Thanks for the quick reply... I am pretty sure my gfx card can just handle the resolution for the desktop... if it was unable are any lower resolutions supported? Or is it a full res or no res kind of issue?

Another question... There is a great deal of discussion over the best locations to buys things... but I am in Australia... Has anyone had any luck finding an upgraded firmware model in Australia? And what about good prices?
Click to expand...

I think it can handle any resolution you throw it at. You can tell it to either apply scaling itself, or you can tell it to put black bars on the side. It's going to do normal interpolation when you scale though (just like any other LCD), so I'm not really sure what you expect.

One of the first guys to get the firmware fix did it in Australia (some place in sydney). I dont know if you can buy it with the firmware fix preinstalled though.
 
yay! my updated monitor is on the truck for delivery today :)

Is it possible to split an optical audio cable into the standard RCA cables? My speaker system is dated and doesn't support optical so I need to convert it.
 
Alpha-Leader said:
yay! my updated monitor is on the truck for delivery today :)

Is it possible to split an optical audio cable into the standard RCA cables? My speaker system is dated and doesn't support optical so I need to convert it.
Click to expand...

I know you can convert optical to SPDIF (numeric RCA) but dont know about analog.. probably a converter of some sort could do it...
 
You'll need a little converter box of sorts. =/

Radio shack is a good place for that stuff (make sure to bring money soaked with your own blood though).
 
Placed my order today! $769 from Newegg.... then the price dropped $25. :( But either way I'm still happy I finally made a decision and went with it. I should've gotten it when the coupon offer was available, but in the end it goes in the pocketbook as a "Stupid Tax" (me being stupid) of around $50.

Already shipped less than 2 hours later, out of TN and I'm in IL.... hopefully it shows up tomorrow, that would blow my mind. :)

202276
 
Tytalus said:
Placed my order today! $769 from Newegg.... then the price dropped $25. :( But either way I'm still happy I finally made a decision and went with it. I should've gotten it when the coupon offer was available, but in the end it goes in the pocketbook as a "Stupid Tax" (me being stupid) of around $50.

Already shipped less than 2 hours later, out of TN and I'm in IL.... hopefully it shows up tomorrow, that would blow my mind. :)

202276
Click to expand...

Make sure to let us know if it has the firmware update.
 
GO with NCIX if you want firmware fix otherwise dont complain that newegg's monitor did not come with fix.:D
 
Yeah, until I start seeing multiple people seeing their newegg's have the update, I'd figure the cost of shipping the display in to get the upgrade into the total cost and see if it's worth it.

All things considered, if NE was shipping updated versions, I'd probably have bought from them.

Gah, didn't look at what the ETA was for my display, says 2/14. pfft, don't ship it by moose.
 
can someone with the firmware update tell me if there's really the DDC/CI option(maybe it's in the menu.. or written on the box....) it's to only thing i'm not sure about and it's a good thing to have with Vista...
 
Hi All,

I placed an order at NCIX on 1/19 and it's finally here! 1:1 update installed and all.

So the monitor has arrived and I shuddered at the fact that a postman brought the package in. I can say that I do trust UPS more than USPS. Hundreds of shipments from the egg and no damages.

The good news is that I hooked up the monitor and despite the scary looking dents in the sides of my box :eek: the monitor inside was in perfect condition. BenQ did a good job with the shipping foam. Can't say the same when with my trusty old Viewsonic VP201b. That one just simply came in a HUGE with some foam supporting the top and bottom.

There is an option at NCIX to spend extra money to double box. I don't find it necessary IMO, but was worried the whole time while it was in transit. Just FYI.

Alright, so the 1:1, aspect modes work. I only had a chance to hook it up via VGA since I'm at my office now. So far cannot see any dead pix, using a tester, and colors are fantastic. (I only ran it for 15mins or so)

Despite the US/Canada shipping time. My experience with NCIX is satisfactory, apart from having to stay on top of them and checking progress.

Will take pics when I can. Gonna "Gears" tonight. I've been playing on a 20" 1600x1200 all this time. That's like playing on a 15" widescreen. Yuck!
 
Oh, interesting.

I wasn't aware a lot of games didn't support that resolution, or is it a performance thing?

I really do like the functionality of Gateways 1:1 feature.
 
Spoonie_G said:
Yeah it is. My games that don't support 1920x1200 looks like crap on this monitor. I have a RMA for the 1:1 firmware fix, but i'd rather sell it and get the Gteway.
Click to expand...

You can tell your graphics driver to do the 1:1 fix for you (as in the graphics card can handle it).

The 1:1 fix is only necessary for console games and VGA.
 
Ferris23 said:
Oh, interesting.

I wasn't aware a lot of games didn't support that resolution, or is it a performance thing?

I really do like the functionality of Gateways 1:1 feature.
Click to expand...

Most games do not support 1920X1200. It isn't a performance thing for me. I have a E6600 Intel and a 8800GTS. (11,564 3dmark06 score).

Oh yeah, you can actualy use the Gateway's PIP function. The BenQ's PIP is a joke.
 
Quanticles said:
You can tell your graphics driver to do the 1:1 fix for you (as in the graphics card can handle it).

The 1:1 fix is only necessary for console games and VGA.
Click to expand...

What about the HDMI,Composite,Component and S-Video input? Everything connected to those inputs will get stretched. The Component and S-Video inputs are unwatchable on this monitor without the 1:1 pixel mapping. 4:3 stretched to 16:10 looks horrible. And the HDMI and Composite gets stretched from 1080 to 1200. You can do without the 1:1 if you want, but if you are connecting anything other than a PC to this monitor, expect an inaccurate picture with images either looking very thin or very thick. I cannot see the reason why anyone who would hook up anything other than a PC wouldn’t want the 1:1 pixel mapping.
 
Ok, this might be a really stupid question: Can you install firmwares yourself? I noticed that on the official benq site there is a download section under Service & Support that says "Applications , BIOS/ Firmware , Data Sheet, Drivers, Manuals, Warranties" so I was wondering what the downloadable firmwares were for...
 
Urian said:
Ok, this might be a really stupid question: Can you install firmwares yourself? I noticed that on the official benq site there is a download section under Service & Support that says "Applications , BIOS/ Firmware , Data Sheet, Drivers, Manuals, Warranties" so I was wondering what the downloadable firmwares were for...
Click to expand...

no, you will void your warranty if you try it, and getting ahold of the firmware is not easy apparantly, as no one has been able to update it except distrobution centers
 
Urian,

Unfortunately the firmware cannot be upgraded by the user. Which is why lots of us here in the US are ordering from a company called NCIX in Canada who is shipping out "updated" panels. Whereas some of us are gambling on purchasing from Newegg the typical vendor of choice in the US. Some panels from Newegg.com are updated and some are not.

IMO. If a person saves money getting an non "updated" panel, and then has to send the panel back to BenQ, pay shipping both ways ($60) and wait a few days, it's all the same.
 
Flexion said:
Urian,

Unfortunately the firmware cannot be upgraded by the user. Which is why lots of us here in the US are ordering from a company called NCIX in Canada who is shipping out "updated" panels. Whereas some of us are gambling on purchasing from Newegg the typical vendor of choice in the US. Some panels from Newegg.com are updated and some are not.

IMO. If a person saves money getting an non "updated" panel, and then has to send the panel back to BenQ, pay shipping both ways ($60) and wait a few days, it's all the same.
Click to expand...

The problem is that I live in Finland and I'm not sure where I could send a monitor to be upgraded. I've sent an email to BenQ's local office and asked if there are any places here that can upgrade the but I still haven't received a reply.
 
Spoonie_G said:
Most games do not support 1920X1200. It isn't a performance thing for me. I have a E6600 Intel and a 8800GTS. (11,564 3dmark06 score).

Oh yeah, you can actualy use the Gateway's PIP function. The BenQ's PIP is a joke.
Click to expand...

I love Gateway's touch controls, but I find BenQs to be more appealing: clearer text, HDMI input, and overall better image quality. I don't use PIP function anyways.
 
The FP241W is indeed bright (too bright?). I just tested it with Eye-One Display 2 (Pantone). In Mode Standard, Color Normal, Contrast 76, below are the measurements (in cd/m2, aka nits). Left column is the monitor's brightness setting; right column is the measured cd/m2 value.

100 = 467
90 = 467
85 = 450
70 = 410
50 = 363
40 = 339
30 = 317
20 = 296
10 = 274
0 = 254

With the ideal brightness for an LCD monitor in the 120 cd/m2 neighborhood, the FP241W is nowhere close, even at minimum brightness. I'll probably run more tests tomorrow.

- David
 
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