BenQ VW2420H Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen on December 10, 2011 2:45 AM ESTBenQ VW2420H Design and Interface
The BenQ VW2420H is a very simple design, but one without much adjustment available either. Your inputs are limited to HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub, with an audio input for the integrated speakers. There is no USB port for a hub or DisplayPort here. It does feature a tilt adjust with the stand, but there is no height adjustment or swivel, and there are no VESA mounting holes to allow for a stand with more adjustment range either.
Compared to a similarly non-adjustable TN panel that was just in, the BenQ was much easier to use since the edges of the panel would not wash out and discolor when looking at it from normal desktop distances. The lack of any adjustments other than tilt is something to pay attention to if you need those for your workspace. The audio input is potentially useful if you're not passing audio over HDMI and wish to use the integrated speakers, but the sound from the speakers is weak and tinny—just what you'd expect from small speakers in a monitor—but it will get the job done in a pinch. Adding a headphone output to the display would have been nice to make better use of the audio input/HDMI support.
| BenQ VW2420H | |
| Video Inputs | D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI |
| Panel Type | A-MVA |
| Pixel Pitch | 0.276 mm |
| Colors | 16.7 million |
| Brightness | 250 nits |
| Contrast Ratio | 3,000:1 |
| Response Time | 25ms, 8ms (GtG) |
| Viewable Size | 24" |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 |
| Viewing Angle | 178 horizontal/178 vertical |
| Backlight | LED Edge-lit |
| Power Consumption (operation) | 40W |
| Power Consumption (standby) | < 1W |
| Screen Treatment | |
| Height-Adjustable | No |
| Tilt | -5 - 15 degrees |
| Pivot | No |
| Swivel | No |
| VESA Wall Mounting | No |
| Dimensions w/ Base (WxHxD) | 22.85" x 17.08" x 7.42" |
| Weight | 8.6 lbs. |
| Additional Features | Headphone Jack |
| Limited Warranty | USA 1 Year |
| Accessories | D-Sub, HDMI Cables |
| Price | $330.00 |
This time BenQ has moved the controls for the OSD from the side of the monitor to the bottom of the display, which I found to be easier to work with. The change in orientation felt more natural for navigating the OSD, though I’m certain plenty of people had no issue using the previous setup either. The main issue is having both tabs horizontally across the top, and then a vertical menu selection. Instead of moving the buttons around, either designing the menus to be all vertically or horizontally oriented would make the UI easier to use.
The menu system has all the options that you likely need to set up the display. I used the User color mode since it allows for a custom color control. If you are setting up your display and plan on calibrating it, you should always use this control to calibrate the 100% white point to be as close to your target (typically D65) as possible. That gives the hardware LUTs the maximum flexibility to calibrate the display correctly.
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mike55 - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
BenQ's website says this monitor has an 8-bit panel with 24-bit interpolation. I don't understand why interpolation is used for a panel that's capable of displaying 24-bit color. Could someone explain this, please?marraco - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
If I need a machine to tell the color accuracy of a monitor, well, then I don’t care much about it. I’m not sensible on color accuracy.But If I read an Anandtech article about a monitor, then I buy the monitor, and text looks blurry when I scroll web pages, PDF, and word documents, then I blame the Anandtech article which said NOT A WORD about things that matter.
snuuggles - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
Man, I couldn't agree more. I'm not sure who these reviews are for. There are so few people that really care about color accuracy.- input lag
- 120hz
- ?? what else matters? I'm personally a little hazy on why any gamer would settle for 60hz when 120hz is just *so* much better.
Now that I think about it, my guess is that the market for people who care about quality monitors (ie, people that know anything at all about displays) and who *aren't* photographers/graphic artists must be vanishingly small, which is why the reviews seem to cater to that crowd.
cheinonen - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
There are people who care about color accuracy and those who care about input lag, and those who care about both. I can't venture to assume what percentage of people care about which unfortunately, though I care far more about color accuracy than input lag myself as I rarely game but do a lot of image and general work where the colors annoy me. However, I know I don't represent everyone so I try to cover everything I can.The next display up is a 120 Hz display, so there will be comments on that of course. I'm attempting to find a better way to measure the actual motion resolution on displays, but have run into a couple issues on that so far:
- The test patterns max out at 1920x1080
- The output is limited to 60 Hz
So the 120 Hz display can't take full advantage of the panel for that. I'm trying to find a way to measure that better, as motion resolution is something that is hard to really get across right now.
I'm trying to cover all the bases for reviews, and trying to clear out the backlog of monitors that are here so I can start to better select what the comments are interested in.
sulu1977 - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
60 Hz monitors give me eyestrain every time. My next monitor absolutely has to be 120 Hz or higher.Zan Lynx - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
Exactly how does the refresh rate on a LCD cause eye strain for you? I can see that with a CRT it would because the low phosphor persistence on high refresh rate CRTs would cause flicker when used at a lower refresh rate.With an LCD the pixel stays set until the displays gets a refresh. It doesn't flicker. At all.
You might be seeing a 60Hz flicker of the LCD's fluorescent backlight tubes. If that is the problem, then you need to find a monitor manufacturer that uses a better backlight..
It could also be caused by your eyes being badly affected by interference patterns generated by room fluorescent lighting flicker combining with LCD backlight flicker.
In none of these cases will a 120Hz refresh LCD solve your problem except by a new display coincidentally using a different backlight.
sulu1977 - Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - link
I thought my new LED LCD laptop would finally get rid of eyestrain forever, but I was very wrong. Just passing my fingers across the screen reveals obvious flicker. Without getting into deep technical analysis, the bottom line is this:I can stare at a tree in my yard and never get eye strain/fatigue, but staring at my new 60Hz LED LCD gives me eye strain/fatigue every time.Oxford Guy - Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - link
Next-generation panels from the maker of the panels used in these BenQ monitors are being produced and are about to be produced:http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news_archive/25.htm#au...
Some have a 5000:1 contrast ratio rating (up from 3000:1). Some are 120 Hz. They have a faster response rating of 6 ms g2g rather than 8 ms, and 12 ms overall rather than 25 ms.
The first announced panel that appears to use one of these is the Phillips 241P4QPYEB/27 and 241P4QPYES/00. The only difference between the two is the color of the frame.