BENQ RL2240H
You’re a gamer, you’re on a tight budget
and you need an LCD screen. Five years ago, we’d have pitied your predicament.
Whatever you ended up with, Lt wasn’t going to be pretty. Fast forward to today
and this gaming-optimised 22-inch panel is yours for just $176. And it’s full
HD. Yip pee.
That’s right, a full HD screen from a
proper brand for $160 and the cost of a packet of fags. Ish. Give it up for
globalisat ion and preposterously low electronics prices — but we digress. Cost
and relatively modest screen diagonal aside, this BenQ also claims to improve
your gaming prowess in RTS games. What you’re actually getting is an operating
mode with colours and contrast tweaked for the demands of RTS games. If we’re
really honest, as with most preset modes, we probably wouldn’t bother. The difference
is marginal at best, and where it is noticeable, not unambiguously for the
better.
It’s better to concentrate on the screen’s
traditional TN virtues when it comes to gaming. Okay, it’s a classic TN panel,
and that means black tones are corrupted with the slightest hint of blue, and
there’s a bit of bleed around the panel edge. Inevitably, you’ll discover some
compression of whites if you can be bothered to fire up the Lagom scales. This
isn’t the most accurate monitor ever made.
If $160 or so is all you can afford
for a screen this is a safe bet for gaming
Great for gameing
But here’s the thing — in many ways, this
screen looks nearly as good as the low-cost IPS panel in Dell’s Ultrasharp
U2412M (reviewed p16). The colours are in the same ballpark for richness and
vibrancy. Indeed, thanks to the tighter pixel pitch and smoother anti-glare
coating, it’s sharper and clearer. The colours aren’t as accurate and the
viewing angles fall short, but there’s no denying HD video looks great and
games look even better.
What’s more, the TN tech makes for
excellent pixel response. That’s not a surprise, but what we weren’t expecting
at this price was BenQ’s AMA or Advanced Motion Accelerator. It boils down to
switchable pixel overdrive and offers just two settings. So it’s not quite as
sophisticated as the name suggests. But once enabled the response performance
is fantastic.
Hell, even the chassis doesn’t look half
bad with its Stormtrooper-style glossy white plastics, even if the tilt-only
stand is a very basic affair. Meanwhile, DVI, HDMI and VGA ports are all
provided. All of which brings us to the following remarkable conclusion.
Regardless of cost, you could argue this is the best gaming monitor here. If
$160 or so is your limit, that’s awfully good news.
Vital Statistics
Price $176
Supplier
www.benq.co.uk
Size
21.5-inch
Panel type TN
Native resolution 1,920 xl,080
Pixel response 2ms
Viewing angle 170/1600 H/V
Inputs
DVI, HDMI, VGA
|
BENQ EW2730V
Fitness for purpose. More than anything,
that’s what this big BenQ delivers. It would be all too easy to immediately
disregard it based on its humdrum 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution. After all,
you can have precisely the same pixel grid for a little over $160.
Okay, at that price point, you’ll be
squeezing those pixels into a much smaller 22-inch LCD panel. But when it comes
to apps and web surfing, it’s pixel count not screen diagonal that really
matters. You get no more viewable Windows desktop with this $381, 27-inch screen
than you do from BenQ’s $140 special offer iO8Op (opposite).
But what if it’s games and movies above all
else you want to your screen for? In that scenario, the BenQ EW2730V might just
be purpose personified.
For starters, BenQ has given it a glorious,
luxurious VA or Vertical Alignment panel. That’s not just any VA panel, but one
from the very latest generation, complete with a claimed contrast performance
of 3.000:1. Then there are 178° viewing angles in both planes; an LED
backlight; a gorgeous looking chassis and stand replete with slithers of
brushed alloy.
A compelling screen that could be
improved by a quicker pixel response
POSITIVE IMPRESSION
The EW2730V might not be cheap per se, but
it is awfully good value. That positive impression remains when you fire her
up. This panel produces rich and vibrant colours without being oversaturated or
artificial. The black levels and contrast are really super too, even if they’re
not quite as stupendous as the 3,000:1 ratio suggests.
We’re big fans of the panel’s Surface. Too
often, a good screen is spoiled by a stupid panel coating. IPS screens often
suffer from sparkly, coarse surfaces, but the BenQ, in contrast, has it just
right. The surface is super smooth, almost semi-glossy but without any nasty
reflectivity. The result is extremely pleasant clarity and excellent contrast
without the glossy screens’ downsides.
But what of pixel response, which is such a
critical metric far gaming and sometimes the source of failure for VA screens?
Well, BenQ offers switchable pixel overdrive. Once enabled, there’s evidence of
mild inverse ghosting. Overall, response is good but not great. BenQ’s own
RL2240H shows it a clean pair of pixels, but that’s what you’d expect from a
modern TN screen. And don’t forget, that modest 1,920 x 1,080 pixel grid is
easy on your GPU.
The story, then, is of a lovely looking
screen that excels for watching movies and could only really be improved for
games with 3D support and slightly quicker pixel response. To really succeed as
an all rounder, the native resolution needs upgrading. But at this price, it’s
a very compelling package.
Vital Statistics
Price $480
Supplier
www.benq.co.uk
Size
27-inch
Paneltype
VA
Native resolution 1920x1,080
Pixel response 8ms
Viewing angle 178/1780 H/V
Inputs
DVI2xHDMI, component, VGA
