BenQ VW2420H Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen on December 10, 2011 2:45 AM ESTConclusion: Good with Caveats
With the VW2420H, BenQ has removed a lot of the extra features like multiple HDMI inputs that were on their EW2420 display, and at the same time they've managed to increase the already superb contrast ratios. The main negatives for the BenQ in my book are the total lack of adjustments beyond tilt, which you can’t remedy with a different stand due to the lack of VESA mounting holes, and the OSD interface. BenQ needs to update the OSD so that all menu selections are horizontal or vertical, and not a combination, unless they want to add a 4-way pad to the front of the monitor. It’s easy enough to fix, and it will make the OSD far more usable.
While there are some good results in our testing, just looking at the uniformity testing makes me hesitate a bit about the BenQ. Overall I think it's a good display, and the color quality is decent after calibration; however, color accuracy drifts heavily at the edges, along with the white uniformity. Still, the contrast ratio is outstanding compared to everything else in our test database.
Right now you can find the BenQ VW2420H online for $250 at Best Buy (plus tax and shipping), which is up to $80 less than what you'll pay at Newegg. It's a reasonable price for a better-than-TN display, though if you're after faster response times or a 3D-capable panel you're pretty much stuck with TN right now (or spring for an HDTV).
I really enjoyed the BenQ from the time I hooked it up until the time I boxed it up, which can’t be said for most things that I review. I wish it was a little cheaper, with more uniform color, and had a better stand for what it is selling for online, but the performance is enough for me to recommend giving it a serious look for a desktop display.
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blueeyesm - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
"When initially hooked up and set to 200 nits of light output, the average dE of the BenQ is in the single digits, which unfortunately is very good for a consumer class LCD monitor."I think you may have meant "is not very good..."
Ryan Smith - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
Close. That was supposed to be "high single digits". Which actually is fairly good for a consumer LCD. It's only the professional LCDs that have good-to-decent accuracy out of the box.Samus - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
the last benq monitor i bought had an external power supply that failed twice before i finally ebay'd the monitor. as a credit to benq (a company with traditionally bad rap for support) they did replace the power supply both times, the second time being out of warranty! but the power supply ran super hot, and the monitor drew 160 watts from the wall when measured with a kill-a-watt.hopefully they've changed 'wall-wart' manufactures.
Rolphus - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I've found BenQ's support to be excellent. I have an XL2410T that had a manufacturing defect (really bad light bleed on the right hand side), and getting it swapped out was extremely easy. I've also got a BenQ FP241W I use for work, and that has been very reliable, and with excellent picture quality.Neither of them use wall-warts for power: perhaps it's a component supply issue.
cheinonen - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I will go clear that up, but yes, for a consumer display straight out of the box, anything below double digits is unfortunately considered to be good. The consumer video realm is finally getting to where displays and projectors have modes that are reasonably (dE < 5) accurate out of the box, so hopefully PC displays will get there as well.joelypolly - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
Lack of VESA mounts means that even though this is a pretty nice monitor it means that I won't be buying itMakaveli - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
"The main negatives for the BenQ in my book are the total lack of adjustments beyond tilt, which you can’t remedy with a different stand due to the lack of VESA mounting holes, and the OSD interface."Ditto for me also this would be a no buy just for this fact.
Goodjob Benq thanks for coming out.
psychobriggsy - Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - link
I've had this monitor for over a year now. Maybe it has just hit the US? I paid around £170 a year ago.It's extremely thin - which the review doesn't mention - and it uses a wall wart because of this.
It's a shame they didn't built the power supply and signal inputs into the base, as that would have been very tidy, instead cables hang out the back of the monitor (like any other) which rather lets down the point of creating a 'stylist monitor' in the first place, and losing VESA mounts, etc.
The picture quality is very good, for a consumer monitor, and far better than TN monitors in my opinion. Of course for serious gaming the TN monitors do have the fastest response times and the 3D options.
Torrijos - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
Black shiny edges are horrible for me...They reflect the light fixture directly into your eyes, incredibly annoying, I had to put tape on my last screen avoid the strain.
When are manufacturers going to understand buyers don't care about shiny just about functionality.
toyota - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
yeah bright shiny bezels are asinine for a monitor because they reflect everything around you. even the screen gets reflected on the inside edges of the bezel and that drives me nuts when playing a game or a movie.