[marck120]

Hi, I’m new to the forum, I live in Italy, I’m looking for a 24″ PC monitor, the budget is quite limited, 200€ -220€

The motherboard is an ASUS P8Z77-V and I use the integrated video card in the i5-3330 CPU, the only available hdmi port is busy so I’m left with the VGA-A, DVI-D and DisplayPort inputs

I’m not interested in gaming, I need the monitor more than anything else for multiple use, productivity and entertainment, web browsing, occasionally a bit of video editing, if it’s possible I would prefer the panel to render well on SD 480p, HD 720p video files and FULL HD 1080p, I also have a blue led DTT stick to watch TV with Dvb Viewer, it’s difficult for me to watch TV on a PC monitor, but if you can see the DTT channels well, it wouldn’t be bad.

I absolutely need vesa support and if possible built-in speakers, I’m looking for a well-built sturdy monitor that will last me for years.

So respecting the budget I would have made a small selection:

Benq Mobiuz Ex2510S
BenQ Mobiuz EX240
Iiyama GB2470HSU-B1
Iiyama GB2570HSU-B1

More than anything I was undecided between the BenQ Mobiuz Ex2510S and the BenQ Mobiuz EX240, I read some reviews where they say that the BenQ Mobiuz EX240 has superior video quality and more accurate colors, what do you think ?

Besides those listed, which monitor do you recommend ?

[PCM2]

Hi marck120 and welcome,

I was going to merge this with an existing thread (example), but those threads are very long and more generic and plenty of the earlier recommendations there are obsolete or discontinued. So I’m happy to have this as a standalone thread, which I gave a suitable title and focus. 🙂

I can certainly recommend the BenQ MOBIUZ EX240 as it’s a strong all-round performer at an excellent price. Unlike the EX2510S, it doesn’t have an issue where the gamut is too narrow (clear sRGB undercoverage) in the red region, causing reds to appear orange for example. It presents a suitable variety of colours in a way I’d describe as ‘rich and natural’ without obvious undersaturation or oversaturation for normal content (designed around the sRGB colour space). It also gives you more flexibility with its brightness adjustment, going down to ~50 cd/m² and up to ~375 cd/m². The EX2510S doesn’t go much about 200 cd/m² according to most data I’ve seen – it’s bright enough for most users either way as most will set the screen between 100 – 200 cd/m², but some people prefer the extra flexibility of a brighter level.

Although you aren’t interested in gaming, even on the desktop you might appreciate the fairly well-tuned and flexible pixel overdrive of the EX240 (I would personally recommend ‘AMA 1’ or possibly ‘AMA 2’, depending on overshoot sensitivity) and indeed the 165Hz refresh rate. In the productivity and movie recommendations section at the moment, there is a 75Hz alternative to consider (Samsung F24T45), which may be perfectly decent for your uses. But availability is patchy at the moment in Europe, anyway. And aside from aesthetic preferences and better ergonomics for the stand, I don’t really see it as superior to the EX240. In fact the BenQ is usually available for a similar price, so I may well be updating those recommendations!

Edit: Movie and productivity recommendations now updated to reflect this.

[marck120]

Hello, thank you, you have been very kind

Considering the budget in question, unfortunately the choice is a bit limited, for example I’ve read that the HDR function in low-end monitors is quite useless, only HDR600 on high-end monitors work well.

In my case I evaluated the VA panels which have deeper blacks and perform better on multimedia content, unlike the IPS which however have more accurate colors but suffer from glowing, unfortunately the VA panels are all curved and I don’t like the curved panel.

Regarding the BenQ MOBIUZ EX240 I noticed that it is not a real 8 bit but it is a 6 bits + FRC, I don’t think this is a problem, the build quality of the BenQ MOBIUZ EX240 I think is identical to that of the BenQ Mobiuz Ex2510S ?

I also evaluated other monitors such as the Dell 24 p2421 which has more accurate colors, certainly not a Proart, or the LG ULTRAGEAR 24GN60R, Philips Monitor 241B8QJEB, Philips 24E1N5300AE, the HP X24ih this is highly recommended, Lenovo Q24i-1L, Lenovo G24e-20, the famous AOC 24G2, MSI Optix G241, Acer xv242y, ASUS TUF VG249Q, the two Iiyama GB2470HSU-B1 and Iiyama GB2570HSU-B1 which are Japanese and should be great monitors, what do you think about these alternatives ?

[PCM2]

I haven’t seen absolute confirmation that the EX240 is 6-bit + FRC rather than ‘true 8-bit’ (DisplaySpecifications just makes assumptions in this respect – they may or may not be correct in this case). I think given the price and panel used it’s very possible, but either way I wouldn’t worry about this. The reason you aren’t seeing this strongly confirmed either way or something people would complain about is because the dithering would be very finely handled and not something that would cause issues or be noticeable during normal use of the monitor. The build quality is similar on both BenQ models you’re considering, that’s correct.

We don’t cover Iiyama models as they don’t sell in the US – I prefer focusing on models that are also available there as that’s where the majority of our supporting users are based. I’ve commented on a few of those other models in various threads and I do recommend the AOC 24G2(U), but tend to prefer the newer 24G2SP(U). Based on my testing this offers better colour consistency (lower saturation loss, tone change or dulling towards the edges) and the high refresh responsiveness is slightly improved compared to the original model.

I don’t think the AOC is an outright ‘better’ monitor than the EX240, however. The BenQ offers superior pixel responses (the AOC is still pretty decent in that respect) and offers ‘rich and natural’ colour output with better colour consistency and viewing angle performance. It also has a better minimum brightness for light sensitive users (~50 cd/m² vs. >100 cd/m²). The AOC offers stronger contrast plus a more vibrant colour output (superior colour gamut) and it has a slightly smoother and less grainy screen surface. The stand adjustability is a bit better as well, but if you don’t need pivot capability or more than 100mm height adjustment that won’t be an issue either way. So either model could work depending on your preferences and I’d really shortlist those 2 and pick between them.

[marck120]

Thanks for the info, the AOC 24G2SP is slightly more expensive than the BenQ EX240, the spec sheet is almost the same as the BenQ EX240, it just has a higher sRGB, as for build quality I think they are identical, I wanted to do a larger comparison with the various monitors , I didn’t know that it was only a few models, I can’t think of any other questions, as the choice narrows down the number one candidate for now is the BenQ EX240 . If I have any other questions, I’ll let you know. Thanks for everything, very kind.

[west]

Hey, i saw that the BenQ EX240 supports 24 hz too which most movies are filmed in, while the 24G2SP(U) probably doesnt. Do you think this is a significant advantage when watching movies, videos, can you see the difference?

[PCM2]

The refresh rates supported by the 24G2SP(U) are covered in the review, 24Hz is not supported. It’s subjective, but I’d say most people won’t see much benefit from setting the monitor to 24Hz and as such wouldn’t specifically bother to do this when watching video content. The frame rate of the content is a key barrier to visual fluidity either way. For those who do wish to minimise juddering as much as possible even so, they’ll generally find that’s achieved sufficiently as long as the refresh rate sticks to a multiple of the frame rate (e.g. 120Hz, which works for 24fps, 30fps and 60fps content). So I don’t see the 24Hz mode as a particular selling point for most people, even if some may appreciate it.

[west]

Interesting, thanks, its good to know that its not a dealbreaker for monitors

[Author]

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