[saman_212]

No dead pixel either, I feel good now!!!just played the dark mission of advanced warfare in a dark room, it is one of those very dark maps to be honest, well I am really impressed!!!!! I confirm there was something really wrong with MX239h I had before I bought S24D590pl….Thanks a lot PCM2, I owe this one to you!!!

[PCM2]

That’s really great to hear, saman_212. I’m happy that you’re enjoying the monitor so much! 🙂

[dabozuk]

I thought about piggybacking on the other thread about monitor for dark games, but I’ve got some slightly different requirements based on recent monitor purchases for comparison. I’m trying to work out if cheap monitors just aren’t good enough to my eyes or if I’ve been unlucky/not set them up right.

First off, I have an old Samsung SyncMaster 2032BW which boasts 2ms and 3000:1 dynamic contrast. This monitor has been fine for me, nothing special, but compared to newer monitors it is a bit washed out and not very good black performance to my eyes.

I then borrowed a new Acer S240HLBID. This has 5ms response, and looks reasonable to me too, crisper than the Samsung, but still suffers in dark games (Alien Isolation is my benchmark here, which is all about player immersion, not twitch FPS). With lights off, no reflections in the room, when the screen goes black, you can see the screen is brighter than black.

I then took a gamble and bought a BENQ RL2455HM, and I just couldn’t get on with this from the start. It hurt my eyes so much, unless I made it quite dim. The black performance was terrible (to me) with severe bleeding from the bottom (I have pics if you want to see comparison to the Acer). Crawling through vents in Alien Isolation in almost total darkness was literally out shone by the grey bleeding from the bottom. And
when driving both the Acer and BENQ at same time side by side, you could see the game didn’t look as good on the BENQ. The BENQ gets good reviews especially for gaming, so I was really surprised I couldn’t get on with it. I tried playing with all the settings, and managed to get rid of some ghosting when scrolling in windows, and reduced the eyestrain. But in the end it went back for a refund.

So now I’m a bit lost. Did I get a bad monitor? Did I not set it up right? Should I have tweaked my Windows 7 monitor settings or Radeon 7870LE catalyst settings?

In short, I’d like a great PC monitor that works well enough for office use as gaming. Features can be quite simple in terms of stands inputs (HDMI or DVI and that’s all thx) and I am not fussed about gaining competitive edges in games, just a really good picture without eyestrain, no bleeding and good blacks.

Please fire away questions if you need more detail from me. I want to get this right and don’t mind paying up to £160 or so if necessary.

Cheers

[PCM2]

Hi dabozuk and welcome,

I feel this thread fits in perfectly with your requirements. It is on exactly the same theme – of course additional information can be covered as well, it’s good to supplement the existing information.

My advice to you would be exactly the same. If you want the best deep, dark blacks then there is simply no comparison to monitors with VA (Vertical Alignment) panels. If you view any other LCD panel type in a dark room, blacks will not look remotely close to black – it’s an impossibility when their static contrast ratios are ~1000:1 (forget dynamic contrast ratios – refer to our reviews as for why).

The BenQ RL2455HM is frankly an over-marketed pile of rubbish. It is only recommended by people with little experience with other, superior screens – and those who are sucked in by marketing tosh. It is appaulingly badly set up with attrocious gamma performance, which absolutely annihilates any semblance of atmosphere in dark scenes. You didn’t do anything wrong aside from buying that monitor. 😉

Going with the recommendations here, elsewhere on the website and with your budget in mind I’d recommend considering the BenQ EW2440L. It isn’t a monitor I have personally tested and that’s why I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, but I have received a lot of positive feedback about it and it is within your budget. You can expect it to perform much better for what you’re after (good deep blacks and dark colours, good gaming atmosphere) than the other models you’ve tried. With its flicker-free backlight, good luminance adjustment range and respectable colour reproduction after minimal tweaking you should also find it visually comfortable.

[dabozuk]

I’m pleased it wasn’t just me with that RL2455HM, it’s good to hear it’s garbage, and I’m so glad I got a refund.

Thanks for the recommendations, and a VA is what I had in mind actually, as they are good for contrast, jet blacks and little bleeding. I don’t do photo editing or watch movies on the PC. Sounds a good fit. So some more questions on VA and that EW2440L:

I’m slightly concerned about it only having HDMI inputs. I was hoping to get something with DisplayPort to get around the HDMI shenanigans. Bearing in mind I have an ATI card, is having HDMI an issue?

The VA panel works for the lights-out survival horror scenario, but what about when the lights come back on and I’m using Windows 7, a browser and Office? Can I get crisp, clean text and contrasting images with smooth scrolling without eyestrain. The RL2455HM didn’t have PWM, and that destroyed my eyes. What do you think might have caused that, and could I experience that with the EW2440L?

The red smoke trailing that affects VA panels is a bit of a concern. Probably something I’ll have to test out myself in store, but is this typically noticeable in normal use and non-“twitch fps” games? It’s the one aspect about the visuals of the panel that concerns me.

Refresh rates. Considering I have no idea what FPS my games are churning, do I need to worry about higher than 60Hz?

Finally, 24 or 27″? The price difference of the EW2x40L range is only £25 if you shop around! My 20″ Samsung is normally only 60cm from my face, mainly because it’s so small! I can push it back to 70cm or possibly 80cm if necessary. I could see the grid of pixels on the RL2455HM at 50-60cm, would I be able to see them on the 27 ‘s 1080p? And part of me just thinks 27″ on my desk would look ridiculous (it would just fit between the wall and my printer).

I guess some of these questions are hard for you to answer, but please let me know your thoughts anyway.

For that price (up to £170 max) are there other alternatives I should consider for my requirements?

Thanks

[PCM2]

When I last used AMD GPUs there were only minor issues with HDMI, easily correctable. These are covered in this article. I have received some reports of some difficulties with newer drivers and older cards (such as yours), but nothing I can confirm personally. Given that, it may be better to consider alternatives or buying from somewhere with a good returns policy in case you do come across issues.

Modern VA technology is absolutely fine for desktop work. It has comparable sharpness and clarity to other panel types and I find it perfectly comfortable for that sort of situation. It is quite clear that the RL2455HM could cause eyestrain simply due to the horrendous image setup. It’s quite literally an eyesore.

I haven’t seen smoke like smeary-trails for a while on VA panels, with the exception of some slower ones manufactured by Innolux (this model). These are the really slow and obnoxious transitions between highly contrasting shades which cause obvious and exaggerated trailing. As noted in our reviews, there are certainly some weaknesses but not to that extent on models like the EW2740L.

Given your graphics card and what you’re after and budget, forget any higher than 60Hz. It’s not worth worrying about.

The choice between 24″ and 27″ is quite personal. For me, I use and review models of both sizes frequently, often having them side by side. I find I readily adapt to one or the other. Some people prefer the slightly more ‘in-your-face’ immersion of 27″ at a given viewing distance, whereas others prefer the tighter pixel pitch of 24″ at the same resolution. As I’ve stated on numerous other threads I feel the whole ‘blocky pixels’ thing is blown hugely out of proportion on 27″ 1920 x 1080 displays – and as I’ve said, I’ve compared side by side on many occasions.

You will readily adapt to either size I reckon, so I’d base your decision on the model itself. The 27″ models do have a few other advantages. They offer a slightly more generous colour gamut and a semi-glossy (very light matte) screen surface, something which I personally prefer as it gives a slight edge in both clarity and vibrancy. The only modern ~24″ VA model I can think of which has a semi-glossy screen is the Samsung S24C750P. I’ve received plenty of really positive feedback about that model and it seems very similar to the 27″ version we reviewed. It is a bit more expensive than other models, though, and the fixed stand with high screen mounting position is an annoyance for some. This is more extreme on the 27″ version, however.

So as for alternatives, with respect to trying to avoid HDMI if possible, there are some. The BenQ GW2760HS, for example, which offers DVI. And then there is the BenQ BL2700HT with fully adjustable stand but otherwise, presumably, similar to the EW2740L – not confirmed by my own testing, however. It’s also a bit beyond your budget.

[dabozuk]

Thanks. If HDMI issues can be worked around, that’s fine.

Still looks like the EW2740L is the one to go for. I’ll take a look at some that size this weekend.

[dabozuk]

Ordered one. Will let you know what I think…

[PCM2]

I look forward to your thoughts, and I hope you like it!

[dabozuk]

First impressions.

27″ not too big at all, the thin bezels make it seem smaller than my 26″ TV. Anyone debating which to go for, base your decision more on pixels and whether your GPU can manage a higher resolution at 27″. For me, I had to stick with 1920×1080 on my older Radeon 7870LE. I can’t see pixels at 60cm, although the fonts do look slightly “anti-aliased” if you know what I mean. I think I’m a tad too close at moment.

Build quality seems ok. I’ve not got much to compare against, but it seems fine, nothing fancy,

The picture seems very impressive, punchy and deep inky blacks! I used the colour and gamma settings in your review and it seems spot on. I tried Alien isolation and it was almost too black! Quick fiddle with the in game gamma and it just looks utterly stunning. Dark vent shafts are chillingly black, no messy bleeding or clouding at all.

I do however see a slight sheen toward the corners which disappears as I move my head to be perpendicular to the corner. Perhaps this is reaching the limits of the viewing angle at this close distance. My room is in total darkness bar the monitor, so I think it’s not reflection.

Unfortunately I have severe sinus pain at the moment, so I can’t spend much time in front of the monitor, which is a shame as eyestrain is what I want to test.

Also your review said the AMD cards shouldn’t have an RGB something option (greyed out) but for me it was enabled and I switched to 0-255 which revealed a better range of near blacks for my black themed desktop. Nice.

So far very happy, but until I can test the eyestrain issue, I can’t be 100%.

A question, do you choose a single setting for web, office, video and game? Or do you use any of the presets and modify them to switch as needed? For me, one setting pretty much nailed it.

[PCM2]

It’s great to see that you’re really happy with the monitor (phew!) There were a lot of unknowns for you there, but it seems experiencing the monitor itself has dismissed those as non-issues for you. Hopefully you’ll continue to enjoy it during further use, once your sinuses settle down. I’m sure you will adapt further to the screen size and how its pixel pitch and perhaps position yourself a little further from the monitor if you feel it is better.

The AMD drivers have changed a bit since we reviewed the monitor. There is a setting there called the ‘Color Pixel Format’ option. If you look at the second part (AMD part) of this article there are further details on this. It sounds like your GPU is set to use the ‘Full Range sRGB’ option, which is optimal. No need to worry about that.

I don’t use different settings for different tasks. I set my monitors up so that they give an appealing image which also represents shades quite accurately. I find this appropriate for all tasks including general desktop tasks, movies and gaming. The only exception is that I like to lower blue light levels in the evenings, as blue light exposure disrupts sleep due to its affect on hormones designed to keep us alert. I therefore like to make use of the ‘Low Blue Light’ settings on these sorts of monitors. At first things look really odd and ‘warm’, but your eyes do adjust surprisingly well in time.

[dabozuk]

2nd day and still very pleased, except for one aspect. Fonts. I’ve done the Windows 7 clear type font and no matter what I choose I can’t get it to be completely clear. Normal black on white fonts are ok, but even on this website I can see “anti-aliasing”. The worst is on websites with thick fonts especially light text on dark background. Very messy.

Any ideas what this could be?

[PCM2]

The pixel pitch on 27″ Full HD monitors is relatively poor – that is the most likely culprit for soft-looking text. You just won’t get the crispness and clarity that some models with tighter pixel pitches can produce.

[dabozuk]

Going back to your “whole ‘blocky pixels’ thing is blown hugely out of proportion on 27″ 1920 x 1080 displays”, I think this fuzziness is perhaps more the issue.

I can make do with it by sitting the monitor further back, but in hindsight I think I’d have been better with a 24″ or gone higher res 27″ and invested in a faster GPU.

Something for others to bear in mind when deciding on 27″ 1080p as a PC monitor.

[PCM2]

It’s a very subjective thing. Personally I find the clarity of 24″ Full HD displays sub-par as well, but I’m now used to models with much higher pixel densities (with preference for lighter screen surfaces, too). As stated previously the 24″ models aren’t directly comparable to the EW2740L – the colour performance is inferior and the screen surface is not the same either.

[dabozuk]

Fortunately, the text clarity is not a huge deal for me, as I don’t sit that close to the monitor. In terms of colour, “pop” and light dark contrast, it’s absolutely stunning to me, coming from an old Samsung SyncMaster and other TN panels. And in a dark game like Alien Isolation, it’s just gorgeous. The dark areas reveal detail until bright lights on a scene dazzle you and then you really do see the benefit of full contrast of brightest light to darkest black. It’s lovely.

[PCM2]

This really echoes my experiences with VA panels. That contrast really does help bright elements pop out of the surrounding darkness and makes the experience much more exciting and atmospheric. Glad you’re enjoying it so much! 🙂

[fatboyslimerr]

Registered on this forum after reading this whole thread, and a few others. Very relevant discussion going on here. I’m having a really difficult time choosing my first proper monitor after gaming on my laptop’s 15.6″ IPS display for nearly 5 years! I’ve decided I want some more screen space and I’ve got my heart set on a 23 or 24″ IPS or VA panel as I simply can’t stick TN panels or can’t afford a good TN (like ROG swift).

I’m principally a gamer (not FPS) and loved games like Shadow of Mordor, but I also watch a lot of movies and TV shows (all on my laptop). Colours and responsiveness are important to me but not as much as for competitive gamer or content professional. I’ll be playing games on my laptop’s AMD 7970M so 1080p 60Hz is fine.

I’m buying a monitor in the UK and budget is £150. The two models I’m totally torn between are the BenQ EW2440L that has been discussed extensively here, and the AOC i2369VM which has been recommended elsewhere on this site. I have read the detailed reviews of the AOC and the 27″ bigger brother of the BenQ but I’m not closer to deciding which one is for me. I am however intrigued by the quality of blacks on the BenQ and the atmospheric feel this gives. I can’t say I really mind IPS glow but I’ve not experienced it on a proper monitor before. The review of the AOC however states that it has some of the best blacks of any IPS!

Help me!!!

[PCM2]

Hi fatboyslimerr and welcome,

I can’t really much that hasn’t been discussed either here, on this thread or in our reviews of the i2369Vm and various VA models.

The static contrast of the AOC indeed quite strong and uniformity on our sample was good, barring the inevitable IPS glow. The atmosphere created on VA panels like the EW2440L with much higher static contrast and no ‘IPS glow’ is really something else, though. All I can really recommend is seeing one for yourself. Buy the monitor from somewhere with a good returns policy and you shouldn’t have to stress about having to return it if you don’t like it. I think everybody really needs to experience a VA model for themselves, I remain very fond of them for movies and games that call for a good dark atmosphere.

[fatboyslimerr]

Thanks PCM2, very sound advice. I’m learning towards the BenQ as I like the idea of it not having PWM or IPS glow, as well as how well bright colours standout against a dark background. I am however concerned about the following aspects which I took from your review of the EW2740L:
gamma shift
overshoot
trailing or smearing.

Would these be things I’d have to live with everyday, particularly in games or would the AMA High setting negate some of this? Which is worse (in your opinion), trailing or overshoot? Does the AOC have better pixel response times and overdrive with only IPS-glow to content with?

I had already read through that comparison thread but I’ll give it another detailed read through, and will possibly be purchasing the EW2440L in the next few days. Chosen retailer has a 14-day no questions asked return policy if I’m not happy 🙂

[Author]

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