[ufoman]

This review (it’s in Russian, use Google Translate) seems to indicate that BL2410PT has older, non-AMVA+ panel.

[PCM2]

The old revision definitely didn’t feature a new ‘AMVA+’ panel. It pre-dated such panels, so that’s a given. But my point was that BenQ frequently change the panels used in their products without prior notice so the latest revision may well be using one.

[Malinkadink]

Didn’t want to start a whole new thread about VA’s so i’ll just ask here. I’ve looked into VA monitors and what they can do and i’d like to try them out to see how good the blacks really are. Initially i was going to go for the EW2740L since it appears to be one of the best, but I understand that a newer model the EW2750ZL is on the horizon, just how long until it will be available? From google search it appears that its available in the eastern hemisphere, but nothing yet for us westerners. I would ideally have liked a higher res at 27″, but theres not many options for that with VAs. I know BenQ has a 32″ 1440p VA, and Samsung released a 34″ curved VA which i think got pretty bad reviews/first impressions, but either way they’re both out of my price range.

I know BenQ also has 24″ VA variants like the EW2440L, however it seems to be inferior to its bigger brother the EW2740L in all categories including screen coating, and only beats it on pixel density. I have had experience with one 27″ 1080p monitor and did somewhat notice the larger pixels, but ended up sending that monitor back because of a dead pixel in the center bottom of the screen which was easily visible and distracting considering the size of the pixels at 27″ 1080p. I’m sure if i got a nice pixel perfect 27″ 1080p monitor and viewed it from a few inches away compared to my 24″ monitor right now i’d be okay. So about the EW2750ZL, any guess as to when we’ll see some NA availability?

[PCM2]

Hi Malinkadink and welcome to the forum!

You’ve clearly done some very good research about the current models and how the 24″ models have some limitations compared to their 27″ counterparts. I agree it would be nice to see some VA models with higher pixel densities, without having to splash out for a 34″ model! I should say as an aside that, having used the Samsung S34E790C quite extensively for the past week, a lot of the criticisms are due to people setting the thing up incorrectly. Out of the box it is a mess and some settings that can be useful on other Samsung models (like using the ‘Faster’ or ‘Fastest’ response time setting) make things a lot worse on this one.

The BenQ EW2750ZL is currently only due to be released in certain regions in and around Asia, it isn’t currently due to be released in North America or the UK. I was told by BenQ when I enquired back in January that they had ‘no current plans’ to release it in those regions, which is why I didn’t even write a news piece about the monitor. Having no current plans does not mean it won’t be released, however. They’ve said similar things in the past (possibly even about the EW2740L) and it was released in the end. I will be in contact with them shortly to find out the current state of play and also see if they can answer ufoman’s question above.

[b0uncyfr0]

Malinkadink If you are considering the EW2440L then may i suggest the Samsung S24C750P ;Its a 24″ 1080p with a semi matte coating. Its the monitor i currently use and its an excellent all rounder. Ive made several posts with my satisfaction on the monitor on these forums after i got it. Black levels are exceptional and that was before i calibrated it.

[ufoman]

Malinkadink,
you can also buy Iiyama X2483HSU/XB2483HSU (the B model has adjustable stand). Contrary to EW2440L, it has proper AMVA+ screen (EW2440L has some issues, see review on overclockers.ru).

[PCM2]

Note that he is based on North America and Iiyama do not provide local distribution or support for their products there.

[PCM2]

To answer a few questions from the users here:

– The BenQ BL2410PT still uses the same panel type (regular AMVA).

– The EW2750ZL may not be launched in Europe or North America. But BenQ have a new model slated for Q4 called the EW2775ZH which should make its way to these regions. It should feature a brand spanking new panel and some extras that can’t yet be discussed.

[ufoman]

– The BenQ BL2410PT still uses the same panel type (regular AMVA).

Aww, too bad. Hopefully a new 24” model be introduced in the future, as for now, the only good 24” VA monitor choice is the X2483HSU (XB2483HSU is 25% more expensive here).

[Malinkadink]

I’m guessing the EW2775ZH will be another standard 1080p 27″ monitor? I guess BenQ makes decent sales off them to keep pushing that size and resolution in new monitors. I would absolutely love if someone made a 27″ 1440p AMVA+ monitor @ 144hz & Freesync or Gsync, though i’d probably prefer the former to keep costs down. A 34″ 21:9 monitor with the aforementioned specs would be great too, but at that size the gamma shift from VA might be too great. Though i could be wrong since we have the Samsung 34″ VA as a benchmark to test gamma shift at that size so it may not be bad. I really want to try a VA monitor, but going from a 24″ 1080p 144hz monitor to a 27″ 1080p 60hz monitor is a bit of a downgrade in my mind especially when we have 144hz 1440p ips monitors on the horizon. Though IPS monitors bring with them another implication that i cannot stand which is IPS glow and makes viewing dark content very unpleasant.

[ufoman]

I don’t think 144hz VA monitors are really possible to be widely manufactured at acceptable prices. Panels used in Eizo Foris FG2421(Sharp MVA) are probably defective panels that would not pass QC for use in this monitor. So, FG2421 is not only expensive, but it has its fair share of issues. AUO has not yet announced any 120hz+ AMVA panels, despite the reports that such panels were under development.

[ufoman]

In other news, I’ve finally ordered Iiyama X2483HSU, I should have it on Friday (hopefully!) 🙂

[ufoman]

I’ve had the X2483HSU for a few days already, and while I would not say I can yet review it, I already have a few opinions.
First off, the color reproduction is astounding compared to the TN panels I have in my former monitor (Samsung T220) and laptop (Lenovo Y500 1080p). White is white, not yellowish, even if not exactly at 6500k because the monitor settings required for 2.2 gamma and 6500k white point look too dull for my taste. These settings are – brightness 100, contrast 47%, red 92, green 96, blue 98. I think that these color components settings are great, but I prefer stock contrast level at 80, and any brightness level I find comfortable.
Secondly, I don’t really think the ghosting is an issue with the panel used – with overdrive at 2, I can see the overdrive artifacts (white coronas) only in TestUFO ghosting test. In games, I can’t really see the difference between my other panels. There is a barely visible smearing related to the transitions usually problematic with VA type panels, but it’s not much worse than with a non-overdrived 60Hz TN panel.
Thirdly, the built-in setting modes (game, scenery, text, others…) are pretty much useless. They lock the brightness and contrast settings, and override the overdrive setting. Overdrive seems to be locked at highest setting in the game mode, and disabled in others.
Also, the coating on the panel seems to be the regular medium one, nearly identical to the coating on my Samsung TN monitor.

If anyone has any questions about this monitor, please post them here, and I’ll try to answer them 🙂

[Whatsowhatso]

Hi, I never imagined that choosing a monitor is going to be so hard.
I’ve been reading about monitors for more then a month now, and didn’t get any closer to choosing one.
The biggest thing is VA vs. IPS. One thing I don’t understand is VA panels shift colors when viewing at an angle, but from youtube videos on IPS monitors you can also see some colors going grayish from IPS glow, isn’t that the same thing in the end, colors not represented properly?

Any way I should probably describe what I want, and what I’m going to use it for.

Needs:
Matt screen
VESA (adjustable stand would be a nice bonus)
24-27 inch screen

Use:
Gaming (Past 3 years I used a laptop, so there is a big list of games I want to play)
Movies
Photoshop (I’m not a professional, and I don’t make money from this)
CAD (same as photoshop)

Here are some models I considered:

Iiyama Prolite X2483HSU
overclockers.ru recommended it as basically the AMVA to buy, but after reading forums, it looks like it has problems with dead or stuck pixels, and a lot of returns.

VW2430H

same panel as Iiyama. White frame, which could bounce some light back on screen. Ghosting, brightness distribution is not completely optimal.

BenQ GW2760HS

As far as I can find everything is good with this one, except overclockers.ru said it has : “Pretty strange dark transitions to processing real images” its translated from Russian, so I don’t know what that means.

BenQ EW2740L

no VESA

BenQ BL2411PT

16×10= black bars in a lot of games

I looked at DELL monitors such as P2414H and others, it looks like they are good over all but suffer from back light bleeding a lot. Also I have dell laptop which is good, but suffers from some dumb design decisions. But I don’t rule it out completely if its better then everything else I’d buy it.

So any comment or other suggestions?

English is not my first language. Sorry if I made mistakes.

[PCM2]

Hi Whatoswhatso and welcome!

Indeed monitors are confusing things, easily the most difficult part of the PC to choose due to the subjective nature of them. IPS glow only really affects the peripheral regions of the screen, typically the bottom two corners most noticeably, and only affects the very darkest shades. The gamma shift associated with VA panels affects a much broader range of shades and can have quite a pronounced affects on a larger portion of the screen (including the sides and bottom). When it comes to accurate colour reproduction IPS-type panels are simply superior.

Given your uses I do feel you could ‘get away with’ a decent modern VA panel, but IPS-type panels would be a better choice really. If you had your heart set on a VA panel for your gaming and movies then I wouldn’t rule out the VA options. As long as you’re aware of the limitations and don’t need absolute colour accuracy I feel you could still make use of one. I’m not really sure what was meant by that sentence in the overclockers.ru review either, but I’d like to think that our review gives a more detailed impression of what to expect from it and how it would compare to IPS-type options. As far as image quality goes it’s really quite a good VA option. Lower gamma shifts than older VA panels and a better colour gamut.

[Whatsowhatso]

Is there any other monitors you can suggest to look in to?

[ufoman]

It make me happy that reviews from overclockers.ru are being given the consideration they deserve. Whatsowhatso, as you’ve indicated that your primary use of the monitor will be gaming, I can assure you that modern VA panel with properly adjusted overdrive (so, sadly not Benq) will suit your needs, but only if you can live with the black crushing effect. On the other hand, very good gamma and high contrast make ‘dark’ games very engaging,
Personally, I had been considering IPS monitors as well, but the glow was just unbearable – I’ve visited a friend, who has a Dell U2713HM, and the glow was definitely more than annoying.
Also, whatever you choose, always pick flicker free monitors. My eyes no longer want to burst out of my skull after a couple hours of gaming/web browsing at night… 🙂

[Whatsowhatso]

“I can assure you that modern VA panel with properly adjusted overdrive (so, sadly not Benq) will suit your needs”

Now I’m really confused, so if not BENQ then what?

[ufoman]

In many reviews of the Benq monitors I’ve seen, reviewers complained that there were too few overdrive (AMA) options, with regular option (High), not applying enough overdrive impulse, and maximum option (Premium) applying too much overdrive impulse, resulting in strong overdrive artifacts. Overdrive impulse on the X2483HSU seems pretty well calibrated from what I see, with three settings to choose from, and only on the highest setting the overdrive artifacts can be seen in games.

[PCM2]

I haven’t seen anybody assess the ‘real world’ responsiveness of models like the BenQ GW2760HS in as much depth as ourselves and don’t feel an adequate assessment of the Iiyama has been made by any reviewer over a spread of response times. It is extremely important, as this thread highlights, to look at a broad range of pixel response times when assessing the performance of VA panels. The way that TFT Central assesses these sets the gold standard for objective measurement, whilst the way we do it is weighted subjectively – in a manner and depth that users should find very useful. Both methods are useful for different reasons, but other reviewers tend to just scrape the surface really. This video quite clearly shows distinctive trailing from slow pixel response times on the Iiyama (XB model – identical with adjustable stand) for some transitions, which is exactly what you see with pretty much any VA monitor. I have received user feedback supporting this and also stating that the sluggish high contrast transitions are not improved by adjusting the overdrive setting of the monitor, exactly as I would expect from experience.

Unless you’ve actually used these monitors yourself, I’d advise you approach assessing the data from other reviews with a great deal of caution. I am in a fortunate position as I have used a broad spread of VA models as well as models with all sorts of other panel types. I have also gathered a great deal of user feedback. I can say with authority that the ‘AMA High’ implementation on the GW2760HS is something that many users would find very satisfactory. The only VA models which really provide a solid and quantifiable advantage over this when it comes to pixel responsiveness is the Samsung S34E790C and to a lesser extent Philips BDM4065UC. And there you are comparing vastly different monitors with entirely different capabilities and physical properties to the 27″ Full HD models.

In short, Whatsowhatso; you should find the GW2760HS absolutely fine. Most users do and those who don’t would likely be unsatisfied with all but the very ‘elite’ VA panels. None of which are being considered based on your requirements.

[Author]

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