Benq EW2420 24IN LED or Dell Ultrasharp U2311H LCD

[c.ruel]

My 7 year old Samsung monitor is well and truly on the way out, so thinking about getting a new monitor for myself for Xmas .

I watch a fair few movies on my computer ... usually in 720p. I play alot of Counter-strike 1.6 and a little bit of mw2 other than that i mostly play the odd RPG like fallout3 or something like that. I think the most important thing to me is viewing angles and I don't know the correct terminalogy but sort of good colours, my current monitor is very washed out.

I settled on one of the two monitors in my title.

Either the dell

Or the Benq

Ideally I don't want to spend more about £200 ... so the dell is quite a bit out of my budget lol.

So any suggests/advice would be much appreciated. I am leaning towards the benq due to price but i have a feeling the dell might be a LOT better so not really sure.

Also what do people think of those new 3D monitors, are they worth looking at!?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Benq uses an A-MVA panel and has decent colour reproduction. OTH,the panel does seem to suffer from ghosting according to a few user reviews.

I would check this thread on the Benq monitor:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...8200742&page=2

[dmuz]

Sounds like we're in the same boat, cruel. I got a 22" TN Samsung couple of years ago and I've never been that impressed with the colours/image (probably not helped by being next to an amazing looking NEC 20wgx2 IPS). I wanted a bigger IPS so ordered a U2311 off scan, should be picking it up tonight from the depot. I tried to get it onto the TO page to no avail - they put every monitor on there except the U2311!

[format]

Sounds like we're in the same boat, cruel. I got a 22" TN Samsung couple of years ago and I've never been that impressed with the colours/image (probably not helped by being next to an amazing looking NEC 20wgx2 IPS). I wanted a bigger IPS so ordered a U2311 off scan, should be picking it up tonight from the depot. I tried to get it onto the TO page to no avail - they put every monitor on there except the U2311!

Le us know how it is!

[c.ruel]

Ok have i decided that the Dell ultrasharp U2311H is just two much, so if I don't get the Benq one is is either going to be the:

HP ZR22w 21.5 inch which is £218

or the 21.5" Dell Ultrasharp U2211H which is £235

Anymore ideas. If it helps here is a short review of my current monitor . The response time is between 25ms and 18ms i believe according to that ... if the Benq is better than my current monitor with regard to ghosting I might just go for that ... all I am worried about is it being equally bad or worst on the responsive/ghosting front.

Tell us what the monitor is like dmuz as the 21.5" model is suppose to be very similar to yours!

[muppet_hat]

Hold on sir... The BenQ, is a great monitor, but if you're going to be playing FPS games, there is a chance that you will see ghosting as it's response time is not low enough. And I'm not sure why dmuz is recommending you IPS, because IPS are slower than PVA panels with regards to response time. So here is it. With regards to response time, the general rule is:
1) TN
2) VA
3) IPS

TN is the fastest, however, you sacrifice viewing angles and color saturation levels for the fast response time. So at the end of the end it really depends on what you value more. If you want something in the middle VA (the BenQ) may be what you want since you said you watch movies on your computer. The BenQ will definitely produce great quality with it's native 3000:1 contrast ratio, HOWEVER, with FPS games like COD: Modern Warefare and Counterstrike, I cannot promise that you won't see ghosting accruing.

No matter what if you're thinking of gaming, IPS is not what you want. Color saturation and rendering + viewing angles will be at best, BUT you will experience ghosting and input lag for sure.

Below is an in-depth review of the EW2420 that you might want to consider:
http://wecravegames.com/forums/gadge...or-review.html

For ultimate gaming get 120hz TN monitors. BenQ has a great one too XL2410T

[dmuz]

Tell us what the monitor is like dmuz as the 21.5" model is suppose to be very similar to yours!

Sorry for delay in replying, I was away for the weekend. I set up the monitor last night and I have to say, I'm well impressed with it - no dead pixels, nice colours (as good as the NEC) and looks great in games. I was playing TF2 and Fallout New Vegas and maybe I don't have very sensitive eyes, but I didnt notice any ghosting or anything bad. I'm sure you can find reviews with lots of graphs which say its slower than a TN, but in actual use, its fine for me.

I would definitely splurge the extra 30 quid for the 23" tho (an extra 15% area if my maths is right), as the 16:9 ratio does make it smaller than you might think, and its not like you can upgrade it later!

/fakeedit

I notice the 2311 is on TO now, £258.49, typical!!!

[muppet_hat]

I'm quite surprised... I believe the U2311H uses e-IPS?

IPS panels are known to have the slowest response times in comparison to PVA and TN.

[scaryjim]

AFAIK IPS panels monitors generally quote response times for black-to-black rather than grey-to-grey, so while the quoted response times *look* a lot slower on the surface they're not actually that bad.

The Dell is rated to 8ms grey-to-grey, which is a perfectly reasonable response time IMNSHO: given that the screen only refreshes once every 16ms at 60Hz that should be fast enough to avoid ghosting for all but the sharpest eyed...

[bearbear]

I'm quite surprised... I believe the U2311H uses e-IPS?

IPS panels are known to have the slowest response times in comparison to PVA and TN.

I was under the impression *VA panels had the slowest response time.

[this_is_gav]

I never saw any ghosting on my old 2405 Dell and that had a 16ms response time. Ghosting, to my knowledge, is all-but consigned to the history books now.

[muppet_hat]

I was under the impression *VA panels had the slowest response time.

Where did you get such information or 'impression' from?
I had always thought that PVA was faster than IPS. I'm talking about current PVA vs. IPS. I would want to know if I'm wrong though..

[bearbear]

Where did you get such information or 'impression' from?
I had always thought that PVA was faster than IPS. I'm talking about current PVA vs. IPS. I would want to know if I'm wrong though..

I've Googled around and there seems to be a fair number that think IPS is faster and some think VA is faster. It's likely as you say, either improvements over older versions or they're talking about different versions altogether (i.e. e-IPS) also there's the extent of or how well implemented the response time compensation (RTC)/overdrive is.

I think e-IPS monitors are faster than any variant of *VA panels, currently.

[muppet_hat]

Fair enough... I am aware that e-IPS panels are faster than PVA panels and that is mainly because of their over drive function...

But yes, after reading a bit more I think you may be right... especially with newer technologies to reduce response time of IPS panels... VA may be trailing a bit :/

However in the thread on overclockers it seems like many of the first users of the EW2420 are noticing that the ghosting and trailing effects aren't as bad... and they are rather subtle.... further arguing that for the price you're paying and the deep blacks and contrast you get in return it's a great buy. Regardless, if you're interesting in playing heavy FPS games, I don't think IPS or PVA would be suitable.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...8200742&page=5

Unless you're willing to pay premium prices to get 120hz + IPS:
http://www.techpowerup.com/134672/Mi...IPS-Panel.html

[bearbear]

I've actually just bought a Dell U2311H because of the number of reports of ghosting on the EW2420 as well as the poor/lack of quality control at BenQ. I paid £201.72 and got £15.78 cashback, so in total that's £185.94. At that price, it was an easy choice between the Dell or BenQ.

From my own tests and eyes, overdrive and trailing is there on the U2311H, but only in tests like PixPerAn.

In actual games (I've tried Left 4 Dead 2, Flatout 2, Mass Effect 2, Just Cause 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, Civlization V, Saints Row 2, Fallout 3, Minecraft amongst others), I've not seen any haloing or ghost trails. I've also come straight from a CRT so I'd imagine I'd spot some if it was there.

Also my own input lag tests were very similar to what TFTCentral got, i.e. ranging from 0-30ms with an average of about 10ms - in actual games, I didn't notice any difference from a CRT.

I did notice something, only in FPS games, where the movement wasn't quite so smooth. I might of been imagining it (possibly because I was semi-looking for it), but that may be the 60Hz limit of most TFT screens. I'm certain I won't notice it if I play on the Dell some more. I used to play Counter-Strike a lot, so I would consider myself a little twitch sensitive, but from my experience of the games I've tested, the Dell is fine for all games - I certainly wouldn't shell out the price premium for a 120Hz monitor after testing this one (unless you want 3D).

[muppet_hat]

I'm surprised you didn't see any trails while playing COD: mw2, interesting, thanks for the mini review

The U2311H also has 8ms gtg. When I eventually get the EW2420 I will test it out, but I'm sure by then loads of real reviews will be out, because unfortunately that's how long it'll take before I'll have the cash. Got other things that I need to cash in on soon. Plus X'mas + birthday + anni. is around the corner for me... this is my most cash deprived season of the year