BenQ G2400WD Review
Jul 30, 2008 Hardware
Until recently, I made my living on the road. Everything I bought involved size and durability as the leading consideration. As a result I have always only enjoyed the view of a laptop screen.
But my new stationary existence and expansion into the world beyond Word and Excel had me dreaming of the extra real estate of an external monitor. Twelve hours a day hunkered down in front of a screen and the prospect of my first pair of reading glasses looming hastened the search for 22 or 24 inches of relief.
The market is flooded by as many opinions as affordable options in the TN panel world. Although the TN is considered an inferior option as far as displays go by the design community and color purists, for most of us, they work more than adequately and really enhance the computing experience.
As someone using a bit of Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and engaged in web editing I looked at my best options for the $300-$400 range with the hope that I might be able to swing a 24″ monitor.
I am not a gamer, but the performance of a monitor for viewing film was another consideration. Additional features as available ports, VESA compliance, warranty and customer service rounded out the parameters.
What makes the search more difficult is the fact that many of the specific models are not always carried by brick and mortar stores. Side by side comparisons are rare. So after an exhaustive search online, a handful of actual in-store views and calls to a few friends of mine that work in IT, I drew a bead on the Benq G2400WD and pulled the trigger. Featuring a 5ms response rate, 1920×1200 resolution, 1000:1 image contrast ratio, HDMI, DVI-D and VGA connectors, 1:1 scaling, 3.5 audio jack for HDMI line out to speakers and a 3 year warranty, it is a lot of monitor for the money.
The price of the model averaged around $400 at a number of online retailer plus or minus shipping or applicable sales tax. Amazon.com has the G2400WD for $399 including shipping. They offer one of the best return policies and ordering through them would have been a no-brainer, but they are now required to charge sales tax in the State of New York. Instead, I opted to order through PC Nation which had the Benq for $395 including shipping. PC Nation did not charge the $32 bucks in tax. Also Benq receives high marks for selling screens with healthy pixels so I felt pretty confident going this route. The order went in on a Tuesday at 3:00 pm and the following Thursday at 9:30 am, Fedex was ringing the buzzer. Nice!
I had been warned that the shipping material included with the Benq G2400WD was a bit flimsy, so I hoped that the monitor spent as little time as possible in the back of a truck. I was also warned by numerous board posts to check the outside of the box for any signs of trauma before you accepting it. Once the box is opened you are responsible for the freight back on a DOA monitor if you order through PC Nation, and there is a minimum 7 dead pixel policy. So if Amazon doesn’t charge sales tax in your state, I would go with them. The reports of the skimpy box proved to be true as I held my breath opening a remarkably slim cardboard box with relatively spartan styrofoam packing materials.
Everything seemed to be in order as I plugged it in to my Macbook Pro 2.4 and fired it up. I then opened up displays in preferences and ran the calibration utility. After setting the Benq as my primary monitor and dragging the toolbar over I was ready to go.
The view on this monitor is great. The native resolution 1920X1200 is crisp and the colors accurate. I had read about the narrower viewing angles inherent in TN panels but as the monitor sits on my desk in front of me there is not a lot of side to side movement that would result in any kind of distortions.
I did unfortunately find one pixel stuck on red that made me crazy for the first few days. There are utilities out there that will attempt to work out a stuck pixel and I ran JscreenFix a number of times to no avail. But oddly enough after I watched a few movies the pixel righted itself and after over two weeks of continuous use there are no dead or stuck pixels whatsoever.
Here is a breakdown of specs for the Benq G 2400 WD:
Screen Size: 24″ Widescreen
Product Color: Black
Resolution: 1920×1200(WUXGA)
Display Area: 20.43″ x 12.76″ (518.5 x 324mm)
Pixel pitch (mm): 0.27 mm
Response time: 2ms GTG/ 5ms
Brightness: 250 cd/m2
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 4000:1
Contrast Ratio(Dynamic Contrast Ration): 1000:1
Display Colors : 16.7 million
Viewing Angle (L/R;U/D) (CR>=10): 160/160
Speakers: N/A
Headphone Jack: Yes (HDMI Only)
Input Signals: HDMI/ D-sub/ DVI-D (HDCP)
HDCP: Yes
Horizontal Frequency (KHz): 31 – 83 KHz
Vertical Frequency (Hz): 55 – 76 Hz
Video Bandwidth (MHz): 25 – 135 Hz
Colour temperature : Reddish/sRGB/Bluish + user mode
Auto Switching Power Supply : 55W (max)
Adjustments :Built-in
Weight: 13.6 lbs
Net Weight: 16.5 lbs
Dimensions (HxWxD): 25.29 x 20.64 x 5.59 (inch)
Dimensions without the pedestal stand: 17.44 x21.98 x 6.72(inch)
Tilt: -5/20
Swivel: No
Pivot: No
VESA Wall Mounting: 100 x 100 mm
OSD language: 8
Regulations: TCO’03
Frame Color: Yes
Accessories: VGA and DVI Cable
1:1 Pixel Mapping: Yes
I had originally thought of installing a VESA mounted stand on this monitor, but once it sat on my desk I realized I wouldn’t need one. Sitting about 2 feet away from it, the tilt stand allowed me a perfect viewing angle. Aesthetically, the design is very clean and very black. The Benq logo is discretely displayed in the lower left corner and the power button glows dimly to avoid distraction while watching film in a dark room. This is an excellent monitor for the money and anybody considering a 24″ should give this a close look.
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