Benq FP222W LCD Monitor

In a recent review we had checked out Viewsonic‘s 22 inch widescreen LCD, the VG2230 WM and had found it to be good VFM. The product we are going to be reviewing today is Benq’s FP222W which is a 22-inch LCD panel. Benq’s specifications for the FP222W are similar to Viewsonic’s offering.Is the Benq able to keep up with the Viewsonic? Read on to find out.

Benq unlike other manufacturers does not like to vary the design and looks of its monitors. Like its 19-inch model, the FP92W comes with a black base and a silver bezel. The finish is quite average and the construction materials used, give it a somewhat blocky but sturdy look. If one compares it to the elegant Viewsonic, you would find that the Benq simply fades into the background. However the upside here is, unlike the Viewsonic which is a scratch and dust magnet, the Benq will age well.

The key placement of the FP222W like the FP92W is annoying. The keys are placed exactly at the same point on the left hand side of the body and for accessing them one has to either turn the monitor sideways or turn your head towards the keys. The keys are thick black plastic sturdy keys which look quite cheap. The construction material makes it difficult to grasp or push these keys easily and we found ourselves fumbling with the controls every time we had to make a slight change. The back of the monitor has the D-SUB and DVI-D ports.

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The base of the FP222W is wide and rectangular and offers a limited degree of movement. There is no provision for increasing the height of the monitor. All in all, the monitor offers little in the way of customization to get the perfect viewing angle that we all desire. The Viewsonic in comparison is literally head and shoulders above in this department, with its height adjustable base and 360 degree swivel base.
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Specifications Table For Benq FP222W

For testing this monitor, we utilized the DVI-D port of the FP222W. We have done this as DVI-D outputs a digital signal and presents sharper images and has more vibrant colors. The Benq FP222W being a 22-inch LCD Widescreen panel has a native resolution of 1680x1050. This makes the FP222W HD-Ready (720p) and makes it a perfect candidate for gaming and movies. It also offers an impressive amount of workspace and makes it possible to open multiple office documents and work with large images at close to their natural resolutions.

In the first part of our performance evaluations of the FP222W, we ran some games like Flatout 2 and Supreme Commander to test if any ghosting would take place. The monitor saled through these tests easily with its 5ms timing. In our Displaymate and Everest tests, which formed the next level of our tests the we ran into some odd problems. In our first round of testing, the monitor showed poor black levels, had virtually no contrast and had odd levels of brightness. We worked on improving this problem by using Displaymate’s monitor optimization feature which through a series of guided wizards allows you to tweak virtually every aspect of a monitor.

After optimizing the monitor, we ran our tests again. The sharpness tests were our first stop. Here the Benq was able to easily keep up with the Viewsonic. The text was clear and well presented. The same trend continued onto our next round of our tests which was testing the monitor’s grey scale. Here the Benq did face some problems but after a few manual adjustments the monitor was able to easily keep with the Viewsonic.

For our final tests we tested the color, contrast and brightness level tests after optimizing the monitor with the help of Displaymate. In all 3 cases the Benq was able to easily keep up and even go past the Viewsonic in regards to performance. The colors were bright and had no bleed-in, the contrast was sharp and the brightness unlike the Viewsonic had no dark spots.

The Benq FP222W at the end of the day is a mixed bag. It will not win any awards for its looks and it does need a fair bit of tweaking before it starts performing. Once tweaked the FP222W really comes into its own and offers some of the best performance we have seen on 22-inch panels. Priced at Rs 27,500 it offers excellent VFM and is a worthy competitor to Viewsonic.