BenQ V2400W LCD Monitor

BenQ is slowly but surely building a reputation for itself. A consortium of some 10 companies, these guys have been getting higher notches in their reviews over the months, and this time we have a high end 24 inch LCD monitor by them, called the BenQ V2400. Let me also state a point here in the intro itself: this is claimed to be the thinnest LCD monitor in the world.

Design
This particular model, the V2400W has won awards for its design, so I will strip it down and see what the fuss is about. The bezel is glossy black, piano style finish, and does look pretty good. The slim design only exists on the edges and corners of the unit, the center part of the monitor is fatter. The glossy back panel smoothly contours into this convex bulge. BenQ has definitely concentrated on the design.

What I actually do not agree with is the permanently attached, brushed aluminum colored stand, sporting a mild luster. It does not look so good in the overall scheme of things. The bezel is not actually all glossy; it has a thin inner strip of matte black finish, on the screen’s edges. Plus on the outer edge is also a thin strip, similar in material to the stand. This has buttons on the left end at the bottom.

Everything is asymmetrical about the monitor, the column of the stand, position of buttons etc. This does look pretty nice, plus the fact that the bezel has very less clutter in the form of unnecessary logos. The buttons, when on, have a brilliant blue LED backlight on their labels and edges, and this is what really imbibes class into the design. There is an optional beep sound that occurs when these buttons are pressed.

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Features and specs
No in-built speakers here, which according to me is a good thing, as LCD monitor speakers have always sounded like crap. Instead there is a headphone out on the left side panel; this is for audio incoming from the HDMI link obviously. Out of the box, there is a VGA cable, power cord and the literature, besides the unit.

This 24-inch panel has decent build quality, though one thing needs mention here: connection between the stand and panel is slightly wobbly.__STARTQUOTE__Colors actually impress quite a bit. There is hardly any over saturation. No extra bluishness, red levels etc__ENDQUOTE__ The panel can swing up and down, about 15 degrees, but that’s it, no left to right movement. That again is a downer, as this isa TN panel, and viewing angles might not be the best.

The resolution is 1920 x 1200, (16:10) and the contrast ratio is 1000:1. Brightness is at 250 cd/m2. The complete specs are above. The connectivity includes one each of HDMI, DVI and VGA in.

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Performance
First things first. We calibrated and ran a battery of tests through Displaymate, HCFR and test DVE DVD. The OSD is large, colorful, intuitive and quick to respond. So starting with grayscale measurements - deep blacks (0-20 IRE) were blotchy, otherwise higher up towards pure whites the monitor performs quite decently. The color temp of 10 levels of black to white was more or less 6500K, though again, in disappointment we saw highest white level going a tad yellow.

In simpler terms this means blacks are not so accurate: blacker than black bars on our test pattern were hardly visible except on absurdly high brightness settings. After calibration we got a nice enough contrast level, as the higher end of the dynamic range (whites) was nicely displayed. The best preset to use is Dynamic.

Colors actually impressed quite a bit, there is hardly any over saturation. No extra bluishness, red levels etc. It’s not bang on accurate, such that a pro can use, but fits the bill for HD movies and modern games. I played Prince of Persia and watched Ratatouille on the V2400W.

Viewing angles did deteriorate before 160 degrees, contrast started to get weaker. Another issue in LCD monitors, especially larger screens is Back light bleed, visible as a patchiness around the corners. This particular model had no real problems with this. The screen itself is hardly reflective; it’s a nice matte screen.

Conclusion
At Rs. 22000, I must say this monitor is decently priced, though slightly lesser price would have hit the spot. The build quality is not up to the mark, though design is great. Features/connectivity are enough, while performance is above average, at least for TN panels. Professional designers etc. might need something else, but gamers and multimedia enthusiasts can look into it.