This improved my gaming 100%. The lag on my high-quality home 53" Sony XBR TV was just too much. I would be shot and killed before I even knew it happened so it was kinda hard to get good at BF4, which is a FPS game on my PS3. I did a ton of research before I asked Santa to bring it to my house. It was a gift from my wife and she wasn't happy that it came in the BenQ product packaging and I opened the door for the shipper. No surprise there as I knew it was coming anyway since I asked for it.
I have used it for nearly a hundred hours already. The size is perfect for me. I thought may be bigger (27") would be better but in this case - not. I watch about 2' away and it is perfect. This is not HD movie quality. This is gaming quality and I have it set up for that. I wanted/needed a low lag time and I have it now. My PS3 works at only 60Hz and this can handle 144Hz but you can only get that from a souped up gaming PC for $$$$. What I get now will handle upgrades as they become available on consoles though. I really don't think I could use more anyway. I'm not THAT quick!
It feels and looks like a total quality unit. Built very well - solid with very good materials. Super easy to assemble the excellent stand which has great adjustments. The screen is matte and does not reflect ambient light, almost at all. I don't feel like I have to turn off all the lights in the room or close the curtains which I had to do with my TV.
You can use various gaming profiles that come with the monitor and you can download others as they become available. I have tried FPS profiles and then went from there. I thought they were a little bright so I have tried my own customization. I have had trouble with the customization and am still sorting out how to do it and save my setting as a game profile. I think I have the process down pat now but still not sure I have the "perfect" setup for me. You can customize everything I would think you would need for gaming though: brightness, contrast, black equalization (great feature - you can see things in the shadows you wouldn't see otherwise), sharpness, color, etc. You can save your custom settings in three different personal "gaming profiles" and switch between them easily. I would give the monitor 5 stars if it wasn't so hard to learn the customization part which is probably more of a user error/incompetence type thing. The instructions are pretty clear but could be tuned up some. They don't explain some things well and they aren't consistent throughout. But they are certainly adequate.
I do know that I can pick out the bad (and good) guys much easier now so you can react and get the job done. I went up at least one level in scoring with the monitor. The colors are not as "pretty" as on my TV though. I think that is from all the processing the TV can do vs. this monitor. But all that processing slows down the input/output giving the long lag times that will get you killed more than you can kill. I'm still not very good anyway but getting better.
Note: There is a ton of stuff out on the web about "refresh rates", "frames per second", "lag times", etc. A lot of it is BS by people who really don't understand what they are talking about (which probably includes me). What I do believe is true: your monitor can work at higher rates than your PC or gaming console and you'll be fine. You don't want it the other way around. They do NOT have to match. So the monitor does as good a job as my PS3 can output. And, much more than what my PS3 can do would probably not be (if at all) useful to 99.95% of gamers any way despite what they may say. That's because eyes/brains can't go that fast. Just my opinion but I have gathered plenty of evidence on the web from people who can back up what they say. I think a lot of it is bragging rights. But those are the players who are killing me now so who am I to talk LOL.
There are lots of options for connecting to your gaming console or PC. I use HDMI to/from my PS3. There are two HDMI ports if you want to hook up two HDMI consoles/PCs - like an xBox on one and a PS3 on the other and switch between them without moving cables. There are all the other standard video connections - D-Sub, DP, and DVI-D. The monitor has speakers but I don't need them and haven't checked them out. I hear they are not great. There is also a USB upstream plug for PC communications and two downstream which can be used to power your headphones etc. And a headphone jack. A nifty feature is the "S Switch" which is a remote mouse-like remote control for the monitor video setups. It is an easy way to change your gaming profiles on the fly. I use it all the time but won't so much once I get it all dialed in. I play a lot with the picture settings now and save them on the fly.
I don't use 3D but it seems capable of doing some of that. The monitor and menu are smart in a sense in that some of the variables are only available if you have a digital input or not. You can also setup the monitor for viewing movies and photo optimally. I have not tried those out. One cool feature is you can temporarily split the screen: one side is standard pictures settings and the other is your custom settings so you can compare. So you can see what happens when you change one thing or the other. It can so a variety of scaling, e.g. 16:9, 4:3, 1:1 and such. I use "full" which sets my 16:9 image to fill the screen.
I am not a trained expert but I have not noticed any distortions or pixel problems.
All in all, this monitor is great for me. It looks and feels like a very high quality unit. The lag time is low. The picture is great for gaming that I can customize to my preferences. Reviews rate the BenQ support as great but I haven't asked them anything yet. I am very happy that Santa brought it (but my wife who doesn't see me much these days while I play my games which may be a good or bad thing). She's a saint as I am now a multiplayer FPS addict. I used to play single-player only. Probably would not need this good a monitor for that alone. Hope to beat some of you out there - RockusDog. p.s. please don't flame/hate me for my refresh rate ramblings. If you disagree that's fine. Everyone has opinions.
| Standing screen display size | 24 Inches |
|---|---|
| Max Screen Resolution | 2073600 Pixels |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 4 |
