BenQ XL2420G G-Sync Monitor
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,658 words · ~8 min read
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over the years my expectations have really changed for Ben Q in the early
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days their stuff was cheap and I was basically pleased if the copy on the
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packaging was devoid of spelling errors and the display powered on but over the
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last few years BenQ has surprised me a number of times most notably with the
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xl24 te a monitor that I declared to be
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the best gaming LCD that I had ever seen when I checked it out about a year ago
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and with their prices having risen along with their status as an incredibly
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well-regarded gaming monitor maker today's look at the
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xl2420g will be from the perspective of a YouTuber who really needs to see Ben Q
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take things to the next level to really be impressed and who has a video coming
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soon about whether it's possible to fake the performance results of one CPU with
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another completely different one so stay tuned for all of that
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from December 13th to 20th 2014 you can save on select Intel CPUs knoks and ssds
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with special holiday rebates from select retailers click now to learn
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more physically I hoped for more from the
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xl2420g just like every other XL series gaming monitor it's got all the
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functionality you could want the Basse is adequately sturdy and wide enough
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that you can't tip it over there's a two Port integrated USB hub there's a cable
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management hole through the stand to keep keep your desk tidy there's a
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headphone hook and a solid carrying handle that Adorn the top of the stand
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on the back and it's got the full range of ergonomic adjustments height tilt
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swivel and pivot along with a toolless
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mechanism to detach the panel from the stand and screwed into a vase amount
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should you so desire well all that sounded great lonus what more could you
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want the answer lies in the just like
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every other XL series bit back there BenQ is asking for a lot of money for
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this display only a couple hundred less than a susa's Rog Swift 27in Monitor and
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it feels like they didn't invest in many improvements to the ID or really any at
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all even just thinner bezels and maybe upgrading the USB hub to USB 3 could
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have softened the blow a little bit here as far as the sticker shock is concerned
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but you could also argue that this monitor is not about the looks this is
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an Esports and Competitive Gaming targeted product and should be treated
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more like a tool than a fashion accessory to which I would reply touche
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so let's get into the functionality then shall we at the front is a 24in 1920 x
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1080 144 HZ TN display with basically no
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input leg pixel response times in the 1 millisecond or less range support for 3D
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Vision stereo gaming with optional active shutter glasses and shockingly
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strong performance when it comes to color vibrancy contrast and viewing
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angles espe especially horizontal viewing angles to the point where if I
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didn't let you tilt the monitor way down or way up you may not actually realize
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it's a TN panel so far so good on the performance front the onscreen menu can
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be navigated either with the included control module that snaps onto the side
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of the base with a magnet or with the on-screen touch buttons and contains
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basically all the options I'd expect from a high-end consumer grade monitor
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brightness contrast and color temperature including a custom mode with
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RGB adjustments and then there's also some fun stuff custom Keys gives you one
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touch access to functions that you use most often black equalizer is basically
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a monitor level gamma boost to give competitive players an edge when trying
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to spot opponents in dark areas would suggest that casuals leave this one off
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for a more atmospheric gameplay experience it's got a low blue light
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mode which theoretically works with the flicker-free DC backlight to reduce eye
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strain and finally the really cool stuff
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first is ulmb or ultra low motion blur mode it uses backlight modulation to
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fire bursts of light at the panel only when the pixels have finished
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transitioning to reduce smearing on fast moving objects it works at 85 100 or 120
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htz with pulse width adjustments to find your optimal balance between image
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Clarity and screen brightness and it works so well that you can actually read
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text as you drag a window across the screen try that with your monitor right
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now good luck but it does have the drawback of reducing overall screen
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brightness and on my sample at least introducing a little bit of noise in
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dark areas of the image that look kind of like very faint scan lines or
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something with that said with how well this monitor performs in the fast gaming
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picture mode the only drawback of which is slightly subdued colors I didn't find
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it worthwhile to turn on ulmb due to the
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brightness trade-off and the fact that the second feature doesn't work at the
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same time and that second feature is g-sync if you need a primer on g-sync
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click here but if the summary is enough for you then basically it works with
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your modern NVIDIA graphics card to get all the benefits of vsync so no ugly
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screen tearing with the benefits of vsync off so very low input latency and
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no stutters awesome and then finally the
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thing that really caught my attention about this monitor forcing me to revise
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my list of the only g-sync monitors that matter which previously contained only
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the ASUS Rog Swift and Acer xp28 HK to
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include this one as well unlike other
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g-sync monitors the xl2420g contains a normal display processor to which allows
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it through the use of their classic mode to enable some of benq's usual modes
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that aren't supported by the g-sync module and to accept other inputs other
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than DisplayPort 1.2 specifically dual
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link DVI and dual HDMI a feature that is
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bound to be a must for anyone who doesn't have the space to set up their
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game console on a separate display somewhere else and wants to easily
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switch between multiple input devices Bravo Ben Q while this isn't a feature I
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personally need on my gaming monitor on my rig it's something that I recognize
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as the potential to be incredibly important to a great many other folks
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out there so this is a fantastic gaming
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monitor it's tremendously responsive phenomenally beautiful considering it's
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a high spe TN panel that is one of the best performers I've seen when it comes
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to motion blur even with AMA turned off altogether in like srgb mode and it's
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got a feature set that makes lesser displays tremble but it's not perfect
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the price is going to be a major turnoff for some Shoppers because I have a hard
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time imagining much overlap between the then diagrams of folks looking for 1080p
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monitors and folks looking to spend this much on a display unless portability is
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a Factor like if you would be regularly transporting your PC to lens so that's
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the conclusion it's an awesome display but I think the number of Shoppers
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interested in it will increase dramatically when g-sync module pricing
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comes down to knock a hundred bucks or so off the sticker price Speaking of
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awesome displays we have a brand new sponsor on the show today hhg greg.com
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hhgreg is an appliance electronics and Furniture retailer with locations across
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actually it is exactly ult that's what it's called Uh TV or an LG 300 watt 2.1
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December 16th 2014 all you have to do is head over to the link that's on screen
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and in the video description and use our code lineer to enter they're also
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so to enter that one you just follow at hhgreg on Twitter and use the hash
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those two days and just uh one more
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thing to throw in here guys if you do sign up for the contest using my offer
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code again that's Linus I get a chance to win a 4K TV as well so yeah uh it's
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good for everybody involved so head over to that link in the description and get
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your entries in now guys thanks for watching like this video if you liked it
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