E2200HD Review, Part I

invincibul said:
I'm gonna be using it with my PC (DVI) and my consoles, (PS3 and 360) through HDMI, I heard that this doesn't have 1:1 pixel mapping, is that gonna be a problem or does it play fine with them consoles? And moreover considering that this is a 21.5' monitor, would I be missing a lot from other 16:10 22' monitors or is it just marginal?
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It won't matter because the consoles do 1080i and 1080p which is 1920x1080 which is the native resolution for the monitor. Should look sweet. The 1:1 mapping is much more important for 16:10 monitors with a native resolution of 1920x1200. Not these 16:9s.

I like my E2400HD so much that I just bought an E2200HD for my father-in-law as a Christmas present.
 
I like my E2400HD so much that I just bought an E2200HD for my father-in-law as a Christmas present.
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Oh! Gr8 :) .. And what about the blur that was mentioned in the review? Is it visible, or could it be an isolated occurence?
 
I hope this isn't considered thread crapping or slightly off-topic, but I was wondering if anyone who ordered the E2200HD straight from BenQ's website could humor me.

I placed my order on Monday, and chose two day shipping. Now on the website it claims that the order takes 1 to 2 days to ship out, so I thought no big deal. I figured ordering on Monday they would ship by Wednesday and I'd have it by today. Also, in their FAQs it says that items do usually ship same day as long as orders were in by noon, but I figured the 1-2 day thing trumped that.

Well, turns out they haven't even shipped it yet. I called Tuesday asking about the status, and was told it would probably be shipped tomorrow, and to wait for a confirmation e-mail with the shipping status. Well by Wednesday I still had no shipping confirmation e-mail, and the order history on their website still says it didn't ship. I called them back Thursday asking what the hold up was, and they said that they sent an e-mail to the fulfillment warehouse the previous day asking. They said they still had not received an e-mail back from them. I asked if they could call the warehouse, and they said that there was no direct phone number, but internal e-mail only to them. The rep also told me that the order volume numbers were high, so maybe the distribution center warehouses were out or shifting stock, but he still showed stock in the system. He figured it would still ship out by last night. Yet again however no shipping confirmation e-mail.

I called them back again today, and there is still no response from the warehouses or distribution centers, but they said they still show stock. They said it *should* be shipped out by tonight, but at this point I'm not holding my breath. I asked if they could overnight me one, and then I could just refuse shipping on the other one, but they said that was a no go.

Now I understand that sometimes errors do happen, but the no direct contact with their warehouses/distributors other than e-mail, saying that stock might have been low, etc. etc., and well I'm getting worried that I'm never going to see this monitor.

So, can anyone PM me their experience with ordering straight from BenQ? I understand that maybe a lot of others ordered at different times, but I wanted to see if I anyone else had the same experience.

Thanks.
 
They are normally pretty fast. Call 949-255-9481. The girl I talked to was pretty helpful.
 
can you guys use the dcr in the menu cause i cant use it at all its like grey and cant go on it. Still having the same problem also with the hdr when theres a lot of lights and i move fast near it u can see some lines tried calling benq and ncix but they cant really help ill proly get a new one to see if this one has a problem or if theyre all like that. Ofc if you guys could tell me if your monitor is fine it could help :) thx
 
Guys, has any of you guys used this extensively with a console, PS3, 360 or even a HDMI device, BD players and checked the picture quality of this LCD? Does it play fine, or are there any problems, like dithering, artifacts, etc?
 
My 360 is hooked up to my E2200HD exclusively, though only through the VGA cable (non-HDMI 360). I've tried the auto-adjust feature of the monitor several times before it would center the 1080p picture from the 360, but it's still not as sharp as it should be (like if the adjustment was half a pixel off). An HDMI connection would surely fix that, but I can't justify buying a newer 360 when this one hasn't nuked itself (yet, thanks to internal cooling mods). I set the monitor to sRGB mode when playing the 360, and standard mode for PC work. I don't know of any magical settings to have it perfect in any mode, but this works for me right now. Basic standard mode settings are the best for text as far as I've found, I played around with contrast/brightness/sharpness before and text always had the colour haze around it, but standard settings text is just right.
 
RickyJ said:
My 360 is hooked up to my E2200HD exclusively, though only through the VGA cable (non-HDMI 360). I've tried the auto-adjust feature of the monitor several times before it would center the 1080p picture from the 360, but it's still not as sharp as it should be (like if the adjustment was half a pixel off). An HDMI connection would surely fix that, but I can't justify buying a newer 360 when this one hasn't nuked itself (yet, thanks to internal cooling mods). I set the monitor to sRGB mode when playing the 360, and standard mode for PC work. I don't know of any magical settings to have it perfect in any mode, but this works for me right now. Basic standard mode settings are the best for text as far as I've found, I played around with contrast/brightness/sharpness before and text always had the colour haze around it, but standard settings text is just right.
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If you want HDMI on an old console, then you can always try one of these.

But I don't recommend it. It's just a last resort kind of thing.
 
Very interesting, I didn't know that one existed! Is it not recommended because the ADC inside that box is complete balls? What's the issue with it?
 
Well, the whole order from BenQ directly was and still is nothing short of a nightmare.

They still hadn't shipped (or said it wasn't) when I called this Monday. The authorization hold on my debit card was taken off by Paypal, so I went ahead and bought the E2400HD from NCIX for just a few bucks more.

Well, turns out BenQ shipped late Monday, and then charged me today for it, when I told them to cancel the order, and even refused shipment on it through UPS.

Now my Paypal account balance is in the red, and I'm really frustrated with their level of "customer service" there.

I am happy to report though that when I ordered it from NCIX on Monday, I received it by noon today. Although it has one dead pixel that bothered me at first, it is only viewable up close.

I have hooked up my 9600GT to it via an HDMI cable, as well as my Phillips DVD Player.

I would say overall for a TN the quality is pretty amazing. I do have some minor bleeding on the top and bottom, but it isn't bothersome to me. I have run 720P/1080P MKV videos through VLC, Fallout 3, and my DVD player all through HDMI, and I am surprised at how crisp and sharp it is. I can even sit back from it in my other room at different angles, and I see no distortion at different viewing angles at all.

So although I would never buy direct through BenQ again, I am overall happy at least with the quality of the monitor.
 
I'll have a more in-depth look at the monitor before next tuesday. I have spent quite a while with it now and I have some more opinions. Stay tuned!

I'll have a few pictures up as well.
 
Err, I tried posting a couple of times yesterday, but I got a "fixing" message on the forum. I'll post it today when I get home
 
Sorry, sorry guys. I try to get things done, but I'm very busy. My monitor has developed a ghosting problem (most likely an isolated problem) and it is a little hard to look. I'm 100% this developed over a span of time, but I don't know why. Probably because I got it earlier than everyone else. Im going to call BenQ and see what they can do about it because it does it both through HDMI and VGA.

I'll fiind the file and post it either tommorow or Friday. Thanks for your patience (well, those of you who have it, anyways *cough* xyz *cough* ;)
 
First off, a couple of new pictures:




Now, the final part of my review:

I'll start off with the stand. There is no height adjusting to be done with this stand. It can be tilted around 15 degrees forward and back. It is a little wobbly, but this is only noticeable when you press the Power button of the monitor. It will wobble a little bit, but not like it is going to fall off. It is a glossy piano black with a silver outlining and has a cable organizing clip (shown in the first part of the review).

The power button on this monitor glows green when it is on, amber when in standby, and, well, it's off when the monitor is off. I've found that the monitor will turn off immediately (when the button is pressed) if a signal is present, but when the signal is leaving the monitor and the screen turns blue. For example, with the Xbox 360, you either have to turn the monitor off before you press the power button on the 360, or wait till the screen glows blue and turn it off. It is a minor annoyance, but I thought it was worth mentioning for those impatient ones on this forum ;)

The speakers on this monitor are the only glaring negative. I needed to put them at around 50 or so for an acceptable level. If there is other noise around you, such as a little brother or sister, you may need to go up to around 80. The speakers are not great, and the sound is very "hollow". I found that if there is something under the speakers, sort of to reflect the sound towards you, they sound a little better. The speakers point directly downwards on the monitor, so I guess that is why it helps. All in all, the speakers are just fine for occasional videos and office work, but a movie watcher or gamer would want something more.

The menu is fairly easy to navigate. The buttons are easy to press and respond well. It takes a little time to switch inputs and to change the monitors display settings (such as "Full" and "Aspect"). I found the colors to be good. I don't have any professional measuring devices, but there are many different modes and you can adjust the color on the monitor, so I'm sure you will find one to suit your needs.

The monitor functions well and the viewing angles good for a TN panel. The picture is sharp and it has all the major inputs (VGA, DVI, HDMI) one would require now-a-days. Gaming was very enjoyable, text was very readable and crisp in Microsoft Office, and Blu-rays were of beautiful picture quality. Overall, I'd say this monitor is a great deal whether you use it for office work, gaming or movie watching.
 
as a user of E2200HD, i'm very satisfied with this LCD..

i have no problem so far.

hgC90045.jpg
 
Is it normal for the lcd to display the words :INPUT DVI in the middle of the screen in a little box when i boot my pc? i am using DVI btw, just wanted check :)

Cheers :)
 
Is it normal for the lcd to display the words :INPUT DVI in the middle of the screen in a little box when i boot my pc? i am using DVI btw, just wanted check :)

Cheers :)
 
No one knows? an answer from someone who owns one of these would be cool, thanks ;)
 
Thank you for your reply good sir :D

Tis a lovely monitor i think i might go huddle up to it now but i'm sure those feeling will wear off in a few days :eek:
 
Anyone notice when you boot with full screen logo set in bios or install and operating system it does not fill the whole screen like most monitors do? like the picture is in the middle with a black border of about an inch around it.

Also i have the black boarder all round when in bios, even when lcd is set to "Full" Aspect is greyed out. I am using DVI plugged into a 9600GT.

But as stated once booted and windows has loaded it's all good and dandy.
 
^^^^^^ - think i can answer this, the "not full screen" issue is related to input being used. I used VGA and it auto adjusted and showed a full 16:9 image during POST/bios stage but after i used a DVI cable it reverted to a standard 4:3 image for bios stage until i got into Windows.
 
Richard Dower said:
^^^^^^ - think i can answer this, the "not full screen" issue is related to input being used. I used VGA and it auto adjusted and showed a full 16:9 image during POST/bios stage but after i used a DVI cable it reverted to a standard 4:3 image for bios stage until i got into Windows.
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So i take it it's just the way this beast performs when using DVI connection then?
 
Short questions for all of you: :)

1) What are the differences between the BenQ E2200HD and E2400HD other than the size of screen?

2) What are the measurements from the BenQ E2200HD (and E2400HD if you know, please). Please, only consider the glass/display itself, not the rest. See the picture below if you are in doubt. I need to know the measure of the display (red lines):

6ntpc8.jpg


I am trying to get rid of my CRT 19" but I will not accept anything smaller than that. :cool:
 
I'm having problems running games full screen at 720p resolution using the DVI connection. When I try to go full screen with a game running at 1200x720 (my graphics card can't handle 1920x1080 for some games) the monitor goes blank and displays an "out of range" message. I've tried various refresh rates and they all either had the same problem or caused the game to center itself at 720p on top of the 1080p desktop (like it was in windowed mode, cept with no actual window). I experimented with all my installed games that will run at 1200x720, and they all had the same problem, so its not a game specific thing. This only happens when trying to play games at 720p. 720p video using Media Player Classic plays fine. This is also only a problem using the DVI connection. D-SUB works fine with games at 720p.

Any ideas what causes this or how to fix it? Is it a monitor problem or something else?
 
Well, the short and simple solution is just use the DSUB connection. You don't need or get benefits from DVI until higher resolutions anyhow. That said, It's possibly a firmware issue. I just use the DSUB myself.

It is possible though that it's still a driver issue. Make sure you have the latest BenQ drivers for the monitor and latest for your vid card as well. Make sure you're trying at 59 or 60Hz. If you still have problems, give BenQ a call.
 
kCPuNk said:
I'm having problems running games full screen at 720p resolution using the DVI connection. When I try to go full screen with a game running at 1200x720 (my graphics card can't handle 1920x1080 for some games) the monitor goes blank and displays an "out of range" message. I've tried various refresh rates and they all either had the same problem or caused the game to center itself at 720p on top of the 1080p desktop (like it was in windowed mode, cept with no actual window). I experimented with all my installed games that will run at 1200x720, and they all had the same problem, so its not a game specific thing. This only happens when trying to play games at 720p. 720p video using Media Player Classic plays fine. This is also only a problem using the DVI connection. D-SUB works fine with games at 720p.

Any ideas what causes this or how to fix it? Is it a monitor problem or something else?
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What kind of video card is it? You should be able to go into ATI Catalyst Control Panel or nVidia Control panel and set it to scale up to full screen avoiding this problem.
 
10e said:
What kind of video card is it? You should be able to go into ATI Catalyst Control Panel or nVidia Control panel and set it to scale up to full screen avoiding this problem.
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That's not the problem. it scales lower resolutions up to full screen fine. When the 720p games run centered its because I had selected a refresh rate that the monitor didn't support going into full screen mode for that resolution. What it does in this case is keeps the desktop resolution and refresh rate and centers the game on top of the desktop. As in I can see my wallpaper or web browser and task bar around the centered game, NOT black bars. However, the game is not in windowed mode when this happens (no title bar to move it around or [_][X] to exit or minimize). That's just what the game (CS in this case) does when you try to force an unsupported full screen refresh rate (I was experimenting with all refresh rates between 59 and 75 to see if that's what was causing the out of range errors).

The problem is I get a blank screen and an "out of range" message when using a supported refresh rate and going into full screen mode with a game set to run at 720p resolution when using the DVI connection.

Anyway, I've contacted BenQ and they suggested forcing all refresh rates between 59 and 75. That didn't work so I'll be contacting them again to see if there's anything else to try. After reading the Anandtech review of the monitor though, I'm starting to think its a firmware problem. It mentions problems with 720p using DVI and wrong AR with 720p using HDMI and D-SUB. I haven't experienced the wrong AR using D-SUB (haven't tried HDMI) though so who knows.
 
Guys can I safely buy this monitor (I'm torn beetween this and VX2260WM) for PS3 gaming ?

Was someone capable of reproducing anandtech 720p scaling problem on produced units ?

Becouse otherwise Benq fits my needs perfectly - 0 input lag, 1080p, D-sub for ps2 through hd box, dvi for computer to be used as extension of work space (i got 24" a-mva for pc gaming but no hdcp on this one) and hdmi for ps3.

And it's noticeably cheaper than viewsonic.
 
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