Official BenQ FP241W Thread !!! Info, Pictures, Reviews

okay fells is the wz worth the extra cash ??or is it better sticking with the normal benq for all round pc use i like to play games quite a bit 2nd question is lcd.s better for you health wise compared to a crt ? heard lot about radiation from crt,s any views on this let me know cheers
 
I'm slightly worried by all of this ATI cards causing black out issues problem since I have a laptop with an ATI Mobility Radeon X1300, but I'm gonna order anyway from eBuyer (£610 with next day delivery - I reckon if I'm spending stupid money on a monitor I may as well spend another £10 for next day delivery!) so will tell you all if I have any problems with it.

After next weekend I'll post some pictures of 576i over Component too in case anyone's interested (stupid PAL GCs not supporting 576p <_<)!
 
DragonQ said:
After next weekend I'll post some pictures of 576i over Component too in case anyone's interested (stupid PAL GCs not supporting 576p <_<)!
Click to expand...

Let us know if you have any trouble with it Dragon. I am hoping Ebuyer get the WZ in.

Mike
 
It turns out one of my friends who has GC also has a Component cable (I thought I'd have to buy one for £45+ [they're rare you know!] because I use RGB Scart at home, which obviously won't work with this monitor, S-Video isn't supported on PAL GCs, and Composite...well, it's crap), so I might be able to test it earlier.

I didn't want to wait for the WZ because from the looks of this huuuuuuuge thread, the monitor is great anyway, and I know that the eBuyer batch has the Firmware fix, and I don't want to spend £100 more for something I might not notice, being a student and all :)
 
Is it normal that the 360 looks horrible in dark scenes over component on this monitor? VGA looks a lot better but I need to free up that port for my computer.
 
Not sure, but you could get a cheap DVI/VGA adapter for your PC if it only has VGA-Out, only a few £.
 
I'm confused...if the only port you have on your PC's graphics card is VGA, then it can be converted to DVI-A using an adapter. You cannot get DVI-D from a VGA signal (well you can, but it's pointless). I assume this monitor's DVI port is DVI-I and thus accepts DVI-D and DVI-A so what's the problem?
 
dmanrevived said:
Is it normal that the 360 looks horrible in dark scenes over component on this monitor? VGA looks a lot better but I need to free up that port for my computer.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I wonder why that is, does the component port use a different setting on the monitor?
 
stormyuk said:
Hmmm, I wonder why that is, does the component port use a different setting on the monitor?
Click to expand...

the component over 360 is general darker than VGA, but VGA colours tend to be washed out. Its something related to the 360.
 
component in general seems to be much more contrasty then digital or VGA inputs. It crunches some black values no matter what TV you use because it uses different color space values. Most people will not notice it.

I think some monitors/TV's do a better job of compensating for this depending on how the color value is calculated from YUV to RGB. XBOX doesnt really do this all that well I don't think.
 
Umm..I just noticed this, but I could swear I was able to do this before?

Does the Fp241W save different settings when switching from VGA to DVI? It seems that it doesn't now. Maybe I am thinking of my old monitor...but the VGA color and contrast/brightness are the same as the DVI, and it doesn't save the settings between the two inputs. So what ever you calibrate your DVI to your stuck with for VGA as well?

Still saves separate settings for the HDMI and component inputs (so they can all be different settings) but it seems that the VGA and DVI aren't saved separately. Is this normal for this monitor?
 
Speak now or forever hold your peace. It looks like TechOnWeb.com has got the FP241WZs back in stock for now, and all I am waiting for is my tax refund to hit my checking account. I've been keeping up with the thread and it looks like the Z version insures the 1:1 pixel mapping, adds the AMA-Z technology or what not, and that some of the monitor issues seem to be related more to the ATI cards. Can anyone think of a reason why I shouldn't get it? Otherwise, I'm pretty much sold.
 
so for a gamer you are better getting the z version then ??? was going to get the w version in the uk is it better to get the wz version for playing games any suggestions ? cheers
 
wozie69 said:
so for a gamer you are better getting the z version then ??? was going to get the w version in the uk is it better to get the wz version for playing games any suggestions ? cheers
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Its getting mixed reviews to be honest, I am in the same boat I cannot decide if its worth it for the WZ. Some users who have bought the WZ say they just swtich the Perfect Motion off becuase its not making enough of a positive inpact (and it lowers brightness).

I'd love to see them both running side by side. At this stage I am at a loss. I am even concidering going for the Dell 2407WFP because its so much cheaper here in the UK.

Mike
 
I have the Benq FP241W with the new firmware. Like other people on here I have noticed that the new 1:1 mode does not always seem to work as it should. In particular 1080i from my HD-E1 has the correct aspect ratio but does not fill the full width of the display. This does not particularly bother me since the Aspect mode does what I want.

However, I seem to be having serious problems with the deinterlacing on this monitor. I did a lot of research before I made my purchases and came to the conclusion that 1080i content would look more or less identical to 1080p content (at least for static content - I would expect to see differences if I were playing a 60FPS video game). This is not the case on the Benq. The entire image is clearly blurred both horizontally and vertically. Even worse, the last line of the image contains spurious green (and sometimes pink) data.

Is there something wrong with my particular monitor?
 
YAY it arrived. It's HUGE, can't believe it. Got it running on VGA at the moment (all I have) and will get a GC connected to it soon. The picture is fantastic, and I didn't find it uber-bright as others have suggested, maybe I'm just more used to bright things...

Gonna play one of the best DVD transfers ever (any of the three films from the The Matrix Collection Boxset) to test that out, but on desktop it looks great!

I have some pics also - it looks like it's bending my desk - so much so that the left speaker looks wonky compared to the monitor, but it isn't LOL:


http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0558.JPG

http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0559.JPG

http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0560.JPG

http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0561.JPG

BTW no dead pixels as far as I can see either :D
 
I'm really having a tough time figuring out which 24" LCD to get. It seems that nobody can quite get everything right. The Dell 2407 has gone through many revisions, the latest of which seems to produce some screen splitting/tearing, and now the new BenQ FP241W firmware has trouble with 1080p/i in 1:1 mode. I found this discussion on the NCIX forum.

It seems to say that the fact that 1080p displaying at 1:1 with black borders around the entire image suggests that the signal is not actually 1920x1080, and when you use Aspect mode to compensate and have it fill the screen, it is actually stretching the smaller image to fill the screen so you really aren't getting all the pixels. One person there even suggests BenQ has told him that they are releasing yet ANOTHER firmware upgrade to fix this problem. Has anybody else heard anything about this? This sounds like a disaster, but from what I've heard the FP241W has a lot better image quality than the Dell. I don't understand why they can't get these little things right.
 
Interestingly, I only have the black borders problem when using my HD-E1. I can display both 1080p and 1080i from my PC with no black borders (i.e. Aspect and 1:1 are identical). This suggests that the awful deinterlacing is an entirely seperate issue from the black borders problem. Unfortunately, it makes it impossible for me to tell whether using Aspect is actually producing a 1:1 image or not. Its depressing to think that the stupid thing probably won't even work correctly with 1080p from an HD-XE1!!
 
FJimbo said:
I'm really having a tough time figuring out which 24" LCD to get. It seems that nobody can quite get everything right. The Dell 2407 has gone through many revisions, the latest of which seems to produce some screen splitting/tearing, and now the new BenQ FP241W firmware has trouble with 1080p/i in 1:1 mode. I found this discussion on the NCIX forum.
Click to expand...

Yup, a total farce to be honest. I have been reading more and more of these reports which means this will be a joke for the PS3 in the future, originally why I was put off the 2407WFP. I might just end up saying a few hundred pounds getting a Dell and waiting for the dust to settle.

:(

Really disapointed.

The problem is now, is this fault on the FP241W only or on the FP241WZ?

Mike
 
Just received my rma monitor. Waiting for it to warm up and I'll check it this evening after hockey. Hopefully no dead pixels.

NCIX said I can just swap the panel and send back the new stand and cables with my old panel. That's cool because my stand has no tilt and this means less packing to do.
 
Hmmm it appears that there is quite noticable flicker, especially noticable with text the further I am from the screen. If I put my face right in front of it, it looks far nicer.

Could this be due to a poor quality VGA cable (I'm using the one that came with the monitor)?? I have used the iKey program and have Auto-Adjusted the monitor, but it doesn't help. :(

I will buy a better VGA cable if it will help, but I'd like to know if it likely will or not. Thanks for any help you all can give me :)
 
I find it amusing that a thread I started back in June now has nearly half a million views. =]
 
RMA monitor has no dead pixels. :) So far it appears to be less bright than its predecessor (brightness is currently at 40 instead of 31) and seems to release much less heat at the top. Unfortunately, the coating lumpiness is still visible to me. Unless I'm terribly unlucky, I guess that means it's normal and I have to learn to unsee this as I transition from Diamondtron CRT to LCD.

BTW, it is still a November 06 panel but the firmware fix works well again.

Planning to have Purolator pick up the 'old' one tomorrow.
 
DragonQ said:
YAY it arrived. It's HUGE, can't believe it. Got it running on VGA at the moment (all I have) and will get a GC connected to it soon. The picture is fantastic, and I didn't find it uber-bright as others have suggested, maybe I'm just more used to bright things...

Gonna play one of the best DVD transfers ever (any of the three films from the The Matrix Collection Boxset) to test that out, but on desktop it looks great!

I have some pics also - it looks like it's bending my desk - so much so that the left speaker looks wonky compared to the monitor, but it isn't LOL:


http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0558.JPG

http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0559.JPG

http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0560.JPG

http://dragonq.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IMG_0561.JPG

BTW no dead pixels as far as I can see either :D
Click to expand...

Where did you order yours from?
 
New monitor is now as bright and warm as its predecessor. I have carefully packed the latter (made a cardboard box to enclose the original box) and shall send it to NCIX tomorrow.
 
I got my monitor back from BENQ finally today but as I feared I still have the same problem with it saying "No Signal" being hooked up through DVI. Everything else works but if I try DVI it doesn't. Originally I sent it back for firmware upgrade, and when I first received the monitor, it worked fine. It was only after I received the upgrade that I have had troubles.

I am about to lose my mind. I have tried other cables, computers and DVI monitors(the computer images displayed fine) and it is the BENQ that is not working. I might make the 4 hour drive to Toronto and ask them to try it out for me on their system because obviously they didn't even test the DVI out.

It is a real shame because this monitor is so amazing but if I can't have DVI, then what is the point.

A very displeased customer and has no idea what to try next. I am not waiting another 3 weeks for them to ship it back to me with nothing being done and yet I can't live with a monitor that doesn't work as it should. $1000 and I am feeling extremely ripped off.

Mike
 
I emailed Benq and they confirmed that the "black border can be solved by a new firmware release". Unfortunately they did not explain what the exact behaviour of the current firmware in Aspect mode is. Neither did they comment on my deinterlacing problems.
 
DepTi, I ordered it from eBuyer and received it yesterday.

The flickering is fairly annoying for internet use and any drop down boxes really get on my nerves - I really hope a Belkin Pro £5 VGA cable will solve it - I'll also see if any of my housemates have a laptop with a DVI port that I can test it out on, because if that fixes it, then I'll be sure it's the cable quality.

I've also noticed some weird colour (banding maybe)? in a few places - most noticalbly the IE7 "this webpage cannot be displayed" page. It has a few pinkish bands down the page methinks, which I've never noticed before. But if there is a new firmware update coming out, assuming it's free (if it's not I'll shout at them! :p), I'll send it back to them over my Easter break (where I have to move out of my Uni room anyway so I won't need the monitor).

Isn't life great? lol
 
DragonQ said:
DepTi, I ordered it from eBuyer and received it yesterday.

The flickering is fairly annoying for internet use and any drop down boxes really get on my nerves

I've also noticed some weird colour (banding maybe)? in a few places - most noticalbly the IE7 "this webpage cannot be displayed" page. It has a few pinkish bands down the page methinksl
Click to expand...

What kind of flcikering is it? The whole screen or when certain colours are in use? My VX910 "flickers" on certain greyish backgrounds. It sounds bad if its doing it on things like drop down boxes. It doesnt seem like a cable issue to me that.

Also this pinkish banding sounds really bad too. Can you take a photo of it?

Is the monitor faulty do you think? No one else seems to have had those problems..

Mike
 
Well I'll have to sign out of the internet to take the Page cannot be Displayed pic, so I'll do that in a minute - I'm uploading a video of a combo box, but it doesn't really show the problem at all :(

Basically any text in particular - especially black on a white background just...flickers a lot. I can't think of any better way to describe it.

I've changed my sharpness from 1 back to 3 and it improves it slightly, but it's still there. I'm not sure if it's faulty because I've never dealt with a screen of this size before - I've bought 3 17" LCDs for various people over the last 3 years and I've had my laptop screen and none have had flickery text - but then 1920x1200 is a lot more info to run down a VGA cable than 1280x1024 is, so that's why I thought if the cable isn't shielded properly it would produce this effect??
 
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