BenQ G2400W review

£243
Price when reviewed

To illustrate the gulf between the premium and budget TFTs this month, here is a 24in monitor for an incredible £211 – cheaper than several of this month’s 22in models. Understandably, the BenQ G2400W is a spartan offering as a result, but we were sure that the quality would at least be acceptable enough to make it worth buying for everyday use.

BenQ G2400W review

Not quite. For a start, the backlight appears very dim, not only when compared with the premium models but also next to the Philips, with its supposedly identical 250cd/m2 maximum brightness. Dark, uneven patches are visible at the top edge, and while this low dynamic range does make for a deep black level, it certainly doesn’t translate into detailed shadows. We could barely make out a thing in the caves of our Lord of the Rings test video.

The contrast at the top end isn’t so bad. We had little trouble making out the lightest shades of grey on a white background, and the colour tracking test showed the BenQ to be closer to neutral than the more expensive Asus. But, scrolling through our test photos showed horrible skin tones and shadows that looked more like blobs, while the jungles of Crysis were more black than green in all but the brightest scenes.

There’s little else to redeem it, with a stand that only tilts, poor viewing angles and no sign of any extras apart from a lonely HDMI port. The design isn’t bad, with a nice red Power button and a thin 20mm bezel, but even at this rock-bottom price it’s hard to recommend. The Iiyama costs just £20 more – still a bargain – yet betters the BenQ in every other way.

Details

Image quality 2

Main specifications

Screen size 24.0in
Aspect ratio 16:10
Resolution 1920 x 1200
Screen brightness 250cd/m2
Pixel response time 5ms
Contrast ratio 1,000:1
Pixel pitch 0.270mm
Horizontal viewing angle 160 degrees
Vertical viewing angle 160 degrees
Speaker type N/A
Speaker power ouput N/A
TV tuner no
TV tuner type N/A

Connections

DVI inputs 1
VGA inputs 1
HDMI inputs 1
DisplayPort inputs 0
Scart inputs 0
HDCP support yes
Upstream USB ports 0
USB ports (downstream) 0
3.5mm audio input jacks 0
Headphone output no

Accessories supplied

Other cables supplied VGA

Power consumption

Peak power consumption 55W
Idle power consumption 2W

Image adjustments

Brightness control? yes
Contrast control? yes
Colour temperature settings Normal, bluish, reddish, user
Extra adjustments Sharpness, input select, picture modes, OSD language, position, time, lock

Ergonomics

Forward tilt angle 5 degrees
Backward tilt angle 20 degrees
Swivel angle N/A
Height adjustment N/A
Pivot (portrait) mode? no
Bezel width 20mm

Dimensions

Dimensions 370 x 137 x 370mm (WDH)
Weight 6.200kg

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