Benq FP937s vs Viewsonic VP192b (or which 12ms 19" LCD)

[bay]

I have come out of my shell to reply. I usually just observer here but never post. But newegg just posted this monitor for 659 which seems like a decent price....just lettin you guys know

linkage

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: bay
I have come out of my shell to reply. I usually just observer here but never post. But newegg just posted this monitor for 659 which seems like a decent price....just lettin you guys know

linkage

Thanks for the link. Seems like a pretty solid price for a pretty solid monitor.

 

[Spackle]

Originally posted by: agent2099

1. You mentioned no ghosting. Did you play any older games like Counterstrike or TFC?

I play mostly ut2004, doom3 and (heh) starcraft, but fired up serious sam,
quake2, alice and max payne. All smooth and without ghosting.

Oh btw I guess I have another question and that is what made you pick the viewsonic over the much cheaper benq fp937s?

No experience with benq, the 937s has a weaker backlight (250cd/m2), lesser
viewing angle, and no pivot. At $550, I have nothing against it -- for some
people, it'll be perfect, I'm sure.

Not set up for pics, sorry... Oh, and bateluer, be mindful of newegg's conservative
dead pixel policy. LCDs are probably the one thing I wouldn't buy from them.

 

[NordicNINE]

I don't care much about viewing angle, but the extra brightness would be nice and the pivot is the closing feature. I like pivot. I had that on a Viewsonic 18" a while back and it comes in handy. Esp for websites since most are designed for 1024x768, it means you can see alot longer pages and keep the same width the page was designed for. Also, I imagine it would be extremely handy for people that do desktop publishing alot. It's pretty handy in Word I know.

 

[NordicNINE]

Bit the bullet & ordered the Benq today.

I can get discounts on both since my company is an authorized VAR with most monitor companies.
The price of the Benq was about $170 less with the discounts from both AND the Viewsonic was out of stock. The Viewsonic was black and the Benq is mainly silver. So that the was about the only advantage to go with the Viewsonic for me. The pivot isn't a biggy since I'm going to get a monitor arm that is capable of pivot and the ATI & Nvidia drivers both include pivot capabilities.

I'll post what I think of it when I get it next week.

 

[Spoiler]

I've been following this post as well as many others regarding 19" LCDs. After about a month of looking around I finally made up my mind and bought the BENQ FP937s. This is my first LCD so I have nothing to compare it to besides my crappy CRT.

I must say that this monitor is pretty freaking cool. I was really worried about what I've heard about ghosting with games, but I have not seen any yet. I play everything from DOOM3 to Battlefield 1942 to Rome-Total War. It's really amazing.

One more note: The first couple of days I had though I was a little let down. When I tried watching my xvid and divx movies on it, everything was dark as hell. It really sucked. But after fooling around with the contrast and brightness within my ATI control panel, everything looks so much better.

I can now do everthing with it- play movies, browse the internet, work within MS Office, and most especially play games. It looks a hell of a lot better than my old 19" CRT. I am so glad that I didn't fork out the extra money on the Dell or Viewsonic. BTW- I spent $479 w/shipping for it.

 

[NordicNINE]

Cool. Can't wait to get mine.
It's on schedule to be here Tuesday, but knowing FedEx in this area, it'll probably be a day early (I hope).

 

[NordicNINE]

PS- I know it has DVI connector, but does it include the cable?
I've heard of many monitor companies not including it lately.
Also, I've read that other Benq models don't interpolate well, is 1024x768 in games decent?
I'm hoping I don't have to upgrade my Radeon 9800 Pro to play everything at 1280.

 

[DanDaMan315]

16.2 million colors for the BenQ, is that 24 bit? And what surface does that BenQ have glare or non glare? for about $200 less i definetely leaning toward the BenQ.

 

[NordicNINE]

According to the Benq rep, it's a non glare screen.
Also, any 16ms LCD or faster I've seen uses a 16bit panel.
16.2 is 16bit. (it's actually 16.2 dithered)
16.7 would be 24bit.

 

[NordicNINE]

OK. Got it today.

Looks pretty good.

In 2D text, itt's better than the Dell 1800FP I had before, but not as sharp as my Samsung 150.
Seems a little washed out when there is a white background, but I haven't adjusted it much yet.

In games, it's absolutely awesome. Black is pretty good and colors are nice.
I've played Doom 3 so far on it and no ghosting.

What's odd is I notice a little trailing when I move windows around quickly in Windows (again, it's mainly with a white background).

I have it hooked up with DVI and haven't tried the analog.
It does include both cables.

The one thing I think is badly designed is the base. It's kinda goofy looking from the front.
It doesn't have a hole in it for the cables to go through. It has cheesy little plastic "hooks" in the back that hold the cables around the base. It's also tougher than it should be to get the DVI cable plugged in.

So far I'm very happy with it. It's well worth the money I paid for it and I don't see much reason to go to the Viewsonic since the glare would drive me nuts. The colors & black are very good on this monitor, so I can't imagine the shiny look would help much. I would like a pivot feature since most websites are optimized for 1024 width, so on some webpages, you end up with all that dead space on the right. It would be nice to pivot it and get about 50% more page length and still have 1024 width. I had a Viewsonic 18" a while back that had that feature and it was nice.

I planned on getting a monitor arm for it anyway, so pivot wasn't a big deal since most arms have pivot.
The mount looks different than any 15 or 17" I'm used to, so hopefully it's not unique to Benq.
Now to just find a arm for a 19" LCD. They don't seem to be that common.

PS- 1024x768 doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. Text isn't that great, but pics & games aren't bad. Also, I'm surprised that I can run Doom III at 1280x1024 decent on a Radeon 9800Pro.

 

[lukosdabba]

II just purchased a BenQ FP937S and I?m a little skeptical. Unreal 2004 there is no ghosting but while strafing and looking at small objects like ammo, especially the bio canisters they get blurry. But besides that it looks really good. I also seam to have problems with the lighting in games. Example Counter Strike 1.6 I found that the dark areas are too dark to see and if you crank up the contrast and brightness so you are able to see a little better but in the bright areas are almost unbearable because your almost white (your arm). This seams to be the only problems I?ve found in gaming but ghosting doesn?t seam to be a problem.

?What's odd is I notice a little trailing when I move windows around quickly in Windows (again, it's mainly with a white background).? NordicNINE

I notice the same thing but it also the side of the window will break (the blue side of a window) and drag behind. Not too much of a deal. Going from analog to digital made a big difference for quality but the drag is still there.

My big problem and pretty much only problem with the monitor is the brightness in games (i.e. Counter Strike but not so much an issue with Unreal 2004) Having to turn the contrast and brightness up in games and then back down in windows is annoying. Also little bit of blurring while strafing and looking at items (i.e. Unreal 2004) but not much of a problem.

Anyone who knows how to fix these problems or don?t notice this with their monitor please reply. I?m running at native resolution and 75 hertz.

 

[NordicNINE]

Originally posted by: lukosdabba
II just purchased a BenQ FP937S and I?m a little skeptical. Unreal 2004 there is no ghosting but while strafing and looking at small objects like ammo, especially the bio canisters they get blurry. But besides that it looks really good. I also seam to have problems with the lighting in games. Example Counter Strike 1.6 I found that the dark areas are too dark to see and if you crank up the contrast and brightness so you are able to see a little better but in the bright areas are almost unbearable because your almost white (your arm). This seams to be the only problems I?ve found in gaming but ghosting doesn?t seam to be a problem.

?What's odd is I notice a little trailing when I move windows around quickly in Windows (again, it's mainly with a white background).? NordicNINE

I notice the same thing but it also the side of the window will break (the blue side of a window) and drag behind. Not too much of a deal. Going from analog to digital made a big difference for quality but the drag is still there.

My big problem and pretty much only problem with the monitor is the brightness in games (i.e. Counter Strike but not so much an issue with Unreal 2004) Having to turn the contrast and brightness up in games and then back down in windows is annoying. Also little bit of blurring while strafing and looking at items (i.e. Unreal 2004) but not much of a problem.

Anyone who knows how to fix these problems or don?t notice this with their monitor please reply. I?m running at native resolution and 75 hertz.

I don't have the brightness/contract issues that you seem to have. Also, aren't LCD's supposed to be set at 60Hz?
My brightness is 80 & my contrast is 50.

 

[lukosdabba]

when playing games to reduce ghosting the higher your monitor can support is better (range 60-75 hertz) or at least thats what a computer tech told me. i don't know the downfall of having it higher but i would like to know. i have brightness at 50 contrast 50 on windows and brightness at 80 dureing games. but i just finished playing call of duty: united defence and it didn't seam to be as bad as Counter Strike was for brightness. but there still was a little bit too dark in the dark areas but no where near as bad. this may be because i'm used to CRT.

I'm just testing out the monitor right now. If I want to bring it back I have two weeks. This forum seams to be the best reviews for the monitor though. and inceaseing my chances of keeping it. not very many reviews have been done which kind of sucks. I would like to know what Tom's hardware of Gamepc would say about it.

 

[Vallybally]

How does this compare to the FP931? Is there a big or insignificant difference in terms of ghosting and gaming in general?

 

[NordicNINE]

Never seen the FP931.

I can only compare it to the LCD's I have/had.
Dell 1800FP, KDS RAD-5, Samsung 150,NEC Accusync 17"(forgot model), Viewsonic 800something.

It's sharper than all except the Samsung and simular to the NEC. The colors are better than all.
The ghosting (or lack of) is much better than all.

 

[Vallybally]

Ok, what is the difference then between 16-bit and 24-bit color? Is it noticeable? Is dithering, sort of like 'faking' it or blending or something? Certainly between the numbers 16.2 vs. 16.7 million colors there is little there...

 

[NordicNINE]

I don't think the color shading is any different on the Benq than the Samsung (true 16.7mil).

 

[PrayForDeath]

lukosdabba, try playing UT2K4 on 60Htz refresh rate, this is the recommended refresh rate for all LCDs (unless your manual says otherwise, look for the recommended refresh rate in your manual), I found 60Hz better for the eyes, and it might solve your blurring problem in Unreal.

Do 16bit colors on LCD look like 16bit on a CRT? If yes, then isn't it too low? 32bit is the standard in CRTs and I find 16bit lacking on my CRT.

 

[Vallybally]

I believe 16-bit is 256,000 colors whereas '18-bit' is 16.2 million colors via 'dithering'.

I never knew 60hz could be the best refresh rates for most LCDs. I always assumed just like CRTs, the higher the better for your eyes.

 

[NordicNINE]

Originally posted by: PrayForDeath
lukosdabba, try playing UT2K4 on 60Htz refresh rate, this is the recommended refresh rate for all LCDs (unless your manual says otherwise, look for the recommended refresh rate in your manual), I found 60Hz better for the eyes, and it might solve your blurring problem in Unreal.

Do 16bit colors on LCD look like 16bit on a CRT? If yes, then isn't it too low? 32bit is the standard in CRTs and I find 16bit lacking on my CRT.

No, def doesn't look like it's in 16 bit mode. I have compared this side to side with the Samsung though.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Vallybally
I believe 16-bit is 256,000 colors whereas '18-bit' is 16.2 million colors via 'dithering'.

I never knew 60hz could be the best refresh rates for most LCDs. I always assumed just like CRTs, the higher the better for your eyes.

LCDs are a radically different technology than a coventional CRT. On a CRT, refresh rates at your highest resolution would be a concern. On an LCD, its irrelevent, they all like to runa t 60Hz, but its easier on the eyes than a 120hz CRT. 🙂

 

[lukosdabba]

Originally posted by: PrayForDeath
lukosdabba, try playing UT2K4 on 60Htz refresh rate, this is the recommended refresh rate for all LCDs (unless your manual says otherwise, look for the recommended refresh rate in your manual), I found 60Hz better for the eyes, and it might solve your blurring problem in Unreal.

Do 16bit colors on LCD look like 16bit on a CRT? If yes, then isn't it too low? 32bit is the standard in CRTs and I find 16bit lacking on my CRT.

Playing on 60 Hertz actually ?seamed? to make it a little bit worst. So I?m not actually sure that to do about that. But oh well it?s not too big of a deal.

About my earlier complaint about the contrast in some games (Counter Strike dark areas) I found that if I changed my contrast, brightness and gamma on the computer through the video options it made it a lot better than changing it from the monitor (A huge difference actually). What I did was set hot keys for the ?Full Screen 3D? in Video options on desktop (ex: crtl+F1 would increase gamma) and changed them accordingly in the game. (This is an option with the Radeon 9700 Pro video card). But this doesn?t work for all games, example Call of Duty seams to mess up when you do this to the contrast, gamma, and brightness.

I have a question, should I be running Color quality at 32bit or 16bit for an LCD? (FP937S)

 

[NordicNINE]

32bit

 

[eicca]

I also purchased 937s. I am/was previously a 19" CRT owner. I found the TFT to be much better than my old CRT except the reproduction of dark colors. This would be a problem in games like Thief 3, Doom 3 as it would be hard to see objects that are located in those dark regions.

I found out the settings for gamma in 3d apps in my radeon 9600xt drivers (cat4.9), and it helps a bit. However, I also found that if you select sRGB colors from the monitor settings, it will enhance the color in the dark areas. So I think I will end up using sRGB for darker games and User defined (default colors) for desktop use.