9.0

BenQ XL2420T
Gaming Monitor

Monitors have come a long way since the humble CRT which has seen the birth of the LCD, Plasma and LED. For ultimate gaming performance, refresh rates have been an issue but as these technologies have progressed, so have the speeds of these screens. This is where the BenQ XL2420T gaming monitor comes into the picture that boasts a 120Hz refresh rate and true 3D compatibility.

This means that when your racing along the streets of Monaco or battling Aliens from another planet, there is no tearing and provided you have a powerful graphics card, it will boast a silky smooth frame rate with a response time of 2 milliseconds. 60Hz for gaming? Not anymore, thanks to the XL2420T which also offers the user a wealth of inputs, adjustable stand and a convenient switch to access your monitor presets.

Specifications
 

D-sub
DVI-DL(Dual-Link)
HDMIx2
DP1.2
Headphone Jack

There are also a wealth of connections for this screen that include everything from VGA to HDMI. This means that apart from your computer, you can hook a PlayStation 3, Blu-ray Player or even an XBox to the screen. The backlighting of the screen also produced deeper blacks which in turn made games and images crisp, colourful and vibrant.

For our testing, we tested this screen with a PC and a PlayStation 3 to see how well it worked but first we needed to complete the installation. The installation of screen is quite straight forward and first you need to attach the base plate to the stand and then the monitor. Installation took around 2 minutes. The last step of the installation was to install the specifically designed S switch into the monitor.  Once setup, we connected our PC into the XL2420T.

In terms of design, the XL2420T is a well designed and sturdy screen. The base ensures that it would be almost impossible to knock over and I love the ability to adjust the height of the screen via the stand. At the back of the screen, there is also a hook for users to put their headphones and there is also an audio out on the left hand side of the screen for headphones or speakers. Ports are plenty of the XL2420T with two HDMI, DVI, VGA (D-Sub), DisplayPort and two USB Ports (one upstream and one downstream).

Navigating the menu of the monitor does take a little time in getting use to. Navigation can either be done through the switch or via the new intuitive UI on the monitor which supports physical touch keys. Navigating via the switch is a little messy, however the new touch key buttons on the bottom right hand side of the monitor really make moving through the menus a breeze.

Using Windows, Photoshop and other software programs produced sharp images and vibrant images. Movies and photos almost jumped out of the screen thanks to the sharp quality and clarity of the screen. I also like the new smart scaling feature of the screen which allows you to change your screen size to simulate a variety of screen sizes. The screen can even be rotated from landscape to portrait which is a bonus for designers.

Games however is where this screen stands out and as we tested out Battlefield 3, Max Payne 3 and Diablo III, it was a flawless video game experience. Fast moving images were sharp, even when some of the games were pushing 100+ frames per second. This means no smearing or ghosting which is a common theme to many LCD and LED screens. On the PlayStation 3, we watched a Blu-ray movie (The  Muppets) and the colours that this screen produced were quite impressive, smashing our Samsung 55" out of the water.

Games were equally as smooth on the PS3 (May Payne 3) as compared to the PC. We did manage to test the 3D feature of the monitor with a NVIDIA complaint 3D card. As with games, 3D movies and games surpassed our standard Samsung 3D TV which produced sharper images and more vibrant realistic colours. In terms of the switch, simply by pushing a button, we could retrieve our perfect setting for Diablo or Battlefield 3 without messing around the with the menus on the monitor. For us, we set one up for Diablo III, Battlefield 3 and for normal Windows use.

Final Thoughts?

If you're a gamer who wants the best than the BenQ XL2420T Gaming Monitor is the key to your victory. Not only do the images look clearer but gaming has never been this smooth. It's almost like playing games on an old CRT screen but better. With that said, there were some cons as the viewing angle wasn't the best and it's also quite expensive. Even so, it's definitely one of the best screens we've had the pleasure of using. Check out if you're a gamer!

Available at all good Australian Retailers