Asus VG248QE vs BenQ XL2411Z

[michaelsgg]

I've decided to get a new monitor and I've narrowed it down to the ASUS VG248QE and the BenQ XL2411Z. Both of them sit at around the same price range but I can't pick on which one to get. Mostly because I don't know if the Lightboost that the Asus has is better than the Blur Busters Strobe Utility that the BenQ has. Another thing that has been bothering me is that many people say that the color on the Asus<<BenQ but the BenQ has REAL bad ghosting problem (wondering if theres a way to fix it or something).
PS. This monitor is manly for CSGO.

Also, I was wondering if the G-sync on the BenQ XL2420G is worth the extra stretch in $$. Thanks!

[Falkentyne]

Here's a secret.
The people complaining about the Benq's ghosting problems are talking about Benq Blur reduction. Yes it ghosts more than lightboost (mostly inverse RTA ghosting since it doesn't have per-line overdrive; lowering the contrast definitely helps a bit on the non inverse ghosting), but what no one seems to tell you is that BOTH monitors have lightboost, while the VG248 ONLY has lightboost!

The monitors look almost IDENTICAL ghosting wise in lightboost mode. The benq is slightly worse but dropping the contrast makes it almost IDENTICAL to the Asus. So you cant really say the benq has worst ghosting--theyre basically the same if both are using the same method of blur reduction--lightboost.

However lightboost completely trashes the colors and contrast ratio, especially on the 24" screens (the 2720Z can keep an almost 1000:1 contrast ratio in lightboost mode and better colors), so you will find that benq blur reduction gives you MUCH better image and color quality, because you have full OSD control in BBR mode and full color/gamma/brightness tweaks available.

The absolute ONLY advantage of the VG248QE is that you can enable lightboost mode on AMD hardware without an Nvidia surrogate to unlock it while on the Z series it's impossible to unlock lightboost without an NV card/laptop (strobelight doesn't work). I guess the other advantage of VG248QE (nothing to do with ghosting or blur reduction) is it gives rich (although a bit unnatural and saturated) colors in Theater mode, while no mode on any of the Benq monitors (the 2430T -might- be able to achieve this, though) can replicate this exact look, no matter what you tweak (standard mode on Asus looks like standard mode on Benq, besides the Crimson Asus reds vs the Scarlet benq reds). Theater mode has really 'unique' internal calibrations (probably the RGB channels have different saturation presets to each one) and gives a strange laser yellow and slime green color to yellows and greens, which I haven't seen other monitor be able to do. It does look quite rich and pleasing, actually, but very unnatural (but not as bizarre as Benq's FPS mode!)

[Chief Blur Buster]

This is a good explanation, (though new users might be scared away from the complexity of this explanation if they're new to blur reduction strobe backlights). Most users won't really care about the difference between LightBoost vs Blur Reduction, except for brightness and color quality. More people have complained about the poor color quality of LightBoost far more than people complaining about the ghosting problems of V2-upgraded BENQ Z-Series monitors.

The VG248QE and XL2411Z are good budget prices in monitors, and I would give the edge to XL2411Z. The XL2411Z supports both LightBoost and BENQ Blur Reduction, but most people use BENQ Blur Reduction because it is easy pushbutton (easy to enable/disable).

If you do have the budget though, and you're already using NVIDIA, the XL2420G monitor is an excellent choice, especially if you also play other games (not just CS:GO).

Games that run at low/variable framerates -- GSYNC can look better
Games that run at high/steady framerates -- Strobed can look better
From an input lag tweaking perspective, you can easily enable/disable GSYNC or strobed, so the end result of an apples-to-apples comparision (non-GSYNC non-strobed) in the lowest-lag configuration, all the monitors you mentioned should have virtually identical lag.

[michaelsgg]

Thanks for the detailed reply! I really appreciate it. I was wondering if you had any comments regarding this question, "I was wondering if the G-sync on the BenQ XL2420G is worth the extra stretch in $$"

[flood]

vg248qe has better overdrive control (tracefree 40% is very good)


vg248qe has speakers and more inputs
xl2411z has a way better strobed mode.
xl2411z has a backlight with no pwm

[Chief Blur Buster]

Yes, the newer BENQ is more eye-friendly than the older ASUS, so that's another advantage. The VG248QE is not PWM-free unless it's been upgraded to GSYNC.

(For more info, see Official List of 120Hz+ Monitors...)

[Falkentyne]

Ah, I forgot about the flicker free stuff.
Some people had severe vertigo/headaches when using the VG248QE and did get fixed by switching to a PWM Free monitor.
I'm not sensitive to that stuff (hell I happily gamed on a CRT at 60hz just to get 10+ FPS in the GeForce 2 days) but to each his own...

[SUOrange55]

I also thought there was some advantage to the Z-Series monitor because you can adjust crosstalk/persistence, and along with VT1350, eliminate most of the ghosting disadvantages that BenQ had vs. ASUS?

I switched from a VG248QE (10% LB, 120hz, fps capped at 119) to an XL2420Z (VT1350, BBR on, Blur Busters Utility: Crosstalk set all the way left, Persistence set to 2ms, 120hz, fps capped at 119) and can track MUCH, MUCH better on the BenQ in CS:GO and Quake Live.

[Chief Blur Buster]

I also thought there was some advantage to the Z-Series monitor because you can adjust crosstalk/persistence, and along with VT1350, eliminate most of the ghosting disadvantages that BenQ had vs. ASUS?

Yeah, that's right.

Falkentyne was responding for those who was complaining about the slight extra ghosting of the Z-series over LightBoost, but it's meaningless in the whole picture (literally) of Quake and CS:GO gaming, due to the blur reduction & easier tracking for quicker headshots.

There's often a smidgen more input lag caused by blur reduction backlight strobing (LightBoost and BR) and I've measured that the Z-series blur reduction has about a millisecond less input lag than the older LightBoost does (this can explain better scores too...) to the point where the easier tracking and faster reaction human times allowed by clearer motion, out-compensates the strobe lag (~3ms average) -- depending on your gameplay styles. Competitive gamers that track a lot (moving eyes away from crosshairs) benefit a lot more from strobe modes.

[flood]

i dont understand how strobing could affect reaction times at all

if you're tracking with your eyes, you're already too slow...