BENQ XL2720Z 27" of goodness :) [Version 2 firmware is good]

[arm38]

I bought this monitor from BenQ the day it was available on the site. I have noticed this problem with my monitor as well. After contacting Customer Support, the gentlemen said they were working on a firmware update. I dont know how long that will take, but he said the options were to wait for the update, or send back the product for them to repair. I chose to wait. THe operator said to continue checking this site, as the update will hopefully be linked in this thread. He also said to keep calling and checking up. Hopefully they get a fix soon. If anyone becomes aware of the update, please post it for the rest of us!!!!

[GitDat]

I bought this monitor from BenQ the day it was available on the site. I have noticed this problem with my monitor as well. After contacting Customer Support, the gentlemen said they were working on a firmware update. I dont know how long that will take, but he said the options were to wait for the update, or send back the product for them to repair. I chose to wait. THe operator said to continue checking this site, as the update will hopefully be linked in this thread. He also said to keep calling and checking up. Hopefully they get a fix soon. If anyone becomes aware of the update, please post it for the rest of us!!!!

But we have no way of "easily" updating the firmware on the monitors ourselves even once they make the fixed firmware available. Unless they're going to ship out the tool to do it with as well. At least they're working on it, so that's a plus. How they're going to implement it, that's another question

[arm38]

BLEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Wasted money. Thanks BenQ

[LogicElite]

I bought this monitor from BenQ the day it was available on the site. I have noticed this problem with my monitor as well. After contacting Customer Support, the gentlemen said they were working on a firmware update. I dont know how long that will take, but he said the options were to wait for the update, or send back the product for them to repair. I chose to wait. THe operator said to continue checking this site, as the update will hopefully be linked in this thread. He also said to keep calling and checking up. Hopefully they get a fix soon. If anyone becomes aware of the update, please post it for the rest of us!!!!

But we have no way of "easily" updating the firmware on the monitors ourselves even once they make the fixed firmware available. Unless they're going to ship out the tool to do it with as well. At least they're working on it, so that's a plus. How they're going to implement it, that's another question

Stay positive guys, this monitor still great even if the blur motion isn't working properly.. they are working on a firmware and i'm sure that Chief won't let us in that situation. The worst case scenario is that we will need to order the mstar unit and do the upgrade by ourselves.. or send back the monitor to BENQ for an upgrade.

[Chief Blur Buster]

I bought this monitor from BenQ the day it was available on the site. I have noticed this problem with my monitor as well. After contacting Customer Support, the gentlemen said they were working on a firmware update. I dont know how long that will take, but he said the options were to wait for the update, or send back the product for them to repair. I chose to wait. THe operator said to continue checking this site, as the update will hopefully be linked in this thread. He also said to keep calling and checking up. Hopefully they get a fix soon. If anyone becomes aware of the update, please post it for the rest of us!!!!

That's a positive step: BENQ Customer Support is now aware of the problem.
And it's interesting BENQ referred you all to the Blur Busters Forums about this monitor...

I hated having to report this, because BENQ delightfully sent me an XL2720Z beta unit for me to try out, and I hate having had to report bad news. It causes Blur Busters to lose revenue because Blur Busters is funded by advertisements that sell monitors (including, possibly, the XL2720Z) so reporting on a "shipped bug", means I've made a conscious decision to hurt my revenue (that pays for operation of Blur Busters) as this site has to end up excluding advertising links to XL2720Z (e.g. Amazon links, etc), but I believe in letting people know about this problem -- it's the honest way to do it.

I like that BENQ actually listened to my suggestions & added a wide-range persistence adjustment. (~0.5ms through about 3-4ms). They are seriously interested in improving the motion blur problem (coming out with a 75Hz-capable strobe backlight that actually works in 1Hz increments all the way to 144Hz), and finally adding a persistence adjustment. Even though it isn't as ghost-free as ULMB/LightBoost, and may need some experimentation, they added a few really interesting semi-undocumented adjustments (based on my suggestion) that I've not seen in any other strobe-backlight display.

[GitDat]

You've given them awesome advice and good advertising. I wouldn't have know about BENQ if it wasn't for the Blur Busters site. If BENQ makes things right without cost to their customers then I think all will be mended. I'm really looking forward to the adjustable strobing for as bright a screen as possible.

A rep on Nvidia's Facebook page recommended me to your site when I mentioned comparisons of G-Sync and ULMB. He said that you really know your stuff. You are building a very good reputation in my opinion. You are leading the way on a motion blur-free revolution that has needed to occur since flat panel monitors were created I say good job to the Chief!

[masterotaku]

I like that BENQ actually listened to my suggestions & added a wide-range persistence adjustment. (~0.5ms through about 3-4ms). They are seriously interested in improving the motion blur problem (coming out with a 75Hz-capable strobe backlight that actually works in 1Hz increments all the way to 144Hz), and finally adding a persistence adjustment.

That's really good. 0.5ms strobing is like 2000fps at 2000Hz without strobing (but it will probably be too dim for everyone). But hey, it's optional. If I want to try it, I can use it.

Even though it isn't as ghost-free as ULMB/LightBoost

Quote from other thread: I can say, however ULMB has less ghosting (strobe crosstalk). The more you get closer from 75Hz->144Hz, the more ghosting occurs, since strobing works better at lower refresh rates with larger blanking intervals. So 144Hz strobing is not necessarily a panacea.

Oh, man, more compromises. Nothing is perfect . Ghosting when strobing... does that mean the strobe occurs sooner in the refresh or something? Maybe they tried to reduce input lag. But well, their firmware is still in beta. Maybe this ghosting can be reduced/solved.

Maybe you can convince Nvidia too about strobe length, for ULMB.

Edit: I've said "maybe" too many times. Maybe I need some more vocabulary .

[revnu]

....they added a few really interesting semi-undocumented adjustments (based on my suggestion) ......

HI,

Here in Germany the xl2720z is going to be released on last januaryweek. Normally my plan was to immediately grab one!!

But because of this bug I now want to wait (as this is a good idea on all new Hardware, because of fixes/new hardwarerevisions)

BUT.... I want, I want, I waaaant this monitor. So waiting is hard for me

How likely is it that the units going out, then released here, have that fixed already ? What do you think.....any new info on this ?

greetz revnu

[Chief Blur Buster]

That's really good. 0.5ms strobing is like 2000fps at 2000Hz without strobing (but it will probably be too dim for everyone). But hey, it's optional. If I want to try it, I can use it.

Yes, 0.5ms strobed has the same persistence as 2000Hz flickerfree.
(That's why low-persistence flickerfree/strobefree/phosphorfree don't exist on the consumer market; all are high-persistence)

Even though it isn't as ghost-free as ULMB/LightBoost

Quote from other thread: I can say, however ULMB has less ghosting (strobe crosstalk). The more you get closer from 75Hz->144Hz, the more ghosting occurs, since strobing works better at lower refresh rates with larger blanking intervals. So 144Hz strobing is not necessarily a panacea.

Oh, man, more compromises. Nothing is perfect . Ghosting when strobing... does that mean the strobe occurs sooner in the refresh or something? Maybe they tried to reduce input lag. But well, their firmware is still in beta. Maybe this ghosting can be reduced/solved.

All strobe backlights have it to a varying extent -- slight leakage of previous refresh cycle into the next refresh -- as LCD is not perfect at finishing transitioning perfectly completely before the next refresh cycle for all possible transitions. Sometimes it's less than 1%. Other times it's more like 5%. Less than that and it doesn't really bother during most gaming. But anything more than that, and the strobe crosstalk interferes with game enjoyment. I call it "strobe crosstalk" because it's roughly the same intensity as 3D crosstalk as a very faint double image chasing behind motion. Sometimes it is below human perceptible levels. Even on one of the best, the ASUS VG248QE and XL2411T, can become fully ghostfree to the human eye along the center band. Other strobe monitors, have more strobe crosstalk which can go down if you do some adjustments (e.g. lower contrast, increase blanking intervals, etc). The XL2720Z does not have automatic accelerated scan-out and blanking-interval lengthening techniques (that ULMB, LightBoost, and Turbo240 does). to let pixels settle between refreshes, so using ToastyX to do that (e.g. Vertical Total 1350 for 1080p@100Hz) helps reduce strobe crosstalk significantly. The good thing is that strobe crosstalk can be made quite low (at least for the all-important center band of the screen), after tweaking.

Strobe crosstalk is roughly as follows:

less strobe crosstalk (razor-sharp ghost images)
ASUS VG248QE/BENQ XL2411T (LightBoost / ULMB)
BENQ XL2420TE
ASUS VG278H (Contrast55%, dull but strobe crosstalk free)
BENQ XL2720T/ASUS VG278HE
BENQ XL2720Z(BENQ Blur Reduction, fixed firmware, ToastyX tweaked)
EIZO FG2421 (warmed up, most colorful strobed monitor)
ASUS VG278H (Contrast94%, more colorful)
BENQ XL2720Z(BENQ Blur Reduction, fixed firmware, not ToastyX tweaked)
EIZO FG2421 (cold)
BENQ XL2720Z(BENQ Blur Reduction, buggy firmware)
more strobe crosstalk (razor-sharp ghost images)

I have more than half of the above monitors sitting here, and have otherwise seen samples of others at other times. If strobe crosstalk bothers you so much above color issues, I highly recommend the VG248QE. If colors bothers you so much, I highly recommend the EIZO FG2421 as it's the most colorful, bright, contrasty, non-TN strobed 120Hz monitor (albiet with a smidgen more lag & panel need to be a warm temperature to be mostly ghost free).

I will be writing a detailed head-to-head among the strobe backlights this year, after a few reviews are published (e.g. the long-overdue FG2421 review).

[Chief Blur Buster]

A rep on Nvidia's Facebook page recommended me to your site when I mentioned comparisons of G-Sync and ULMB.

That's pretty cool to hear. Which rep was that?
I am not around on the other forums as much as I used to be, because I'm focussing more on this one (a lot easier).

He said that you really know your stuff. You are building a very good reputation in my opinion. You are leading the way on a motion blur-free revolution that has needed to occur since flat panel monitors were created I say good job to the Chief!

Thanks for the compliment.

Maybe you can convince Nvidia too about strobe length, for ULMB.

Who knows; I did successfully convince BENQ to add this adjustment (at least as a DDC/CI command).
It'll also be in XL2411Z's and XL2420Z's too by default.
It does seem Blur Busters has finally started influencing the manufacturers (at least a little).

I already messaged people at NVIDIA to attempt to persuade them about a strobe-length adjustment to ULMB. But you, fellow forum members, can also do your part to follow up anywhere else (e.g. NVIDIA forums, NVIDIA Facebook) and let them know you want a persistence adjustment (similiar to the LightBoost adjustment). The more they keep hearing about it, the more likely they'll at least add a simple DDC/CI command for adjustable strobe length. For those people who don't understand, just point them to http://www.blurbusters.com/lightboost/10vs50vs100 ... It's very subtle for some, but very important to some of us.

It is really a very simple engineering modification that takes only an hour of firmware engineer time -- to let the strobe length be programmable over DDC/CI.