Eizo FG2421 vs BenQ XL2420Z

[srsbsns]

Hello all,

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I could not find search results. I'm considering returning my BenQ XL2420Z for the Eizo FG2421. This is due to a few reasons. Even after calibration the colors and black levels are quit poor. I knew coming into this they would but I'm coming from an overclocked 60hz TN panel that looks better. Quite a disappointment there. The other issue is the blur reduction bug that apparently cant be fixed without purchasing a device to flash firmware. That is if BenQ will provide it.

Now with why I want the Eizo and my concerns...

Price aside I would love to have strong contrast and black levels. I've not owned a MVA panel before so the chance of getting great color and 120hz is really appealing.

I understand the Eizo is PWM flicker free at brightness of 20-100%. Does this mean it will have the clear motion of the XL2420TE\Z? I originally had the Asus VG248QE but returned it due to what was dubbed PWM artifacts. It just ruined 144hz for me. Example below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPfI7XYGch8

There has been some concern with cross hatching artifacts. I've not seen these before and have only read about them? Is this something I should really be concerned with or is it overblown? The OCD in me says yes.

How is the input lag in real life compared to the Asus or the BenQ? Hopefully somebody has tried them both.

I'm really not that too worried about the 240 turbo strobe effect. What it comes down to is I want the same kind of motion experience I get with the BenQ XL2420Z on 120/144 hz but with good color.

Will the Eizo FG2421 do it for me?

[Chief Blur Buster]

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I could not find search results. I'm considering returning my BenQ XL2420Z for the Eizo FG2421. This is due to a few reasons. Even after calibration the colors and black levels are quit poor. I knew coming into this they would but I'm coming from an overclocked 60hz TN panel that looks better. Quite a disappointment there. The other issue is the blur reduction bug that apparently cant be fixed without purchasing a device to flash firmware. That is if BenQ will provide it.

The new firmware makes a huge improvement to the flexibility of the blur reductdion, and you should ideally be able to return the monitor and get a replacement model. However, if you're still upset at BENQ.

Price aside I would love to have strong contrast and black levels. I've not owned a MVA panel before so the chance of getting great color and 120hz is really appealing.

I understand the Eizo is PWM flicker free at brightness of 20-100%. Does this mean it will have the clear motion of the XL2420TE\Z? I originally had the Asus VG248QE but returned it due to what was dubbed PWM artifacts. It just ruined 144hz for me. Example below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPfI7XYGch8

Yeah, that's PWM artifacts interfering with motion clarity (also illustrated in LCD Motion Artifacts 101). I don't see any of this artifact, even at under 20% with Eizo PWM because the Eizo PWM is high-frequency (far higher frequency than VG248QE). The PWM artifact mostly disappears for me at above >2KHz PWM.

There has been some concern with cross hatching artifacts. I've not seen these before and have only read about them? Is this something I should really be concerned with or is it overblown? The OCD in me says yes.

I don't see crosshatching artifacts on my monitor at arms length. There's some REALLY REALLY faint herringbone-style artifacts (the crosshatching) if I look closely in certain solid colors (from 10 inch away), but I can't see them at arm's length. I think there's a minor panel lottery factor involved too.

How is the input lag in real life compared to the Asus or the BenQ? Hopefully somebody has tried them both.

The measured input lag in strobe mode is 18ms, consistent with the TFTCentral test result. This compares to 11ms with LightBoost strobing.

For non-strobe, it's roughly ~11ms (EIZO) versus ~3ms (ASUS). For me, not a concern unless you are a top-end competitive gamer. This is lower input lag than a lot of 60Hz IPS LCD monitors. These are measurements from GPU output, to the top edge of the screen beginning to refresh.

I'm really not that too worried about the 240 turbo strobe effect. What it comes down to is I want the same kind of motion experience I get with the BenQ XL2420Z on 120/144 hz but with good color.

Among LCDs, this is the most CRT-colorful panel I've seen, if you don't mind 2ms persistence (similiar to LightBoost=70% or BENQ Blur Reduction but without the strobe crosstalk).

So far, of all the 4 strobe-backlight monitors, when strobe is enabled, the Eizo FG2421 is my favourite solo-gaming monitor, since I can get the LightBoost style zero motion blur effect, simultaneously with 10x the contrast ratio of LightBoost, and at least 2-3x the brightness of LightBoost. And very low strobe crosstalk once the panel is warmed up, even for top and bottom edges of screen. (VA panels are very temperature sensitive, so they will ghost a lot if they've just been turned on in a cold room.)

For Battlefield 4 and Crysis 3, I prefer the GSYNC monitor, because my system is not capable of running at framerates that look good during strobing. Also, for ultra-fast twitch, I definitely notice better motion clarity with either LightBoost=10% or the newer (fixed) BENQ Z-series firmware (at lower persistence settings). In my opinion, if you wanted the "best of both worlds" combining LightBoost with the best colors available, I haven't yet seen anything better than the Eizo FG2421.

Now if you don't care about strobe backlights, another option is an overclockable 1440p IPS/PLS monitor.

[SandroX]

Chief Blur Buster, when review of Eizo FG2421 will be available? Eizo FG2421 is finally available in my country and I want to know if really this monitor is worthy to buy. And answer on this question I hoped to find in your review.

Thanks.

[srsbsns]

Thanks Chief! As long as I haven't been ruined by the response time of the BenQ I think the Eizo might be a keeper. We will find out when its delivered on Tuesday.

One last question. I understand this is a 8 bit panel + FRC. Does that mean it can accept 10 bit input? If so will my 7970 cards be limiting the pallet?

[ballen123]

Thanks Chief! As long as I haven't been ruined by the response time of the BenQ I think the Eizo might be a keeper. We will find out when its delivered on Tuesday.

One last question. I understand this is a 8 bit panel + FRC. Does that mean it can accept 10 bit input? If so will my 7970 cards be limiting the pallet?

DO you like your new Eizo?

[srsbsns]

Thanks Chief! As long as I haven't been ruined by the response time of the BenQ I think the Eizo might be a keeper. We will find out when its delivered on Tuesday.

One last question. I understand this is a 8 bit panel + FRC. Does that mean it can accept 10 bit input? If so will my 7970 cards be limiting the pallet?

DO you like your new Eizo?

Yes and no

Its exactly what I thought it would be. The contrast and colors are top notch. Everything just really pops. The motion is great but not as good as the XL2420Z. I would have to admit I'm a little spoiled from the response time of the BenQ. I would say if I can get a good one its a keeper. When playing FPS games It takes a little longer to focus on a distant target after panning. Think of a good 60hz monitor's blur but with 120hz refresh. Maybe im wrong but that is the only way I can describe it. I'll just have to use the turbo 240 or get used to the extra blur from 120hz. Slight amount of input lag. Its just to the point where you can feel it but its not causing any problems.

This FG2421 is going back though. It arrived with a group of dead pixels in the top right corner. It also had unacceptable bleeding on the right and side. That same area on the right had some odd uniformity issues.

[ballen123]

Thanks your your reply. Which one do you like the best for FPS-games. 240hz turbo or Benqs antiblur?

[srsbsns]

Thanks your your reply. Which one do you like the best for FPS-games. 240hz turbo or Benqs antiblur?

BenQ motion blur glitch aside I still think the FG2421 's Turbo 240 is much better than Blur Reduction.

Turbo 240> BenQ 144hz > Eizo 120hz > BenQ Blur Reduction.

[Haste]

Thanks your your reply. Which one do you like the best for FPS-games. 240hz turbo or Benqs antiblur?

BenQ motion blur glitch aside I still think the FG2421 's Turbo 240 is much better than Blur Reduction.

Turbo 240> BenQ 144hz > Eizo 120hz > BenQ Blur Reduction.

Given the info I gathered thanks to this site. I would have imagined that in terms of motion performances the order would rather go like this:

BenQ Blur Reduction.> Turbo 240> BenQ 144hz > Eizo 120hz

-Since Benq's strobes one time per refresh vs Turbo240 strobbing 2 times per refresh. (which is producing the double image effect)

-Since Benq's can go as low as 0.5 millisecond persistence.

-And since BenQ's refreshes at 144Hz vs Turbo240 at 120Hz.

But I would prefer to make an opinion based on actual measurements (subtle hint to Mark for a new article ) rather than on subjective comments.

[Chief Blur Buster]

Given the info I gathered thanks to this site. I would have imagined that in terms of motion performances the order would rather go like this:

Depends on what variables you measure.

When I play Bioshock Infinite -- guess which monitor I use?
I move my BENQ XL2720Z to the other table, and push the my ASUS GSYNC monitor to the side, and put the Eizo FG2421 in its place. Although it uses a medium-persistence strobe with a very minor (annoying) double-strobe, the deliciously saturated 5000:1 color out-saturates LightBoosts' 500:1 contrast ratio by an order of magnitude more colorfulness, darker blacks, with a brighter image of >200cd/m2 during strobe-mode. I find solo games, 120fps@120Hz massively more enjoyable. Yes, the FG2421 would be EVEN better if the dumb double-strobe wasn't there, and I could adjust the persistence of the main strobe. But at the end of the day, the combination of brightness+colorfulness+contrast+strobing wins out. I have to send the FG2421 back soon (it's a loaner), but I will likely be personally buying it, at least as a strobed VA example to compare against.

Now, if you want low persistence and low input lag, the FG2421 gets moved to the side, and I'm putting my ASUS GSYNC monitor or my BENQ XL2720Z back into its place.

(subtle hint to Mark for a new article )

Definitely. The BENQ controversy has distracted me quite a bit, and the sudden arrival of GSYNC in December did delay things. But I've got the long-overdue EIZO FG2421 review 75% complete now (finally!). It will be even better had I released the BENQ XL2720Z review too, but that's still on hold until the newer-firmware is in ambundance.