XL2420Z v2 UK availability?

[tarr0]

Hi

First off thanks to whoever is involved in creating Blur Busters, the blog/forums/motion tests are all awesome

I've been reading the blog for a little while but I just registered on the forums, I had a quick browse but couldn't really find any solid info on the availability of the XL2420Z (v2) in the UK.

I'm tempted to buy from the Benq online store, as they have the XL2420Z in stock now but I'm not sure I'll get a v2 monitor if I buy from them directly? link

Amazon.co.uk seems to be expecting stock in "2-4 weeks" and I was wondering if this new batch could be running the v2 software? link

I'd use the monitor for competitive and casual gaming and the Benq Blur Reduction is what's tempted me to finally upgrade. I'm currently using a second hand IBM P76 CRT (1024x768@100HZ)

[Chief Blur Buster]

You may want to ask your regional BENQ and ask about the status of Version 2 monitors.
Currently, it's very hard to predict whether a monitor that ships from Amazon is a V2 unit.
It may take several weeks to several months, depending on country.

On the other hand if you don't want to wait, you could also simply be prepared to do the upgrade yourself:
1. Purchase an XL2411Z from Amazon or XL2420Z from Amazon
2. Purchase an MSTAR ISP (found in upgrade instructions)
3. Manually upgrade to V2 firmware using these instructions)

I have heard a report from a BENQ customer that XL2411Z's from Amazon Canada (via units fulfilled via Amazon rather than other sub-vendors) are now already getting V2 firmware, but this is not 100% confirmed yet.

[tarr0]

Oh yeah good point, ok I've sent Benq UK a message so we'll see what they say. I'll update the thread if they say something useful.

As for the DIY route, I think I'd rather wait for an official version than do the upgrade myself. I don't have the tools/money at the moment, although I may go that route if I get impatient

[tarr0]

For anyone interested this is what Benq Europe had to say:

The version 2 software will be implemented in production line from March, therefore it will pass a couple of months before the monitors with the version 2 software will be released for sale.

Looks like we won't be able to directly buy a version 2 monitor in Europe until May unfortunately.

[Haste]

For anyone interested this is what Benq Europe had to say:

The version 2 software will be implemented in production line from March, therefore it will pass a couple of months before the monitors with the version 2 software will be released for sale.

Looks like we won't be able to directly buy a version 2 monitor in Europe until May unfortunately.

Well too bad BenQ. I'll wait for the ASUS ROG SWIFT.

Why must Europe always gets things months later.

[tarr0]

Sorry for bump but just thought I'd do an update for anyone interested.

I purchased the xl2420z from amazon UK a few days ago and it arrived yesterday.

It's running V1 firmware, more specifically "V001-20131126". The manufacture date is January 2014.

Considering BenQ said V2 will be implemented into production from March I assume V2 wont be available from Amazon UK until June. I say this because it's April atm and I received a monitor manufactured in January (3 month difference), so I'm guessing monitors manufactured in March wont be available until June.

My experience with the monitor and with blur reduction in particular are unimpressive SO FAR. I plan on updating the monitor to V2 firmware as I'm certain Bbusters strobe utility makes a significant improvement after reading other peoples experience with it.

However these are my thoughts so far:

Using Bbusters moving photo test there is quite an obvious ghost image a couple millimeters behind the main image with blur reduction ON, i'm guessing this is strobe crosstalk. To be honest it's so bad in games I don't see any point in turning blur reduction on. Maybe my monitor was configured poorly but it does feel like Benq didn't even bother trying to configure this feature properly. Alternatively I could just be particularly sensitive to the crosstalk as my previous monitor was an IBM P76 (CRT) running at 100Hz and anyone who has used a 100Hz CRT before will know how fluid it looks.

Although blur reduction looks different when on and off, the end result of both is about the same when it comes to image clarity. Personally i prefer the slight blurriness of 144Hz+blur reduction OFF compared to the persistent ghost image caused by blur reduction ON.

Currently I don't see any options in the OSD to try and improve the strobe crosstalk, but hopefully once I've upgraded the monitor to V2 firmware I'll be able to configure the blur reduction to make up for this poor optimization by default.

Anyway apart from all this blur reduction + V1/V2 firmware malarkey the monitor is pretty much awesome Everything else seems to have been really well thought out, I love the adjustability the monitor stand gives you and the 144Hz panel on its own is great once you play around with the colours and add an ICC profile. The monitor itself looks great too and has more ports than I'll ever need.

Overall I'm happy with the monitor and hopefully it gets even better after upgrading to V2 firmware and trying blur busters strobe utility