The BenQ V2400 Eco 24in monitor is one of the first monitors to include LED backlighting, the same technology used in the latest televisions. Though LED backlighting results in a brighter screen that uses less power, the monitor's performance in other areas is similar to many current LCD monitors — and the V2400 Eco has a hefty price tag attached.
BenQ and other manufacturers classify LED-backlit LCD's as LED monitors, but the fact remains that they are still LCD monitors — just with different backlighting. LED backlighting has a number of advantages over the typical LCD backlight, including the ability to create slimmer designs, a lack of mercury and lower power consumption. LED-backlit screens also offer increased brightness and better contrast.
Aside from its LED backlighting, the BenQ V2400 Eco LED monitor has plenty of green features, hence the "Eco" in its name. The plain white plastic casing is made from 28 per cent recycled plastic and meets EPEAT standards, and BenQ claims packing material has been reduced. The company has made use of recycled materials in the packaging and documentation, and claims to have used 80 per cent less paper and 70 per cent less ink.
The recycled plastic bezel of the V2400 Eco LED monitor is very plain, with no glossy parts or stylish features. That being said, we feel it looks smart, if a little boring. The matte bezel doesn't reflect light, making it ideal for an office environment, and the monitor feels solid and sturdy, though the screen wobbles on the stand a bit more than we liked. A strange design inclusion is round recess on the base. It has an optional business card holder that looks a little like plastic grass. The BenQ V2400 Eco is wall mountable using a standard VESA mount, but has limited adjustability — it tilts up and down, but doesn't rotate or swivel.
The BenQ V2400 Eco is a Full HD monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080, so it may appeal to those who own an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 gaming console. Unfortunately, the V2400 Eco lacks a DVI connection which will restrict its dual-use as a PC and gaming monitor. It has single HDMI and D-sub (VGA) ports.
The monitor has fairly standard specifications — a 1000:1 static contrast ratio, 250 cd/m2 brightness and a 5ms response time. We used DisplayMate to put the monitor through a series of tests and found a few issues. In the intensity range test blacks appeared less bright in the centre of the screen, while the BenQ V2400 Eco struggled to distinguish between blacks at the low end of the scale. It is excellent at reproducing colours, though, and text is sharp and clear with no visible aberrations. In addition to the four picture presets (standard, movie, game and photo), the BenQ V2400 Eco has a power-saving eco setting.
For fast motion and gaming tests, we connected the BenQ V2400 Eco LED monitor to a PlayStation 3 via HDMI. We were particularly impressed with the smooth motion during games and found no visible ghosting. The V2400 Eco's performance during Blu-ray playback was also excellent, though it tended to slightly over-saturate skin tones in close-up scenes. The LED backlighting means brightness can be excessive and your eyes will take time to adjust — we had to set it lower than usual for the viewing experience to remain comfortable.
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