BenQ G2420HD Product Review

I changed my current monitor recently and, after much reading of other people's reviews, I decided to go with the BenQ G2420HD.

The first thing that you notice when you take the G2420HD out of its box is that it comes in two pieces. This makes it really easy to lift out of the box - you simply place the stand on your desk then clip the screen on to it. I was actually amazed at how easily the screen clipped into place and how secure it was afterwards.

Although the stand doesn't offer the full range of movement you might find on other monitors, it can be tilted -5° / +20°. There's also no denying that the stand itself does looks sleek and stylish and matches the screen perfectly.

Once you've got it set up you'll see that despite the large screen size, BenQ have managed to surround the panel with a very slim, piano black bezel and back.

The bezel and fascia are kept very clean, with only a BenQ logo in the bottom left and an LED at the bottom right. In order to achieve this clean fascia, BenQ have positioned all the buttons to the bottom right hand corner of the screen giving the screen it's distinctive shape.

Looking at the rear of the BenQ G2420HD reveals a HDCP compliant DVI-D and HDMI port, so you'll have no problem hooking up a games console, Blu-ray or HD DVD player, or like I did, a Sky HD box. There's also an analogue D-Sub port.

With a resolution of 1920x1080, I was getting the full benefit of the 1080i signal of the Sky box's output and I have to say that the image looked superb. Playing back some Premiership football footage proved suitably breathtaking, with the pitch looking amazingly green and lifelike, while the vivid colours on the players' shirts were superbly resolved without being oversaturated.

This monitor is just great for high definition consoles like the Xbox 360 or Sony PS3 too, connect either device and you'll soon realise how good it is to play games at such a high resolution.

Despite the fact that HDMI carries digital audio as well as video, the BenQ G2420HD doesn't have any integrated speakers. I don't see this as a big issue though, since integrated speakers are usually pretty poor.

The BenQ G2420HD does a good job of picking out detail in low light scenes, while blacks managed to look, well, black rather than grey. The 1000:1 contrast ratio is pretty good for what is, essentially a desktop monitor rather than a TV, and the results show that BenQ are being very honest with their specifications.

In the box you'll find a D-SUB cable, a quick start guide and a full user manual on disc. There's no HDMI cable provided, but to be fair to BenQ, I'd expect to get one of these with a source device, as I did with my Sky HD box.

Summing up, if you're after a 24in widescreen monitor, the BenQ G2420HD is the one to buy.

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