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Reviews<br />
£120 inc VAT<br />
FlaT-panel dIsplay<br />
BenQ GW2406Z<br />
Buy from<br />
• tinyurl.com/msmyd9x<br />
Specifications<br />
24in (1920x1080, 92ppi) TN<br />
matte display; 16:9 aspect<br />
ratio; 60Hz refresh rate;<br />
14ms response time;<br />
250cd/m 2 quoted<br />
brightness; 240.6cd/m 2<br />
tested brightness; 1000:1<br />
static contract ratio: 1000:1;<br />
750:1 tested contrast ratio:<br />
750:1; 98 percent tested<br />
sRGB; 77 percent tested<br />
AdobeRGB; 1.98 tested<br />
Delta E; DisplayPort; HDMI;<br />
VGA; headphone out;<br />
540x495x230mm<br />
(including stand);<br />
100x100mm VESA mount;<br />
3.3kg; 2-year warranty<br />
Build:<br />
Features:<br />
Value:<br />
Performance:<br />
In recent years, aOC has<br />
been the go-to brand if<br />
you wanted a cheap Ips<br />
pC monitor. But other<br />
manufacturers have been<br />
quick to release their own<br />
models, and BenQ’s new<br />
GW2406Z should prove<br />
tempting at just £120.<br />
Design<br />
The GW2406Z isn’t aimed<br />
at gamers specifically – Ips<br />
screens don’t have the fast<br />
response rates of Tn panels.<br />
But for casual gamers it<br />
will be fine. Instead, this<br />
is a ‘general use’ screen<br />
that’s going after those that want a<br />
good-looking monitor and the kind<br />
of ultra-thin bezels we’re starting<br />
to see on laptops. note that the<br />
display itself doesn’t go right to the<br />
edge of the panel, but stops a few<br />
millimetres before it, so the total<br />
bezel width is around 10mm, but<br />
has the appearance of 5mm.<br />
This thinning down appears to<br />
have just one drawback: the power<br />
supply is external. But it’s a minor<br />
inconvenience if you can hide it<br />
out of sight somewhere under your<br />
desk. at this price you wouldn’t<br />
expect a fully adjustable stand, and<br />
you don’t get one. The screen tilts<br />
up and down, but that’s it.<br />
It does have three inputs:<br />
displayport 1.2, HdMI 1.4 and VGa<br />
d-sub. There’s a headphone output<br />
that routes audio from the HdMI or<br />
displayport inputs, but there are<br />
no built-in speakers. VGa and HdMI<br />
cables are bundled in the box.<br />
The 24in panel has the expected<br />
1920x1080 full-Hd resolution, but<br />
BenQ lists it as an aH-Ips panel.<br />
This stands for advanced Highperformance<br />
Ips, but essentially it<br />
is the same as other Ips screens.<br />
you won’t find many image<br />
controls in the on-screen menu, such<br />
as gamma or colour temperature<br />
presets, but the essentials are there.<br />
Using the Osd is a pain because, as<br />
with so many monitors, the button<br />
labels are almost invisible. and the<br />
five buttons in the bottom edge all<br />
feel the same to your fingers, so<br />
it’s all too easy to press the power<br />
button instead of the menu button.<br />
Performance<br />
Considering the price, image<br />
quality is decent. attaching our<br />
spyder5elite colorimeter, we<br />
measured a maximum brightness<br />
of 240.6cm/m 2 and contrast of<br />
750:1 (lower than the claimed<br />
250cd/m 2 and 1000:1), but at least<br />
contrast remained the same no<br />
matter the brightness level.<br />
at the recommended brightness<br />
of 120cm/m 2 , the black level of<br />
0.25cd/m 2 isn’t amazingly inky<br />
but – again, for the price – it’s<br />
perfectly workable.<br />
The average delta e of 1.92 is<br />
towards the higher end of what we<br />
like to see, but in general colours<br />
and greyscale are accurate.<br />
Using the spyder to calibrate<br />
the screen we saw a final gamma<br />
of 2.26, which is fairly close to the<br />
ideal of 2.2. But the out of the box<br />
settings are not far off that, so you<br />
won’t necessarily need a calibrator.<br />
The 2406Z covers 98 percent<br />
of the sRGB gamut, 77 percent of<br />
adobe RGB and 74 percent of nTsC.<br />
This, along with the reasonably<br />
accurate out-of-box colours, means<br />
it’s a good budget choice for editing<br />
photos and colour-correcting video,<br />
although not if this needs to be<br />
done to professional standards.<br />
Contrast is good enough, and<br />
thanks to the Ips panel, viewing<br />
angles are very good both<br />
horizontally and vertically.<br />
What this means is that, unlike<br />
cheap Tn monitors, you won’t<br />
be tilting the screen back and<br />
forward to try to figure out which<br />
emails are read and unread – the<br />
subtly different shades are easily<br />
discernible on the BenQ. It also<br />
means minimal colour shift and<br />
brightness drop-off if you’re not<br />
viewing the display square on. But<br />
if you like to play a lot of fast-paced<br />
games, you might be better off with<br />
the similarly-priced aOC G2460VQ6,<br />
which has a 75Hz Tn panel.<br />
Verdict<br />
If you’re after a monitor with good<br />
colours and contrast, but aren’t<br />
bothered about fast response times<br />
for gaming, the GW2406Z is a great<br />
budget choice. J Jim Martin<br />
58 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews <strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong>
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