Benq VW2245 LED Monitor. Review on Benq VW2245

I had purchased this monitor a week ago and writing this review after using it for 2 days. My Old monitor is a Dell IN1920 LCD monitor which served me for 5+ years and it is a very good affordable monitor with a good build quality.

Now coming to this monitor, before purchasing this, I was researching what type of LED/LCD monitor should I buy as there are 3 types of monitors

1) Twisted Nematic panel -- TN

2) Vertical Alignment panel -- VA

3) Inplane switching panel -- IPS

In short, TN panels are very good for gaming as they are fast with low response time and no color shifting and ghost images problem but suffer with poor viewing angles, poor color saturation and washed out colors.

VA panels are bit slow when compared to TN panels, but are very good with color saturation, good viewing angles and good blacks. More suitable for photographic works and but within budget.

IPS panels are the highest quality with very rich color saturations and perfect colors and very good viewing angles. Used for professional works like high end photographic works, video editings etc but are expensive (starts around Rs.7000+ and above)

So without simply going with the well known brands like LG and Samsung i pushed a bit if there are any other brands. Most shop vendors do not know the difference between the panel types used in monitors and they simply say that a particular xyz brand is good. But yes if you ask for an expensive monitor they show you the IPS panel monitors.

While buying I had put the following priorities myself

a) Should be minimum 20 inch size

b) Should have both VGA and DVI ports

c) No TN Panel based monitors

d) A budget of Rs.6000/- only

My previous Dell IN1920 is a TN panel based one and suffered with the poor color saturation problem. The colors always appeared to be washed out. So I had decided not to buy a TN panel based monitor again.

After a lot of searching, the only available monitor with the defined priorities is this one -- Benq VW2245 (VA Panel). Purchased this monitor from Flipkart for Rs.5849/-

Pros:

1) 22 inches (21.5 viewable)

2) Very Slim

3) Good color saturation. Blacks appear as blacks but not as dark greys

4) Good viewing angles

5) Light weight -- 2.74 kgs

6) Prebuilt picture modes like Reading, Movie, Gaming etc. in the monitor menu

7) VGA and DVI-D ports

8) External power adapter so that the monitor does not get hot and helps in increasing the life time of the monitor

9) Does not get even mild warm even after using it for 4 hours continuously

10) Low blue light

11) Flicker free

12) Competitively priced for a VA panel monitor

13) Tilt adjustable

14) Very good for people who care about color saturation and color quality

15) The monitor power LED was given on the side panel so that it will not disturb you when you are working in a dark room or in a room with the lights switched off

Cons:

1) Build quality not as good as Dell. But still not bad.

2) Flimsy stand. Not very firm but works if you do not move the monitor more often

3) The packing carton box was not strong enough

4) Though the monitor had a DVI port also, no DVI cable was supplied. Only VGA cable is given

5) No led for the power adapter

6) Glossy screen. More prone to fingerprints

7) A bit low response time -- 6 ms

I recommend this monitor for people who does not want a TN panel monitor and give more preference for color saturation and good blacks. Color saturation is definitely good in this monitor at the given budget. I will not compare with the more professional monitors but still does a good job for the defined budget.

Note that this monitor is not for professional gamers as the response time is a bit slow when compared to TN panel monitors (5 ms).

It is good and recommended for people looking for a VA panel based monitor within a limited budget.