BenQ's new display doesn't invite peeking from outsiders

By Jon Martindale November 10, 2016

If you don’t mind looking like you’re a bit paranoid about others peeking at what’s on your display screen, BenQ’s new ZOWIE XL2540 24.5-inch display has a lot going for it. Apart from its 1080p resolution, it has rather advanced specifications, with a 240Hz refresh rate, a very fast response time, and even some additional tweaks to give you the edge in an eSports environment.

This TN panel display has rather a unique look, with light-shielding screens on the left and right to prevent outside lighting from impacting game visuals — perhaps of particular use in public play situations where spotlights may be in use. Physically it’s rather angular, but has a solid base and an unremarkable bezel. It certainly isn’t an uber-lean display, but is instead a bit chunky.

BenQ’s big eSports features are certainly a little different. Its Black eQualizer technology increases brightness in dark areas, without over-saturating the brighter ones. That feels a little like cheating to us and would surely affect immersion in certain non-competitive environments, but to each their own.

It also comes with a small external controller puck which has a number of built-in settings. With it you can quickly activate different screen settings, to improve contrast or color depth.

Its raw specifications are pretty strong for gaming, too. Although it may only feature a 1080p resolution display, it can operate at up to 240Hz refresh rate and the response time is as low as 1ms. Brightness is rated at 400 cd/m2 and it has a 1,000:1 contrast ratio. One feature it does lack, however, is any form of frame syncing technology — so it’s no good for fans of G-Sync, FreeSync or Adaptive Sync.

In terms of connectivity, it offers a single DisplayPort 1.2, an HDMI and DVI-DL, and a trio of USB ports in a built-in hub.

As it stands BenQ hasn’t let on when we might see this monitor on digital store shelves, nor do we know what the price will be. However we’re told (thanks Anandtech) that we’ll see the first demo units at trade shows towards the end of November, so it may not be too far from release.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing Coordinator

Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…

Computing

Quest Pro 2: What we know about Meta’s next premium VR headset

From a side view, you can see how glasses can be worn along with a Quest Pro.

While Meta’s Quest Pro is one of the best VR headsets available, it never reached its full potential as a laptop replacement for spatial computing. Meta hasn’t given up on making a work-centric solution, and rumors suggest a Meta Quest Pro 2 is still in development. Here’s what we know so far about Meta's answer to Apple's Vision Pro.
Meta Quest Pro 2 release date speculation
It’s difficult to make a solid prediction on when Meta will launch the Quest Pro 2. Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth made it clear in an Instagram AMA that Meta is continually prototyping new VR headsets to find out what’s possible with current technology. That gives Meta more flexibility than manufacturers that research for years before doing hardware testing.

If Meta is satisfied with the performance of the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 and LG can deliver enough micro-OLED displays, the Quest Pro 2 could arrive as early as this October at Meta Connect 2024.

Computing

Does RAM speed matter for PC performance?

Installing RAM sticks in a motherboard.

RAM is one of the primary components in a PC, and it's important that you have at least a certain amount of RAM depending on what you want to do with your PC. However, there are more things to RAM than just capacity: Frequency and latency are important considerations, too.

The question of whether RAM speed matters is especially important now that we have two generations of RAM available, both DDR4 and DDR5 -- and they have vastly different speeds. The official maximum clock speed for DDR4 was 3200MHz, while DDR5 starts at 4800MHz, an increase of 50%; however, you'll easily find RAM kits reaching above 7000MHz. Although latency significantly went up, from CL14 on most 3200MHz DDR4 kits to CL40 on most 4800MHz DDR5 kits, DDR5 is still found to be faster.

Computing

The 6 best 2-in-1 laptops for drawing in 2024

Portal RTX running on the Surface Laptop Studio 2.

Whether you're a seasoned professional or enjoy drawing as a hobby, investing in a 2-in-1 laptop is a great idea for all sorts of artists. Drawing on a laptop makes it easy to quickly share your creation with others, which is especially useful if you're doing it as a professional–negating the need to upload your pen-and-paper sketch to the computer before sending it to a client. Moreover, working on a laptop lets you undo mistakes, zoom in to better handle small details, and quickly change utensils.

There are a lot of perks to drawing on a 2-in-1 laptop, but not all of them are great for creators. Some have unresponsive displays that can't register all your movements, while others might have a lackluster resolution or color spectrum that turns most images into a muddled mess. Because of that, it can be hard figuring out which laptop is best for your needs. And if you'll be spending a good chunk of change on the laptop, you'll want to make sure you get it right.