BenQ E2200 HD

The E2200 HD as we have already mentioned is a full HD TN panel with a 16:9 resolution of 1920x1080, has a 5ms response time (2ms Grey to Grey) and has a contrast ratio of 1000:1 (DCR of 10,000:1). We tested the monitor after calibrating it with Displaymate. After this, we put it through its paces utilizing HD movies, Displaymate’s various sample tests and plain image viewing. Here are the results we got.

The performance of the E2200, were fairly neutral with regard to its brightness and contrast levels, unlike the aggressive performance that is often seen in this test. The color tests were not as good, however, with the monitor tending to slip towards cooler colors with a faint blue tinge that showed up everywhere. It required extensive calibration of the monitor, to tone this problem down and hence was an irritation. The grey levels of the monitor, were another trouble-spot, as it was fairly spiky and at a 60 percent setting showed incredible variance by spiking to 8000k leading to a fairly warped display and odd artifacts in places. The black levels of the monitor however were spot on and this came as a surprise seeing its jaggy performance in other areas.

Our next test was gaming and here the monitor again caused a few problems with older games. Thanks to its 16:9 resolution, a lot of older titles, which didn’t support this setup were handicapped as they had to be played at less than optimum resolutions. However a few modern day titles such as WoW: Wrath of the Lich King, COD-4 and Crysis Warhead had no issues with the monitor. There was no visible ghosting even in the most intense action scenarios. Our final test was to check out HD samples that were encoded to 16:9 aspect ratios. The lack of a black band here that one has gotten used to was a most welcome sight.

The E2200 HD is available for a market price of Rs. 12,800. At its price and its HD resolution it virtually stands out by itself. Though it’s hampered by uneven performance in certain areas, this can be alleviated to a great extent with a simple Displaymate tuning session. Once tuned, this monitor delivers on all fronts i.e. connectivity, image quality and good performance.

We recommend it without any reservations.