FP92E

Something of a middle-ground monitor, the BenQ FP92E 19in LCD has no serious flaws, but has no dazzling attributes at the same time. Neither the quoted 8ms pixel response time or the 16.2M colour display suggest this screen is aimed at any specific market. Gamers tend to prefer sub-4ms response times, while anyone who requires precise colour reproduction for tasks like photo editing will want better colour handling than this 6-bit panel can provide. Even though it hasn't been tailored to any specific market, the FP92E mustered a reasonable image in most of our tests, though a slightly more modest price tag than $699 would definitely make it more appealing.

Although the claimed 8ms pixel response time may not have gamers banging down the door to buy this LCD, very little ghosting (a blur or trail behind moving objects) was visible in our tests. We also tested the in-game motion capabilities using FEAR and saw no obvious blur. Gamma correction would have furthered the gaming potential of this display, but unfortunately it is not available in the presets.

Individual RGB colour adjustment is a nice feature for anyone looking for colour accuracy, but with only 16.2M colours available, those interested in accurate colour reproduction should steer clear of this (and any other 6-bit) monitor. That said, dithering has been well implemented, providing relatively smooth transitions in our 256-colour ramp tests and only slight stepping between shades. BenQ claims a contrast ratio of 550:1, but bleaching was clearly visible towards the high and low ends of the scale, causing shallow tonal differences to be lost, regardless of user adjustment. Screen uniformity is also unremarkable, with poor backlight diffusion causing noticeable banding in flat areas of colour, along with light fall-off in the corners.

Horizontal viewing angles are good, though the quoted vertical viewing angles of 140/135 degrees are a little narrow. Two speakers below the screen produce a fairly basic sound, akin to notebook speakers, but a headphone jack is a nice touch if you don't want to run your cable around to the back of your PC. The stand lacks height adjustment and sits a little low, but rudimentary cable management (a cable clip) has been supplied. An easily detachable panel reveals the 75mm wall mount. Both DVI and VGA inputs are available, but no input toggle switch button is present, which would have been handy for those who want to simultaneously connect two systems (a desktop and notebook PC, for example) and switch between them.