BenQ G900W LCD Monitor

A widescreen LCD monitor.. once you start to use widescreen monitors, there's no turning back...

Rated Technical Specs

Source: BenQ Malaysia G900W Spec

Screen Size: 19"

Colour: Silver (non-glossy)

Max Screen Resolution: 1440 x 900 (WXGA+)

Pixel Pitch: 0.283

Brightness: 300 cd/m2

Contrast Ratio: 800 : 1

Response Time: 5 ms

Display Area: 408.2 x 255.1 (mm)

Display Colours: 16.7 million

Viewing Angle: 160 horizontal / 160 vertical

Input Signal: DVI-D or Analog

Horizontal Frequency: 31 - 83

Vertical Frequency: 55 - 76

Video Bandwitdh: 25 - 135

Colour Temperature: Reddish/Normal/Bluish + User mode

Maximum Power Consumption: 40W

Adjustments: Tilt -5/20 (down/up)

Dimentions: 441.3 x 365.7 x 165mm

Weight: 3.73kg

Standard Accesories: VGA cable. Power Cable

Regulation Compliance: TCO'03

Extra Features:

Vista Premiuem Certification

72% Colour Gamut

Kesington Lock

VESA wall mounging (100mm x 100mm)

Initial Opinions

I bought this monitor, priced at RM559.00 from the PIKOM PC Fair on 5th April 2008. While surveying and comparing, there were 2 other potential LCD monitors, (both 19") which are almost equally priced and had roughly the same rated specifications; Acer X193W (RM560+) and Viewsonic Q19WB (RM559). Comparing this silver monitor with any black coloured LCD monitors, the silver finish gives monitor a bigger look. Well, black does look cool and stylish. Anyway, after inspecting the demo monitor on display, I found out that the overall apperances looks fine except for the fonts which looks blury. The reason for the blury fonts is explained in the next section.

After Purchasing

Opening the Box

These were inside the box:

1. 19" LCD monitor with a detachable VGA analog cable.
2. The monitor stand
3. A 250V, 2-pin power cord

The 19" LCD Monitor

The total package

The VGA cable, power cord and stand

(click image to enlarge)

Do note that DVI-D cable is not provided. You will have to buy it yourself. You will have to use DVI-D cables only. There are two variation of DVI-D cables: DVI-D single and DVI-D dual. This monitor works well with DVI-D single while DVI-D dual cables are for much higher resolution. If you cant find any DVI-D single cables, i think the latter option may match the monitor as well. The extra pins would be redundant and wont be used by the monitor but it will still be a matching connector. On the other hand, other types of DVI cables will not fit the monitor, so becareful when purchasing the cables! For more info and diagrams about DVI cables, please visit wikipedia.

Display

There are 5 display modes available:

• Standard = redish colour temperature, blurry words at 1440 x 900
• sRGB = redish colour temperature, clear words
• Photo = bluish colour temperature, clear words
• Dynamics = bluish colour temperature, clear words
• Movie mode = bluish colour temperature, clear words

Standard display mode has a redish colour temperature but blury fonts so it is not suitable for any reading/typing tasks. All of the other modes have clear fonts. sRGB mode also has a redish colour temperature but personally, I prefer a bluish colour temperature (Photo, Dynamics or Movie).

The brightness and contrast setting needs to be fine-tuned according to the viewer's preferences. For me, I set the brightness to 50 and contrast to 54. Brighter or higher contrast on a white background would strain the viewer's eyes after a while.

When I was using my CRT monitor, I had a really bad sun-light reflection early in the morning. After switching to the LCD, this problem went away. I'm not sure if there's an anti-reflective coating but it is sure a welcome benefit to anyone with similar problem.

Physical Structure

The stand is quite stable but since my computer table is made out of metal rods (meant for CRTs), I did not have a safe platform for the new monitor. So I got some plastic cable ties and secured it to the metal rods. Initially, the silver outlook does look unattractive in the PC Fair but after it got onto my table, then it looks pretty cool. All of the buttons are located at the bottom and are user-friendly.

The monitor secured to the rods with plastic cable ties.

(click image to enlarge)

Other Pictures

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