BenQ GW2760HS Review

Verdict

Pros

• Flicker-free backlight reduces eye strain
• Excellent contrast and brightness
• Good colour production

Cons

• So-so uniformity across screen
• Low-resolution at large size

What is the BenQ GW2760HS?

If you didn’t know otherwise you’d assume the BenQ GW2760HS was a straightforward 27-inch monitor, and in most respects it is. With DVI, HDMI and VGA connections and no adjustments worth speaking of, it lacks many thrills. What is has, however, is a ‘flicker-free’ backlight that promises to reduce eye-fatigue.

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BenQ GW2760HS – Design & Features

Let’s deal with the flicker-free claims first. At issue is a technique called Pulse-Width-Modulation (PWM). This is one of the traditional means of controlling a screen’s brightness (aka luminance), and involves the backlight cycling on and off very rapidly.

The advent of very bright LED backlit displays, which can cycle far faster than old-school CCFL backlit monitors, has led to PWM becoming far more noticeable, and led to more complaints of eye-fatigue.

To combat this BenQ has developed a new method of controlling brightness that doesn’t use PWM, and so doesn’t flicker. This should, in theory, result in less eye-strain. It’s difficult to test its impact without more scientific testing that we simply can’t replicate, but the principal is sound and it makes the BenQ GW2760HS a good option if you suffer from eye-fatigue more than most.

That’s the BenQ GW2760HS’s key feature, then, but elsewhere it’s a fairly basic monitor. It has an AMVA panel – a step down from the much-fabled IPS-based LCD panels but a serious step-up from budget TN panels – with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. It’s not a great resolution for such a large screen, but at £215 it’s not a cause for fair complaint.

It has DVI, HDMI and VGA connections, and there are built-in speakers and a headphone jack, too. The speakers aren’t much use, but it’s good to have a headphone jack so you can use seperate PC speakers or headphones instead.

There’s no pivot and height adjustment, just tilt. The size means it sits at a decent height for most desks, however, and the anti-glare finish acts just as described. The glossy black plastic design is unremarkable, but inoffensive, but the slim bezel is a plus.  

BenQ GW2760HS – Setup

Like most modern monitors, the BenQ GW2760HS requires a little assembly. There are two screws you need to tighten to fasten the monitor and stand together, but it’s no great trial.

More irksome are the menu controls tucked behind the front edge. Even with the small dots at the front for guidance, they’re fiddly to use, but the attractive, smartly designed menus ease the pain.

There’s plenty to tweak, too, with five levels of gamma correction and three levels of overdrive (response time) joining the usual suspects. There are three colour temperature presets, Reddish, Normal and Blueish, and a user mode.