Supports everything I need for my Xbox One X
HDR 10
freesync
4K 60 FPS
1ms response time
The controls on the monitor kind of suck but I don’t mess with those anyways
BenQ 28 inch 4K HDR10 Monitor (EL2870U), UHD 3840x2160, FreeSync, 1ms Response Time, Eye-Care, Brightness Intelligence Plus, HDMI, DP, Built-in Speakers
-Update-
Something happened to the HDR, it suddenly stopped working and it looked like an old CRT with magnet damage. Let me know if anyone else had this issue but I returned it for now and got an LG 27uk650-w and I am very happy with it.
-Disclaimer-
First of all, the reviews on here are confusing as they are all grouped together, this is for the el2870u (28" 4k HDR). I have only used this for my Xbox One X and not PC (my PC is old and does not even have an HDMI output).
-1st Impression-
I bought this monitor for my new Xbox One X as it seemed to fit all the specs. My first impression is that the picture is very clear but also very bright. So bright in fact that the colors looked a little washed out until I calibrated the brightness and contrast as well as the other settings (which are posted at the end). With the proper settings, I was impressed by the color and contrast despite being a TN panel with LED backlighting.
-HDR-
Yes it supports HDR10, but not it is not true HDR. It is barely a third of the required brightness to qualify for true HDR but it still made most games look better. My biggest complaint is that when an HDR source is detected, it goes into either HDR or Cinema HDR mode and you cannot adjust any of the settings. Without an HDR source, these two modes emulate HDR but I advise avoiding them and just using your own custom settings.
On the Xbox One X, HDR was a hit or miss, most games looked great but some were washed out or too bright. There are some known HDR issues with certain games so I think that it is probably not the monitor's fault. Despite being not true HDR, the games with working HDR looked fantastic and noticeably better with it on.
-Construction-
I was a little surprised how heavy and solid it felt when I first took it out of the box. The stand is pretty sturdy and doesn't really wobble but it is not very customizable. All you can do is tilt it up and down but luckily it can be mounted to a 3rd party stand. The buttons are mounted on the bottom and also feel very sturdy. The bezels are pretty thick and not ideal for more than one monitor setups.
-Verdict-
Pretty good value for what you get: A very clear 4K picture, great color and pretty good contrast once the settings have been adjusted, and hit or miss HDR depending on the game. This is a solid 4 star monitor but I got it during a BenQ promotion for 15% off which put it above the other monitors at that price point so that is why I gave it 5 stars. Thanks for reading my novel, a lack of reviews prompted me to write it.
-Settings-
The following settings are what I was using at the time of the review that look pretty good on my One X:
- Mode: User
- Brightness: 20
- Contrast: 56
- Sharpness: 5
- Gamma: 5
- Color Temp: Normal
- Hue: 50
- Saturation: 65
- Everything Else: Default
I bought this monitor exactly a week ago.
Not counting today, the monitor has been working great!
It's bright and the colors are decent.. although maybe I'll tinker with some of those settings soon. The 4k resolution is a grand upgrade from 1080p. Having 4 times the real estate is extremely helpful when programming, modeling, gaming, etc.
The issue I have run into today is that the screen is flickering and turning off A LOT. I do not know if this issue is with the monitor, or with the (also brand new) display port cable. I have updated the monitor driver, restarted my computer, unplugged/replugged in the display port cable.. and the problem persist. I now have switched to HDMI and so far, there isn't any flickering or turning off. It's only been 15 mins but with how it was flickering/shutting off every few seconds.. this is a success. I'm curious is this monitor has issues using the display port in general or if my display port cable is defective. Hopefully there isn't a more serious problem with the monitor. I'll update this review if/when anything changes.
EDIT: It's now been a month and using HDMI seems to work better but I still get the issue where the screen goes black randomly as if it's turning off, then comes back on. It's a strange issue but as long as it's not happening at a high rate then I guess I'll survive. I'd be iffy about buying another monitor from BenQ due to this weird issue though.
Bought this monitor as I wanted a HDR monitor for my PS4 Pro. Now I know naysayers will say it is t true hdr but I could care less. There is definitely a noticeable difference when it is on. Battlefield V for example is jaw dropping. I was using a Asus VP28UQG which is a 4K non hdr monitor. Really a great monitor but I prefer this BenQ easily. Being a va panel the colors and contrast ratio are just incredible. It may be only 60hz but that doesn’t matter to me since the PS4 is locked at that anyhow. Every game I have played has looked amazing and ran buttery smooth. Heck I won my first 3 games in a row on Apex Legends after setting it up. Really a great monitor and a absolute steal for around $200
UPDATE 1-3-19:
As mentioned below I had my monitor replaced by BenQ due to an HDR defect. They have some of the best customer service I have experienced in a long time. They helped me out very quickly and with no hassle at all. I've been using their new replacement monitor since my original review date and haven't had any issues. I cant confirm that the firmware was indeed updated and that this was the issue as the monitor does not list the firmware version anywhere for me to compare. The monitor does however work as desired and their 3 year warranty and amazing customer service has warranted me to change my review from 3 to 5 stars.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Read the reviews for this specific monitor, A significant number of people are having repetitive HDR issues.
I ordered the product because it had a great review rating, I didn’t even bother to look into them much but wish I would have now. overall my final view of this product is going to based on how BenQ deals with the situation and if the monitor i receive fixes my issues.
Had this monitor for 3 months before the issues started. During this time the monitor was pretty great, rich colors and great for gaming, very responsive. The colors were a little off especially with blacks which aren’t very deep. Other than that, the HDR and 4k were very nice, it was nothing much more or less than you’d expect for a $400 gaming monitor until I ran into this issue.
The issue came when I turned my monitor on one day and all of a sudden, all the colors that were in HDR mode were washed out and flat. After reading carefully on Amazon and in forums I noticed that a lot of people have this issue with this specific monitor. You don’t see it reflected as much in the reviews because all the BenQ product reviews are twitstered together. This means that the star rating and reviews you see for this product are not all actually for this product, its for all the twistered products together. I contacted Amazon about it and unfortunately as of late at least, their chat customer service is getting increasingly more difficult to deal with and far less helpful than they used to be, every person you talk to gives you different answers and reasons as to why they decided they cant help you. So I contacted BenQ instead and their customer service was pretty Amazing. They had a new monitor being shipped to me within minutes of me contacting them and the monitor has a 3 year warranty. Their service is very good, I was very surprised at how fast they were and how easy they were to work with. Andy L. in their service department was really great and his service changed my mind completely about wanting to keep this product or buy future BenQ products.
Ill update this post with any new information after I receive my monitor. BenQ told me that the HDR issue is most often caused by firmware which makes me feel a little better.
Feature Product
- HIGH RESOLUTION: 28-inch LED UHD (3840x2160 resolution)
- HDR: HDR increases the dynamic range between black and white to showcase incredible clarity and details. Color Temperature : Reddish/Normal/Bluish/User mode
- BRIGHTNESS INTELLIGENCE PLUS TECHNOLOGY: Monitor adjusts brightness and color temperature according to on-screen content and ambient light conditions
- FREE-SYNC: AMD FreeSync Technology puts an end to choppy gameplay and broken frames with fluid, artifact-free performance
- CONNECTIVITY: HDMI 2.0, DP1.4, DisplayPort inputs for multi-device connection. HDMI RGB PC Range set, it should be at 16-255.Brightness:300
Description
L2870U brings HDR together with Brightness Intelligence Plus Technology (B. I. + Tech. ) to gently soften bright areas while keeping dark details crystal clear. EL2870U's simple hotkey switches between 4 levels of HDR and B. I. + modes to balance maximum contrast and vibrancy and fully enjoy the splendid image performance of HDR while maintaining your viewing comfort. The image has a faulty coloration - Go to Picture and Reset Color, and then choose YES to reset the color settings to the factory defaults. If the image is still not correct and the OSD also has faulty coloration, this means one of the three primary colors is missing in the signal input. Now check the signal cable connectors. If any pin is bent or broken off, please contact your dealer to get necessary support. The image is distorted, flashes or flickers- Read the instructions on the link "Adjusting the Screen Resolution" on the CD, and then select the correct resolution, refresh rate and make adjustments based on these instructions. The image is blurred- read the instructions on the link "Adjusting the Screen Resolution “on the CD, and then select the correct resolution, refresh rate and make adjustments based on these instructions. If a VGA extension cable is used, remove the extension cable for the test. Is the image now in focus? If not, optimize the image by working through the instructions in the "Adjusting the refresh rate" section on the link "Adjusting the Screen Resolution". It is normal for blurring to occur due to conduction losses in extension cables. You can minimize these losses by using an extension cable with better conduction quality or with a built-in booster.
I love everything about this monitor except what I bought it for. HDR will not work. Cannot stream 4K or HDR from Vudu. Cannot stream 4k HDR from Netflix or Amazon Prime. Ive tried 3 different Displayport 1.4 cables to rule them out. I have a GTX 1080 which i know has dispalyport 1.4. BenQs website and several reviews say the monitor is comes with Displayport 1.4 connection, but other reviews say its only Displayport 1.2, which cant handle the data needed for HDR. I can turn HDR on in Windows 10, but the selection to stream in HDR is grayed out and cannot be turned on. I dont know if its a Windows problem or BenQ is lying about its Displayport capability or its HDR capabilities. Other than that....its a nice monitor.
Update 2-10-19:
Turns out there was a Windows 10 update that completely screwed up HDR streaming. Its become an issue for a lot of people. And Vudu doesnt support HDR or 4K to desktops. Games that are HDR capable WILL display proper 4K HDR.
I bought this for my Xbox one X since my 4K tv is not full HDR. I wanted a monitor match all of the xbox specs and this monitor matched with 4K HDR 60hz and 1ms. Has some truoble at first getting the serting I wanted but thanks to the xbox calibration Infound that some games inclusing Halo 5 can run with sRBG which made my chin drop. It’s perfect for those looking to have an edge over those with just 4K since I noticed every movement with way less blurr.
It’s a nice product for the price. It’s has a good bright, vibrant, and clear 4K picture. The settings button feel a little cheesy but they work. The setting menu is not the easiest to navigate but it’s not the worst. The speakers work, not the loudest and not the greatest quality of sound but let’s be honest if you want sound you buy a stand alone sound bar/system. Setup is a breeze. Haven’t had any issues yet and don’t think i will. I would buy again and/or the next years model. I also have recommended to some of my gaming friends.
I recently lost my BenQ 1080P monitor due to a lightning strike, and found myself wanting more... MORE PIXELS!!
So I looked around, and this is the only true 4K monitor with a 1ms response rate, WITH HDR. And man I cannot say it enough, these pictures I post cannot do justice enough for this monitor. The picture quality is so amazing, you can't see the pixels on the monitor even up close, and the video quality at 60fps is silky smooth like those demo units they have at stores like BestBuy and Target.
Needless to say, i'm gaming on this computer and running a Minecraft server for my friends and myself. Yes, gaming at 4K is going to cost a lot, but hey, I have the cash to spend because of my job, and it's 100% worth every penny. I wish I could give BenQ a higher rating, but Amazon won't let me. :(
Don't pay attention to the people poo-pooing gaming at 4K because they cant afford good hardware. :) But I would reccomend at least a GTX1080 or a Vega 64 card if you are going to try using a true 4K monitor like this. It's pretty BEEFY.
As usual, this BenQ model is a solid investment, especially for the low price. Quick break-down.
Pros:
Nice simple design
Great color / contrast / black levels
4k looks great paired with Xbox One X
Price is rather alluring for the specs. 1ms response, UHD, solid 28" matte screen
Enables FreeSync on Xbox One X
Cons:
Shotty BenQ control panel with usual lack of remote
Extremely poor speakers, don't even try it lol! Another usual suspect.
HDR10 Looks terrible gaming on Xbox One X - details below
Only 60hz - even though console is locked at 60fps, future proofing a bit would be nice, 144hz preferred
In short, this monitor is a great value if you want one in this tempting price range. Mine has had zero issues other than the terrible HDR10. With the HDR turned on both monitor and console, even on newer xbox one games, the colors get extremely washed, contrast gets out of whack. And it limits your adjustments on the monitor with it on as well so you can only do so much correcting. Two presets are allowed. HDR10 and HDR10 Cinema. The first is a bright washed out mess, and the latter is a dark shadowy washed out mess. So I just dont even bother after days of trying to dial everything in. Even splured on a high end 4ft. Ocean HDMI cable just to make sure that wasn't the culprit.
Simply used on a Standard setting with your own tweaks, it looks pretty dang good though so I can't really complain. You will enjoy it.
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