CCFL Versus LED: Is There A Downside To Going Green?

Quality Tests: BenQ EW2420

Fresh from the cardboard, BenQ’s LED display shows settings of 100 brightness, only 50 contrast, and “normal” mode colors of R88/G92/B88. This had us running a bit warm at 7000K and a center luminance of 244.4 cd/m2 (0.1 cd/m2 minimum). We observed some separation in the color channel graph, with the red coming on a bit stronger than the others, but keep in mind that this is relative. It’s OK for the lines to diverge a bit so long as you get the desired results at the end.

Our calibrated results found the BenQ running with a 65 contrast, R86/G80/B78 color values, and an impressively low brightness of 40. This found us spot on at 6500K and a luminance of 120.5 cd/m2. Keep in mind that just by running through this calibration, we’re getting an image better tuned to what the eye wants and needs and we’re consuming at least 35% less power in the process.

Luminance stays fairly even across this LCD screen. Even the brightest corner (lower-right) is within reach of the 120 cd/m2 optimum. The 96.8 cd/m2 isn’t great, but it’s also not that bad, and the disparity wasn’t striking enough to be noticed with the naked eye in any of our tests.

BenQ does OK on our gamut test. You can see it excelling in the yellows and blues, but it falls off enough in the reds to end up with an overall volume of 879 349, landing it in the lower end of our group.

After the gamut results, the Delta-E numbers (1.86 average, 8.29 maximum) may come as no surprise. The monitor does well in grayscale representation, but that teal score (or whatever that color is—any color pros out there?) is through the roof. You may not notice this while watching a movie, but it could come back to bite you in editing work.

  • In the "Wrapping It Up" section, perhaps you meant "LED" instead of "LCD"?
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  • nevertell
    How about doing this with IPS panels ? :>
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  • nforce4max
    I am going to get such a monitor later this year. Imagine the leap from CRT to Led LCD.
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  • Ragnar-Kon
    I personally can't wait until the OLEDs manufacturing process becomes cheaper. Having seen Sony's new OLED displays at this year's NAB in Vegas, I can say they are VERY VERY impressive.
    Reply
  • scook9
    I know that I have been rocking a pair of Gateway FHD2400's for a few years now and love them as they meet all my needs and have never left me wanting
    Reply
  • g00b
    Ummm ... LED? They are all LCD :).

    "Ultimately, we’d pick LCD for media consumption, but we’d pick CCFL for editing work where detail and accuracy are paramount. LCD is more fun to watch; CCFL is more reliable."
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  • Please substitute "LCD" with "LED" everywhere in the conclusion section!
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  • theshonen8899
    Basically the differences are very dramatic right? I'm gonna sound like a hippie for this but I'd definitely go for the greener option. Just being polite for our future generation is all.
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  • what g00b said. At the end you start saying LCD instead of LED, might confuse some poor soul.
    Reply
  • wrxchris
    May not be too relevant here considering that this article was based around image quality, but as a gamer, I'm still plenty satisfied with my trio of 25.5" Asus TN monitors. Yes, they bleed a bit of light around the edges and the colors may not be very accurate, but they handle fast moving images with no problems and only cost $750 for the set. And my favorite feature is the 16x10 aspect ratio, which is becoming quite hard to find these days; not sure why people are so willing to give up vertical screen space.
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