BenQ BL2410PT review

The BL2410PT is a 24in VA panel from BenQ’s business range. It’s not particularly slim or elegant, with its large, black matt stand, but its 1,920×1,080 display is fully height-adjustable and can rotate through 90 degrees so you can use it in portrait mode as well as the usual landscape mode.

VA panel technology displays occupy the middle-ground between TN and IPS panels, supposedly offering better colour reproduction and wider viewing angles than TN monitors, but without the absolute colour accuracy shown by some IPS displays. VA panels also often have the advantage of higher contrast ratios, which can lead to deeper blacks and more vibrant colours.

In our tests, we saw a contrast ratio of 2242:1, which is significantly higher than that we see from most TN panels. We also measured the monitor’s black level was a tiny 0.10cd/m², which is one of the lowest levels we’ve ever seen.

The figures were borne out by our subjective image tests, too. Blacks were very deep, whites were bright, and reds, greens and blues were all rich, vibrant and uniform across the screen. Colours weren’t quite as punchy as on some other displays we’ve seen, but this is partly due to the screen’s matt finish, which cuts down on reflections at the expense of some colour vibrancy. We could also see evidence of the high contrast ratio in our test images of a night-lit harbour and sun-washed hut by a beach, which both showed very high levels of detail in light and dark areas.

We were surprised by our colour calibration tests, as these revealed that the screen was already displaying an outstanding 99.9% of the sRGB colour gamut straight out of the box. This is hugely impressive, and much better than the typical 97% accuracy we expect to see from an IPS screen. The monitor’s viewing angles are also excellent.

The icing on the cake is the BL2410PT’s extensive range of ports. There are VGA, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, a 3.5mm audio line in, a headphone jack, and a 3-port USB hub. The hub is particularly handy if you like to keep your PC out of the way on the floor, and it will also help you charge your smartphone and tablet devices. The ports are a bit tricky to access, as they’re all concealed round the back underneath a plastic lip, but swivelling the monitor round makes it easier to plug in and unplug cables. The screen’s hollow stand also helps you tidy up any stray wires.

The BenQ BL2410PT is a brilliant business monitor with outstanding picture quality and useful features to reduce desktop clutter. It doesn’t offer quite as much as the award-winning Asus PA248Q, such as the Asus screen’s advanced software and USB3 ports, but the BL2410PT is around £100 cheaper. It wins our Best Buy award.