BenQ FP71E+
For months we’ve been awaiting its arrival and finally the AU Optronics 8 ms is here. We were a little sceptical because when AU went from 16 to 12ms there was little difference. So has AU done the same thing?
We could equally ask why this panel comes as a BenQ screen, a relatively unknown brand. In fact, they are one and the same as AU is a subsidiary of this electronics giant, which until recently decided to put out screens in its own name instead of selling to other companies. Of course, being the parent company gave BenQ the best access to AU panels.
ErgonomicsThe FP71E+ has been released as a top-of-the-line product, and therefore is relatively expensive. BenQ has targeted the gaming market, a demanding group that is often willing to pay a little more for quality.
Either way, this screen’s ergonomics don’t justify the higher price. There are the usual analogical and numerical inputs as well as an intenal sector transformer, but there is no vertical horizontal or pivotal adjustment, no USB hub, etc. In short, it’s just another classic screen with an unattractive plastic body.
Color qualityIt’s surprising. Except in black, without adjustment, colors are strictly the same as the Sony screen also equipped with an AU Optronics panel. Every desktop item and detail in games is rendered the same. This is actually something good in that they show detail in brighter areas where other screens do not.
As we mentioned above, the only difference between these two monitors is in black. The BenQ is black while the Sony is dark blue because of its additional filter.
After calibration, this screen has excellent colors as the curve shows :
How to interpret the graph ? The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1 the result is perfect.
Its curve is better than the Sony’s SDM-HS74P which is handicapped by its poor black. At our test temperature of 6500K the FP71E+ has extremely true colors.
Viewing angles
As this article only deals with TN screens, we are actually only comparing poor results in this area. As we expected the FP71E+ doesn’t have good viewing angles, but it isn’t the worst. It’s about equivalent to a Sony HS74P, which also has an AU panel. Sony has, however, added Black LCD technology which gives it a slight advantage here.
InterpolationWell done BenQ! This monitor’s interpolation is good and better than the average screen’s. It is actually (once again) as good as the Sony HS74P and these two screens appear to ressemble each other more and more. In 1280X1024, it’s perfect. In 1024X768, images are slightly distorted but still playable. 800x600 is still satisfactory, but in 640X480 they are unplayable.
Games
As you may have guessed this new AU Optronics panel is good, but not better than this manufacturer’s previous ones. It’s equivalent at least to the second version 16ms in the Sony. As we didn’t have the first version or the 12ms we couldn’t compare it with the N-1 generation.
The most important thing is that the 8ms has a little more remanence than the 20ms Hydis.
This isn’t to say that this screen isn’t good. However, if we are asked if this screen is the most reactive or has it made noticeable progress in this area, we would have to say, no. Do we recommend it for gaming? Yes. It’s not the best, but it does make the top 10 in terms of gaming screens. In our opinion, the persistent remanence will only bother stubborn CRT users, who at any rate aren’t pleased with any flat screen on the market at this moment. Without exception all LCDs continue to blurr in rapid movements. You may not even notice this phenomena. With more than 50 tests per year we have become very demanding. Commentary on-line, in articles or in forums tends to confirm this. We often write about a screen’s perceptible remanence according to our standards and a good number of users don’t even notice it.
Video
Here it shows the usual properties of an AU TN panel ; poor viewing angles (compared to many 19”s with VA and IPS panels) and significant dithering (compared to IPS, VA, and Hydis TN panels). It’s OK for the occasional movie, but not for hours of viewing enjoyment.
VerdictWe can’t help being a little bit disappointed. We were hoping for something new in the world of LCDs, but this isn’t the case. The consolation is that even if it’s not affordable for everyone, it’s not more expensive than other 12 or 16ms screens. The new panel isn’t necessarily reflected in the price, although for such a high end screen with poor ergonomics we assume some of the cost is justified in this area. To be more alluring the FP71E+ could have had more innovations or a little more originality. If we disregard the claimed response time (which, in our opinion, means little) its just another rapid panel double interface model. In other words it doesn’t really stand out. The Belinea 10 17 35 appears all the more impressive because its extremely rapid (more than the FP71E+), ergonomic (pivot, height adjustable stand, etc), and affordable.
Just a few more words on the panel. Like on the Sony, it has the new series of v2 AU Optronics panels, not yet featured on their website-unlike the v0 and v1 of the same series, the M170EG01. If we look at the monitors’ specifications, these two products resemble each other. Size, weight, backlighting, power consumption, viewing angles, number of colors, and pitch size are all the same. The luminosity, contrast, response time and, most notably, the production date are different. V1 replaced the v0 in the second trimester of 2004 and paradoxically response time went from 12 to 16ms. With the v2 AU went to 8ms and back to the v0’s contrast and luminosity specifications.
This little story is all the more interesting because it shows AU Optronics’ problem in communicating response time. We weren’t the first ones to test this product.
PCPOP, a Chinese website, published its test Sept 13, 2004. Like us, their testers open up the screens to examine the panels a little more closely. They found a M170EG01 v0, which is a 12 ms according to AU Optronics.
In addition, PCPOP (way ahead of us, we might add) just published their tests of the new 8ms ViewSonic VPO171b, which is also a M170EG01 v0. In fact, the 8, 16 and 12ms panels are the same apart from a few minor electronic variations. In practice, we haven’t noticed any difference and the 8ms claim means nothing.
Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!
