BenQ Announces the ZOWIE XL2540: 24-Inch 240 Hz Full-HD Display 'for e-Sports'
by Anton Shilov on November 10, 2016 10:00 AM EST
BenQ this week introduced its new display aimed specifically at professional gamers. The new monitor belongs to the ZOWIE family of BenQ’s products designed for e-Sports and features Full-HD (1920x1080) resolution as well as a refresh rate as high as 240 Hz. In addition to support for ultra-high refresh rates, the display also has other features developed specifically for gamers.
The BenQ ZOWIE XL2540 monitor has a 24.5” TN panel with a typical resolution for this size (1920×1080), support for 16.7 million (6-bit + FRC) colors as well as a typical contrast ratio for mainstream screens (1000:1). The monitor stands out when it comes to its brightness - 400 cd/m2 (400 nits) is a bit higher compared to what we usually see on TN-based devices and a refresh rate of 240 Hz to ensure as fast gameplay as possible. It is noteworthy that despite positioning, the ZOWIE ZL2540 does not support any dynamic refresh rate technology (either G-Sync, FreeSync or Adaptive-Sync).
When it comes to connectivity, the ZOWIE XL2540 excels many products on the market as it can use DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI and DVI-DL (naturally, DVI does not support 240 Hz refresh rate) to connect to host PCs (nowadays many monitors are only equipped with DP and HDMI inputs). Also, it has a three-port USB hub. The display also has a built-in 55 W power supply.
| BenQ ZOWIE XL2540 | ||
| ZOWIE XL2540 | ||
| Panel | 24.5" TN | |
| Native Resolution | 1920 × 1080 | |
| Maximum Refresh Rate | 240 Hz | |
| Response Time | 1 ms (gray-to-gray) | |
| Brightness | 400 cd/m² | |
| Contrast | 1000:1 | |
| Viewing Angles | 160°/160° horizontal/vertical | |
| Inputs | 1 × DP 1.2 1 × HDMI 2.0 1 × DVI-D DL |
|
| USB Hub | 3-port USB hub | |
| Audio | audio in/out ports | |
| Power Consumption | Typical | unknown |
| Maximum | 55 W | |
In addition to ultra-high refresh rates as well as improved brightness, the ZOWIE XL2540 supports several features specifically for e-Sports professionals: the Black eQualizer that increases brightness of dark areas without oversaturating the bright areas, an option to quickly increase color vibrancies, a special external controller to rapidly activate different settings and profiles as well as a light-shielding hood (which BenQ calls a way to help gamers to focus on their games).
The manufacturer does not announce pricing as well as availability timeframe for its ZOWIE XL2540 just yet. The only thing that BenQ tells us at the moment is that the display will be demonstrated at trade shows from late November. Since BenQ does not produce its own panels, the ETA of the ZOWIE XL2540 depends completely on the company’s suppliers. Moreover, when the panels are available, the display will have to compete against similar products by other makers, such as the ASUS PG258Q (which has G-Sync) which has similar specifications, perhaps indicating it is the same panel.
Related Reading:
Source: BenQ
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
35 Comments
View All Comments
Kazetsubaki - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
The article says it's a TN panel but the specs grid says it's an IPS. Which pannel is it?Brandon Chester - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
It's TN. I've fixed that, and also corrected the mention of 8bit color which is almost certainly not the case for a TN.Kazetsubaki - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Thanks! It's hard to go back to a TN pannel after experiencing a good IPS. =\nathanddrews - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
I'm loving the 240Hz aspect of it though, even if it can't do adaptive sync. We could easily have higher refresh rates and higher resolutions if manufacturers would stop pussyfooting around any just make some DP1.4 monitors already.yeahokay - Monday, November 14, 2016 - link
There are true 8-bit TN panels that do not use FRC, used in such monitors as the Asus PG278Q. I would get with BenQ if you aren't certain of the specs.ikachu1 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
It's a TN panel http://zowie.benq.com/en/product/monitor/xl/xl2540... (scroll down to 'Specification')BrokenCrayons - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
What are BenQ's people thinking with their branding? The ZOWIE for eSports? Ugh...marketing departments.limitedaccess - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Zowie is a brand with cachet in that target market that was acquired by Benq a year ago.BrokenCrayons - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Seriously, if what you're saying is true, BenQ paid ACTUAL MONEY for that brand! That's even more absurd than it having been developed in-house by a bunch of drunk guys in the marketing department pulling something out of the clear blue because they were under a "give me something or you're all fired" deadline!JoeyJoJo123 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Yes. Companies pay ACTUAL MONEY for brand names that are known for niche markets they want to sell products to. Before Zowie's brand was bought by BenQ, BenQ sold gaming monitors and peripherals, but had mixed success because non-gaming merchandise was sold under the same brand name.Zowie sold popular (and still popular to this day) driverless mice, with flawless sensors and great lift-off performance as a no-nonsense gaming solution. People still use Zowie mice because they're still excellent products.
BenQ is marketing "Zowie" monitors so that gamers that like Zowie mice will get interested in buying their gaming monitor lineup.
It's no different than Toyota having their regular lineup of vehicles and their Lexus lineup of luxury vehicles. Or, in the PC world, ASUS selling their standard stuff and ASUS ROG selling their gaming products.
There's nothing wrong or silly or absurd about this. BenQ just wants to differentiate its lineup of products under two brandnames.