Pros & Cons
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- Good grayscale linearity.
- Easy assembly.
- Good ergonomics.
- Generally solid video playback.
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- Inconsistent dark-tone response, especially at the upper corners.
- Contrast ratio uniformity suffers as a result.
BenQ FP231W 23-Inch LCD Flat Panel Specs
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 |
| Built-In Speakers: | No |
| Built-in TV Tuner: | NTSC |
| Depth: | 9.8 inches |
| Diagonal Screen Size: | 23 inches |
| Height: | 18.3 inches |
| Individual Settings per Input: | No |
| Native Resolution: | 1920 x 1080 |
| PC Interfaces: | Analog VGA and Dual-mode (DVI-I) |
| Rated Contrast Ratio: | 500:1 |
| Supported Video Formats: | 1080i |
| Video Interfaces: | Composite |
| Video Interfaces: | DVI |
| Video Interfaces: | S-Video |
| Warranty Labor: | 36 months |
| Warranty Parts: | 36 months |
| Weight: | 19.4 lb |
| Width: | 21.1 inches |
BenQ's latest LCD offers a 23-inch screen, 1,920-by-1,080 native pixel resolution, a svelte shape, and a nice price. But its image quality doesn't quite match up to its feature list. The FP231W's resolution is good enough for high-definition content, but it lacks component video inputs, so your HDTV tuner or cable box will either need a VGA or DVI output to display HD.
We like the FP231W's home-design-friendly fit and finish. The thin bezel is especially nice, and the audio system is optional, unlike the HP f2304's built-in speakers. Cables dress fairly neatly into the middle of the FP231W's panel.
Putting the FP231W together is a snap, literally. The panel easily connects to its base, and once it clicks into place, it's ready to roll. The base makes adjustments easy, and once it's set at a given height, it doesn't creep up or down.
On our tests, the FP231W stumbles out of the gate: We measured the contrast ratio at 227:1, well off the 500:1 that BenQ claims. The FP231W is supposed to deliver about 250 candelas/square-meter (cd/m2) of brightness, but the highest measured value we saw was 150cd/m2. More troubling is the tremendous variance in dark values, which created a disparity in the contrast ratios we measured. Bright values were much more consistent. A full-screen all-black test image revealed some clouding artifacts. The FP231W nails grayscale tracking and red and green values, but its blue response wasn't as strong. In color response, the FP231W does quite well, with green response being just about dead-on, and red and blue only slightly off.
The FP231W's claimed 16ms response time appeared legitimate, since we saw no streaking as we dragged a red test image across the screen. The AquaMark3 benchmark test and subjective video inspection also showed no smearing, and colors generally looked correct and vivid.
High-definition WMV content also looked sharp. We did notice, however, that off-axis viewing characteristics weren't especially good. In particular, black tones took on a reddish color when viewing the panel from about 45 degrees off-axis (horizontally).
If you're looking for a big Windows desktop and lots of pixel resolution, the FP231W will do a good job. But like HP's
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Final Thoughts
BenQ FP231W 23-Inch LCD Flat Panel
The BenQ FP231W is a good panel if you're primarily looking for a big Windows desktop and also want to watch some DVDs and HDTV content in a near-field viewing environment.