Based out of Taiwan, BenQ specializes in manufacturing, computing, communications, and consumer electronics. The company primarily focuses on producing LCD monitors and offers a broad range of LCD products.

The company organizes its series of monitors based on the diagonal length of the screen. BenQ offers solutions ranging from 17-inches all the way up to 24-inches targeted at different consumer classes including everyday users, business professionals, and gamers.

In this article we will be taking a look at the BenQ FP93VW. The monitor’s design is no doubt Apple inspired and seems like it came directly from the Apple Factory. The FP93VW is 19” widescreen display that has a native resolution of 1440x900.

The 5ms response rate is by far one of the strongest features of the monitor. It guarantees reduced ghosting and distortions of moving images. BenQ claims the monitor sports a contrast ratio of 700:1, which is quite impressive considering that many of the top notch panels usually weigh in at 800:1. Whether the panel actually lives up to these specifications will be seen in our tests.

The display’s characteristics make it suitable for multimedia applications, video games, and entertainment in general. It is also a solution that would also work well combined with a high-end gaming PC.

The BenQ FP93VW has a 16:10 aspect ratio which is paired with a native resolution of 1440x900, or WXGA+. BenQ designed the monitor’s base so that a Mac Mini system can fit snugly into it. To be completely honest, any system that has an 18cm chassis can fit, however, the monitor was definitely designed with the Mac Mini in mind.

Creating space for a Mac Mini has added considerable depth to the monitor for an LCD display. Desks that do not have much space might find it hard to properly accommodate the monitor. The LCD panel can be titled forwards and backwards at a maximum of thirty degrees.

BenQ chose to use a chassis made completely of polished white plastic. The frame surrounding the viewing area of the display is not very wide, allowing the monitor to appear sleek and simple, which is the general theme of the product.

All control buttons are vertically placed on the left side of the panel. The power button is on top with the “ok” button directly underneath it. Following those two buttons are the brightness and contrast control buttons. The bottom two are for accessing the menu and to adjust horizontal/vertical positioning.

At the back of the monitor’s base is a cable management solution which allows wires to neatly be tucked away and out of sight. This feature helps avoid unattractive wires form being seen and helps prevent tangles. The cable management clip is also removable which then leaves a wide opening for cables to pass through. This is especially useful if using a Mac Mini with the monitor.

The BenQ FP93VW comes with a DVI-D connector along with the traditional 15-pin D-sub (VGA) connector. The connectors have been skillfully placed on the LCD panel’s back. On the opposite side of the panel is the power connector.

The monitor comes with a CD which contains the monitor’s manual in PDF format, power cable, a VGA cable, and a DVI cable. The accessories also include a quick installation handbook.

Although the quick functions of the display’s buttons might serve their purpose well, the BenQ FP93VW also has an On Screen Display (OSD) which allows users to change more detailed settings.

It is possible to change the horizontal and vertical positioning of the image through the menu. Most of the times it is not needed for users to manually reposition the image as the monitor’s auto configuration is usually sufficient, however, in the case that the default settings are not good enough customers are able to manually change the positioning.

The panel can also adjust settings that affect the color quality of the LCD’s image. This includes Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and Color. Brightness can be adjusted on a level of 0 to 100, while Sharpness is on a scale of 1 to 5.

Users can adjust the color temperature and the amount of Red, Green, and Blue through the Color panel. Color Temperatures include “Bluish”, which has a cold effect, “Reddish”, a warm theme, and Mac standard. Through “User Mode”, users can directly control the amount of red, green, and blue. Color levels range from 0 to 100.

We first measured the Luminance of the monitor, which is a measure of the density of luminous intensity. The brightness of the BenQ FP93VW is adjustable on a scale of 0 to 100. At a low level the monitor already reaches 40.8 candles per square meter. At the maximum level of brightness the monitor reaches 339.6 cd/m2. BenQ declared the official brightness level at 400 candles/m2. Brightness for the most part is spread evenly throughout the screen, and there are no “dark zones” on the monitor.

The black level of the monitor, even with the lamp at maximum power, never exceeds 1 cd/m2. The monitor, therefore, is able to maintain a good black level in all situations.

The maximum recorded contrast ratio is 434:1, which is obtained when the LCD lamp is at 45% power, with the whiteness level at 86.395 cd/mq and blackness level at 0.199cd/mq. The contrast ratio varies relative to the monitor’s brightness, but stabilizes at ratios of 400:1 - 430: 1 beginning at 65%. Looking at the overall trend of the graph, as the brightness level increases so does the contrast ratio.

Native Resolution- 1440 x 900

1400 x 1050

1360 x 768

1280 x 800

1152 x 864

1024x768

The image quality of the monitor begins significantly decreasing immediately when set to lower resolutions. The image distortion is only more emphasized by the fact that the lower resolutions are not in the same screen format as the native resolution. The resolution of 1024x768, which is the lowest resolution we tested, has a remarkable loss of quality thus rendering it useless for day to day use at that specific resolution.

Conclusion

The BenQ FP93VW performed quite well throughout our tests. The monitor has a good contrast ratio along with decent brightness levels making it ideal for a variety of light conditions. Although, as we said, the contrast ratio is sufficient, it was not able to live up to the manufacturer’s 700:1 ratio during our tests. Visibility is also very good at angled views.

By quickly scrolling through a long text file, we were met with surprisingly good legibility and little ghosting and blurriness making the monitor ideal for playing videos and games. This can definitely be accredited to the low response time of the display.

The possibility to use the monitor seamlessly with a Mac Mini or any other small compact system is only an added value to the monitor and is not required. The base of the monitor can be used to hold an external drive or media card reader.

We weren’t entirely happy with the positioning of the control keys at the side of the monitor. Although we understand that it makes the monitor look simpler with the controls hidden away on the side, it creates a problem when using the On Screen Display or trying to adjust the brightness and contrast levels. We would have preferred to have the buttons placed on the front so we could navigate the menu with greater ease.