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Posted 20 hours ago

BenQ Zowie XL2566K 24.5 Fast TN in 360Hz Gaming Monitor, Motion Clarity DyAc⁺, 1080p, XL Setting to Share, Custom Quick Menu, S Switch, Shield, Smaller Base, Adjustable Height & Tilt, Black

£9.9£99Clearance
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In the Blur Busters UFO Test, with DyAc+ disabled and compared to other monitors at 360Hz, there isn't much difference between the XL2566K and PG27AQN. They both look very similar, which isn't surprising given their similar response testing data. The LG 27GR95QE, with its 240Hz OLED, is also competitive, albeit not quite as good. The faster response times somewhat compensate for the lower refresh rate, but without strobing enabled, it's difficult to declare a winner, particularly between the 360Hz LCDs.

Additional performance improvements can be achieved through full calibration, and the XL2566K is quite easy to calibrate with excellent results. Professional gamers probably won't want to go through this process, as tinkering with contrast and color settings is likely the best way to game, but it's reassuring to know that accuracy is possible, even on a monitor like this. There is also a ‘customizable’ AMA setting with a slider from 0 – 20, allowing you to tweak the overdrive to your liking if you want. We have included some measurements at a setting of 12 which we felt was about as high as you could push it within overshoot becoming noticeable. This basically eliminated the small amount of dark overshoot visible in high mode. The ‘High’ mode is perfectly usable though and will be fine for most people we felt. There’s some pursuit camera photos capturing real-world motion clarity in High vs customizable 12 in a moment. If you do have a PC that can run your game(s) of choice at 360 frames per second, the XL2566K is a dream come true for competitive gamers. It’s basically tailor-made for CS:GO (that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely good for other shooters though, because it definitely is extremely good for other shooters) and that shows in some of the functions. BenQ has optimized this product primarily for speed. We're examining a 24.5-inch 1080p 360Hz gaming monitor utilizing TN LCD technology. Yes, we're talking about TN tech, not IPS or VA. Some critics have labeled TN a defunct technology, but panel manufacturers and display OEMs like BenQ maintain it's still the fastest available and optimal for hardcore competitive multiplayer gaming. The amalgamation of 360Hz and TN is expected to deliver unparalleled motion clarity. We weren’t able to take response time measurements during the demo we had of the Corsair screen, but we know that being an OLED panel the actual pixel response times should be <1ms G2G consistently, with no overshoot. The interesting thing here is that this is a 240Hz OLED panel, but because of those super-fast near-instant OLED response times the real-world perceived motion clarity is very similar to the 360Hz LCD screens we’re talking about here. Generally an OLED has a 1.5 to 1 ratio in motion clarity to a good LCD (i.e. 240Hz OLED x 1.5 = 360Hz LCD).

Colour accuracy in this default FPS 1 mode was poor as well with a 6.4 dE average. BenQ will often set their gaming screens up in these FPS modes out of the box but they are not what we would call “accurate” in any of our measurements really. Perhaps for competitive gaming you might prefer the set up here, but it’s not great for anything else. Thankfully BenQ do provide a much better mode in the OSD menu which we will test now. Default Setup – Standard Mode Today we're testing a product that we've wanted to get our hands on for some time now: the BenQ Zowie XL2566K. We've spent a considerable amount of time over the past six months evaluating some of the fastest monitors on the market, be it the latest 240Hz OLEDs or the 1440p 360Hz IPS LCD that debuted last year. Although you need a high frame rate camera to really see it in detail, the Zowie XL2566K’s motion performance in competitive-level FPS games is noticeably sharper than 360Hz IPS screens. For human beings in real-time, the result is having a smidge smoother and sharper imagery where even small-moving objects are rendered that bit clearer. The difference is miniscule, but major world championships have been decided by less.

With that being said: as far as TN panels go, the XL2566K offers a very nice image. It required some tinkering for me to get to my preferred color settings, but once I arrived there I found it to be very passable, and it’s worth noting that the default picture setting is a lot better than what I found on the XL2546K, meaning that you can basically use this monitor straight out of the box.As I said earlier, the XL2566K looks exactly the same as its predecessor, the XL2546K. For me, that’s a huge plus, as I’m of the opinion that ZOWIE pretty much nailed it on that front. One thing that I love about the monitor is that it has such a small footprint. The panel itself isn’t the thinnest or sleekest, but the stand has a very small footprint, especially when compared to some other gaming-focused monitors out there. I seriously don’t get the need for monitor stands with the wingspan of a bald eagle; it looks impressive, but it’s infuriating how much space some monitors take up on your desk. ZOWIE is releasing the new XL2566K esports monitor today with native 360Hz refresh rate, fast TN panel technology and DyAc+. We hope to create products that deliver an overall better competitive experience in-game; and through our services, players can find their most suitable products. Indeed, there are several 360Hz screens on the market but most use modern IPS technology. Some even claim to have super-speedy, grey-to-grey (GTG) pixel response times but, in this realm, it’s a claim that’s rendered to meaningless marketing speak. BenQ doesn’t even bother providing a GTG pixel response time.

I want to accompany this previous paragraph with a (pretty obvious to some, but I’ll mention it anyway) disclaimer: this won’t make you an aiming God if you’re coming from a 240Hz monitor, or a good 360Hz IPS monitor. The difference isthere, and this is the smoothest and clearest panel I’ve ever used for gaming so far, but we’re talking razor-thin margins here. Margins that can and will matter for people who are very serious about their gaming, but small margins regardless.The other interesting comparison we’ve included here is against a 240Hz OLED panel we had chance to see in person earlier this year, featured in the Corsair Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240. There’s quite a few 240Hz OLED panels being released to market in the near future (27″ 1440p, 45″ ultrawide and 49″ super ultrawide) so it’s interesting to compare here too. The stand is adjustable in all the right ways: it can tilt, swivel, pivot, and it’s height adjustable, so you’re absolutely certain to find a viewing position that’s comfortable for your posture and desires. All of this works beautifully, and I never had any issues with the monitor (or any ZOWIE monitor) sagging or changing position over time. The TN Film panel is not as well suited for general and office uses as competing IPS panels. The viewing angles are the main challenge, with the image showing noticeable changes in gamma and colour tone as you move viewing position. There’s characteristic darkening of the image when viewed from below, and overall the restrictive viewing angles impact viewing experience compared with IPS panels. If you’re using it from a head on viewing position it’s fine really, but the image is not as stable and consistent as other panel technologies. Gamut coverage – we provide measurements of the screens colour gamut relative to various reference spaces including sRGB, DCI-P3, Adobe RGB and Rec.2020. Coverage is shown in absolute numbers as well as relative, which helps identify where the coverage extends beyond a given reference space. A CIE-1976 chromaticity diagram (which provides improved accuracy compared with older CIE-1931 methods) is included which provides a visual representation of the monitors colour gamut coverage triangle as compared with sRGB, and if appropriate also relative to a wide gamut reference space such as DCI-P3. The reference triangle will be marked on the CIE diagram as well. All of that comes at a cost, though. Reaching 360+ frames per secondin any game is no easy feat, and there are some games that won’t reliably reach those frames no matter how powerful your PC is. And your PC better be powerful. ZOWIE recommends at least an RTX 30 series (or RX6000 series) graphics card if you’re planning on buying this monitor. I wouldn’t go thatfar personally (in games like CS:GO you can get a whole lot frames even with slightly lower tier GPUs, as it’s mostly CPU-bound) but let it be clear: you need a beefy PC if you want to make full use of this panel.

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