BenQ recently announced the Zowie XL2746S, a 240 Hz TN panel display that’s targeted squarely at eSports professionals. The monitor has a spectacular 0.5 ms grey-to-grey response time, far better than what the best IPS panels can manage. The 240 Hz refresh rate means that the panel will offer a silky smooth high framerate experience in eSports titles like Overwatch and Fortnite. (Xanax)
The key focus with this panel is on speed and the other compromises are evident. This is a 27-in Full HD display, so the pixel density is on the lower end at just 81 PPI. Moreover, you miss out on HDR since brightness peaks at just 320 nits. Contrast is decent for a TN panel at 1000:1, which is actually better than some IPS displays. Viewing angles, of course, are terrible, but that has to do with the technology in use and not the monitor itself.
| Panel | 27-inch class TN |
| Native Resolution | 1920 × 1080 |
| Maximum Refresh Rate | 240 Hz |
| Adaptive Sync | FreeSync |
| Brightness | 320 cd/m² |
| Contrast | 1000:1 |
| Viewing Angles | 170°/160° horizontal/vertical |
| Response Time | 0.5 ms GtG |
| Inputs | 1×DP 1.2a 1×DVI-D DL 1×HDMI 1.4 1×HDMI 2.0 |
| Retail Price | €629 |
The Zowie XL2746S features AMD FreeSync which can be very useful at higher framerates where CPU bottlenecks might periodically bring moment to moment framerates down from 240 FPS.
BenQ has made the monitor available in the European market where it currently sells for EUR 629 (roughly $650). With the COVID-19 pandemic going on, though, we doubt you’ll be able to actually ship one of these to your house, though. At that price point, you are, again, getting a very focused eSports-oriented display that’s frankly not that great for other use cases.
