As High Dynamic Range (HDR) screen technology becomes increasingly common in gaming and media monitors, there comes a number of different ‘additional’ methods and techs that aim to augment, enhance and fully unleash the technology. As well as enjoying larger resolutions and wider colour ranges, a goal for some monitor makers is to provide the highest-quality panels, that present the absolute best images with the best in colour quality, while also taking care of users’ eyes and health. This seems like an inherently sensible thing to do as games, media and work become increasingly gripping, immersive and time consuming, pinning us to our monitors - at close range - often for long periods of time.
One such technology is BenQ’s Brightness Intelligence Plus (B.I.+) technology. This is the perfect partner for HDR gaming and media, balancing exquisite HDR performance with maximum comfort. The screen helps to make even the most extended viewing or gaming sessions pleasurable and almost devoid of impact or strain on your eyes, ensuring superior visual clarity and realism, be it with complex games, busy design software or fast-paced movies. In a nutshell, the B.I.+ Sensor works quietly in the background to detect optimal viewing conditions - whatever the media you’re engaging with or however you’re using your PC - to adjust the monitor’s settings based on the environment you’re playing or watching in.
We’re now used to syncing tech that match the monitor’s capabilities to the PC’s in terms of refreshing the picture. And BenQ’s standard Brightness Intelligence Sensor offers something of the same ilk, but geared toward eye health and enjoyment of a quality on-screen picture. It achieves this by detecting the level of ambient lighting in the room as well as the content being viewed to automatically adjust screen brightness. However, the Brightness Intelligence Plus Sensor (B.I.+) further refines this tech by doing one step more, adjusting the dynamic contrast and colour temperature as well to fully optimise the HDR and picture quality. This helps the HDR capabilities to beautifully balance the on-screen image without overcompensating; details in the dark areas are kept clear and visible while avoiding overexposure in the brighter areas. This is particularly brilliant for gaming or viewing visual media. It helps contributes to the monitor being geared towards protecting your vision, and there are some quality BenQ monitors out in the wild that harness these features right now, whatever your preferred flavour of monitor use.
First up, the BenQ EL2870U is a prime gaming monitor that offers the colossal, glorious resolution of 4K. This is then turned up to 11 with the HDR10 support offered by the panel, supported by the Eye-Care and B.I.+ Sensor that’ll extend your gaming sessions and reduce risk to your eyes while ensuring the most pleasurable visual experience. It has further gaming pedigree and specifications with a lightning quick 1ms response time, AMD FreeSync and a steady and sturdy 60Hz refresh rate that’ll easily be enough to present with 4K beauty for long sessions at a time.
A fine alternative is the immersion-heightening curved panel of the EX3203R monitor - one of our absolute personal favourites among all monitors we’ve tested. This has a tremendous 1800R curved panel spanning a healthy 32-inches and has definite gaming specs and pedigree - which make this screen particularly good for racing and sim games - but still excels in all types, from Battle Royales to detailed RPGs. To give it that performance in speedier games, it has a quick 144Hz refresh rate which is backed up and assisted by FreeSync 2 to give a smooth picture and an even-smoother in-game experience. Further to this, the EX3203R takes the HDR a little further than the EL2870U and builds on the HDR10 content support and adds an HDR400 certification; trust us, the picture on this is elegant and beautiful. And to top all of that off, the subtle work that the Eye-Care and B.I.+ Sensor techs do behind the scenes ensures that the quality in picture is reflected back into safe and healthy screen use.
If you’re concerned or conscious about screen time and the effect it has on your eyes, then these BenQ monitors must be at the front of your ‘potential new monitor’ list. BenQ’s screen tech is admirably aimed at ensuring the use of monitors is safe and productive yet still producing spectacular image quality, helping you to enjoy longer play, work, or movies sessions, no matter the light, be it work or pleasure. If this appeals to you, then you need to consider these monitors.
