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Displays and Projectors Gaming Monitor

Benq Zowie RL2755 Console Gaming Monitor

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Review of BenQ ZOWIE RL2755

We live in an age where PC gaming has no boundaries and considered superior in many aspects. Gaming tournaments mostly feature PC gaming but there is also some room for esports on consoles these days.

Console gaming is still alive and although it is not as popular as before, many people still play with console games at a competitive level. Now, most console gamers use a TV to play their games but they are oftentimes left out on some gamer-centric features.

BenQ is a popular brand that specializes in PC gaming monitors. But, the company wants to expand their reach so that console gamers will also get some love.  Console gamers rely on TVs to play their games. Although there are high-definition TVs already, they do not have specific features that can help improve the console gamer’s life.

Because of this, BenQ and ZOWIE created the BenQ ZOWIE RL2755. The “RL Series” of gaming monitors are specifically designed for console gaming. In this article, I am going to review this particular gaming monitor. I picked it due to the capability to support multiple consoles. I’ve used Xbox One and PS4 with it. While I also play some pc games as it supports multiple inputs. 60hz is a bit low for PC gaming but Its decent refresh rate for 1080P display.

Display

The BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 is a gaming monitor that is specifically designed for console games. It is a 27-inch, TN panel monitor with a refresh rate of 60Hz. On the package, it says that this monitor can be overclocked to 75Hz refresh rate but that is only possible if you set the resolution much lower than the monitor’s native resolution.

Speaking of native resolution, the BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 has a resolution of 1920×1080 (1080p). I do not know why the company opted for a TN panel considering that this monitor’s refresh rate is just 60Hz. It would’ve been nice if the monitor comes with an IPS panel so that you will be presented with a display with better color accuracy. To be fair, having a TN panel monitor will always assure you that the refresh rate stays consistent no matter what.

One interesting feature of the monitor is its bezels. The bezel at the bottom of the display is ingeniously crafted to reflect unwanted glare from the screen. This makes sure that distractions from screen glare will never be present.

Out of the box, the quality of the display is horrible. That is because its default mode produces washed out colors. Fortunately, this issue can easily be corrected by just cycling through the different preset modes. One good thing about the monitor is that you can set the display mode based on the genre of games you are playing. There is a mode for FPS games, RTS games, Fighting games, and other popular gaming genres available on consoles.

The BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 has a maximum brightness of 327 nits but it only has a darkness level of only 0.65 nits. In other words, the contrast ratio is pretty low at only 503:1. But, this is to be expected given the display panel used in this monitor.

BenQ also incorporated a smart scaling feature that allows you to scale down the display according to your liking. You can scale down as low as 17 inches if you want.

The monitor comes with two (2) HDMI ports (both of them are only HDMI 1.4, by the way), one (1) DVI-D port, and one D-Sub/VGA port.

Since this is technically a monitor, you can actually use this one for PC gaming, although, you have to remember that this monitor is a TN panel with only 60Hz refresh rate.

Design

This gaming monitor has an impressive design and some nifty physical features. One interesting thing to take note here is that there is actually a foldable headphone holder at the back of the monitor. Some console gamers prefer using headphones while playing their games and it is nice for BenQ and ZOWIE to incorporate this nice headphone stand in the rear of the monitor so they can conveniently rest their headphones when they’re not using them.

Aside from the headphone stand, the BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and some audio connectors so you can hook up a dedicated sound system. Personally, the sound from the monitors when using a pair of headphones is pretty decent but I would still prefer a discrete sound system plugged in for a much better listening experience.

The monitor also comes with a triangular stand that also serves another purpose. You can put your console’s controllers on top of the stand and they wouldn’t slip thanks to its matte rubber padding. It is pretty convenient and it is a nice addition to the gaming monitor.

The BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 gives you the ability to tilt the monitor forward or backward but that’s just about it. There is no option to adjust the height nor the option to put the monitor in the portrait orientation.

On the actual monitor, there are physical buttons on the side so that you can control the OSD settings. When navigating through the settings, people might be put off as some of the menus take quite a while to load. In other words, some display settings have some lag before they actually come to the fore.

Performance

Despite its lack of color accuracy and contrast, the BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 does not disappoint when it comes to performance. When playing console games, you will get a consistent 60 frames per second performance and you get to play them at 1080p native resolution. Gameplay is smooth and no visible stutters and visual artifacts can be seen. This monitor also has an impressive 1ms response time, so ghosting and blurry images will never occur. Input lag will also be non-existent because of it.

Aside from that, there are also some neat features that you can enable as well. First-person shooting games are quite popular on consoles and it is frustrating if you come across an area which is just too dark to see anything. This is a perfect hiding spot for enemy players and if you cannot see them, you cannot kill them. This puts you at a serious disadvantage.

To help you see clearer in dark areas, the BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 has the company’s Black eQualizer technology that adjusts the screen’s gamma by a bit; just enough for you to see the enemies lurking in the shadows.

There are also some preset modes that allow you to change the color of the display easily. There is a preset for fighting games, FPS, RTS, photos, movies, and there is even a preset mode for low-power consumption. Despite the bevy of preset modes, only a few of them are worth using. These preset modes being the FPS, Movies, and the Standard mode.

The FPS preset makes the screen a bit brighter. As previously mentioned, there are certain areas in FPS games where it is pretty dark to see. The FPS mode allows you to see clearly what is lurking in the depths of the dark (couple this with the Black eQualizer technology and you’re in for an unfair advantage against your foes).

The movie mode is probably the best in terms of color quality. This mode was made for when you want to stop playing games and just watch movies for the time being. The standard mode is a mix of both of the aforementioned preset modes. For all other intents and purposes, use the Standard mode.

Then, there’s the Fighting game mode that is, well, underwhelming.  Although I understand that this helps console gamers who play fighting games, you will not be able to enjoy the said genre if all you can see are the two fighters fighting on the stage. I guess it is a trade-off but is that something you’re willing to take?

This gaming monitor also comes with the Zero-Flicker technology which significantly reduces eyestrain and headaches when playing for hours. That is because the technology eliminates screen flicker which is usually the cause of the aforementioned problems. It also comes with a low blue light filter that helps reduce blue light emitted by the screen. Prolonged exposure to strong blue light will cause irreversible eye damage, so it is nice for BenQ to give a blue light filter for console gamers to use. The blue light filter has a lot of levels and it is up to you which one you’re going to use.

In the BOX
Headphone Holder
Controller Support
Stand
User Interface

Conclusion

Although this monitor’s color accuracy is below par, the BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 is still quite a good gaming monitor if you are into console gaming. It has nifty features such as a foldable headphone flap so you can rest your headphones here; a handy stand that allows you to rest your controllers when you’re not using them, and two HDMI inputs so you can hook two consoles to it.

This gaming monitor comes with a lot of features. It has the company’s Black eQualizer technology that ensures that you see details despite poor lighting conditions. Smart scaling which allows you to scale down the display according to your preference. Preset picture modes that help adjust the monitor’s display without you having to tinker any other setting. Amazing eye care technology which includes a flicker-free screen as well as a bottom bezel that reflects unwanted glare. Add to that the low blue light technology that protects you from eyestrain when staring at the monitor for hours.

The BenQ ZOWIE RL2755 might not be groundbreaking but it does offer some welcome features for console gamers. The cost of Benq RL2755 is 249$.

Gaming Mousepads Mousepads

Razer Firefly Hard Mousepad Review

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Razer Firefly – Chroma Enabled Mousepad

Most of the time you don’t need a mouse pad if you have a gaming desk or some smooth surface to place your mouse. And even if you need one you can get the cheaper mouse pads from the market. But what about a mouse pad with RGB lighting in it, Surely it will look cool but you’ve to spend more on it for just the lighting plus you also have to power it up so there will an extra cable on your desk. In the end, you’ve to do the cable management for the cool piece of equipment.

Gaming mouse surfaces do affect mouse performance, though. Razer offers some gaming mouse mats for different budgets and needs. One of their two top mats is the Razer Firefly Hard Gaming Mouse Mat. The Firefly boasts Chroma lighting, a generous 14 x 10-inch size, and a hard surface made especially for gaming – all for sixty bucks. if you live in Pakistan it will cost around 7500/- PKR.

Here is the full review of Razer Firefly Hard Gaming Mouse Mat.

Size is important

The Razer Firefly measures 14 x 10 inches, placing it in the “Medium” category of mouse surface sizes. If there is less room on your desk you can use it in a vertical orientation. The Firefly is made of hard plastic though it does have a minor “give” if you bend it. So you can’t simply fold it and take to LAN parties, unlike cloth mouse pads. The top features a micro-textured surface engineered to provide a balance between speed and control play styles. The bottom of the Firefly is coated entirely in textured rubber.

Feel

I personally like the cloth mouse pads. I was using a cloth mouse pad with Logitech G302 before I got this with Razer Deathadder elite. The Firefly’s hard surface feels surprisingly different to use than a soft pad. This one is engineered partially for speed, and it does have a significant impact on the speed of mouse movement.

The actual micro-textured surface provides a couple of benefits. The microscopic crystalline specks used to create the surface actually increase reflectivity to mouse sensors. This boosts the precision of the mouse, making impressively precise movement possible.

Another welcome advantage of the Firefly: it’s super easy to wipe clean. There is no problem even if you clean with a slightly wet cloth.

Lighting 

The Razer Firefly features Razer’s Chroma lighting with 16.8 million color spectrum lighting technology. The mat features lighting along its left, right, and front edges, as well as a light-up Razer logo on its top-right corner. The back edge is without the lighting and also have a hump in the middle where USB cable is connected. A six-foot braided USB cord extends from a raised area at the back of the mat. When plugged in, the Firefly lights up (lighting can also be disabled in software). When not plugged in, you obviously get no lighting.

Razer Synapse

To customize the Firefly’s lighting, you’ll have to use the downloadable Razer Synapse software. This requires the creation of an online account with Razer (a minor hassle), after which any lighting changes made will be saved to the user’s account on the cloud. Synapse is really easy to use, particularly for the Firefly due to the relative simplicity of a mouse mat. No wading through multiple tabs to set up your colors here.

The Firefly offers five lighting effects (plus the option of no lighting), each with varying degrees of customization such as brightness and speed. A brief overview:

  • Breathing: All of the mat’s lights pulse up and down in intensity. You can’t have one light pulse a different color than the others, but you can set the lights to alternate between two different colors.
  • Reactive: This feature requires that you use at least one other Razer Chroma-supported device (a mouse or keyboard) in tandem with the Firefly. When enabled, any keypress or mouse click from the compatible device will cause the Firefly lights to flare up. If you want your mouse mat to flash when you fire in a game or whatever, the Reactive effect will make it happen.
  • Spectrum Cycling: The mat cycles between various colors.
  • Static: The Firefly stays lit up with a single color of the user’s choosing.
  • Wave: A series of colors flow around the edges of the mat.

 

Demerits of Razer Chroma

  1. Mousepads don’t normally have a USB cable coming out of it but this one has lighting effects so it must require power.
  2. You’ve to manage another cable accessory on your desk.
  3. Sometimes the wires of mouse and mousepad are entangled and cause trouble while gaming if there is no proper cable management.
  4. Unlike normal mousepad, you can’t fold Razer firefly due to its plastic nature.
  5. That bump at the back looks ugly and it shouldn’t be there. I sometimes collide my Deathadder elite with it when I’m so emersed in gaming.

Conclusion

There is no doubt Razer Firefly looks cool on the desk and it also offers some great features apart from a normal mouse pad. You can have it light up in any color, thanks to chroma lighting. Razer synapse works fine and helps you sync your gaming setup to one color. That fancy lighting might be for showing off, but the Firefly has practical purposes too. It’s roomy, has a surface that legitimately enhanced speed, precision, and feel, and it’s also easy to clean. There are some other things you can do if you are tight on budget, Get a cheaper mousepad and get an even better Gaming mouse. Lights don’t help in speeding up the mouse or response time. They are just for show off your build online in forums. There are a lot of pc upgrades that you can go for instead of spending 60$ on a mousepad.

Razer firefly is now available on Amazon for only 45$.

GAMING Power Inverter

Homage Inverter Tron Duo Review

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Inverters are now equipped with a lot of features.  Most of the inverters have LCD display to show important information. Different colored lights are also employed in the inverters. There is another most important feature is the inclusion of Solar Charge controller in the inverter main body. Other fail safe feature are overcharging, overloading, Short circuit protection, low battery alarm, low battery shutdown and over temperature protection. It should also protect against inverse battery terminal installation. I myself connected cables to opposite PV terminals but everything was safe and sound, even the wires stayed there for several minutes.

Homage Tron Duo

Homage Inverter – Tron Duo

Homage has a variety of models available. Some can only be used with battery while others have built-in charge controllers. Homage Tron duo is the inverter that have built-in solar charger controller. The different models of Tron Duo series are mentioned below.

  1. HTD-1011 SCC  (800W, Solar Capacity 500W)
  2. HTD-1211 SCC (1000W, Solar Capacity 600W)
  3. HTD-2011 SCC  (1600W, Solar Capacity 1000W)
  4. HTD-2211 SCC  (1800W, Solar Capacity 1200W)

The model under consideration is Homage inverter Tron Duo HTD-1211 SCC. It has a capacity of 1000W while also offering a Solar capacity of 600W. It can support 6 Tube Lights or 16 Energy Savers and 6 Fans.

Box

Homage inverter has a pretty decent box and packing. Inside the box, there is one power cable,  some user manuals and the inverter itself.

Size

Inverter looks sleek and compact with blue light on the top and some fine curves edge design. The size is almost equal to an Xbox One S or PS4 Slim.

Inverter Design

Inverter is small with a  rectangular shaped body.  Screen display shows all important information related to load and equipment. There are 4 buttons beside the LCD display; bigger Power button, Settings, Select and Enter. Blue light on the top of inverter can be turned off and on from the settings.

Cooling

There are air vents on all the sides. On the back, you have high rpm fan which makes no noise at idle or while charging. Fan noise is detectable at higher loads only.

Homage Tron Duo

Features

Inverter features solar power of 600W that means you can connect 600W solar panels with it in either series or parallel. Make sure the solar panel capacity is not more that the prescribed limit. Inverter has solar power connectors at the back. You can connect cables thereby removing the screws.

The overall capacity of the inverter under consideration is 1000W. I was able to achieve a maximum of 500-600W usage in the office with my computer turned on.

You can set the charging priority to either solar or utility. Or you can select both for charging. Same is the case with usage priority if solar is set as a priority the inverter will use energy from solar panels to power all the load connected unless the solar power is unable to support the load. When it is out of Solar capacity it will use the battery to assist. In case, the load is higher than the capacity of both battery and solar, the inverter will use utility (AC) source.

In the daytime, if your load is high, it will keep on switching from solar to utility and vice versa. I’ll suggest to keep it away from the busy room so you can’t hear the sounds –  it’s really annoying. I bought the inverter mainly for computer and it was able to run computer even on solar power only –  thanks to the 600W built-in charge controller.

Reasons to avoid homage solar Inverter

There are a lot of benefits of the solar inverter as discussed earlier but there are certain issues too. When you’re powering everything with solar and suddenly you have cloudy weather the inverter will shift to the battery and sometimes it trips when the load is out of capacity.

There are certain security features in the inverter which prove to be a disaster sometime. Like it trips on small or undetectable short circuits. Another thing I noticed you can’t use this invert with any other inverter in your home. Maybe there is some back current flow due to wiring. Probably you’ll not face some of these issues but I thought I should mention everything.

Conclusion

When looking for an inverter always calculate your expected maximum load, So your inverter can support it. Solar charger controller is the best feature so far as in our country solar energy is abundant. So Solar power will keep your equipment on in daytime even if you have several hours of power outage. It can also charge the batteries even if there is no utility (AC Source) available. Solar power can also save money from consuming less electricity in the daytime.

GAMING Power Inverter

Power Inverter for Gaming Computer

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It’s better to be Safe than Sorry when it comes to computer hardware.

If you live in a country where power failures are a common thing, you surely need a backup to avoid failure of computer hardware that’s why inverter is must have things. As a desktop computer user, I keep my computer turned on for almost 24 hours. Most of the time I’m doing video editing, Rendering images and animations. Furthermore, power failures reduce productive time as I’ve to start from the beginning. In addition, rendering takes several hours so it is better to do it in one go.

There are several questions in mind while looking for an Inverter to use it with computer;

  • How much capacity is required to run computer with 650W Power Supply (Mostly used in High End or Gaming Computers)?
  • Is it pure sine wave inverter or not?
  • Is it Safe to run computer on Inverter?
  • Should I get dry battery or wet battery?
  • How long will be the backup time?
  • Can I use my computer on common home inverter?
  • Should I use a dedicated Inverter for my computer?
  • Is it possible to run computer on Solar Power?

How much capacity is required to run computer with 650W Power Supply (Mostly used in High End or Gaming Computers)?

The first factor to decide the power requirements for your computer is the Power supply of your computer. There are variety of Power supplies available in the market. Moreover, power supply rating depends on the components in your Computer.e.g. main power consuming component in a Gaming or High-end system is the Graphic Card so you can buy power supply based on the requirements of your 3D Card. Other components combined consume as low as 100W on idle*.  Even if you have the latest Graphic Card in your computer that is Nvidia’s top of the line GTX 1080 Ti, you should get a power supply rated around 600W. In addition, Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti consumes 250W power and most probably the mentioned power requirement is measured at full load. I’m using older GTX 970 in my computer. Here are the Load Outputs from inverter at various conditions;

  • Idle on Desktop: 60W
  • Google Chrome: 80W (110W while watching Videos)
  • Rendering with CPU Only: 144W
  • Gaming: 280W (Rise of the Tomb Raider), 240W (DOTA 2), 277W (Sniper Elite 4)
  • Rendering + Gaming: 276W (DOTA 2), 312W (Sniper Elite 4)

Is it pure sine wave inverter or not?

There are lot of quality factors that should be present in the inverter. Pure sine wave is one of these factors. As you know inverter converters DC of battery to AC for home appliances. Early inverters used to make the voltage go straight up and down, creating a blocky signal. This is called modified sine wave. A modified sine wave inverter can be used for simple systems that don’t have any delicate electronics or audio equipment that may pick up the choppy wave and produce a hum. Old tube TVs and motors with brushes are usually ok with modified sine wave.

Pure sine wave is needed for newer LED TVs, CFL light bulbs, and inductive loads like brushless motors. Moreover, Clocks and Music equipment behave much better on a pure sine wave. As the advent of newer electronics, inverters are also evolved and are offering pure sine wave features. So your first priority should be to get a pure sine wave inverter.

Is it Safe to run computer on Power Inverter?

Yes, it is safe to run computer on power inverter as long as you’re proving enough voltages and current. Moreover, your inverter should be capable of supporting the load produced by computer. Low Power rated inverter will shut down or trip if the output load requirements are more that the rated capacity. For a computer using 650W power supply, 650W or more rated inverter is recommended (Check previous section for discussion on power requirements). Battery based inverters have a lot of options to choose from. Not all of the inverters have all of the features, so you need to decide which features are required or desired, and select the inverter based on which has them.

Should I get dry battery or wet battery for inverter?

There are multiple type of batteries available in the market. Most common type is Led-Acid Battery used in automobile starting, lighting and ignition. There are certain drawbacks of having Led-Acid batteries that it requires timely maintenance and handling precautions. Led-Acid batteries and inverters should be kept outside of your home like in porch as there is chance of acid spillage. On the other hand, Dry batteries do not have acid or liquid electrolyte in it. They have electrolyte in the form of GEL or Powder. Therefore, they can’t cause spillage and are maintenance free.

Therefore battery selection depends totally on the consumer, Dry batteries cost more as compared to Wet batteries but are environmentally safe and maintenance free. Dry batteries also have longer lifespan, better charging and discharging capabilities.

How long will be the backup time?

When we talk about the backup time Battery capacity should be our first concern. There are wide range of batteries available in the market. In addition, Battery capacity is mentioned as “Ah” Ampere Hour. Consequently, More “Ah” will result in longer backup times. Same is the case with cost. Hence you have to pay more for a battery with larger capacity.

I’m using a wet battery with 48Ah capacity. On Idle I was able to get 3 hours backup time. Since, On Idle computer power requirement is 50-60W which is very low. In conclusion, backup time reduces significantly while performing CPU and GPU intensive tasks e.g. Rendering and Gaming as Power requirements are increased.

Can I use my computer on common home inverter (Home UPS)?

Yes, you can use your computer on home inverter if the power capacity of the inverter is enough to support all the load combined. Therefore, Low end computer can be connected to home inverter instead of getting a dedicated for computer.

Should I use a dedicated Inverter for my computer?

If you have a high-end computer with more power-hungry components then dedicated inverter should be your first priority.

Is it possible to run computer on Solar Power?

Solar energy is abundant in Pakistan. So, if you get an inverter which have built-in Solar charge controller, you can run your computer on Solar power. Some inverters also feature dual power options e.g. you can shift load to solar power and if solar is not capable to handle load then it will use some energy from battery. Moreover, AC source will remain disconnected unless there is no solar energy present. Some inverter come with additional Solar power rating so you should check the solar power rating according to your requirements. I’m using inverter which have 1000 W capacity on batteries and 600W solar capacity, tested under different conditions it was able to run several things on solar power only. Therefore, 600W is more than enough for a computer. All you need are high quality solar panels to pair with the inverter.

*System Specifications under consideration for this article.

  • Processor: Core i7 4790K 4.4Ghz
  • Motherboard: MSI Krait Z97S SLI Edition
  • Cooler: Corsair H80i GT
  • Ram: 16GB DDR3 Corsair and Kingston
  • Graphic Card: Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce
  • HDD:  Seagate Barracuda 2TB and 1TB
  • SSD: Intel SSD 128GB and Transcend SSD370 256GB
  • System Fans: 3 x Corsair 140mm Non-LED Fans
  • Accessories: Razer Deathadder Elite Chroma, Razer Kraken Chroma 7.1, Razer Firefly Mousepad, Logitech G810 RGB Keyboard
  • Monitor: Benq Zowie RL2755

*Inverter: Homage Tron DUO HTD-1211SCC

  • 1000W Inverter with Solar Charge Controller (Solar Capacity 600W)