When shopping for a monitor, you may look at its connections, the screen size, resolution and contrast. But BenQ offers a new feature that significantly improves how visually impressive your games, movies and, heck, even spreadsheets, look.
It’s the B.I.+ Sensor, found in monitors like the BenQ EL2870U and BenQ EW277HDR.
But what is a B.I.+ Sensor?
BenQ’s Brightness Intelligence Plus (B.I.+) technology uses a sensor that monitors the ambient light level in the room and the content you’re viewing on screen. It knows when all the lights are on, and when you dim them to make Alien: Isolation or A Quiet Place all the more terrifying.
The monitor adjusts its own brightness, contrast and colour temperature to suit your conditions (for both surrounding lighting and screen content).
For the best image, you want the brightness of the screen to match the surroundings. Max out a monitor’s brightness in a dimly lit room and it can be painful to look at. Use a low brightness setting while sunlight streams through a nearby window and you’ll barely see whatever game or movie is on-screen.
Image credit: BenQ
Similarly, very warm or tinted room lights can make a normal image look odd. This is because, just like a BenQ monitor with a B.I.+ sensor, our eyes adapt to their surroundings.
Your pupils dilate and contract, reacting to the light level. And remember that internet argument about the dress that was either gold or blue depending on who you asked? That’s because our perception of colour is not absolute. It’s altered by our surroundings, and even the specifics of our eyes and brains.
BenQ B.I.+ takes the outside world and the content on your screen into account, so you can be sure you see movies and games as intended.
Image credit: BenQ
HDR10’s perfect partner
It works hand-in-hand with HDR10 support to provide the most intricate, detailed image possible. Haven't experienced HDR in person yet? It stands for high dynamic range, and in this context refers to video specifically mastered with high brightness and great contrast in mind.
BenQ B.I.+ means clearer blacks with more visible detail when you use the monitor in a room with dimmed lighting, and a punchier image when the lights are up.
It can help improve your eye health too. Using a computer monitor all day strains your eyes. BenQ minimizes this effect by, once again, matching the display to your room.
White areas of an image should look white rather than dark grey, but should not be so bright it feels like staring into a 100W bulb. The beauty of BenQ’s B.I.+ tech is that the monitor does all of this automatically.
Close the curtains, turn on a lamp, or switch from working on a word document to watching a dark film, and the display will tweak its settings to compensate. It makes sure you get the same great experience no matter the room or time of day.
Image credit: BenQ
Where to find BenQ’s B.I.+ Sensor
Where can you get this next-generation monitor tech?
Those after an affordable all-rounder monitor should consider the 27-inch BenQ EW277HDR. It offers Full HD resolution, HDR10 support and B.I.+ technology at an affordable price.
The BenQ EL2870U is our gamer’s pick. It’s a 4K resolution 28-inch monitor with AMD FreeSync and grey-to-grey response times of just 1ms. That’s perfect for competitive multiplayer games.
BenQ’s EW3270U is the cineaste’s choice. It’s 4K, but, at 32 inches across, is huge for a computer monitor. Superb colour depth brings added richness to your film collection.
All of these monitors have BenQ’s B.I.+ technology – you simply switch it on and off with a button on the front. There’s no clearer way to see the effects of this smart tech.
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