Next Level Gaming

We first looked at the EIZO brand early this year as the Japanese Display manufacturer entered the gaming realm with their hard hitting FORIS FS2333 Gaming Monitor (Read our review here) – it did provide some positive points like the incredible detail/colour quality and the addition of the ‘Smart-Insight’ technology. It did however had some flaws like the lack of a faster panel, only providing a standard 60Hz and the hefty release price in comparison to market alternatives. EIZO has finally return with an all new competitor – this time even more powerful and packing a whole new upgrade. Meet the FORIS FG2421 Gaming Monitor.

[spoiler title=”Specifications” open=”yes” style=”fancy”]Screen Size: 23.5″
Display Native Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (16:9 Aspect Ratio)
Contrast: 5000:1
Panel Type: VA
Response Time: Under 1MS
Input: HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI Features: 3.5mm Jack
RRP: $749 – Buy from MWAVE Australia [/spoiler]

Taking the monitor out of the box for the first time, you can clearly see EIZO has worked on providing a ‘gaming’ look with the FG2421 with it’s sharp orange highlights on the back of the panel (which also functions as a handle). It looks aggressive while still providing a clean look. The back panel also sports a lit-up logo of Eizo, which you can turn off in the settings. The monitor is definitely a stand out on your computer desk.

The FG2421 comes with everything you need out of the box – they even packed in a DisplayPort cable so you don’t even need to consider getting any extra cables just in case. Eizo has you covered here.

The stand itself is only adjustable by swivel, tilt and height which is quite basic and expected. I wouldn’t expect more from this but some may prefer the ability to turn the monitor into portrait mode without having to buy a mount. However, not many people I know play games in landscape eyefinity/surround setup so it’s not a big issue. The stand itself is sturdy and comes with enough weight and grip to prevent sudden tilts.

Eizo-FG2421-1

The most fancy orange handle you’ll see

So marketed heavily with this monitor is it’s ability to reach 240Hz – which is quite crazy as our last monitor we tested was only able to achieve 120Hz. Quite a jump really. It’s also unique at how it achieves this speed. EIZO has dubbed the technology as ‘Turbo 240’ which converts an already fast 120Hz signal to a incredible 240Hz by strobbing the backlight. This makes response time super quick and we tested a few FPS games to take advantage of the faster speed and we were impressed with the outcome. The strobbing effect however reduces the amount of brightness the monitor is able to handle in Turbo mode meaning you may experience a darker gameplay but jumping the settings up to accommodate this drop was no issue.

I was skeptical at first on how the 240Hz worked as technically it’s not a true 240Hz input as it’s impossible to achieve this on current technology but the EIZO dubbed Turbo mode works flawlessly. There’s some drops in quality like brightness as mentioned above but overall picture still remained quite good. You still however can turn Turbo mode off if you want to play on the maximum visuals which brings it down to 120Hz. Still at that speed combined with the panel, the EIZO stands out above it’s competition as other brands use the inferior TN panel to achieve those response time – sacrificing visual quality.

Settings wise, the monitor has all the options gamers need to help customise their visual setup. The panel allows for more deeper blacks and the high native contrast can be adjusted to your liking. There’s even preset settings which are created and set by Fnatic eSport players like ‘cArn’ , just in case if you’re keen to see what pros recommend. Using the bundled software, ScreenManager PRO – players can download more settings and even upload their own. It’s not something new for gaming monitors but a worthy feature to be included.

EIZO_FORIS_FG2421_01

The bundled software also allows for more control over the monitor without actually touching the buttons on the screen. Users can now assign keyboard shortcuts to switch between different profile modes in-game and also the screen size – just in case playing in 4:3 for FPS games is your style. This was much better than their bundled remote control that came with the FS2333.

After having a decent amount of time with the EIZO FG2421, it felt like the company actually read our last review and made some improvements based on what we found missing. Not only does the FG2421 pushed limits in response times and performance, it remains incredibly detailed as well. Gamers had to choose either performance or quality before but EIZO has somehow managed to merge the two together so we can have the best of both worlds. EIZO has definitely made a bigger presence into the gaming sector with the FG2421 and many gamers will know see what the Japanese company is capable of. If your wallet is big enough for this worthy investment, we highly recommend this as your next gaming monitor purchase.

[spoiler title=”PROS” open=”yes” style=”fancy”]

  • Incredibly Fast Gaming
  • Impressive Image Quality
  • Striking Design
  • 240Hz Turbo Works Well

[/spoiler]

[spoiler title=”CONS” open=”yes” style=”fancy”]

  • Not really TRUE 240Hz Input
  • Premium Pricing

[/spoiler]

Thanks to EIZO Australia for providing us with a review sample. You can buy the monitor from MWAVE Australia.

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