BenQ EW3880R

Interlace pattern artifacts

On some monitors, particularly but not exclusively those with high refresh rates, interlace patterns can be seen during certain transitions. We refer to these as ‘interlace pattern artifacts’ but some users refer to them as ‘inversion artifacts’ and others as ‘scan lines’. They may appear as an interference pattern or mesh or interlaced lines which break up a given shade into a darker and lighter version of what is intended. They often catch the eye due to their dynamic nature, on models where they manifest themselves in this way. Alternatively, static interlace patterns may be seen with some shades appearing as faint horizontal or vertical bands of a slightly lighter and slightly darker version of the intended shade. We did not observe either artifact type on this monitor.

Responsiveness

Input lag

A small utility called SMTT 2.0 was used alongside a sensitive camera to analyse the latency of the EW3880R, with over 30 repeat readings taken to help maximise accuracy. Using this method, we calculated 3.75ms (under 1/4 of a frame at 60Hz) of input lag. The input lag measured here is influenced by both the element you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness) and the main element you ‘feel’ (signal delay). It indicates a low signal delay which most users should be happy with. Note that we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with HDR active in an HDR environment.

Perceived blur (pursuit photography)

Our article on responsiveness explores the key factors related to monitor responsiveness. Chief amongst these is the concept of ‘perceived blur’, which both the pixel responses of the monitor and the movement of your eyes as you track motion of the screen contribute to. The second factor is generally dominant on modern monitors, though both factors play an important part. A photography technique called ‘pursuit photography’ is also explored, which uses a moving rather than stationary camera to capture motion on a monitor. Unlike static photos or videos, this reflects both elements of perceived blur rather than simply reflecting weaknesses in pixel responsiveness.

The images below are pursuit photographs taken using the UFO Motion Test for ghosting, with the test running at its default speed of 960 pixels per second. This is a good practical speed to take such photographs at, highlighting both elements of perceived blur well. The UFOs move across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display, 60fps and 60Hz in this case. All three rows of the test are analysed to show a range of pixel transitions and all ‘AMA’ (Advanced Motion Acceleration) pixel overdrive settings were tested. Reference shots are included in the final columns for comparison, set to their optimal pixel overdrive setting. The first reference is the Philips 288E2UAE (288E2E), a decent 60Hz IPS-type performer. The second reference is the Philips 328E1CA, a relatively well-tuned ‘4K’ VA model.

The UFO appears soft and unfocused without clear internal detailing. This reflects a moderate amount of perceived blur due to eye movement, observed as well with the reference shots. Varying degrees of trailing is also evident behind the UFOs, due to weaknesses in pixel responsiveness. With ‘AMA’ set to ‘OFF’, the monitor already comfortably outperforms the VA reference (328E1CA) and is a touch faster than the IPS reference (288E2UAE). Particularly if you consider the dark background (top row). The ‘High’ setting reduces the already slight ‘powdery’ trailing behind the UFOs. At this point it’s very faint for the dark background and you can see that it’s virtually eliminated for the medium background (middle row). For the light background (bottom row) it’s removed entirely, but a bit of overshoot (inverse ghosting) is introduced – ‘halo’ trailing that’s a touch lighter than the background shade. This is only slight overshoot, however. The ‘Premium’ setting as good as eliminates this small amount of ‘powdery’ trailing that remains, but the overshoot is increased significantly. In addition to ‘halo’ trailing you can see some inky-looking overshoot for the dark and medium backgrounds. Based on this testing and indeed broader analysis we consider ‘High’ the optimal setting. Some may prefer ‘OFF’ if they’re highly sensitive to overshoot, but it’s really not a major issue on this model in our view using the faster ‘High’ setting.

Note that we will not be including a section on overclocking, as the monitor skipped frames when set much above 60Hz.

Responsiveness in games and movies

On various Battlefield titles, with the game running at a consistent 60fps to make the most out of the monitor, we observed a moderate amount of perceived blur. The vast majority of this was caused to eye movement and linked to the 60Hz refresh rate. There were only very minor weaknesses due to slight pixel response time weaknesses in places. A very small amount of faint ‘powdery’ trailing for example, which was never much more significant than it appeared with Test UFO earlier – with a very minor impact on perceived blur. There was also a touch of overshoot in places, generally as ‘halo’ trailing that’s just slightly lighter than the background shade. This was certainly not strong overshoot, was well-blended and didn’t jump out at us. It’s not something most users will notice, even those quite sensitive to overshoot. Overall, the monitor put in a solid 60Hz performance here with suitably snappy and well-tuned pixel responses.

This was echoed on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Despite this title having many ‘high contrast’ transitions involving particularly dark shades and significantly lighter ones, which some IPS models struggle with, the monitor performed well here. The weaknesses were again on the very minor side, reflecting the pursuit photography analysed earlier. With less ‘powdery’ trailing than observed on the IPS reference screen (288E2UAE) and significantly less than the VA reference (328E1CA). And just a touch of overshoot in places. We also observed video content at a range of frame rates, including ~24 – 30fps Netflix content and 60fps content on YouTube. For the higher framerate content things were very similar to our in-game observations at 60fps, so very minor weaknesses which most users won’t notice at all. For the lower frame rate content the pixel response requirements for a solid performance are reduced. There were no observable weaknesses, perhaps very small traces of overshoot in places but nothing that stood out at all.

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HDR (High Dynamic Range)

On an ideal monitor, HDR (High Dynamic Range) involves very deep dark shades and brilliantly bright light shades being displayed simultaneously. Alongside a very broad range of shades between these extreme, including highly vibrant and saturated shades alongside much more muted ones. Ideally, per-pixel illumination would be provided (e.g. self-emissive displays such as OLED), or for LCDs a very large number of precisely controlled dimming zones used. A solution such as FALD (Full Array Local Dimming) with a generous number of dimming zones, for example. With this, some areas of the screen can remain very dim whilst others are outputting very high brightness. Colour reproduction is also an important aspect under HDR, with the ultimate goal being support for a huge colour gamut, Rec. 2020. A more achievable near-term goal is support for at least 90% DCI-P3 (Digital Cinema Initiatives standard colour space) coverage. Finally, HDR makes use of at least 10-bit precision per colour channel, so its desirable that the monitor supports at least 10-bits per subpixel. HDR10 is the most widely supported standard used in HDR games and movies and what is supported here.

For most games and other full screen applications that support HDR, the BenQ EW3880R automatically switches to its HDR operating mode if an HDR signal is provided. Some game titles will activate HDR correctly when the appropriate in-game setting is selected. Others that support HDR will only run in HDR if ‘Use HDR’ is turned on in Windows, too. Related Windows HDR settings are found in the ‘Windows HD Color settings’ (Windows 10) or ‘HDR’ (Windows 11) section of ‘Display settings’ (right click the desktop). If you want to view HDR movie content, ensure ‘Stream HDR Video’ (Windows 10) or ‘Play streaming HDR video’ (Windows 11) is active. Also note that there’s an ‘HDR/SDR brightness balance’ (Windows 10) or ‘SDR content brightness’ (Windows 11) slider that allows you to adjust the overall balance of SDR content if HDR is active in Windows. This is really just a digital brightness slider that only makes changes for SDR content, and you lose contrast by adjusting it. The settings in the OSD are greatly restricted under HDR, even though the image balance is better than some models when viewing SDR content under HDR. We’d recommend only activating HDR in Windows if you’re about to use an HDR application that specifically requires it.

For simplicity we’ll just focus on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a title we’ve tested on a wide range of monitors under HDR and know it to be a good test for HDR capability. The experience we explore here is very much dictated and indeed limited by the screen itself and will be reflected by other HDR content as well. Although our testing here focuses on HDR PC gaming using DisplayPort on an Nvidia RTX 3090, we made similar observations when viewing HDR video content on the Netflix app. There are some additional points to bear in mind if you wish to view such content. We made similar observations using HDMI, which would be used when viewing HDR content on an HDR compatible games console for example. Testing on both our Nvidia and AMD GPUs showed that the HDR implementation was similar in both cases, too.

The monitor includes three ‘HDR Mode’ settings; ‘Game HDRi’, ‘Cinema HDRi’ and ‘Display HDR’. As noted earlier, these settings act as ‘emulation modes’ (quite a misnomer) under SDR but act as distinct HDR settings when an HDR signal is detected. ‘Game HDRi’ and ‘Cinema HDRi’ incorporate the light sensor, as used for ‘Brightness Intelligence +’ (B.I. +) under SDR. This adjusts the image based on the content being displayed as well as ambient lighting. As we covered earlier, it will adjust brightness such that it will limit brightness from maximum unless the room is very bright. In a moderately bright room it retains most of this brightness, but in dimmer conditions it limits things significantly. Bringing down brightness to distinctly ‘un HDR-like’ levels, from the already limited maximum supported here. Further adjustments are made to colour temperature gamma and other elements as well.

The HDR10 pipeline has a rather specific set of parameters which a monitor would ideally follow closely. The HDRi modes make changes based on the image and ambient lighting that works against what the HDR metadata demands. We found the image generally too dim and cool-tinted using these ‘HDRi’ modes, particularly the ‘Cinema HDRi’ setting which gave an extreme cool tint regardless of lighting. We also observed oversaturation of some shades, including overly yellowish greens and oversaturated sky blues for example. The ‘Cinema HDRi’ setting also gave things a more cinematic look by increasing gamma, again detracting from the intended HDR appearance. We therefore preferred the standard ‘HDR’ setting and will focus on that for the rest of this section. Some may like the ‘HDRi’ modes, subjectively, and if so should feel free to use them. Many settings are locked off under HDR, as usual – including brightness, gamma and colour channels. You can adjust ‘Sharpness’ or ‘Super Resolution’ (an alternative sharpness filter) according to taste in the ‘Picture’ section of the OSD.

The BenQ EW3880R falls short of even the lowest level of VESA DisplayHDR certification, so only a basic HDR experience is offered. On the colour gamut side alone the monitor did pretty well – we measured 94% DCI-P3 as shown in the representation below. Remember that the red triangle shows the monitor’s colour gamut, the blue triangle DCI-P3 and green triangle sRGB. There isn’t as much extension beyond the DCI-P3 boundaries and hence encroachment towards Rec. 2020 as some models, including those with Quantum Dot LED backlights that provide extra extension in the green to blue region. That would also coincide with a higher Adobe RGB coverage than the 86% measured here. The good DCI-P3 coverage certainly allowed for some good flashes of vibrancy where the developers intended them, including some impressive bright oranges, deep reds and fairly lush greens. Because the developers have Rec. 2020 in mind as their ultimate goal and good DCI-P3 coverage as a more achievable near-term target, the oversaturation we observed under SDR was greatly toned down. This helped skin tones, earthy browns and muted vegetation appear more appropriate on both titles. Roaring flames showcased vivid deep oranges that didn’t verge too much on red and appropriate bright yellows that didn’t verge on orange, too. Whilst vibrancy levels were good overall, it’s not only a more generous colour gamut that could further have improved things there but also more precise luminance control. Which would add extra depth to some shades and extra ‘pop’ to others.

Colour gamut 'Test Settings'

The HDR10 pipeline makes use of 10-bits per colour channel, which this monitor also supports via 8-bit + FRC. This enhanced precision not only helps the monitor put its generous gamut to appropriate use, it also aids the nuanced shade variety for both bright and dark shades. There’s a natural uplift of detail due to a greater variety of closely matching dark shades. Very different to the ‘flooded’ look a gamma enhancement under SDR could provide. The greater variety of closely matching bright shades helped provide smooth gradients and gentler more natural-looking weather and particle effects. In both cases, greater luminance range and precision would really have helped hammer home these differences. The image below is taken from one of our favourite scenes to test HDR on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Remember that the photo is purely for illustrative purposes and in no way represents how the monitor appeared running HDR in person.

Whilst the scene highlighted the 10-bit advantages well, the monitor doesn’t include local dimming for the backlight. It’s also very limited by HDR standards due to its ~290 cd/m² peak luminance. It’s unable to provide impressive brightness to bright elements such as the glint of light hitting the water surface or steaming in from above. Such elements should showcase a range of bright to very bright luminance levels to help provide definition, but that’s not the case here. The screen is also unable to dim some of the darker or even mid-dark shades as much as they ideally would be. The monitor doesn’t use Dynamic Contrast, either, so the backlight brightness remains high (or is linked mainly to room lighting with the ‘HDRi’ settings) even if a lot of dark content is displayed. Dynamic Contrast is never a substitute for effective local dimming and the constant shifting of the entire backlight can be annoying, so some won’t miss it. But it can still help retain superior atmosphere for predominantly dark shades, rather than the black depth and depth of dark shades being lifted up unnecessarily with ‘IPS glow’ also in full effect. Darker content looked rather flooded here, even under ‘HDRi’ in a dim room there was a definite lack of depth – whilst brighter shades were not remotely as they should look under HDR. The section of video review below runs through the HDR experience using various scenes in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

The 37.5” 3840 x 1600 curved ultrawide experience

The 3440 x 1440 resolution and 21:9 aspect ratio offers a range of benefits for both work and play. Our related article covers the specific resolution as it applies to a 34” screen and the aspect ratio more generally. With its 3840 x 1600 resolution, 37.5” screen size and what is rounded to a 21:9 aspect ratio (24:10 or 2.41:1), the BenQ offers a ‘scaled up’ version of this experience. The pixel density of 110.93 PPI (Pixels Per Inch) is very similar to a 34” 3440 x 1440 screen or a 27” 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p) screen. You get a little extra vertical screen space and significantly more width compared to a 27” WQHD model in this case – Display Wars is a useful site to visually compare this. The significant screen area and high pixel count provides excellent ‘desktop real estate’, with a particular focus on an expansive horizontal work space. This is particularly useful for multi-tasking with side by side windows or for applications which make good use of horizontal work space (such as video editing, music composition or spreadsheet software).

The large size of the screen will take some getting used to if you’re coming from a much smaller screen, but we soon adapted and didn’t find it overwhelming from our usual desktop viewing position ~70 – 80cm from the screen. Instead, we found it provided an enjoyable immersive experience. We also adapted to the 2300R curve, which is relatively gentle – after a few days usage we forgot the curve was even there most of the time. It drew us in a little bit and provided a viewing experience that felt rather natural given the size of screen. There are potential viewing comfort benefits as well. Some users, such as graphic designers, may prefer the geometric predictability of a flat screen, but most users should find the curve just fine and actually quite enjoy the experience it provides. The images below are purely for illustrative purposes, they exaggerate the curve by making the screen seem to have a ‘pincushion’ effect which you don’t notice in person.

When gaming we certainly found the immersion from the large screen and slight curve enjoyable. The pixel density was sufficient to provide a good level of detail and clarity to objects and edges in the game worlds – not compared to a 32” or smaller ‘4K’ UHD model, but at a level most will be very happy with. The 21:9 aspect ratio also provided an engrossing experience for movie content of an appropriate aspect ratio, with a good range of such content available via the Netflix app for example. The 21:9 aspect ratio also provided significant Field of View (FOV) advantages for games, with both aspects explored in our article on the 3440 x 1440 resolution. Because both are 21:9 resolutions and most games use ‘HOR+’ scaling, you gain the same extra horizontal FOV (can see more of the game world at once) compared to a 16:9 model whilst vertical FOV remains the same. This really added to the sense of immersion in our view and could be considered a competitive advantage in some respects.

The article also explores compatibility concerns – most titles will natively support this resolution and will more generally support 21:9 and work in a similar way for both 3840 x 1600 and 3440 x 1440. A minority may have minor issues such as HUD placement being weird and there are some titles which simply don’t support 21:9 so would have to be run at an alternative aspect ratio such as 16:9 (something we explore in the following section). One title we tested didn’t support 21:9 – The Outer Worlds. We tested a range of titles that worked exactly as they should, including; Battlefield 2042, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Call of Duty: Vanguard and Cyberpunk 2077. Cut scenes and in some cases the menu system before you enter the main game were sometimes presented with black borders. But there were no issues for the main game. The photos below are again for illustrative purposes and exaggerate the curve, whilst in no way indicate the image quality observed in person. They show a range of titles running in the native 3840 x 1600 with 21:9 aspect ratio as well as at 3840 x 2160 with a 16:9 aspect ratio to give you an idea of the difference the extra horizontal FOV makes.

Note that Cyberpunk 2077 enforced full screen (stretch to fit) GPU scaling, distorting the image as shown when running at a resolution that has a non-native aspect ratio such as 16:9.

Interpolation and upscaling

Due to graphical demands or incompatibility with a certain system (e.g. games console) or game, it might be necessary to run the monitor at a lower resolution than 3840 x 1600. The monitor supports an interpolation (scaling) process to display resolutions such as 1920 x 1080 (Full HD or 1080p) and 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p). To ensure the monitor rather than GPU is handling the scaling process, you need to make sure the GPU driver is set up correctly. For AMD GPU users the monitor will handle the scaling by default, when gaming at non-native resolutions. Nvidia users should open the Nvidia Control Panel and navigate to ‘Display – Adjust desktop size and position’. They should ensure that ‘No Scaling’ is selected and ‘Perform scaling on:’ is set to ‘Display’ as shown below.



The monitor offers various scaling options in the OSD, listed under ‘Picture’ – ‘Advanced’ – ‘Display Mode’. There’s ‘Full’ which scales the image so it fills the entire screen, causing geometric distortion if the source resolution isn’t also 21:9. There’s an ‘Aspect’ option which scales the image to fill up as much of the screen as possible whilst keeping to the correct aspect ratio (no geometric distortion). And ‘1:1’ which will only use the pixels called for in the source resolution. This section of the OSD video runs through these scaling settings. The main ‘standard’ resolution you’d select to maximise screen space is 2560 x 1600, which has a 16:10 aspect ratio. This will fill up your vertical screen space and present you with black bars at the sides without any distortion or interpolation being used. The monitor doesn’t support scaling for this resolution, it will be handled by the GPU.

The monitor can provide interpolation for resolutions including Full HD and WQHD, allowing things to be displayed in the correct 16:9 aspect ratio with black borders at the sides but not above and below. The ‘Aspect’ option provides this experience. With this, the monitor presented things in a somewhat softer way than you’d see on a ~30” screen running these resolutions natively. This can be offset to a degree by using the ‘Sharpness’ and ‘Super Resolution’ controls in the ‘Picture’ section of the OSD. This is a good flexibility to have and we found things presented quite well with ‘Sharpness’ set to ‘8’, particularly the WQHD resolution. Preferences for these sharpness settings will vary. The ‘Aspect’ option is automatically used and remaining settings unavailable with the 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) resolution, which is higher than the native resolution of the monitor and is therefore a downsampling mode. The image naturally isn’t the same as a native ~30” ‘4K’ UHD display – the monitor simply doesn’t have that many pixels or the same pixel density. But the setting worked as well as we’ve seen from such a setting and you can again adjust the sharpness controls in the OSD if you want to fine-tune according to preferences.

As usual, if you’re running the monitor at 3840 x 1600 and viewing lower resolution content (such as a 1920 x 1080 Full HD video) then it is the GPU and software that handles the upscaling. That’s got nothing to do with the monitor itself – there is a little bit of softening to the image compared to viewing such content on a native Full HD monitor, but it’s not extreme and shouldn’t bother most users.

Video review

The video below shows the monitor in action. The camera, processing done and your own screen all affect the output – so it doesn’t accurately represent what you’d see when viewing the monitor in person. It still provides useful visual demonstrations and explanations which help reinforce some of the key points raised in the written piece.

Timestamps:
Features & Aesthetics
Contrast
Colour reproduction
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
Responsiveness

Conclusion

The 37.5” 3840 x 1600 screen of the BenQ EW3880R provides benefits for immersive gameplay and movie watching, whilst providing a good pixel density and excellent ‘desktop real estate’. The gentle curve draws you in a little, but is a subtle addition you should quickly get very used to and forget it’s even there. Despite lacking metal elements on the stand, the monitor had a sturdy feel to it and opted for a bronze colour in place of the more usual palette. In practice this was subtle and well-blended on our wooden desk. The monitor also offers USB-C functionality and includes a feature-rich OSD with accompanying IR remote for easy navigation. Useful if, like us, you frequently access the menu. Integrated speakers are often a largely forgettable addition to a monitor and best avoided if at all possible. In this case the 2.1 channel system, with integrated subwoofer, provided a surprisingly rich and full-bodied sound that was a pleasure to listen to.

IPS panels are known for strong colour consistency and this was no exception, coupled with quite a generous colour gamut (94% DCI-P3) providing extra vibrancy to sRGB content. An sRGB emulation mode was included that cut that down effectively with adjustable brightness, though gamma calibration and to a lesser extent colour temperature was a bit off-target with the setting and couldn’t be adjusted in the OSD. The wide gamut was useful for HDR content where good DCI-P3 coverage is desirable as a minimum. Aside from that the HDR was decidedly lacklustre, owing to limited luminance and a lack of local dimming or even Dynamic Contrast. The HDRi settings allowed the screen to adjust to ambient lighting, but this simply unbalanced the image whilst serving as a limiter to an already limited HDR brightness. Outside of HDR the contrast was in-line with our expectations for an ultrawide of the panel type. With a static contrast a touch shy of 1000:1 and moderately strong ‘IPS glow’, this was certainly not a strength of the monitor. The maximum luminance of 217 cd/m² is rather limited, though sufficient for most, and the 34 cd/m² minimum is nice and low.

In terms of responsiveness the monitor offers no VRR technology such as Adaptive-Sync and runs at a maximum static 60Hz refresh rate. Within those confines it performed well, though, with low input lag and well-tuned pixel responses. We found it very enjoyable for immersive single player gameplay (and a bit of Battlefield 2042 on the side). If you’d prefer a small boost to refresh rate and Adaptive-Sync support, there are various alternatives at this price point from the likes of LG, ASUS and Acer. But they use a slightly older panel with significantly narrower colour gamut. The LG 38WP85C is a notable exception as it shares the panel and gamut, but it comes at a price premium. Options with significantly higher refresh rate and superior HDR support (VESA DisplayHDR 600) are also available, but they come at a massive price premium. For those who are satisfied with a static 60Hz refresh rate, this monitor is a compelling choice in our view as it delivers a vibrant and immersive experience and is priced well in the segment. The BenQ extras such as remote and integrated sound system you’ll actually want to use are also welcome additions.

Positives	Negatives
Vibrant and consistent colour output with quite generous gamut and sRGB emulation with adjustable brightness	Gamma a touch high on our unit, Adobe RGB coverage insufficient for accurate output there and sRGB emulation lacks flexibility with high gamma
Light to very light matte screen surface provides fairly direct light emission without clear layering or strong graininess	Mediocre static contrast, moderately strong ‘IPS glow’ and unimpressive HDR brightness without local dimming
Solid 60Hz responsiveness with low input lag and well-tuned pixel responses	Limited to 60Hz with no VRR
Large and immersive with high resolution, excellent integrated sound system, feature-rich OSD with remote and good ergonomics	No KVM functionality

The bottom line; vibrant colour output in a highly immersive screen format with a capable integrated sound system and good 60Hz responsiveness.PC Monitors

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