Compiling a list of the best monitors is a difficult task. Since the exact purpose for which the monitor is to be used the most is not available as a parameter, the area of focus needs to be monitors that are performers on their overall specs provided and can serve a wide array of purposes. While the deciding factor often boils down to price vs. performance, there are a number of specs that people need to look at to find an ideal monitor. While most people don’t really focus on the computer monitor as being high on a list of priority, however, monitors differ from each other very similar to other hardware elements and it is one of the most important parts of the computer that people stare at all day.
Buying Guide a. Size and Resolution The first step to buying a computer is to know the size of the monitor you want to go for. Whether it is a big 27” monitor or an 18.5” smaller one, this is defined by the size of your desk and the size of the space you have to work with. Upon deciding a size, the next thing to think of is the resolution offered by the monitor, which is the number of pixels that the device displays and correspondingly, the sharpness of the image provided. 1080p monitors are one of the most common in the market at the moment and work amazing with computer monitors of up to 23”. However, at bigger screen sizes, this is not an adequate resolution due to the lower pixel
density. It is a better idea to go for a higher resolution at 2560x1440pixels. This ensures both sharper pictures and more area on the screen for different icons or web pages. While most monitors offer a 16:9 aspect ratios which are the most common, there are a number of other aspect ratios in the market. For example, if you are opting for a 1920×1200 pixel density, this offers the same sharpness as a monitor at 1080p, however it offers you more pixels on the vertical side to make for a taller screen which can be great for writing or web browsing purposes. b. Panel Type The next thing to think of is the panel type offered by the monitor. You can find a wide array of panels on the market with each being perfect for different things. Some of the most common types of panels available on the market are listed below as well as their uses. Twisted nematic (TN) Panels are some of the most common and cheap types of LCD panels available to users at the current day and age. Unless specified otherwise, this is the type of panel it has. They have a faster rate of response and are better for gamers who want to game in 3D. These offer amazing in terms of refresh rates. They are ideal for gamers and offer amazing 3D gaming. However, they do not provide true depth of colors and are the least accurate in terms of colors and they do get distorted when viewed at wrong angles. The second type is the MVA or PVA models which aim to combine the advantages of TN and IPS panels and offers better viewing angles, better contrasts and blacks as compared to TN and IPS panels and have better response times, though the time between two dark colors is still pretty high and can lead to ghosting effect. Color reproduction is better than TN but still lower than an IPS panel. In-Plane Switching (IPS) Panels are slightly more expensive options and have better accuracy for colors with much better angles of viewing than the angles offered by VA or TN. These are perfect for photographers and graphic designers. They are definitely better to look at than TN models, however, they are not good at producing higher refresh rates and have slower response times than the traditional TN panels. These are problematic only if you are a competitive gamer or are gaming in 3D which requires a 120Hz refresh rate. PLS (Plane to Line Switching) are often very much like the IPS panels with the same advantages and disadvantages with some of the best minor excess advantages. PLS panels are said to have improved viewing angles as well as am increase in viewing angles and better brightness with improved image qualities. They are also more expensive. c. Refresh Rate If you are looking for a monitor for gaming purposes, you need to find a model that offers higher refresh rates. Most monitors have a 60-Hz refresh rate which implies a 60frame per second viewing. Even if the game is loaded with 100 FPS, you will get the frames that the refresh rate of the monitor offers. Opting for a 120Hz monitor can offer a gaming experience that is much smoother and can offer 3D gaming experiences at 60Hz per eye. One of the things to keep in mind is that higher refresh rates are generally only offered by TN panels, so you have to decide whether you would want a higher refresh rate or a better-looking display, and this is based on the main purpose for which the monitor is going to be used. If you are using supported Nvidia graphics card and display systems, G-sync helps reduce the issue of screen tearing while playing video games by boosting the screen’s refresh rates and syncing it with the game’s FPS. 3D support and other features like Lightboost which reduces motion blurring and can improve gaming experience, but these features will definitely boost the price significantly though, and is definitely a matter of personal preference and what you need from a monitor.
d. Anti-Glare Coating If you have any issues with computer glare or are going to work on your monitor for long periods of time, this can be a handy spec for you. A number of models on the market come with an anti-glare coating which can help to prevent glares caused by the lights that are behind you. If you are going to place the model in a room that is very well-lit or sit directly in front of the windows, however they can also cause the pictures to look fuzzy or dull. While glossy screens can look amazing and provide better picture quality, they are very prone to glares. A good compromise between glares and sharp pictures can be found with the help of semi-glossy screens. e. Stand and Swivel types Different monitors have different stands. While some are pretty solid in their build and make, others can be quite flimsy. Some stands can swivel sideways while some offer a vertical tilt only while others can even turn the monitor a whole 90 degrees to offer portrait mode. Ensure that you get a monitor that offers a hardy and well-built stand that is more likely to last for longer than a flimsy one. This can help cut down expenses on tweaking the monitor at a later time. f. Connector Types If you want to make your assembly hassle free, it is necessary to ensure that the monitor you opt for has the type of port or connector that you need. For example, if you are plugging in a video card which has a DVI output, it is simpler to get a monitor that offers a DVI port, unless you want to splurge on the extra adapter for the purpose. Ensure that the cards don’t place any restrictions on the different types of port that you may need in the future. Certain cards can offer restrictions on the types of connectors that can be used with them. For example, some monitors can only power dual monitors through a DisplayPort. Doing your due research can help in ensuring that you have all the ports you may need. g. Other features These are the fundamental specs people must look for while they are buying a monitor, however, there are other features that may be necessary for individuals for their optimal functionality. For example, people may require a monitor that is fitted with in-built speakers or additional USB ports. It is a good idea to do some research and look at the different pros and cons of the products (included in this list) while opting for it based on the average customer reviews to ensure you don’t face issues of lags, ghosting effects or other display issues. If you are a professional and need the machine for more heavy-duty functionality, you may want to check out some other more advanced specs in the market, such as the pixel pitch, contrast ratios and other features that may be necessary for your line of work. Remember that a lot of the additional specs that a monitor comes with are the reasons for the hiked-up prices that are often encountered in higher end monitors.
Best 10 Computer Monitors
1. Acer XR382CQK
Key Specifications:
Screen Size- 37.5-inch Resolution- 3840×1600 pixels Aspect Ratio- 21:9 (UltraWide) Contrast Ratio- 1000:1 (Static) Colors- 1.07 billion Brightness- 300 cd/m2 Panel Type- IPS Response Time- 5ms Refresh Rate- 60Hz Ports- DisplayPort 1.2, DisplayPort 1.2-Out, mini-DisplayPort, USB-C, HDMI 2.0, HDMI (MHL 2.1), 4x USB 3.0, Headphones Jack Speakers- 2x7W
This is one of the coolest monitors offering an immersive and engaging experience for gamers. The screen is incredible with the giant 37.5-inch dimensions which are curved at the ideal 2300R which enables a comfortable viewing experience with full peripheral vision coverage. With a host of connectivity features including the AMD FreeSync technology, the model boasts of an ergonomic design with an impressive quality of construction. The Acer XR382CQK offers all the benefits of a curved gaming TV which offers an immersive gaming experience without the blurring and responsiveness issues.
The image quality is seriously amazing with the LG AH-IPS panel which supports an impressive 10-bit color with a total 100% sRGB color space coverage. The colors are uniform and consistent with amazing details even in greyscale modes. With the wide viewing angles for 172° and 178° for horizontal and vertical viewing, there is no weird color mixing or shift in contrasts. The monitor does not bleed any backlight or produce any IPS glow. The performance is amazing with the AMD FreeSync congruous graphics card which ensures the syncing of the game’s refresh rate with the display refresh rate to eliminate any type of stuttering or screen tearing. The 5ms response time reduces most types of trailing and ghosting, making the Asus XR382CQK a great monitor for casual gaming, watching videos or most moderately demanding applications. The monitor has come up with a wide array of features such as different types of picture preset options for different types of applications categorized according to the nature of the application. The monitor offers the Dark Boost feature which can improve the visibility for darker videos, movies or games. The OSD enables the customization for the 12 LEDs with ambient lighting along the bottom of cabinets with four effects and five colors. The joystick enables OSD menu navigation and offers a blue light feature to boost comfortable viewing experience for hours. The design is pretty smooth and slick with the V shaped stand, 130mm height adjustments, 40° tilt, 60° swivel and the holes for 100 x 100 VESA mount and features a 3H anti-glare treatment to prevent sunlight reflection. Keep in mind the size of the monitor which I 35.3” wide and 18” all to ensure that it fits into your space. Overall, the Acer XR382CQK is an amazing model with a seriously impressive set of specs. Though more on the expensive side, the model is definitely a good investment and can serve all of your heavy-duty performance needs.
Pros
Cons The monitor is loaded with cool features like different game modes and lighting styles. The monitor is enabled with AMD FreeSync. The performance is top notch.
2. Dell UltraSharp U3415W
The monitor is quite expensive. Some of the ports available are hard to access.
Key Specifications:
Screen Size- 34-inch Resolution- 3440 x 1440 pixels Aspect Ratio- 21:9 Contrast Ratio- 1000:1 (typical) with Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 2 Million:1 (Max) Colors- 1.074 billion Brightness- 300 cd/m2 Panel Type- IPS Response Time- 8ms Refresh Rate- 60Hz Ports- HDMI/MHL/DisplayPort/Mini DisplayPort Speakers- 2x9W
The 34” curved Dell UltraSharp U3415W has an amazing 3440×1440 (WQHD) offering an amazing 21:9 aspect ratio to enable comfortable viewing with a true depth of color. The sensible design fits in seamlessly at home or office with the two-tone black and grey color and a small logo on the bottom of the display without any weird stickers to bulk up the screen. It is not too bulky but does require some depth for desks to avoid sore eyes. The monitor is amazingly easy to set up with a pre-assembled stand which is sturdy and well-balanced. The stand offers swivel and tilt movements and a 115mm height adjustment. The amazing pixel density of Dell UltraSharp U3415W offers ease of reading for texts and menus, which is an advantage over 4k monitors which require magnifying. The menus enable the user to adjust brightness, color,
energy usage, switch inputs and audio levels with the help of touch sensitive capacitive buttons. The picture in picture mode can enable two visual inputs to be displayed simultaneously. The speakers are loud and clear to enable comfortable streaming for music, videos and gaming. Watching movies and playing games on the monitor is a dream and though the 8ms does tend to lag, it is good enough for casual gaming with games that are more moderately paced. Similarly, the refresh rate of 60Hz is generally okay for most games. The picture quality of the Dell’s AH IPS panel is amazing and produces incredible image quality and amazing colors. The display reaches near 300cd/m2 and the display provides a very rich, inky black.
Pros
Cons The monitor provides amazing color accuracy with the help of the amazing screen resolution and 1.074 billion color display. The grey scale images produced are incredibly sharp. The audio is crisp and clear.
3. AOC E1659FWUX USB Monitor
Key Specifications:
The monitor is definitely more on the expensive side. The lack of side-mounted USB ports can be problematic.
Screen Size- 15.6-inch Resolution- 1920 x 1080 pixels Aspect Ratio- 16:9 Contrast Ratio- 500:1 Colors- 262 K colors Brightness- 300 cd/m2 Panel Type- TN Response Time- 11ms Refresh Rate- 60Hz Ports- USB 3.0, 2x USB
The AOC E1659FWUX USB Monitor is sleek and gorgeous and comes in a glossy black exterior. The screen has an inch-thick bezel as well as grips on the horizontal and vertical bottom sides which do pick up finger prints. The back has the logo with a stainless-steel kickstand which folds in without protruding out with a USB 3.0 port in the groove. The monitor does not have any buttons and turns on while plugged into the computer. The settings are manageable through the easy to use software. The monitor weighs 2.4 pounds. The AOC e1659fwux is pretty easy to install and the drivers are pretty easy to install. The Auto Pivot feature has to be installed via a separate driver with no lag after installation. The pictures are bright and vivid, though the screen has a blue tinge overall. The pixel density is not extremely clear for tiny texts but the viewing angles are amazing at over 45 degrees. The display is quite bright and comfortable for daily use. The AOC also offers a cool and Smart UI which enables users to set their preferences and regulate the different settings of resolution, contrast, mirroring and brightness options and appears as an icon in the taskbar and is relatively easy to find. The auto-pivot mode allows users to view the monitor in both landscape and Portrait modes with the flexi stand making transitions quite smooth and the auto pivot functionality ensuring that you don’t have to manually change the settings every time. Overall, this is a pretty good choice if you are looking for a second, bigger screen for your PC on the go needs.
Pros
Cons The display is bright with good picture clarity and wide viewing angles. The setup is pretty straightforward with the plug-and-play setup. The model is pretty affordable and the case is pretty lightweight and does not bulk up the weight of the monitor.
4. Asus ROG Swift PG258Q
There are some performance issues with Mac. The model is pretty prone to finger prints which may look dirty.
Key Specifications:
Screen size – 24.5 inches Resolution – 1920 X 1080 Aspect Ratio – 16:9 Contrast Ratio – 1000:1 Brightness- 400 cd/m^2 Panel Type- IPS Response time- 1 ms Refresh Rate – 240 Hz Ports – DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4 and 2 x USB 3.0 ports
This is a radiant gaming monitor optimized to the hilt for gaming performance. In addition to being full HD, it has a 240 Hz refresh rate coupled with 1 ms response time, making it a total game ready experience. It also has inbuilt NVidia GSYNC technology, which complements the refresh rate to deliver blazing gaming speeds. The 1 ms response time makes this monitor the fastest in its class, beating out the competitors by miles. The Asus ROG Swift PG258Q comes with light projection effects, which includes two Republic of Gamers covers, and 3 blank covers which the user can customize with a marker to create their own personalized light projection effects. The GamePlus hotkey that has been provided, offers in game enhancements like timers on screen and frame rate counter. It also comes with a crosshair overlay, which lets the user pick and choose the preferred kind of crosshair to suit their gaming needs. The monitor has an ASUS exclusive GameVisual tech that offers multiple types of display modes to suit as per display content.
It also comes with a 5-way navigation joystick along with 4 display setting hotkeys in the right rear end of the monitor, which lets a user easily access the monitor and the game settings together. If anyone needs 3D gaming, this monitor comes with native support of NVidia 3D Vision. If one links this monitor with an NVidia GeForce GPU, it is ready to roll with 3D gaming and 3D Movie experience, with just 3D glasses from the user’s end. The connectivity is also seamless since it supports HDMI and comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports for all the user’s needs. For immersive multi display for gaming, one needs to just plug it with multi monitor for a frameless immersive experience.
Pros
Cons Excellent game performance. NVidia GSync enabled.
5. BenQ PD3200U
Key Specifications:
Screen size – 32 inches Resolution – 3840 x 2160
It is expensive It has limited I/O Ports.
Aspect Ratio – 16:9 Contrast Ratio – 1000:1 Brightness- 350 cd/m^2 Panel Type- IPS Response time- 4 ms Refresh Rate – 60 Hz Ports – DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4 and 4 x USB 3.0 ports
The BenQ PD3200U is an exceptional monitor in terms of clarity and quality. The ultra-level 2k QHD display offers stunning level of 10-bit color precision which gives the user the privilege of viewing greater details and crystal clear pictures. Not only that, the 100 percent sRGB coupled with Rec. 709 work together to maintain the view quality even at a wide angle of view. This also contributes to its richness, depth and color consistency across all display types and views. A unique feature that this monitor offers is the Keyboard Video Mouse(KVM) Switch. This allows a user to connect two displays simultaneously and regulate the content from two dissimilar pc systems integrated in one screen using only one mouse and keyboard. This feature enhances and boosts space saving and increases user work efficiency. The different view modes offered are the Darkroom mode, CAD/CAM Mode and Animation Mode. The Darkroom mode is used to adjust the brightness and contrast of images while a user wants to work in a darker post processing environment. The amazing CAD/CAM mode can be used to display finer details of any kind of illustrative work. The animators will need the Animation mode to highlight dark areas and enlighten them for better visual processing. Moreover, from a designer’s point of view, BenQ PD3200U is perfect as it offers a dual screen mode, which essentially splits the screen to show two designs in two separate screens having 2 modes, and it eliminates the need for two different physical hardware. If one needs a quick switch between the multiple display modes like CAD/CAM or Animation mode, the monitor provides a quick switch option known as Hotkey Puck. It can also be customized to map other modes and even the on-screen display settings like brightness or contrast. When it comes to ease of ergonomics, this monitor is unbeatable. It has an extensive range of height, tilt, swivel and pivot arrangements and an inbuilt auto pivot as well, which pivots contents of the screen as per viewing orientation. No wonder this monitor has received Tom’s Hardware 2017 Editor’s Choice Award.
Pros
Cons Amazing grey scale performance. Unbelievably crisp high def display. Robust features.
Too highly priced. Limited options for advanced colors.
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