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Monitors
There are many types of monitors to choose from. If you are in the market for a new monitor, you may be confused as to where to start and what to look for. If so, you have come to the right place.
Picking a monitor
Monitors come in a wide variety of flavors. Some monitors are designed specifically for gaming, while others may be designed strictly for photo editing. The trick to picking the best monitor is to pick the one that best caters to your needs. Below is a guide which will help you find what you are looking for.
General use, light-medium gaming
An IPS paneled monitor is preferred for general use and/or light to medium gaming. Response times between 8ms and 5ms can handle all but the fastest games perfectly fine. Resolution is subjective, however keep in mind that the higher resolution you pick, the more powerful your graphics card will need to be to play games at a steady frame-rate. As of May 2016, all mid-range graphics cards ($300 price range) can handle almost all games on maximum settings at 1080p.
- Panel: IPS
- Refresh Rate: 60hz
- Response time: 8ms-5ms
- Resolution: 1080p-4k
- Brands: Dell Ultrasharp, ASUS, Acer
Heavy gaming
For those who play games competitively a TN panelled monitor with a 144hz refresh rate is suggested. This is because TN monitors have lightning-fast response times, down to 1ms. Also, TN panels are the only panels currently that can run at a 144hz refresh rate, which is more smoother than 60hz (thus again, is good for competitive gaming). However, this is at the risk of bad viewing angles and mediocre color reproduction in comparison to IPS panels.
- Panel: TN
- Refresh Rate: 144hz
- Response time: 3ms-1ms
- Resolution: 1080p
- Brands: ASUS VG248QE, BenQ models
Photo/Video editing
A recommended resolution for photo and video editing is 2k or higher, as technology is rapidly changing and standards in these markets are becoming higher. Response time is less important for these types of monitors, assuming that you will not be gaming at all. What's most important is resolution and color accuracy. Expect to pay a hefty price for a good 2k-4k monitor (above $250). Also if you intend to edit photos and videos, naturally you will want a wide display to see everything more easily. 25” is a safe size to start from.
- Panel: IPS
- Refresh Rate: 60hz
- Response time: 10ms-5ms
- Resolution: 2k-4k
- Brands: Dell Ultrasharp, ASUS, Acer
Other general tips
- Pick a monitor that has the necessary ports required to run your machine. You dont want to buy a monitor that only takes Display Ports if your computer has no Display Ports.
- Dont be afraid to spend a good amount on a monitor. After all, this is the thing you will be starring at for possibly hours at a time.
- The size of your monitor is entirely subjective, pick a size that is best for your environment. This is unless you are editing photos or videos, where more real estate will be handy to see what you are doing.
- Take into account the size of the bezels when picking a monitor. Bezels are the plastic sides of the monitor where the screen touches. If you intend to run a duel-monitor set-up, try to pick monitors with the thinnest bezels.
External links
Logical Increments provides a list of recommended monitors.