How to choose a monitor: What information to know, and where to find it.

[SolarNova]

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a life time”

 

The search for a monitor for many people ends in 2 ways:

 

They purchase a monitor seen on a retailer site based purely on specs and advertisements, and are done.

or

They come to a technology forum and ask for advice.

 

The latter usually results in them asking if monitor A or B is best, or what specs they should look for, and then people reply with suggestion usually based on the same advertised specs seen at retailers and/or 1st or 2nd hand subjective opinion.

 

The problem with this is that the display industry has a hidden world of details that are very important for those who want to make an informed purchasing decision, but seldom few ever get to know these details, details that directly relate to the quality of the display and its true capabilities beyond the usual fluff marketing material. These hidden details are known to enthusiasts who know of the few competent, thorough reviewers out there that can provide those details. But being in the minority this results in advice from such individuals possibly being missed by those who need that advice.

 

This is a guide on what information to look for, and where to find it, beyond the basic and often misleading ‘specs’ advertised by the manufacturers, retailers, and many of the self-proclaimed ‘reviewers’ seen online, so that you may make an informed purchasing decision on your own, for the most part.

 

Let’s start off with an important notice:

Any suggestions given to you for any monitor should be accompanied by a thorough tested review source, if it isn’t then such suggestions will be based purely on subjective opinion, often based on specs alone, which, as stated, can and usually are very misleading and missing lots of important information.

 

Now let’s move onto the ‘guide’.

 

Do not rely on advertised specs, and do not compare advertised specs. If its not a reviewed monitor, you're taking a gamble.

As will become evident as you go through this guide and follow the links to reviewers, the advertised specs can be and usually are very misleading. You can use them to glean basic information like resolution, size, frequency, number of ports etc, but things like 'response time' should be taken with a massive grain of salt.

 

Price:

Spoiler

 

The 1st stumbling point anyone looking for a product hits, if you can’t afford it, you can’t get it. So any information after that fact is rather pointless at the time.

 

UPDATED :19/07/23

 

General rule of thumb price tier (IMO): Values will differ slightly based on currency used.

 

~ £/$100: Any monitor is better than no monitor. They all suck, just get the cheapest.

 

£/$200-300: There are now a variety of newer budget entry level monitors that are worth looking into.

 

£/$300 - £/$400: This is a good budget to set as it gives you access to a variety known good displays.

 

£/$400 - £/$600: A better budget for those with specific higher end requirements like 240hz, higher resolutions and wider color gamuts.

 

£/$600-£/$1000: You will have access to the majority of reviewed monitors by this point. Top end displays for a variety of use cases, HDR capable displays are more common in this price range and you may be able to snag OLEDs on sale.

 

£/$1000+: A few extra options appear, high end ultra, and super-ultra-wide predominantly, MiniLED, OLEDs, and other cutting edge displays.

 

£/$2k+ professional displays and specialized new to market specs, such as new sizes, aspect ratios, bendable displays etc. If you’re looking here, you don’t need this guide.

 

A good budget rule of thumb used to be to hold on to 2x the price of your GPU, however with GPU prices still sitting substantially above the pre 2019 pricing structure one should aim to budget on a 1:1 ratio GPU:Display.

Buying a mid to high end GPU then spending less than £/$300 on a monitor will effectively 'gimp' your experience. Why buy that GPU to crank up details when you can’t appreciate those details due to a crappy monitor?

 

 

 

Display Size/Viewing Distance/Resolution

Spoiler

Until display technology advances to a point where resolution and pixel density is so high it doesn't matter how close you get ur not going to see any pixels, we have to look at and balance 2 things.

Field of view (FOV) and visual acuity.

FOV is measured in degrees, and visual acuity in pixels per degree (PPD) in conjunction with your individual vision score, such as 20/20. The visual acuity is in effect in relation to the pixels per inch, or pixel density, of the display.

For the majority of people, the average vision score of between 20/20 and 20/15 means you will aim for a PPD above where you can discern fine detail (pixels). So a person with 20/20 vision and a PPD acuity of 60 should aim above that, meanwhile someone with 20/15 vision should aim above 80 PPD.

For FOV, it depends on use case, for movies the THX standard is a minimum of 36 degrees with an ideal figure of 45-50 degrees, up to a maximum of 70 degrees so peripheral vision can always see the entire display.

For immersion sake, for example for sim racing and the like, one could go beyond 70 degrees , to as high as you want, but likely not higher than 140 degrees, the accepted average of the human eye. At 140 degrees ur peripheral vision could see the entire screen when looking dead center however when looking at the far sides u would loose your peripheral sight of the opposite side of the display.

For competitive environments you actually want it lower, closer to 40 degrees, or less, so your eyes move as little as possible.

Whilst it would be nice to aim for 70 degrees, realistically 50 degrees is what you will be looking for with a single display for PC use, ‘general’ gaming, and movies.

With current display tech, on a single display we have to balance these two out.

 

Examples

27” 2560 x 1440 16:9 (generic 1440p monitor, 109ppi)

90 PPD visual acuity distance 46.5” Resulting in 28 degrees FOV

80 PPD visual acuity distance 41” Resulting in 32 degrees FOV

70 PPD visual acuity distance 35.5” Resulting in 37 degrees FOV

60 PPD visual acuity distance 30” Resulting in 43 degrees FOV

 

32” 3840 x 2160 16:9 (A Generic 4k monitor, 138ppi)

90 PPD visual acuity distance 36” Resulting in 43 degrees FOV

80 PPD visual acuity distance 31” Resulting in 48 degrees FOV

70 PPD visual acuity distance 27” Resulting in 55 degrees FOV

 

42” 3840 x 2160 16:9 (LG C2 OLED TV, 105 ppi)

90 PPD visual acuity distance 47” Resulting in 43 degrees FOV

80 PPD visual acuity distance 41” Resulting in 48 degrees FOV

70 PPD visual acuity distance 35” Resulting in 55 degrees FOV

 

55” 3840 x 2160 16:9 (A Generic 4k TV, 80 ppi)

90 PPD visual acuity distance 61.5” Resulting in 43 degrees FOV

80 PPD visual acuity distance 54” Resulting in 48 degrees FOV

70 PPD visual acuity distance 46” Resulting in 55 degrees FOV

 

45” 3440 x 1440 21:9 (Corsair Xeneon Flex / LG Ultragear 45GR95QE, 83 ppi)

90 PPD visual acuity distance 60” Resulting in 38 degrees FOV

80 PPD visual acuity distance 53” Resulting in 43 degrees FOV

70 PPD visual acuity distance 45.5” Resulting in 49 degrees FOV

 

49” 5120 x 1440 32:9 (Samsung G9, 109 ppi)

90 PPD visual acuity distance 43.5” Resulting in 57 degrees FOV

80 PPD visual acuity distance 38” Resulting in 64 degrees FOV

70 PPD visual acuity distance 32” Resulting in 73 degrees FOV

 

57"  7680 x 2160 (Samsung Neo G9, 140 ppi)

128 PPD visual acuity distance 47.5” Resulting in 60 degrees FOV

118 PPD visual acuity distance 43” Resulting in 65 degrees FOV

100 PPD visual acuity distance 34.6” Resulting in 77 degrees FOV

 

So where do you begin ?

Well, find out how much space you have for your display, be it a TV or monitor. Then work out your possible seating positions and viewing distances.

Use those to determine the screen size and resolution, and possibly aspect ratio, using the above figures as guides for an ideal setup.

Of course there is a site you can use to work all this out.

http://phrogz.net/tmp/ScreenDensityCalculator.html

 

My rule of thumb for quick on the fly calculation of size vs viewing distance, for 16:9 displays, is...

1x to 1.5x screen size = viewing distance

For the most part it works, but the above link and guide is more accurate and ideal for those who really want to optimize their setup. That's not to say one cant sit closer or further away than the above figures, it is in the end personal preference, these however are the statistics behind the topic.

 

Quality:

Spoiler

The LCD Monitor industry is one of compromise.

For the most part quality doesn’t increase with price beyond a certain point, usually around the £/$500 mark.

 

Additionally, there are no ‘best for everything’ choices; you can’t get a monitor that is both as good as u could want for professional productive colour work and professional competitive gaming at the same time for example. Though there are some that get close.

 

When asking “what is the best monitor for XYZ”, make sure you understand that its a better idea to ask for the best in ONE aspect, not multiple.

 

 

Panel Types:

Spoiler

Associated with the above, panel types dictate the primary aspects you’re going to be looking at.

 

TN:

Historically this is where the competitive gamers went to find the fastest displays for their needs. TN panels can have the fastest pixel response times and thus the clearest moving image necessary for fast paced competitive gaming.

However in recent years IPS panels have become far more common place, even at budget levels and the fastest IPS panels can get as fast as most TN panels in regards to pixel response and refresh rate whilst retaining the benefits of IPS, like better viewing nagles and color gamut.

 

Nowadays , with a few exceptions like the HP Omen X27 , a 2019 monitor that still holds up for pure speed today, most TN panels are found on ultra cheap office displays and lower end gaming displays that may indeed have a fast enough pixel response for competitive gaming, if u can get over how bad the image may end up looking.

 

TN panels have the worst image quality, with poor viewing angles, poor black levels, poor contrast, poor uniformity, and in most cases poor colour gamut, coverage, and factory calibration. Don’t expect to be able to enjoy movies or the scenery in games.

 

IPS:

Often touted as the best, IPS has its own issues, however it is most certainly the best choice for colour accurate content creators and professionals once calibrated. These displays can have very good colour gamut and coverage, they do have the best viewing angles, and they have better contrast levels than TN.

 

However, IPS panels do not do well in dimly lit rooms, their contrast while better than TN usually tops out at around 1100:1 which isn’t great, they also suffer from IPS glow, 2 types arguably:

• The 1^st being a glow from the corners of the screen, an amount that varies from panel to panel, this glow will change as you change your viewing angle and distance, this is how you discern it from traditional LCD back light bleed (BLB).
• The 2^nd being the overall hue and glow from the entire screen when trying to produce black, this is often blueish, this is present on all IPS display regardless.

The other ‘issue’ IPS has is pixel response speed, while newer 'fast' IPS panels have been manufactured and used in some great displays that can easily compete vs TN, there are still an abundance of slower ISP panels that are simply not fast enough to be considered for competitive gaming.

 

VA

Arguably the middle ground of LCD display technology. VA has the best contrast and black levels by far, one of the primary reason they are predominantly used in TVs. They can nowadays also come close to your ‘average’ IPS displays level of colour gamut and accuracy.

However, VA displays have significant problems with dark transition pixel response times, all VA panels will have some amount of ‘blur’ / ‘ghosting’ present in dark scenes, and the ‘average’ VA panel monitor will also have some amount of that present in ‘normal’ scenes as well. But there are a few that have managed to get pixel response speed up to a point where you can easily use them for gaming with minimal blur added from the pixel response.

At this time (early 2022), only the Samsung Odyssey G7 and G9 displays have VA panels that overcome the dark/black level smearing that plague the technology.

 

OLED: (Feb 2022) This section will be updated once reviews of the new OLED panels gaming monitors arrive.

The simplest way to understand this type of display is that its 'the best'. period.

It obliterates LCD in every way when it comes to pure picture quality, both static and moving image clarity.

While it still has to deal with persistence blur caused by the sample and hold technique used in modern displays, the inclusion of Black frame insertion (BFI) and subsequent use of it results in the clearest moving image u can get outside of an old CRT display.

These displays are hands down the best for competitive gaming, AND hands down the best for movie and content consumption regardless of whether ur in a dark room or in an average lighting condition.

OLEDs only Achilles heel is the ,often overblown, potential for the dreaded 'burn in'. This is something that will need to be tested by reviewers for the new Monitor RGB OLED panels as they are different enough from the LG WRGB OLED TVs tested by rtings a few years ago.

However, for the most part some basic habitual use changes and a little babying can reduce the risk considerably.

 

 

Uniformity:

Spoiler

A ‘spec’ that is never advertised or seemingly even tested by manufacturers.

 

Uniformity is very important for the quality of the display but is way more often than not, terrible in monitors.

Uniformity is a measurement of the difference in the light passing through the panel from the backlight from one area of the screen to the next when trying to produce a solid even color across the entire screen.

 

A poor uniformity means that when trying to display a flat solid colour, it will in fact look different from one part of the screen to another. This is especially important when looking at whites and blacks.

Blacks are heavily impacted by BLB, and in the case of IPS panels IPS glow, a poor black uniformity will make dark scenes of any content look terrible.

 

Conversely a poor white uniformity while not as noticeable can make bright scenes look oddly coloured in areas where the uniformity is bad. The most noticeable effect of poor white uniformity is vignetting around the edges of the screen. (edges seem darker)

 

Displays with FALD (full array local dimming) will have better black uniformity when this feature is enabled as the backlight will not show up any uniformity issues in the areas the backlight is off.

 

The gold standard today for black uniformity are OLED TV’s , black areas are black because there is no backlight.

 

 

Pixel response speed (Response time):

Spoiler

Sometimes mistaken for input latency (input lag), this is a measure of how fast a pixel can transition from one shade/brightness to another.

The faster it is the less added blur you will see from one frame to another.

 

I say ‘added’ blur because there is an innate presence of blur called ‘persistence blur’ that comes from the ‘sample and hold’ technique used by modern displays. Each frame is produced then held for the entire duration of the frequency the display is refreshing at, when tracking a moving object, the human eye/brain will fill in the gap between each frame (blur). As such, the higher the frequency the more information your eyes have and the less persistence blur you will see.

 

The way to reduce or even remove this blur further is to flicker the screen, add a black frame between each frame, this has the effect of adding extra information or rather separating each frame from each other, reducing the blur between each frame. This is why even an OLED TV with near instant pixel response speed, will still display some amount of blur, though far far less than the vast majority of LCDs.

 

However, pixel response speeds are usually the dominant factor in the amount of blur present in LCD displays.

 

Pixel response specs advertised by manufacturer have to be taken with a big grain of salt. They are a cheery picked figure from a single transition often among as many as 30, all of which are important.

 

The measurement of pixel response time is usually done in 2 different ways:

 

• A full transition measurement 0% to 100%. In effect like timing a runner doing the 100-meter sprint, you time from start to the finish line.
• A 10% to 90% measurement. In effect like timing that same runner but only include the 10-meter mark to the 90-meter mark.

 

The reason the 2^nd measurement is done is because the 10% to 90% period is where most of the transition is taking place and thus by the time 90% of the transition is done, your eyes will be seeing the majority of what that pixel is intending you to see. But not all mind you.

 

The 10%-90% measurement is industry standard, however reviewers can also include the full transition measurement as well in their reviews as it can be used to include overshoot,

Overshoot is usually caused by too high a 'Overdrive' setting, and overdrive is always used at its maximum level when manufacturers cherry pick their response time figure.

 

‘Overdrive’ much like it sounds, increases the speed of the transition BUT by doing so makes it harder for the pixels to hit their intended mark.

It’s like adding NOS to a car, or a turbo kit and not upgrading the breaks.

 

When overdrive is enabled at its highest setting, this often results in ‘overshoot’ where the pixel goes past its intended target and has to come back down in brightness, this when viewed results in an inverse ghosting effect where the ‘blur’ is a lighter colour rather than a darker colour.

 

It is arguably more distracting than normal blur. This added time to compensate for overshoot is of course not included in the 10% to 90% test as the test stops at 90% of the way to the target and doesn’t measure the point where it hits the 100% point, goes past it by any amount, be it 10% or 250%, and back down to the original target, thus making the advertised response time spec even more unreliable.

 

As of this time, using 'usable' overdrive settings where possible, TN panels can get closest to 1ms, but their ‘average’ across all transitions, will not be 1ms, it will be closer to 2ms to 4ms depending on the exact measurement being used by the reviewer (often both).

IPS will be around the 4ms to 8ms mark

VA will be around the 5ms to 12ms mark.

 

To finalize this point, you could purchase 10 different models all advertising 1ms response times, and when viewed, each will not only behave differently in regards to amount of blur you see, but when tested will also all have different response time averages slower than 1ms.

 

 

Input lag:

Spoiler

Often confused with response time. Input lag is the time it takes for a given input to be displayed on screen.

 

For the most part, monitors, especially gaming monitors, will all have input latency figures plenty fast enough for even the most dedicated competitive gamer.

 

Input lag is measured by measuring the time between an input like a mouse click, and the time it takes for that input to display in the centre of the screen. As each frame on screen is drawn from top to bottom, the fastest possible input latency figure is HALF the frame time frequency of the display. So the fastest a 144Hz display can be in terms of input latency is 3.47ms.

 

However, if you see an input lag figure that is below half the frame time of the display, you can safely assume ether a mistake was made or they are only counting the additional processing time and not the half frame time.

 

As such, an input lag figure of 2ms on a 144Hz screen can be assumed to be 2ms of added processing time on top of the 3.47ms minimum time needed for the frame to display an input in the centre of the screen. While an input lag of 2.6ms on a 240Hz display can be assumed to include both half frame time and added processing time.

 

The reviewer doing the testing will use a standardised way, so you won’t have to ‘guess’’ which way it is being done.

Generally speaking with monitors anything below 10ms is good, and most monitors achieve this.

 

 

Colour gamut and coverage:

This is a section I will not be getting into.

The simple reason being that if it’s an important aspect to you, you should already know everything that needs to be known for your given hobby or profession.

 

For the vast majority of people you won't need to know what things like the Adobe-RGB coverage or DCI-P3 coverage mean and are used for.

It is however tested for by most competent reviewers and so you can look there if interested.

 

Colour Accuracy:

As with above this is most important for professionals and certain hobbyists, however this is still somewhat relevant for everyone in my opinion.

Spoiler

It is rather simple, factory calibration for most monitors is poor. This means most people right now are not seeing the games they play and the movies they watch, as intended by the creator.

 

How far off the image is depends on the individual display as every single monitor will have a slightly different factory calibration. This is why you shouldn’t just download a ICC calibration profile from another person or review site.

 

The best way to calibrate your monitor is to buy a cheap calibration tool like a X-rite i1 Display Pro or Spyder5 pro. They cost around £/$180 which is very cheap in terms of calibrators and can be used to create a windows ICC colour profile that will ensure your monitors are calibrated to whatever accuracy you desire. You can also use this device to manually adjust other displays like TVs.

 

Should you buy one of these calibrators it is suggested that you don’t use the included software, DisplayCAL is an open source free software that is generally considered to be superior to the included software.

 

In a review a higher 'Delta-E' figure means a worse calibration. below 3 is good. below 2 is ideal. A custom calibration using a device like above can get below 1.

In regards to gamma measurements, the target is usually 2.2, this its not a delta/error figure.

 

 

HDR and SDR:

Spoiler

Updated 02/12/22

 

HDR.

High Dynamic Range.

"Dynamic Range" describes the difference between the brightest part and darkest part of an image.

 

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a term used to differentiate between Standard Dynamic Range (SDR), which was originally speced for CRTs with a brightness limit of 100nits and 8bit color, and the newer Higher Dynamic range beyond that.

 

HDR is officially standardized into 8 levels across 2 effective categories.

 

HDR : 400, 500, 600, 1000, 1400

Note: HDR 400 does not require color coverage beyond 8bit sRGB/Bt709, while the rest (500 +)require 8bit+2 (effective 10bit) with DCI-P3 coverage of 90%+

 

HDR True Black: 400, 500, 600

 

True black being a HDR specification where the display has the ability to produce both a black field of no brighter than 0.0005 nits, with a minimum 'peak' 10% center test field luminance of 400,500, and 600 nits respectively.

Note: Ture Black 400 also has all the other requirements that 'standard' HDR 500 and above has, such as DCI-P3 coverage of 90%+ , unlike 'standard'  HDR 400.

For now, 'TrueBlack' this is only given to OLEDs.

 

For the full test criteria see below.

https://displayhdr.org/performance-criteria-cts1-1/

 

In terms of recent HDR monitor availability, out of 82 models released ,and reviewed by rtings, in 2021 or later, 29 can hit a 10% window 470nits (leeway given for 500nit target) or higher.

Of those 29 only 6 come in under $600,  7 are between $601 and $998, the rest are over $999.

As such, proper HDR displays capable of HDR 500 or better, are really only available in significant numbers at the high end, and with only 35% of the recently released and reviewed displays achieving relevant HDR capabilities, it would be misleading to say HDR capable monitors are widely available to the average person.

That being said, they are getting more common.

 

My advice on HDR capabilities is to be careful and check what spec of HDR the monitor your looking at is rated to achieve, HDR 400 for example is not going to result in a true HDR experience.

Additionally, while a display may achieve a HDR standard, it doesnt mean it will look good as there are ways to achieve some of the lower standards using specific edge use cases.

See below for an example.

 

 

 

Where to look:

 

Now that we have gone through some of the most important 'hidden' aspects of Monitors, where do you find this information ?

 

As mentioned, reviewers. However, you will need to find those who test objectively, display the results, and ideally also inform you of their testing methodology so you can compare displays across different reviewers.

 

Here are a few places you can check.

Spoiler

 

Rtings.com

 

These guys have the best site I have come across so far for display reviews. They have a search and filter tool, and you can even create your own rating system so that new reviews are automatically added to your table and arranged in accordance with what specific test results and specs are important to you. Their website is easy to navigate and has all the information you want to know on each of the tests they do, include how they test.

 

They have hundreds of Monitors and TVs in their catalogue and buy every display from retailers so that they dont get cherry picked preview samples.

 

The following link is to my custom rating profile.

https://www.rtings.com/user/ratings/ABkArd5QEMduIA

 

Tftcentral.co.uk

 

Equal in testing accuracy to Rtings, however their sites search function is broken so it’s harder to navigate. They are also slower to review displays.

 

Pcmonitors.info

 

Like tftcentral, they to have a solid testing method and reviews. However once again their site doesn’t have as robust a search feature and they can confuse some viewers with their ‘articles’ which talk about new and upcoming monitors but are not actual reviews.

 

Hardware Unboxed youtube channel

 

This channel does sufficiently well in reviews when compared to most other youtube channels, however they only include a limited number of tests, thankfully the important ones, for example pixel response time, are included. Being a youtube channel there is only a basic search function, they have no website so written reviews are not available. Overall however they do a great job in some of the most important aspects of monitor testing.

Update: 2021 Test methodology change.

 

 

Why isn’t LTT included?

I like LTT as much as the next person, however, when it comes to display reviews they lack details, and are for the most part halfway between a ‘overviewer’ and a proper ‘reviewer’.

Some of their videos will include information like colour accuracy and gamuts, they may even attempt a basic ‘blur’ amount test, but they are not currently at the level of Rtings or Hardware Unboxed. If you see a monitor on a LTT video and you think it looks good, I would still suggest you check the above sources first before purchasing.

Update: 17/12/22

LTT labs is now capable of providing detailed reviews of displays, keep an eye out for future reviews.

 

TVs as a monitor?

This ‘guide’ isn’t for TVs however a quick word on them

Spoiler

Yes, you can use a TV.

No, there is no big difference in technology.

No, they won’t damage your eyes.

Yes, TVs tend to have a higher input lag even in ‘game mode’. But for the most part it isn’t a big enough figure to cause issue.

Yes, most LCD TVs use VA panels and as such pixel response is slower, thus they do have an amount of blur. This along with the input latency, means they are not recommended for competitive gaming.

Yes, OLED is an exception.

 

OLED TV’s overcome almost every issue that LCDs have, they are potentially great even for competitive gaming. Though 120Hz is the current cap, they do not suffer added blur from slow pixel response. They even have BFI to reduce persistence blur, so a 120hz OLED can have clearer motion than potentially even a 240Hz LCD Monitor. Do you want a blurrier 240Hz monitor or a clearer 120Hz OLED?

 

BUT they are usually on the large side, 42" is currently the smallest common size you can find, there a couple 'monitor' sized displays out /coming out, and some innovative curved and bendable displays on the horizon like the Corsair Xeneon Flex 45" 21:9 bendable monitor. And of course there is the so called ‘burn-in’ issue to deal with.

Yes, it can happen, yes, you will have to work around it, however new models tend to come with a , on average, 4 year burn in warranty, and a good amount on onboard tech to reduce the likely hood of it happening.

 

The final issue with OLED is price. £/$1000 minimum for an older model, £/$1500 for a new model. Likely more for 'gimmicky / gamery' models like the Corsair Xeneon Flex.

But they are currently the best displays available in the display industry, beating out even £/$1000+ monitors in every aspect but max frequency and their size issue.

 

 

 

Why should you trust the above information to be true?

 

Display manufacturers are tight lipped when it comes to specific information about their displays that are not included in their advertisement material. And for good reason, no one wants potential customers to know the faults of their products.

 

However, statements like "the response time spec is massively misleading" can be tested, and has been. Every reviewer who tests pixel response speed comes out with an average pixel response speed that is different from the advertised specs, some even go so far as to try and replicate the advertised spec, and that is where we find out how the manufacturers get away with advertising these figures. They are 'technically' not a lie, just hugely misleading.

 

This is the same for all the above information, reviewers that have shown their testing method can confirm all the tested information they have gathered and it can be replicated, within panel variance, and thus confirmed to be true.

 

With the above information in hand, and links to a few reviewers where further more detailed information can be found, you should have all you need to make an informed purchasing decision when looking for a monitor.

 

 

 

If anyone thinks I should add any information to this post, do feel free to speak up.

 

Thanks to @Glenwing for help with format and error checking.

[MadAnt250]

On 5/12/2020 at 1:19 PM, SolarNova said:

As mentioned, reviewers. However, you will need to find those who test objectively, display the results, and ideally also inform you of their testing methodology so you can compare displays across different reviewers.

This is a good reason why I take a month or two for before purchasing some new products. This method should be used for many other products and can help prevent buyers remorse.  

[Assasingreed]

question i want to buy a monitor that has 1440p and 144hz i was thing AOC Q27G2U/BK is this a good monitor i dont want to spend to much. also is the Phillips E-line 276E8VJSB a good 4k monitor.

[SolarNova]

5 minutes ago, Assasingreed said:

question i want to buy a monitor that has 1440p and 144hz i was thing AOC Q27G2U/BK is this a good monitor i dont want to spend to much. also is the Phillips E-line 276E8VJSB a good 4k monitor.

You best course of action is to follow the guide above, once u have found a few options ,that have reviews available ,that ur ok with, make a new thread and ask for opinions on the options u have found.

 

Remember, without a review of the monitors you choose, any choice made will be on specs alone, which inst the best course of action as explained above.

 

Make sure to link the reviews ur using to pick the options so people can help compare them.

 

I cant comment on the AOC display of the top of my head and I see no thorough reviews at a quick glance. If u have found one make sure to link it in ur thread.

[ELSknutson]

This makes monitor purchase almost impossible with out seeing it in person.  What I have found so far is most sites like Amazon lack the needed info for picking good displays. Plus reviewers tend to lean either on the high end  144hz 1440 50inch 1ms ips Gsync RGB bla bla bl pannels or they go for bang for the buck $200 dollar options.  Also I notice that everything seems to be centered around FPS gaming and Usually never accounts for the people that play MMO's or people that don't care if there may be a slight delay if that means that the picture and panel looks amazing.  I would gladly make that trade any day. 

 

Monitors and TV seem to be one of the hardest decisions to make when it comes to buying peripherals and the manufacturers dont make it any easier with there naming like PC218jklmnop-lc Gaming. Because you can do all the do diligence you want by going to a review site but when it comes time to purchase and you go to type in the one you seen on the review you may not get the model you are looking for because it has a P, W, Q at the end and now you got an out dated version or your shown the more expensive option. 

 

So if any there any manufactures reading this please can you just name your panels something normal. 

[Gaires]

58 minutes ago, ELSknutson said:

and Usually never accounts for the people that play MMO's or people that don't care if there may be a slight delay if that means that the picture and panel looks amazing.  I would gladly make that trade any day.

Rtings has pretty decent selection of different kind of monitors and they have an amazing table tool to search for monitors. It does take some time to learn how to use it, mostly to learn the names of the filters you want to use. Thankfully you can find them pretty easily from any of the reviews they have on the site.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table

 

They also have a lots of articles where they recommend monitors.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best

[alovarosa]

Sooo from what I've figured now my dream of an 1440p/144hz Monitor with propper HDR is pretty much dead and I should rather buy one Monitor with a high refresh rate and one Monitor(or TV) With greate colors/HDR?

[SolarNova]

59 minutes ago, alovarosa said:

Sooo from what I've figured now my dream of an 1440p/144hz Monitor with propper HDR is pretty much dead and I should rather buy one Monitor with a high refresh rate and one Monitor(or TV) With greate colors/HDR?

Bluntly..... Yes.

 

The closest u can get at present is LG CX 48" OLED, which runs 120hz 4k, VRR, BFI, and HDR.

For many though its still too big at 48" and most are unwilling to make the small habitual changes necessary to look after a OLED.

[alovarosa]

52 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

Bluntly..... Yes.

 

The closest u can get at present is LG CX 48" OLED, which runs 120hz 4k, VRR, BFI, and HDR.

For many though its still too big at 48" and most are unwilling to make the small habitual changes necessary to look after a OLED.

Thanks for your response :).
Okay since 48" is way to big for me as Monitor I guess I gonna stick with 2 Sepperate Monitors or a Monitor and a TV, I gonna look into that with the information you kindly provided in this tutorial.
Last question if I may.
If you talk about "Habitual changes necessarry to look after an OLED" doesn't that basically just mean I have to prepare for screen burn in? So basically I'd make "Habitual changes" by installing a sort of screen saver (uhh, oldschool) or just simply turning my Monitor/TV Off while not using it?

[Gaires]

5 minutes ago, alovarosa said:

If you talk about "Habitual changes necessarry to look after an OLED" doesn't that basically just mean I have to prepare for screen burn in? So basically I'd make "Habitual changes" by installing a sort of screen saver (uhh, oldschool) or just simply turning my Monitor/TV Off while not using it?

Indeed, there are many threads in here where people give tips on how to minimize the chance of a burn-in.

[SolarNova]

16 minutes ago, alovarosa said:

If you talk about "Habitual changes necessarry to look after an OLED" doesn't that basically just mean I have to prepare for screen burn in? So basically I'd make "Habitual changes" by installing a sort of screen saver (uhh, oldschool) or just simply turning my Monitor/TV Off while not using it?

Pritty much.

 

OLEDs pixel degradation is cumulative, so its more a case of reducing the amount of total time the same image is displayed over and over again.

Like for example a game UI, or a fully expanded Browser window, or Icons on ur desktop and the windows taskbar and desktop background image.

 

You can work around this with some simple changes.

Hide taskbar, screensaver, animated or changing desktop background, hiding icons or adding transparency. ('Wallpaper Engine' does most of this) and for browser windows, just dont open them up in fullscreen , manually expand them and shift them around each time u open it.

 

For games u just try to limit static UI's, especially high contrast ones, hide them, change their size often, and ideally just don't play the same game for 6+ hours a day every day for years (like streamers do). So long as ur games are varied pixel degradation should be relatively uniform so ull avoid 'screen burn'.

 

I still use a Plasma so i do all this myself, and its become second nature, its my habitual use now , i dont notice im doing it most of the time.

 

OLED 'burn-in' isnt like 'real' burn in from the CRT and Plasma days, u can play fortnight, for example, for 24 hours straight, so long as u leave the OLED to go through its pixel refresh cycle, u wont find any burn in the next day. But if u keep doing that every day, it will degrade over time fro the cumulative degradation rather than immediate permanent damage.

[Halfdan]

I want to buy a second monitor. My main has 240hz and Gsync. What specs do I need on the other one to not have issues with stuttering/downregulate refreshers etc?

[ReganCACS]

What about RGB vs BGR subpixel layout? Does this matter as much as some people on reddit seem to think? OS's are macOS and Ubuntu, we are a Windows free household. GPUs are AMD for Ubuntu and Intel for the macs. Seems like everything over 40 inches is BGR. Will this make for blurry or jagged text on the macs in particular? It looks like I can set the Ubuntu to BGR in conf, but will this actually correct the issue?

 

The monitor in question is the LG 43UN700-B 42.5-inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor

 

 

[SolarNova]

11 hours ago, ReganCACS said:

What about RGB vs BGR subpixel layout? Does this matter as much as some people on reddit seem to think? OS's are macOS and Ubuntu, we are a Windows free household. GPUs are AMD for Ubuntu and Intel for the macs. Seems like everything over 40 inches is BGR. Will this make for blurry or jagged text on the macs in particular? It looks like I can set the Ubuntu to BGR in conf, but will this actually correct the issue?

 

The monitor in question is the LG 43UN700-B 42.5-inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor

 

 

Text clarity on displays with 'odd' subpixel layouts is somewhat a OS issue. In windows for example it is designed to work with RGB layouts and as such BGR and WBGR layouts result in text being less clear at smaller text sizes that heavily rely on 2 pixel width font.

For example the Lg 48" OLED uses WBGR and Windows font at 100% native scaling doesnt look to great, however at larger font sizes resulting from scaling at 150% and 300% text is much more legible as its able to utilize more pixels (3 - 4) to make a solid black line for a letter.

Windows cleartype however I htink it looks worse.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/lg/48-cx-oled

 

I have no experience with MacOS or Ubunto so i have no idea how it would handle such displays.

 

Without a review testing the specifc model ur looking to use, I have no more information on it than you.

 

That said rtings do have a review up of a BGR display, namely the Phillips Momentum. It shows some crosshatching, but its not as bad a Lgs WBGR layout.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/philips/momentum-436m6vbpab

 

In the end ull just have to see it in person to make ur decision.

 

 

[VivienMatthews]

Hello

 

I am in need of a new but budget monitor for 2D/3D animation, graphic design and coding.

My budget is around 250-350€

It needs to have IPS panel, some type of HDR, ideally 4K and adjustable stand is a must. Pivot would be nice too.

 

Please, help me find the right one.

 

Thank you.

[idontlikephysx]

I am in Canada first of all and I got to ask is there any affordable option for 4k monitors in the $350 to $400 + tax range?  Is there anything anyone would recommend?  Only places I would buy from right now are Newegg.ca, BestBuy.ca and Amazon.ca as I actually want to get my monitor and these places have delivered things on time when I have ordered from them in the past few months.  Btw I don't care about 144 FPS as I want picture quality more.  Also the video card that would be driving my pc is an RX 5700 XT so I guess Free-Sync matters?  All I know is I have done some shopping and haven't been able to decide on anything.  I did look at the following monitor but can't figure out what kind of panel it has ...

 https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16824236825?Item=N82E16824236825

I assume this is a TN panel and I want to avoid this at all costs if possible.

Oh and one other thing is when trying to pick out a monitor I am trying to avoid what I got with this LG tv I am using for a monitor and that is 1080p likes like garbage on it.  I had a previous tv that did not have this issue but that was then and this is now. : S   As for purchasing a new tv I looked into it but don't like the idea of getting locked in to pay for something for awhile.

[SolarNova]

10 hours ago, idontlikephysx said:

I am in Canada first of all and I got to ask is there any affordable option for 4k monitors in the $350 to $400 + tax range?  Is there anything anyone would recommend?  Only places I would buy from right now are Newegg.ca, BestBuy.ca and Amazon.ca as I actually want to get my monitor and these places have delivered things on time when I have ordered from them in the past few months.  Btw I don't care about 144 FPS as I want picture quality more.  Also the video card that would be driving my pc is an RX 5700 XT so I guess Free-Sync matters?  All I know is I have done some shopping and haven't been able to decide on anything.  I did look at the following monitor but can't figure out what kind of panel it has ...

 https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16824236825?Item=N82E16824236825

I assume this is a TN panel and I want to avoid this at all costs if possible.

Oh and one other thing is when trying to pick out a monitor I am trying to avoid what I got with this LG tv I am using for a monitor and that is 1080p likes like garbage on it.  I had a previous tv that did not have this issue but that was then and this is now. : S   As for purchasing a new tv I looked into it but don't like the idea of getting locked in to pay for something for awhile.

IMO you shouldnt be looking at 4k with a 5700XT driving it.

 

1440p would be a better suite and give you more options to look at.

 

Here is a link to my ratings profile on rtings. See what catches your eye.

 

https://www.rtings.com/user/ratings/ABkArd5QEMduIA

[ewitte]

Monitor is a personal preference.  I have yet to find a TN panel I like and some people refuse to use VA for smearing or IPS for "IPS glow". See and test if if you can just know the showroom floor is a different experience than in the home.  I let my guard down with TN thinking they improved enough looking at it in store and regretted it when I used it at home.

[Slyceth]

I'm glad you link this for everyone, but it's a very confusing way of portraying the monitors. The average person does not need to know all about which budgets contain which monitors (everyone knows that more expensive=better and that 500$ is the best balance) and most people know what pixel response time and input lag is, and you link this post to people who are just looking for a recommendation, not a wikipedia article about monitors.

I recommend just updating this with recommendations in each budget and resolution+refresh rate.

 

For example 450$ = Dell s2721DGF (Nano-ips) (165Hz)

Alternative 400$ = LG 27GN750 (Nano-ips (144Hz) (sRgb mode)

etc.

 

As it now stands, this post is useless for the 70% of people finding this after you link it in their recommendation post.

[SkylarHasMail]

you failed to mention Info for people buying crt's smh (lol)

[Sumadiana]

On 7/2/2020 at 2:36 AM, SolarNova said:

You best course of action is to follow the guide above, once u have found a few options ,that have reviews available ,that ur ok with, make a new thread and ask for opinions on the options u have found.

 

Remember, without a review of the monitors you choose, any choice made will be on specs alone, which inst the best course of action as explained above.

 

Make sure to link the reviews ur using to pick the options so people can help compare them.

 

I cant comment on the AOC display of the top of my head and I see no thorough reviews at a quick glance. If u have found one make sure to link it in ur thread.

Any luck with aoc, cus i am thinking to get the aoc 24g2. is it any good and or is there any minor drawback of the display?

[SolarNova]

10 hours ago, Sumadiana said:

Any luck with aoc, cus i am thinking to get the aoc 24g2. is it any good and or is there any minor drawback of the display?

https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-24g2u-24g2/

 

Uniformity could be a sticking point, that will be down to panel lottery for the most part. The above review showed some issues, however another linked below mentioned no issue however i have cannot comment on their accuracy as i dont use their site. Their uniformity test (backlight bleed) seemed to be limited.

https://www.techporn.ph/review-aoc-24g2-gaming-monitor/

 

Another reviewer noticed color uniformity issues.

https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/james-morris/aoc-24g2u-24in-144hz-gaming-monitor-review/4/

 

However all noted good color accuracy.

 

You'll also likely want to avoid using its 'Motion Blur Reduction' , its BFI, as its not well synchronized causing noticeable crosstalk ( moving image duplication).

Since ull likely want to use freesync anyway it doesnt matter as MRB isnt available with freesync at the same time.

 

For the price i'd say its good.

[Sumadiana]

On 2/5/2021 at 11:59 PM, SolarNova said:

https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-24g2u-24g2/

 

Uniformity could be a sticking point, that will be down to panel lottery for the most part. The above review showed some issues, however another linked below mentioned no issue however i have cannot comment on their accuracy as i dont use their site. Their uniformity test (backlight bleed) seemed to be limited.

https://www.techporn.ph/review-aoc-24g2-gaming-monitor/

 

Another reviewer noticed color uniformity issues.

https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/james-morris/aoc-24g2u-24in-144hz-gaming-monitor-review/4/

 

However all noted good color accuracy.

 

You'll also likely want to avoid using its 'Motion Blur Reduction' , its BFI, as its not well synchronized causing noticeable crosstalk ( moving image duplication).

Since ull likely want to use freesync anyway it doesnt matter as MRB isnt available with freesync at the same time.

 

For the price i'd say its good.

Aight, i'll check on it. thanks for the info

btw, should i get the msi g241 or the aoc 24g2

[Apparate]

Is this a good monitor? https://www.amazon.com/LG-24QP500-B-FreeSync-Virtually-Borderless/dp/B08YJWYMD5

[SolarNova]

2 hours ago, Apparate said:

Is this a good monitor? https://www.amazon.com/LG-24QP500-B-FreeSync-Virtually-Borderless/dp/B08YJWYMD5

Without a proper review i cant be certain, however even the overviews available indicate its only got a 5 MS response time on its 'faster' OD preset which tend to be dedicated to getting the fastest response time irrelevant of overshoot, which tells me its likely very slow IPS panel under normal usable settings.

its price along with its other specs put this in the "get the cheapest display you can find" or " increase your budget" zone of displays imo.

 

But again without a dedicated tested review i cant be certain.

 

This thread explains all u need to know to find and decide on a display yourself, linking to a retailers advertisement asking if its good isnt going to help.

 

If u cant find and link a review then ur guess on the product is as good as anyone else. This goes for any1 reading.