Whether you are looking to upgrade your gaming setup or buy a monitor as a bigger screen for your MacBook, a good monitor will significantly improve your computer experience. Even workstations demand monitors with particular specifications. No matter what your needs are, by checking out a few boxes and comparing available options, you’ll be able to buy the right monitor. In this guide, we are going to take a look at some crucial things you need to consider before investing in a display.
Understand your needs
If you use your PC mostly for watching movies and work that requires using word processing applications, you can skip higher refresh rate monitors but go with higher resolution for crisp images. A 4K resolution will not only give you a better cinema experience but will also help produce sharper text for easy reading. Gaming PCs and Consoles both benefit from higher refresh rates and faster response times. Next-gen consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series S and Series X, are capped at 120 fps, so anything above that will be of no use. But for PCs, you can go for monitors with as much as a 360 Hz refresh rate or more. Animation, Video editing, Game development, and similar professions require the same specifications as top-tier gaming monitors to ensure the best results. Once you understand what your needs are, choosing a monitor becomes an easy process.
Single vs Multiple Monitor Setups
One thing to consider when choosing your new monitor is whether you intend to have a single or multiple monitor setup. While utilizing three monitors can increase your FOV, they’ll likely be more taxing on your computer than a single monitor, as well as having their own drawbacks such as bezels between the screens. This can be avoided if you instead choose to increase your FOV by purchasing an ultra-wide monitor. Between the rendering power needed and the potential bezels, it may make more sense to simply choose an ultra-wide monitor for gaming. The extra FOV (Field of View) also serves as a competitive edge in gaming, especially in first-person shooters such as Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Valorant, and Overwatch 2. However, if you want to use Discord and other applications simultaneously while gaming, you can opt for a budget monitor that can display sharp text on the side.
TN, IPS or VA Monitors
TN Panels are often chosen by competitive gamers due to having the highest refresh rates available as well as being cheap compared to other panel types. The main drawback of TN panels is that their colors are often more "washed out" than with other panels, with worse viewing angles.
IPS Panels have historically been developed to improve upon the weaknesses of TN panels. Most notably, IPS panels have a much wider color spectrum, with deeper blacks and better viewing angles. In recent years, as IPS technology has advanced, the panels now often have competitive refresh rates with TN Panel competitors.
VA Panels are a compromise between TN and IPS panels. They offer the highest contrast ratios and extremely rich HDR content, and as a result, many TV manufacturers use them. However, they are a poor choice for gamers due to their low refresh rate and lesser viewing angles compared to IPS. With that said, there are a few gaming monitors from Samsung featuring VA panels that are so well built that they can go head-to-head with some IPS alternatives.
What Are Some Good Monitors in 2023?
For home office usage, the Dell U2723QE is a good option as it offers plenty of impressive features. The monitor features a 27-inch IPS panel and has a native resolution of 3840 x 2160. It is great for displaying accurate colors and sharper texts, and it also has wide viewing angles in case you need to share the display with a friend or a colleague. It comes with a 60 Hz refresh rate, a standard for most office needs.
If you are looking for a monitor that can do a little more than just office work and handle multitasking, consider going for the LG 40WP95C-W. This ultrawide monitor from LG boasts a native resolution of 5120 x 2160p and a max refresh rate of 72 Hz. Not only that, but it also has a variable refresh rate.
This LG offering is ideal for day traders, movie fanatics, financial consultants, and gamers who mostly indulge in online slots Canada and poker tournaments. While this monitor isn’t ideal for games that require high VRAM, it will perfectly serve its purpose as a great multitasking tool. What’s more, it can load low-impact, desktop-based casino games in a seamless manner, making it an ideal, versatile device for all-encompassing activities.
Monitors from the Samsung Odyssey series and BenQ are some of the best out there for competitive gaming. These include the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8, Odyssey G7, Odyssey Ark, and BenQ MOBIUZ EX3210. Other models worth considering are the Gigabyte M27U and Gigabyte M32UC, and if price is no concern, then go for the ASUS ROG Swift OLED, a one-of-a-kind OLED gaming monitor of 2023.
Final Thoughts
Yearning for a dual monitor setup? opt for a gaming monitor for the primary display and an office monitor for the secondary display. You can mix and match with various available options out there, even keeping both monitors of the same specs to complement each other. However, an ultrawide monitor will be a better alternative if you just want a wider FOV. OLED monitors are fairly new in the gaming scene, but they offer the best of everything, even surpassing IPS and VA panels in color accuracy. At a higher price point, these monitors, most notably the LG UltraGear OLED and Alienware AW3423DW, are the highest-quality displays that you can find for gaming.
