How to choose a gamer monitor?

The market offers us almost infinite possibilities when choosing a new gamer monitor, not all options are equally good or valid for all users, so we will have to pay close attention to the characteristics of the monitor we want to buy. That is why we have prepared this guide to help you in choosing your new gamer monitor.

Index of contents

Aspects to consider when buying a new gamer monitor

In this guide we are going to review some concepts that we must be clear about when purchasing a new gaming monitor, it should be noted that there is no perfect monitor for all users, as it will depend on many factors such as the distance to the to be looked at, the space we have, our budget and even the type of games we are going to corrupt. In the second part of this article we will leave you some models of gaming monitors that we recommend and with which you can be sure of having made a good purchase.

Types of panels: VA, TN, IPS, etc…

The first thing we should look at when purchasing a new gamer monitor is the type of panel it mounts, since a large part of its properties and characteristics depend on it. There are different types of panels in monitors, we will see the most important characteristics of each of them.

Twisted nematic (TN)

This is the first generation of LCD panels, they are the cheapest to manufacture since they are built with a unwinding and coiling. In these panels, the crystals are few and large, and the distance between each one is wide, so they can be moved very easily. This ease of moving the crystals makes them the fastest panels and the most suitable for games or videos with a lot of movement. The bad thing about these monitors is that the color gamut is the poorest and the viewing angles are reduced (160º) so that the colors are very easily distorted when we start looking at them from the side.

This configuration gives the crystals plenty of room to move around each other and react quickly to sudden changes in lighting, such as in action movies or high-motion scenes. These panels typically have a 6-bit color depth and a native 1000: 1 contrast.

Vertical Alignment (VA)

VA panels were developed to alleviate the weaknesses of TN, in this type of panel the crystals are smaller and more abundant than in the case of TN, which makes the color representation much higher and the angles of much wider vision until reaching 178º.

These panels improve contrast up to 3000: 1 and offer a much wider color gamut than TNs, in exchange, the speed decreases making them more likely to generate ghosting in scenes with a lot of movement. Ghosting makes a very annoying wake appear on the screen when we make a sudden movement, in any case, today's VA panels have improved a lot and this only occurs in the worst quality ones.

IPS (In Plane Switching)

IPS panels emerged after VA to further improve color representation, and this is the main strength of this technology, in addition to perfect viewing angles of 178º, especially in very good quality panels..

IPS panels are also made up of many small crystals, the difference with VA is that in this case the crystals rotate on themselves, hence the name of the technology. This type of movement makes the colors even better than in the VA, although in exchange contrast is lost until it is 1000: 1 and they are more prone to ghosting. Thanks to IPS panels , color depths greater than 10 bits can be achieved, opening the door to hyper-realistic colors.

The first IPS panels had a lot of ghosting in video games, although today they have greatly improved in this regard and any panel with a fairly good quality will not give problems.

IGZO (Indium gallium zinc oxide)

These panels are developed by Sharp and are based on a new system that improves the active layer of current LCDs, this allows the electrons to be moved more easily and reducing energy consumption. This also makes the distance between the electrons shorter, so the transmission speed between pixels is increased and higher resolutions can be achieved.

QUANTUM DOT

Quantum Dot panels apply a filter of nanoparticles to the light source behind them, all the panels in this guide use it, so that the light is emitted in a more precise way, this allows to offer a dynamic range of wider colors, up to 30% higher. It also allows contrast to be improved, resulting in deeper blacks.

Screen size

Once we are clear about the different types of panels in gamer monitors we have to think about the size, generally we will find most of the monitors with sizes between 22 inches and 32 inches, although the most common ones are the 27 inch ones which have become very popular over the years.

27-inch monitors are preferred in gaming, they offer a fairly large viewing surface and their size on the desktop is not excessive. They are also usually the ones that best adapt to the normal distance of use of a PC, since the distance of use is a key factor when choosing the size of a monitor. If you are going to use your PC to play from the comfort of the sofa, then it is recommended that you go to a 32-inch monitor or even more if you find it.

Which resolution to choose?

The next step is to choose the resolution of our monitor, as this is the parameter that will determine the pixel density per inch along with the size. The larger the size of a monitor, the higher the resolution that we will need to maintain the pixel density and with it the sharpness of the image.

In a 22-inch monitor it will be difficult to see the difference between a 1080p resolution and a 2K or 4K resolution, since the human eye has a limit when it comes to perceiving the size of objects and in these monitors with 1080p resolution the size of the pixels is already very small. This situation is very different from what we will have on a 27-inch monitor, because there the difference between 1080p and 2K or 4K is already very noticeable.

Therefore our recommendation is that if you are going to choose a monitor of 24 inches or less, do not think about 4K resolution, if the economy allows you, buy a 2K monitor, otherwise a 1080p should not pose any problem since the difference will be very small. On the contrary, if you are going to opt for a monitor of 27 inches or more, the priority should be a 4K monitor, or at least a 2K if you cannot spend that much money.

Refresh rate: 60, 100, 120, 144 and 240 Hz.

The refresh rate represents the number of times the monitor updates the image per second, this is measured in hertz (Hz). A 60 Hz monitor updates the image 60 times per second and a 120 Hz monitor updates the image 120 times per second, currently we can find monitors up to 240 Hz.

The higher the refresh rate of a monitor, the more fluid it will offer us, this is especially relevant in games with a lot of movement such as first person shooting games or driving games. On the other hand, in games with less movement like strategy games, the difference is much smaller and will only be appreciated in some specific details such as when scrolling.

60 Hz is the minimum to demand in a gaming monitor, in fact monitors with a lower refresh rate are not manufactured. This number already offers a good experience although if we are going to play shooting games a lot we are more interested in going to a 120 Hz monitor, the 240 Hz ones will be very difficult for us to take advantage of.

However, it is not enough to have a 120 Hz or 240 Hz monitor, since we need that our PC can process the same amount of images per second or more to take advantage of them, since it is useless to have a 240 Hz monitor if the game goes to 40 FPS, it will look the same as on a 60 Hz monitor.

This means that if we want to enjoy the experience of having a 120 Hz monitor we will have to have a very powerful PC capable of running games at 120 images per second or more, let's not talk about a monitor at 240 Hz anymore…. Nowadays they are only used in games related to e-Sports such as Overwatch, Quake and DOTA 2.

Response time

The response time represents the time it takes for a pixel to change from gray to gray, which is why it is usually indicated as the response time GtG. The lower the value the faster the change will be and therefore less ghosting the monitor will generate, currently the fastest monitors have a GtG of 1 ms although the data provided by the manufacturers must be taken with tweezers since it is always spoken of the most favorable conditions.

To reduce the response time, the overdrive technology is often used in gaming monitors, this consists of applying a higher voltage to the pixels to make them change color faster, you have to be careful with it since in some extreme cases You can give what is known as reverse ghosting. The overdrive can be adjusted at various levels and can even be disabled.

G-sync and AMD FreeSync technologies

To understand the importance of G-Sync and FreeSync technologies we first have to understand how the monitor and graphics card work. The monitors work at a fixed refresh rate, on the contrary, our computer does not work at a fixed frame rate per second when we are playing, depending on the scenes and the graphic load, the figure may vary, so it is possible that in a moment finger is giving us 80 images per second and an instant later it is giving us 55 images per second.

This situation poses a problem for us, since the monitor updates its image always the same number of times per second while the graphics card does not, this creates graphic defects that are known as tearing and stuttering.

The tearing consists of cuts in the image on the screen and it occurs because our PC is sending more images per second than the monitor can show, to solve this there is vertical synchronization, when activated it limits the rate of images per second to the number that the monitor can display, so the PC will never send more than the screen can display.

However, this has an associated problem, and that is that the frame rate per second can fall below the refresh rate of our monitor, this creates the problem of stuttering that consists of small jerks that give a feeling of little fluidity In gameplay, these jerks can last up to a second or more in the most severe cases.

The AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync technologies are born to solve the problems of thearing and stuttering, these what they do is to convert the refresh rate of the monitor into a variable so that it will always be perfectly synchronized with the amount of images per second it sends our PC. The monitor will no longer always work at the same hertz, but will adapt to the number of images per second that the PC sends you.

Nvidia G-Sync

G-Sync technology needs a specific hardware module that is installed in the monitor, this makes the price of the monitors that include it much higher than the same, but without this technology, the price increase can reach the 200 euros. G-Sync only works with Nvidia cards and requires the use of a DisplayPort 1.2 connector or higher.

AMD FreeSync

AMD responded to Nvidia with the launch of FreeSync, it is a technology that does not require additional hardware so it does not increase the cost of the monitors that include it, this is the most important difference with G-Sync. FreeSync is offered free and open to all monitor manufacturers to decide whether or not to implement it. FreeSync is also based on the DisplayPort 1.2a standard but also works with HDMI ports. This technology is only compatible with AMD graphics cards.

At the user level they are similar technologies and the performance differences are almost non-existent.

Recommended monitors

Here are some monitors that seem quite interesting for acquisition:

Asus XG27VQ (Curved) | 468 euros

• Ideal to play 27-inch 1800R curved display and 4ms response time 1920 x 1080 resolution 144 Hz refresh rate VA panel AMD FREESYNC RGB Effects: Aura Sync

Asus ROG Strix XG27VQ - 27 "Curved Gaming Monitor (Full HD, 1920x1080p resolution, 144Hz, Extreme Low Motion Blur, Adaptive-Sync, FreeSync) The ergonomic base allows you to adjust the tilt, height and angle of the 405 screen, 00 EUR

Asus MX32VQ (Curved) | 637 euros

• It serves both for play and for design 31.5-inch curved screen with 1800R format and a response time of 4 ms Resolution 2560 x 1440 Contrast ratio 3000: 1 75 Hz refresh rate VA panel Atmospheric lighting halo

ASUS MX32VQ - 32 "WQHD Curved Monitor (1800R Curvature, Frameless, Halo Illumination Base, Harman Kardon Audio, Flicker-Free, Blue Light Filter), Black Comfortable viewing experience with 1800R Curvature 583.92 EUR

Asus XG32VQ (Curved) | 678 euros

• Ideal to play 27-inch 1800R curved display and 1ms response time Resolution 2560 x 1440 Refresh rate of 165 Hz TN panel with improved angles Nvidia Free-Sync RGB Effects: Aura Sync

ASUS ROG Strix XG32VQ 31.5 "2K Ultra HD VA Brightness Black, Gray, Red Curved PC Screen - Monitor (80 cm (31.5"), 2560 x 1440 Pixels, LED, 4 ms, 300 CD / m, Black, Gray, Red) The ergonomic base allows you to adjust the inclination, height and angle of the screen 549.00 EUR

Asus PG27VQ (Curved) | 865 euros

• Ideal to play 27-inch 1800R curved display and 1ms response time Resolution 2560 x 1440 Refresh rate of 165 Hz TN panel with improved angles Nvidia G-Sync RGB Effects: Aura Sync

ASUS PG27VQ 27 "Wide Quad HD TN Black PC Screen - Monitor (68.6 cm (27"), 2560 x 1440 Pixels, LED, 1 ms, 400 CD / m, Black) The ergonomic base allows you to adjust the inclination, height and the angle of the screen 749.00 EUR

Asus XG35VQ (Curved 2K) | 975 euros

• Ideal to play and have 2 windows open to work 35-inch screen and 4 ms response Resolution 3440 x 1440 Ultra panoramic 21: 9 VA panel (with the best of the TN and the best of the IPS) FreeSync technology

ASUS ROG Strix XG35VQ - Curved Gaming Monitor 35 Inches (UWQHD 3440x144, 100 Hz, Extreme Low Motion Blur, Adaptive-Sync, FreeSync) The ergonomic base allows to regulate the inclination, height and angle of the screen 808.23 EUR

Asus PA32UC (Professional Image Edition)

• Ideal for graphic design 32-inch screen and 5 ms response 4K resolution 10 bit IPS panel 85% Adobe RGB, 95% DCI-P3 and 100% sRGB certified

Asus PA27AC (Professional Image Edition)

• Ideal for graphic design 27 inch screen Resolution 2560 x 1440 pixels. 8 bit IPS panel 100% sRGB certified

Has our tutorial on how to choose a gamer monitor been helpful to you? What monitor do you have and which one would you like to have? We wait for your answer!