If you are a gamer then the process of selecting a gaming monitor can be quite a tedious procedure and often quite confusing. Their different specifications and customizations that are available from different brands along with their unique advantages and disadvantages can deter users from making a clear choice.
Types of Gaming Monitors?
We have gone through the effort to compile a list of the different types of gaming monitors out there in the market today, and in this article, we will go through each one with proper comparisons allowing you to easily cash in your money where it is required.
Size and Resolution.
Probably the first thing any buyer would look at before purchasing a monitor is its resolution. The resolution plays quite a significant part as it directly influences the quality of gaming. The resolution however cannot be picked at liberty as there are a few key things to be considered before making the choice such as the GPU and processing power of your system; this is mostly because higher resolutions require the PC to cough up considerable power when attempting to keep up to its requirements.
- 1080P
This is the most widespread and common resolution used by gamers around the world. 1920×1080 is its resolution with its monitor size being suited to 23 inches and below. It is pretty old and although it is still in use we do not recommend this unless you are heavily under budget. - 1440P
The rising star amongst gamers, it is better than the 1080P displays of the previous generation while being easier to handle when compared to the 4k displays in the market today. It is also called Quad-High_definition and is supported by a good number of mid-range to high graphics cards in the market today putting it in a really sweet spot. The monitor size is between 24-30 inches. - 4K
4K is also known as Ultra High Definition and is one of the most graphically demanding displays out there. With a resolution of 3840×2160, the pixel count is massive along with its above-average monitor size. The super sharp resolution requires the PC to have a high-end GPU to power it. It is also quite expensive.
Flat vs curve
Curved monitors have been trending amongst gamers for quite some time due to its affiliation with wide aspect ratios. We do not recommend curved monitors unless it includes an ultrawide aspect ratio. If you are a gamer that is interested in playing tactical shooters such as CS GO and FPS games such as Battlefield, then the prospect of owning an ultrawide Curved monitor may interest you like the wider field of view poses a distinct advantage in these titles.
Refresh rates
Refresh rates are what define the market for competitive gaming monitors at the moment. From CS GO, Valorant to Overwatch, professionals, and coaches have advised gamers heavily on the importance of having a higher refresh rate to allow smoother gameplay that is not bottlenecked by the display. The frame rate of the monitor is measured using Hertz (Hz), which generally translates to how many frames can be viewed by the monitor in a second.
Most traditional monitors are capped at 60 frames per second as with most displays in TV’s and other display units such as phones; 60 frames per second were the staple for displays but over the years the industry has evolved and gamers have come to realize the importance of the higher display rates that are available and their distinct advantages. For the average gamer, we recommend the 144hz display as it is the most cost-efficient, if you really want the best you can opt for a 240hz display. The difference between the 144hz display and the 60hz display is massive and something you can never look back from, the difference between the 144hz and 250hz display is not significant but noticeable.
It should also be noted that higher refresh rates require increasingly powerful rigs in order to provide a constant fps count. It does not count if your PC can only pump 40 Fps in a game while your monitor is 240 Hz.
Panel types
When it comes to different display types there are only two major options gamers can choose between at the moment; the LED and the LCD displays. OLED is also a rising star amongst displays but is more prominent among phone displays thanks to its power-saving capacity.
TN
TN is an abbreviation for Twisted Nematic, it is cheap to manufacture and has a fast response time. The only drawback is its inferior viewing angles when compared side by side with the IPS displays on the market.
IPS
The big brother of the TN displays. IPS Displays provide better color accuracy and viewing angles. The response time of IPS displays is generally lower than TN panels but thanks to recent developments manufacturers have managed to compromise the delay to as low as 5ms. These are quite expensive when compared to TN displays.
VA
Vertical alignment displays provide users with better color contrast than what is available through IPS displays; a brighter white and a deeper black. Although its viewing angles and color accuracy is better than TN, it still does not surpass what is available in IPS displays. VA displays are also known to cause ghosting effects during games which can turn out to be a serious problem.
Response times.
This is pretty self-explanatory; the faster the better. As a rule of thumb, when purchasing a gaming monitor it is advisable to pick one that has a latency of 5ms or faster. Slower response times can make gaming difficult resulting in blurred screens and lower reaction speeds as a result.
Display ports
The ports provided by your monitor should support the output of your graphics card; this is most noticeable in the older ranges of GPUs as they lack DisplayPort connections and the newer models of gaming monitors do not come with HDMI inputs.
This concludes our article on the different types of gaming monitors gamers have the option of choosing from. Each type of gaming monitor has its advantages and disadvantages and we hope the information provided assists you in the task of picking the right one for you.
