Best Monitor Display for PCs: Gaming and Work

Hi all:

I want to upgrade my home monitor that I use for 75% productivity and 25% gaming. Money is no object and would want the absolute best. I also am not that concerned about burn in as ok to replace after a few years What would be best options.

It feels like the ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM is the best option for gaming but mixed on productivity because of burn in. Any recommendations?

Recommendation Help from my Graphic Designer Community:

What monitors have you found to be the best for Graphic Designers? Things I would need it for are Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, etc), Figma, AI, etc?

Anything else I should add for a better monitor setup that I may be over looking?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all

Cheers!

You need certain things in a design monitor. Here's what I cared about most.

Pixel type: IPS - There are VA and IPS pixel types. VA are more prone to burn in on your screen, and they are horrible for looking at unless you're dead straight on.

4k - really important if you're going for a 32"+ monitor. This ensures you won't see the pixels. However, it's debatable whether you can see pixels on a 28" or less size monitor.

Flat screen - don't go with a curved monitor. You need to see a straight line as perfectly straight.

Blacks - some computers are not so good at displaying true black. This also effects contrast. You ultimately want a monitor that has fantastic color accuracy and rich blacks. Avoid OLED monitors - they do have the deepest blacks and strongest contrast but they are extremely prone to burn in and are not as reliable. Also they're very expensive. Monitors with "local dimming" can be great with contrast, but are mainly found in VA pixel type monitors.

Color accuracy - a lot of computers will have decent AdobeRGB accuracy, but you should aim for one with a high accuracy rating (I'll link you where you can get these stats). Most monitors you can find color profiles to download that will change settings so that color is more accurate.

Refresh rate - mainly a gaming thing but I chose to go with a 144hz refresh rate monitor for smooth scrolling and mouse movement. Just helps with the eyes.

Glare - just a consideration. I never had anything as great with glare as my apple laptop that had the glass. Most monitors don't have a glass finish, but a semi gloss is pretty good. I forget what they call the other end of the spectrum opposite of glossy, but don't go with that.

The monitor I landed on is a 32" Gigabyte M32U. A similarly compared monitor is the Dell G3223Q. Prices will vary based on your location and availability.

I used rtings.com to contrast and compare between the best monitors. Wow, I just looked though and they all of a sudden have a membership to view their ratings...

Quick update since a few people asked what I ended up going with. I honestly got overwhelmed with all the options, but I ended up just browsing the full lineup of Samsung monitors and found something solid in my budget that checked all the boxes for everyday use and casual gaming. FTC disclosure: this is not sponsored.

Went with a midrange Odyssey model and it’s been pretty smooth so far. Nothing over the top but the picture quality and refresh rate feel like a big jump from my old 8-year monitor. Honestly just glad I stopped overthinking it and picked something reliable.

my old monitor finally died after like 8 years. been out of the loop for a while and honestly lost trying to figure out what's good now. don't need anything crazy, just something solid for everyday use. some gaming, some work, some netflix. budget around $500ish but flexible if something's worth it. just want something reliable that looks decent. appreciate any recs from real people not just sponsored reviews.

I want to go long term on this. What's really the best to go with my m5 14" max?

Do I really need to spend a fortune on the XDR?

I know LG and MSI are coming with two 5k 27" monitors ... but they look cheap, not sturdy, and I want a screen for 10 years. Would they suffice or should I make the huge sacrifice and go for the XDR?

What's wrong with Acer monitors?

Hello, I have a Tulpar T5 laptop and I'd like to buy a monitor for gaming; I have an RTX 4060 and an i7 processor.

Actually, I hope to buy a better PC in two years—that's about it. I play Skyrim and then, you know, AAA releases. My budget is 180 max.

I have an old Dell monitor and I thought about buying a new monitor screen as an upgrade?

What websites do you visit to purchase monitor screens for your PCs? Hopefully there are plenty of different screens for below $1,000.

I just wanted to upgrade my monitor so I could start downloading more games on my computer instead of always playing on my Xbox.

No, you don't need to spend a fortune on an Apple XDR display, but I do recommend spending a good chunk of change if color accuracy matters and reading that you're editing video, that seems likely.

5K 27" has been a round for a good while. There's also 6K 32" that recently hit the market. Really though, if you're doing video editing, I would recommend a display that features hardware calibration if you can afford it, that way you don't need a an output LUT (Resolve for example) for the display, you can just calibrated it to Rec 709, DCI P3, or Rec2020 and have the gamma be correct.

Personally I use the Asus ProArt PA32UCR-K, it's TÜV certified and features hardware calibration and profile writeback using a colorimiter. I don't spend 10 hours a day working on it, more like 6-8 hours (more if you count gaming), but those 6-8 hours I'm doing graphic design.

I'd also look at some of the Eizo Color Edge displays. Easily some of the best displays for professionals and color critical work.

Most definitely you're going to want an IPS, look for TÜV certification, and ∆E at least under 2. You may also prioritize P3 gammut coverage as that's the defualt color space for Mac OS.

i have two asus monitors, one is an oled, not a single complaint ngl

msi and samsung are also good i hear

In my opinion nowadays the “brand” doesn’t mean much. They all built from same components on similar (or same) products lines. The quality control the only thing that actually might be different. I have problems with Samsung and Acer monitors, Dell is a complete shit - 2 monitors gone bad in a year. HP work 2 years before start white bleeding. Never have issues with LG and Asus, but it is just my personal experience. My friends have SANSUI monitors and very happy. Opinion - brand doesn’t mean anything anymore, buy what specification you need for a reasonable price.

ASUS TUF Gaming VG249Q5A 23.8" Full HD 200Hz IPS should be in your alley. Not that you will get 200fps in most games but is nice to have something higher available and its 1080p and 0.3ms response time should be around 100 buck. Asus also have different versions of this monitor(from 1080p to 4k, curved or not and from 100hz to 300hz) so you can look what suit you better and what is more your price range.

YMMV. I don't care for them but lot of people like them.

If you can, visit a store that sells monitors to get an idea what a curve would look like.

I'm in a challenging spot where I'd like to replace two monitors with one - a cheap and nasty 24' FHD that I use for (very) casual gaming, and a nearly 15 year old Apple Thunderbolt Display, which I use for work.

The challenge is supporting both Mac (i.e. thunderbolt over USB-C) and Windows (currently running a GeForce RTX 4060Ti with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a). So I'd need some type of ability to switch between inputs.

A built-in webcam and a bunch of USB ports on the back would be a pretty firm requirement as well.

Intended Use

80% work, 20% other (mostly gaming). Games are pretty old, nothing super-exciting or demanding. Think HOMM3 more than RDR2. I'm getting away fine with my 24' FHD monitor even as irritating as seeing all the pixels is.

For work, though, I write code, use spreadsheets, all the usual stuff. Bigger resolution and good DPI is important. The view from my office is nice, so I don't really want to go much over 27' and block it!

What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?

Ideally less than $3k AUD (so say ~$2k USD), but my last monitor is still going strong, so this is a bit flexible if it's really work it.

In what country are you purchasing your parts?

Australia

Any help / suggestions would be appreciated!

I think it really comes down to your GPU and what resolution you plan to be using - like I'm not gonna recommend a 4k monitor if you have anything less than a 5070 TI, and I'm not gonna recommend a 1080p monitor if you have a 5090. So what are your PC specs and what resolution are you looking for? I highly recommend checking out the Monitors Unboxed channel on YouTube, as they have "best of" lists that cover all price ranges and resolutions.

Personally, I have a 5070 TI and am planning to get either a 1440p mini-LED monitor, or an ultrawide OLED such as the AW3423DWF. I already have an LG C1 that I connect my PC to, but I want to get back to sitting at my desk and playing at 1440p for better FPS, so I plan to upgrade to a better monitor soon since it's tough to go back to a mediocre IPS panel after gaming on a 65" OLED lol

I got my 34" Acer monitor in march 2018, is still functions perfectly.

Decide what you need from the monitor and a price range, look up what monitors are available in that price range where you live and look up some reviews for them.

Brand doesn't really matter (you can have 3 monitors from 3 different brands that use the exact same panel).

Monitors Unboxed just did a $150 - $1500 budget range roundup:

This is the trend right now >> aw3225qf (32', 4k, 240Hz QD-OLED)

I saw on bestbuy an open box for $600 USD. I have to be on a lookout.

FFalcon U8 is still the best imo.

check if AOC Q27G3XMN or AOC Q27G40XMN are in your budget, they are exceptionally good and cheap at the same time

Theres a few like Acer which arent trust worthy when it comes to monitors so even brand isnt everything...

What companies tend to be the most reliable when it comes to monitors?

Hi,

I search a good pc monitor. My budget is really low (100 euros) and i want a monitor to watch films and play video games (pc and ps5) with a good quality. My only criteria are:

- Full HD at minimum (1080p)

- 120Hz if possible