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00:00I'm monitoring the situation.
00:04It has been three years since my last big monitor buying guide which was very popular
00:10and I think helped a lot of people so I'm back and things have changed.
00:13So I'm going to run you through everything you need to know, the basics to the advanced
00:16stuff from gaming, productivity, every kind of monitor and hopefully it answers your questions.
00:21If you do have any other thoughts then let me know in the comments as well and if you
00:24enjoy the video a like and subscribe would be lovely.
00:27Firstly, credit to my producer Pete for setting this up.
00:31Every shape and size of monitor you can buy but the first thing I want to say is there
00:35is no such thing as a perfect monitor.
00:36It completely depends what you're going to be using it for.
00:39Is it for gaming, is it just for casual browsing, watching a bit of Netflix or is it professional
00:43colour editing?
00:44With that in mind and also your budget you can start to hone in on what the best display
00:48is for you.
00:50Think about which nice to haves you might consider like a larger size or faster refresh
00:54rate for gaming or maybe HDR.
00:56Or do you want a smart monitor that can mirror your laptop or phone wirelessly or that comes
01:00with a ton of built-in apps and features?
01:02Bearing in mind you'll probably be keeping your monitor for several years, you don't
01:06upgrade these things very often so it is often worth paying a little bit more now up front
01:10and that will simply just last you longer.
01:12The truth is size really does matter.
01:14I mean just look at the difference here and we've got everything from a 24, this teeny
01:19tiny little one down here, moving up to 27 inches and actually I'd say these two are
01:24the most common sizes you can go for but I think this is the sweet spot.
01:27A little bit bigger, 32 on the end here but then moving up to our higher tier here we
01:32have this 45 inch ultra wide and then this absolute monster of a 49 inch super ultra
01:38wide and actually if we just pan around Pete if I can get you to walk over here, over here
01:42this is a 48 inch not TV but gaming monitor.
01:46This is an ROG 48 OLED and we'll talk more about this later on because it's delicious.
01:52Now 3 inches may not sound like a lot but actually going up from a 24 to a 27 gives
01:56you roughly 25% more screen real estate so it is significantly bigger and with a regular
02:0321 by 9 ultra wide as opposed to a 16 by 9 typical monitor we have roughly 30% more screen
02:09space horizontally on these guys.
02:11Great for side by side apps and on these super duper ultra wides which is not a technical
02:16name I don't know actually what you would call it but it's the equivalent of having
02:19two of these, two 27 inches for this particular model side by side but without that ugly bezel
02:24in the middle.
02:25But it's not just the size it's also the aspect ratios and also the curve.
02:29Just look how curvy this is.
02:31Not everyone's cup of tea but it certainly does give you that sort of immersive factor
02:35in your games.
02:36It's a good workout.
02:37If you're going to be staring at this thing all day and all night possibly for gaming
02:42then you want it to be flexible and it's worth looking at whether it has height adjustment,
02:46pivoting, rotating and also tilt.
02:49And some displays let you fully rotate it 90 degrees so you have this nice portrait
02:54mode essentially for your monitor which is great for coding or if you're editing portrait
02:58content and it looks kind of cool.
03:00Now I'm shooting this in 4K because I want the sharpest footage possible so you can see
03:05my gorgeous little Sylvie cat here in all her glory but the chances are you're not watching
03:09this on a 4K screen unless it's your TV maybe.
03:13The vast majority of displays are 1080p or 1440 4K is more and more common especially
03:18since I made this video last time three years ago so we are of course talking about resolution
03:23and this refers to the number of horizontal and vertical pixels on your screen.
03:26The higher the number the more detailed the image.
03:29Now pretty much all 24 inch monitors have a 1080p or full HD resolution which gives
03:33you a nice sharp image but the problem is if you jump up to 27 inches that 1080p resolution
03:38is then stretched a little bit and it becomes a lot less sharp and if you sit close enough
03:43you can just about make out individual pixels.
03:45It doesn't look as good.
03:46So the rule of thumb for me is 24 inches, 1080p, 27 inches, go for 1440p.
03:52It does cost more but I think it is worth it.
03:54So 1080, 1440 and then 4K like I have with this guy and it's a lot more common on 32
04:00inch monitors.
04:01You can get 4K at 27 inches but I would avoid that personally.
04:04I don't think the screen's big enough to really take advantage of that resolution and it is
04:08going to impact the frame rate in your games and also cost more.
04:11But 4K is the sharpest looking by far and generally 4K screen panels are also higher
04:16quality.
04:174K gaming is pretty sweet though but because you've got such a high resolution your frame
04:21rate is going to take a big hit.
04:23You need a very beefy PC to get high frame rates at 4K so generally for gamers I would
04:28suggest 1080p or 1440.
04:30They're your best options although if you're gaming on a PS5 or an Xbox Series X I would
04:35suggest a 4K screen because most games aim for 4K but with a 60fps cap.
04:40So a typical 4K 60 monitor would be ideal and it is also more common to have HDR with
04:44a 4K screen.
04:46So when it comes to resolution you'll often see a PPI number listed, the pixel per inch
04:50and that's basically the combination of the resolution and the size.
04:53The higher the number the sharper the screen.
04:56While we do have a game up here let's talk about refresh rate and that is basically the
05:00number of times the screen refreshes itself every second and the higher the hertz the
05:05smoother the image.
05:06The vast majority of typical monitors are 60hz, that's like the standard, but then you
05:10can get 75, 120, 144, 165, 240, 360, 480, I think we've even seen a 500hz monitor now
05:18and of course through our diminishing returns I think 144 is kind of still the sweet spot.
05:22Generally we consider refresh rate just for gamers but as someone who edits in Premiere
05:26Pro and uses their monitors for work, scrolling through the timeline, doing everyday stuff
05:31with a high refresh rate is noticeably nicer, it's a better experience, it's one of the
05:36reasons I upgraded to the new MacBooks with the ProMotion 120hz screen and actually one
05:40thing I have noticed, and actually I'm using my little MacBook here for my script, is that
05:44going from 120hz on the laptop to a 60hz external display monitor feels like a step down so
05:50actually for me I kind of prefer going with a high refresh monitor so it matches my laptop.
05:55Of course you are going to pay more for a high refresh but there isn't really any downside.
05:59For me I think 144 or 165hz is the sweet spot.
06:03This is actually 240 and I think I can just about tell but the issue is not just the diminishing
06:08returns of whether you can physically see that smoother refresh rate but you need to
06:12maintain that high frame rate from your PC so if you're getting 180fps but you've got
06:17a 240hz monitor you're not fully taking advantage of it, effectively you're seeing 180hz.
06:22Although it's not quite as simple as that because high refresh rates also generally
06:25give you a lower latency which is what you want.
06:28The goal basically is the highest refresh rate with the lowest latency and fastest response
06:32time which will give you the best gaming experience.
06:35Everything will be quicker and smoother and faster and in some cases it can give you a
06:40competitive advantage.
06:41If you can see things quicker, if you can see the enemy come through the door faster
06:45and you can click your button and there's less latency and it takes a shot more quickly
06:49then you may win the game.
06:51It could be a life or death difference.
06:53What you could do though before you buy a new monitor is actually use an FPS counter
06:56to see how many frames you're getting right now with your system and that should give
07:00you an idea of which refresh rate you need.
07:02If you're getting 120fps but your monitor is 60hz then it's definitely time for an
07:07upgrade.
07:08Now I mentioned input lag and response time and they are two different things, bear with
07:12me here.
07:13Input lag is the amount of time it takes for your monitor to display the most up to date
07:17signal that comes from your computer while response time is how long it takes for a pixel
07:21to change from one colour to the next, usually measured with one shade of grey to another
07:25or grey to grey response time, measured in milliseconds.
07:28The lower the number means you get less motion blur or ghosting and ideally, particularly
07:33for gamers, you want anything under 5ms.
07:36Bear in mind though that some manufacturers claim 1 or 2ms response times but these are
07:40their best case results and they're tested using extreme overdrive modes that can then
07:45introduce reverse ghosting so a different kind of motion blur, with multiple supposedly
07:491ms displays actually being slower in real world testing so make sure you check reviews
07:54first.
07:55Frustratingly, it is kind of rare to see input lag figures on a monitor's spec sheet but
07:59you can often find reviews that do measure it and the good news is that high refresh
08:02rates do also reduce input lag simply by having more frames more often.
08:07And also your graphics card may have features like Nvidia Reflex or Radeon Anti-Lag to remove
08:11even more latency from the system.
08:14But for non-gamers, response time input lag, don't really worry about it, it's going
08:17to be fine.
08:18The cheaper the monitor, generally the higher the numbers which isn't as good but you're
08:21just not really going to notice it unless you are playing fast paced games like this.
08:25Although if your monitor does have a game mode then definitely use it if you are gaming.
08:29One more thing to bear in mind for all you gamers though, we have to talk about Variable
08:33Refresh Rate or VRR and also Adaptive Sync.
08:36These technologies help to eliminate screen tearing and stutter by syncing the refresh
08:41rate of your screen with the exact frame rate coming from your laptop or your graphics card
08:45which makes the whole experience feel much smoother and particularly for games running
08:48at or under 60fps where tearing can be more obvious.
08:52Now the good news is that most new monitors now come with some form of VRR, either Nvidia
08:57G-Sync or AMD's FreeSync.
08:59G-Sync is usually limited to higher end monitors because it's an Nvidia licensed format which
09:04is why you'll generally find more FreeSync compatible monitors or ones with the open
09:08Adaptive Sync standard.
09:10Now unlike the olden days, regardless of whether you have an Nvidia or an AMD GPU graphics
09:14card, they both support both formats so you don't really have to worry although both formats
09:19have a few different tiers with the top end G-Sync Ultimate coming with a physical built
09:23in module in the monitor.
09:25And you will need an Nvidia graphics card to take advantage of it but it's not really
09:28that essential with the basic entry level versions doing a good enough job for most
09:32of us.
09:33Okay, no more gaming for a second, let's talk about something that applies to everybody,
09:38panel types.
09:39These things, and actually this used to be a really boring topic because we just talk
09:42about TN and IPS and VA but now TN's basically disappeared aside from really old monitors
09:49or actually on the super high end high refresh displays for esports gamers but don't worry
09:53about that.
09:54Now really it's IPS, VA and Mini LED and OLED.
09:58Things have come a long way in the last couple of years.
10:00Now the vast majority of monitors have either an IPS or a VA panel.
10:04There are differences but you can't really go wrong with either.
10:07IPS or in-plane switching is more common though and it looks great.
10:12However, VA panels offer better contrast and often higher brightness which is great for
10:17HDR compared to IPS and also they generally support higher refresh rates in gaming monitors
10:22and ultrawides.
10:23But it comes at the expense of less accurate colours and also a bit of a drop off in viewing
10:27angle quality.
10:29But this is where things start to get a bit more interesting because IPS, VA and TN are
10:33all LCD based panels which are backlit by LEDs which is why sometimes you'll see it
10:38listed as an LED LCD but newer, pricier gaming and pro monitors are getting the options of
10:43Mini LED and also OLED displays.
10:46And so instead of a single large backlight, Mini LED uses an active array of much smaller
10:51lighting zones made up of small, well, Mini LEDs.
10:55And so Mini LED screens still use IPS or VA panels but this new backlighting technology
11:00is a lot brighter with greater contrast and it's much better for HDR.
11:05And so essentially, the more lighting zones or dimming zones a display has, the better
11:10it can dim a darker area of the image next to a brighter one and boost the contrast.
11:15Thing is though, the number of zones and how they're controlled varies significantly
11:19between different monitors.
11:20But some of the best gaming monitors out there now, like this guy, are Mini LED with either
11:25a 165 or 240Hz refresh rate.
11:28Definitely more expensive but they look an awful lot better whether you're working,
11:31watching movies or gaming.
11:33And Mini LEDs genuinely are the best for HDR, although that can also vary significantly
11:37between different monitors.
11:38So if you are watching HDR movies or playing HDR games, particularly with consoles, then
11:43this might be worth it.
11:44But I've saved the best till last, OLED.
11:47Now this is the most expensive, the rarest kind of panel you can get, but it's a lot
11:51more common than it was a couple of years ago.
11:53And this 48-inch, 120Hz, although overclockable to 138Hz, OLED HDR display from ASUS ROG is
12:01just like one of the most incredible gaming displays I have ever seen.
12:05And the benefit of OLED is it doesn't have a backlight.
12:08Each pixel is self-emitting, it can actually turn itself off if the scene is dark enough
12:12so you can get those perfect blacks and we're talking about contrast ratio in the millions
12:17versus the thousands with IPS.
12:19So a black pixel can be perfectly black and there's no light bleed or blooming.
12:23The compromise is they can't really get as bright as Mini LEDs, but for vibrant, accurate
12:28colors, fantastic viewing angles and those deep inky blacks, as the cliche goes, OLED
12:33is king.
12:34I think 48 inches is probably a little bit overkill, although we do now have a couple
12:39of great 27-inch high refresh OLED options.
12:42And actually what I will do is leave some of my favorite recommended monitors in the
12:45description below and I'll keep updating them as new models come out.
12:49There is a bit of an issue around OLEDs, which you probably are aware of, and it's called
12:53burn-in, aka image retention.
12:55But modern OLEDs come with pixel refresh modes and screensavers and auto power off, lots
13:00of settings that unless you turn everything off and you really abuse it, you're not really
13:04going to have any issues.
13:05I don't think burn-in is a problem at all.
13:07The biggest issue with OLED is the cost.
13:09But wait, there's more, because then we have QD OLED, which is an evolution of OLED and
13:14gets an extra layer of quantum dots, hence the QD.
13:17And this boosts the color and the brightness, meaning even better contrast and better visibility
13:21in brighter rooms.
13:22There's a handful of high-end QD OLED monitors on the market right now with more on the way,
13:26but again, prices are likely to stay high until they become more mainstream.
13:30But if you do need higher color accuracy for graphic, photo, or media creation and editing,
13:35then look for a 10-bit panel.
13:37And also you're going to want the highest color accuracy, and this is usually measured
13:39against the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and the DCI-P3 gamuts, and the closer to 100% the more color
13:46accurate it is.
13:47But nothing simple is it, because sometimes you may see a 10-bit panel monitor, but actually
13:51it's just 8-bit plus FRC, where if a pixel can't display a color from the wider 10-bit
13:56spectrum, then it displays a shade either side of the intended color to create something
14:00like the required shade.
14:02For serious professionals though, you can also consider a 12-bit panel, but these are
14:06quite rare.
14:07That's not creepy at all.
14:09Let's talk about high dynamic range, HDR.
14:11It's a standard for all 4K TVs, but still a little bit iffy when it comes to monitors.
14:16And essentially a high dynamic range improves the contrast between the brightest and the
14:20darkest parts of an image, meaning you get extra detail and brightness, a wider color
14:25range, and just a more, as it says on the tin, dynamic, immersive experience.
14:29Almost all recent movies and some TV and plenty of games now have HDR support, but just how
14:34good your experience is, is totally up to your monitor.
14:37Visa's Display HDR certification levels are meant to be a way of standardizing HDR performance,
14:42and we have different tiers.
14:44And you'll often see mentions of this in the product description, and actually this is
14:47really important because the base tier, that Display HDR 400 certification, is actually
14:52kind of rubbish.
14:53It only requires 400 nits of brightness in HDR content without any kind of local dimming,
14:59and the result is pretty far from the HDR you may have experienced on your TV.
15:02And actually, Display HDR 500 is a much better standard to hit, requiring 500 nits of brightness,
15:08a wider color gamma, and crucially, local dimming with lower black level luminance.
15:13And then it gets even better from there, with anything over 1000 nits or higher providing
15:16genuinely impressive HDR.
15:19Plus, OLED panels get their own True Black certification, which highlight their even
15:23deeper black levels.
15:24Bear in mind though that basic VRR adaptive sync tech isn't actually usable with HDR enabled,
15:29so you'll need to go for one of the more premium VR options like G-Sync Ultimate.
15:34Now one thing that is relevant to everybody is the connectivity, the ports.
15:37And pretty much every single monitor will have at least one HDMI 2 port.
15:42Very recent ones will have 2.1, which is significantly better and allows you to have
15:46like high refresh 4K or super high refresh QHD.
15:50Not really relevant for most of us unless you're playing games.
15:53And also DisplayPort.
15:54HDMI and DisplayPort are the two most common, although as you can see with this guy, you
15:58have a USB-C.
15:59More recent and also more expensive monitors and laptops support USB-C, which is like the
16:04best port ever, because if this supports Display Out and you can connect your laptop to it,
16:09it'll also charge your laptop.
16:11So you only have one cable for your whole setup, although not all USB-Cs are the same
16:14and some higher models support Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4, which are basically higher
16:19bandwidth and unlock high refresh, high resolution combinations.
16:23But basically, if you're using a gaming PC, you'll probably want to use a DisplayPort
16:27like this guy, if not HDMI.
16:29For laptops, most of you guys will probably be using HDMI unless you have a USB-C port,
16:34in which case I'd recommend that.
16:36And finally, if you have a 2.1 port for both the display and your laptop or PC or console,
16:40then, well, use that.
16:42To give you an example, my MacBook Pro 16 here, the latest model, has three USB-C ports
16:47and they all support the higher Thunderbolt 4 specs.
16:50But actually, one issue I had been running into with my old MacBook, which only supported
16:53HDMI 2, not the new 2.1, is that I couldn't get the full high resolution, high refresh
16:59rate on some of the more premium gaming monitors I was using and they didn't have a USB-C or
17:03Thunderbolt port, so I was kind of stuck there.
17:05But with the upgrade to 2.1 on the MacBook, and we do see that on quite a few new laptops
17:09these days, you basically have the best of both worlds.
17:12And finally, just a bit of consumer advice, if you are going to drop your hard-earned
17:14money on a new display, check what the manufacturer warranty is.
17:18Different brands offer different lengths of warranty and also, you know, if it breaks,
17:22how well it will be supported, so it is worth bearing in mind what kind of guarantees you
17:25get.
17:26And breathe.
17:27We did it.
17:28We made it to the end.
17:29But I do want to finish with some buying advice.
17:31And just for your average productivity office, no-frills monitor, then I would go with either
17:3624-inch 1080p or 27-inch 1440p.
17:39This would be my preference if you can stretch your budget a little bit.
17:42And don't worry about anything else except maybe ports.
17:44If your laptop does have a USB-C with display out, then I would try and get a monitor with
17:49that as well.
17:50Alternatively, how about a monitor that doubles as a TV with streaming apps, with its own
17:55remote, browser, screen mirroring, and Apple Airplay, and even Microsoft Office, and all
17:59without having to plug in a laptop or a PC.
18:02Then maybe you consider a smart monitor like the 4K Samsung M8.
18:05It's not a full all-in-one like an iMac, but it has plenty of extras that make it a
18:09cool standalone device for work or just kicking back with a movie or show.
18:13For your creative lot, then definitely have a look perhaps further over here to the 4K
18:1732-inch section.
18:19And also keep in mind that color accuracy, the sRGB, Adobe, and P3, and also the panel
18:24type.
18:25You want a good IPS or even maybe a mini-LED or an OLED, especially if you care about colors.
18:29For gamers, refresh rate is obviously very important, and also input lag and response
18:33time.
18:34That's something to keep in mind, especially when you're reading reviews.
18:36And for top-end gamers, well, it kind of depends on what you want.
18:39Do you want that immersive factor with an OLED 4K, or do you want the fastest refresh
18:43rate with the lowest latency?
18:45Very different kinds of gamers.
18:46But for me, I still think a 27-inch, 1440p, 165Hz IPS or VA is absolutely ideal, unless
18:53you're playing on console with a PS5 or Series X, in which case I would go 4K60 and focus
18:58a bit more on the HDR.
18:59And that is it.
19:00We're done.
19:01If you've got any other questions, let me know in the comments below and I'll do my
19:03best to get back to you.
19:05I will leave a list of some of my recommended displays in the description as well, and as
19:09you can tell from my horsey voice, this did take quite a long time to film, so if you
19:12did enjoy it, a like and subscribe would be lovely, and I'll see you next time right
19:15here on The Tech Chat.