BIG DECISIONS: How to choose your perfect monitor
How do you whittle 35 monitors down to one that’s perfect for you? Follow these principles to end up with something that’s just right
Stick a pin in this month’s Labs and you’ll likely end up with a great screen that delivers high-quality colours. Even if you randomly visit a retailer’s website, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll end up with a screen you’re happy with. Despite this, it helps to know exactly what you’re looking for – what specs matter, what specs don’t – and whether you’ll really benefit from spending another £100 on the monitor one up in the range.
Pixel density
There’s a reason that Apple grabbed the name “Retina” for its high-pixeldensity screens. To have enough pixels per inch (ppi) that the eye can’t discern them removes one layer of friction between the screen and your brain: you just focus on what you’re looking at and aren’t distracted by jagged edges. There’s no magical number, but if you want a rule of thumb then aim above 100ppi.
However, it really depends on how far away from the screen you’ll be sitting. For a handy guide, head to pcpro.link/313retina. Pump in your choice of screen size and resolution and this page will calculate the distance at which the image becomes “Retina”. You’ll then see a rough distance of how far from the screen you’ll need to sit for the screen to appear perfectly sharp.
Consider a 27in monitor. According to the above website, a 2.560 x 1,440 resolution will result in a “retinasharp” image at a distance of 32in (the same is true for any screen with a pixel density of around 110ppi). That’s around 80cm. Depending on your desk arrangement, that probably means such a screen will appear sharp
“We suggest that most people will be happy with a 1440p 27in monitor but will still benefit from a 4K screen if they can afford it”
most of the time. Switch up to 4K (3,840 x 2,160, or 140ppi) and the distance drops to 21in (53cm).
This is why we suggest that most people will be happy with a 1440p
27in monitor but will still benefit from a 4K screen if they can afford it. We generally don’t recommend a 27in screen with a Full HD resolution (or any screen with a density much under 100ppi), but there are exceptions: for a gamer, a Full HD 27in monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate will be a better choice than a 4K screen that only supports 60Hz.
IPS vs the rest
Almost all of the monitors in this group test use in-plane switching
(IPS) panels. That’s because they offer excellent viewing angles and fastenough response times that gamers struggle to spot motion blur. While twisted nematic (TN) panels used to be favoured by gamers, TN isn’t the most versatile technology hnology ( see our review of the BenQ GL2780 on p80 p80) and is best avoided. oided.
Gamers have a relatively elatively new friend in vertical ertical alignment (VA) panels. anels. As a rule of thumb, they y provide a similar level of image mage quality to IPS panels, while offering higher contrast ratios and nd faster response times. They’re also lso better suited to being curved. They can’t match IPS panels for pure whites or colour accuracy, but they’re close enough that most people wouldn’t spot the difference.
Docking monitors
For the first time in a PC Pro Labs, we’ve separated out a selection of 27in monitors with USB-C. That’s how important we think this connection is. If your laptop can be powered over USB-C (or Thunderbolt in the case of MacBooks – they use the same physical connection), you can hugely reduce the number of cables on your desk. The idea is that the connections you use at your desk – such as a mouse, keyboard and even a network cable – are hooked up to your monitor. When it’s time to leave, you simply disconnect the USB-C cable.
Not all USB-C ports are built the same, with different power ratings. Check this before you buy: if your laptop supports power input via USB-C, its manual should state how much wattage it requires. A lowerrated supply from your monitor will still provide some power, but it may not be enough to keep it charged whilst you’re using it.
Curved or not?
If you want a screen that stretches wider than 30in, you should give serious consideration to a curved screen. That’s particularly true for playing games because it makes the experience more immersive. Even for daily use, we think larger screens should be curved. Iiyama’s ProLite XUB3493WQSU-B1 on p87 and Dell’s
UltraSharp U4320Q on p91 suffered from being flat (counter-intuitively, due to the curvature of our eyes, this means the edges appear to bend away when you look at the centre of the screen), and it’s no coincidence that so many of our award winners are curved.
Brightness and contrast ratio
Brightness and contrast ratio are two of the most important factors when it comes to perceived image quality. If either figure is too low, the image will look drab. Fortunately, brightness isn’t a problem for any of the monitors here. If a screen can reach 200cd/m2 , it will be fine in an office situation. Higher gives you more flexibility, and support for 400cd/m2 and above means you can start to think about HDR-enabled videos and games.
Contrast ratio is more important because it can seriously hamper a screen’s performance. We noticed a couple of screens this month where the measured contrast ratio dropped in sRGB mode and turned what had previously been a nice-looking image into something dreary. You’ll see certain online guides suggesting that a 1,000:1 contrast ratio is a good guide, but we say be careful: that’s a quoted figure and isn’t always reflected in day-to-day use. Look out for our comments in the reviews.
HDR support
HDR, or high dynamic range, can give supported videos and games a big, vibrant boost. If you think you’ll be watching a lot of TV or films on your screen then it’s a feature worth looking for. In particular, look for certification from VESA: ideally DisplayHDR 600 or 1000. DisplayHDR 400 is better than nothing, but also indicates that the panel can’t hit the higher brightness peaks HDR content truly benefits from.
How many colours?
Several monitors promise the ability to display 1.07 billion colours, which sounds far more impressive than the mere 16.7 million of their rivals. And it’s an indication of image quality: it means the panel can show smoother gradations between colours. In truth, though, only professionals who also need calibrated screens (to ensure that what they see matches what is output in print, for example) need worry.
You’ll also see the term “wide gamut displays” in connection with certain monitors, which essentially means the same thing but refers to the ability to cover more colour spaces (sRGB, Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 in particular). We cover this on p89.
Panel uniformity
Although we’ve included each panel’s brightness uniformity under each review, this shouldn’t be used as a primary decision-maker: we’ve tested some great screens this month that don’t have uniform brightness. Also note that curved screens arguably benefit from increased brightness at the edges to compensate for the natural drop-off that results from more extreme viewing angles.
Hardware calibration
Most people don’t need a monitor with hardware calibration; only those whose professional work relies on colour accuracy need be concerned. Which is fortunate, as only expensive monitors (with 10-bit colour) include it. The Eizo FlexScan EV2785 on p83 is unique in this Labs because it builds in a calibrator that will correct the hardware calibration settings after a period of your choosing.
Flexible stand
It’s recommended that you directly face the monitor. If you look down on a monitor, or at a slight upwards angle, colours won’t appear as true, and it’s not great from an ergonomic point of view. Consequently, any adjustments that you can make to the setup are welcome. That’s why we make an effort to mention height adjustment in the reviews if it’s on offer (far better than standing the monitor on a pile of old PC Pro magazines). Extra tilt, particularly backwards, is always useful too.
While pivot mode is potentially useful, we find that 27in monitors (and above) give enough desktop space that most people no longer need it. It feels like a tickbox feature.
Marketing bluster?
There are some features that we don’t consider important – either because every monitor has them (think blue light reduction and anti-glare coverings) or because they’re of niche interest. While video editors may well use a monitor’s Picture-by-Picture or Picture-in-Picture mode, where you can view two inputs simultaneously, most of us stick to one input at a time.
All of that said, there may be a feature that’s incredibly important to you but irrelevant to 99% of other people. Fortunately, you can easily download detailed user manuals that go through features in minute detail if you want to check for a particular one before you buy.