Once you’ve decided on the size, there are several other important aspects to consider for your next monitor. Some of these factors may matter more for certain uses – for example, gamers generally care more about high frame rates than office workers – but it’s easy to know about all of them.
Resolution: The larger the monitor, the more it will benefit from higher resolution. This will allow you to get app windows that take up less space but are still legible. Most monitors today are typically 1080p (1920 x 1080), 1440p (2560 x 1440), 4K (3840 x 2160), or 5K (5120 x 2160). There are also some new 6K monitors with a resolution of 6144 x 3456.
Refresh Rate: This refers to how many times per second the display can refresh the image, measured in hertz (or hertz). A higher refresh rate makes all movements and animations smoother as you are seeing more information. For productivity, 60 Hz is probably enough, but gamers will usually want a panel that can reach at least 120 or 144 Hz. 240Hz has become the new standard for high-end gaming monitors, but there are now extreme models that go up to 500Hz and even beyond. You’ll need a powerful enough computer that can maintain high frame rates to take advantage of these higher refresh rates, and you’ll usually need to enable this feature in your operating system’s display settings.
Panel Type: Monitors usually have a type of LCD (liquid-crystal display) panel. Three of the most popular options—twisted nematic (TN), vertical alignment (VA), and in-plane switching (IPS)—are all different types of LCD panels, and all also use TFT (thin-film-transistor) technology. Each is popular for different reasons: IPS for color, VA for contrast, and TN for speed with higher refresh rates and response times. IPS has become particularly popular due to its increased refresh rate speeds. Mini-LED uses a more advanced backlighting solution that uses multiple light zones to more precisely and efficiently control pixels. These are the brightest monitors you can buy. OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels take this even further, allowing the monitor to control individual pixels, including turning them off completely to create extreme contrast. These are becoming extremely popular especially in gaming monitors. You should think about what is most important to you (brilliant color? slim form factor? maximum brightness?) to choose the best panel type for your needs.
Nvidia G-Sync/AMD FreeSync Support: Gamer-specific parameters, these two features let monitors adjust their frame rates depending on the game they’re playing. This reduces screen tearing without affecting performance. G-Sync is made by Nvidia and FreeSync comes from AMD, and while FreeSync monitors can usually work with most modern Nvidia graphics cards, G-Sync does not work with AMD cards, so make sure whatever you have is compatible when purchasing.
HDR Support: This isn’t critical for productivity, but if you watch a lot of media or play games, it’s even better. Just like on TV, HDR dramatically expands the range of colors that can be reproduced on the screen, delivering more vivid pictures as well. But you have to be careful, as many monitors will claim to be HDR, as the display needs to have extreme contrast and be very bright to make the HDR effect strong enough to notice. For example, a certification of DisplayHDR 400 means the display only goes up to 400 nits. It’s not bright enough to produce any meaningful sense of HDR. In almost all cases, displays need to use mini-LED or OLED. Mini-LED can get very bright, even over 1,000 nits in HDR. The problem is that you have to make sure it has enough dimming zones, preferably more than 2,000. A few hundred dimming zones won’t suffice. OLED is not as bright as mini-LED, but OLED has the advantage of illuminating each pixel individually, which dramatically increases contrast. However, they still need to be bright, preferably up to at least 1,000 nits in HDR.
Port Availability: An important but easily overlooked factor is what type of ports the monitor has for connecting your devices. Most usually come with one or two HDMI inputs and one DisplayPort input, which will cover most needs, but it’s always a good idea to check what your setup requires. More expensive monitors can act as USB hubs, allowing you to connect all your peripherals and accessories directly to your monitor. Conversely, if you need to expand your computer’s port options without paying for a more expensive monitor, check out our best USB hubs guide.
built-in kvm switchKVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) Switch is a tool that helps you easily switch your monitor, keyboard, and mouse between two different computers or source inputs (like a gaming console). If you have a setup for both a workplace and personal computer, or a computer and a gaming console, having a KVM switch built into the monitor means you can easily switch everything between your two devices without the need for an external KVM switch.
