How to choose your gaming monitor?

September 28th 2022

When gaming, comfort is essential; and gaming monitors can hugely contribute to it. Indeed, a gaming monitor has different specific features, so choosing one can be a complicated task depending on the criteria you are looking for. Thanks to this guide, we will help you find the best suited gaming monitor for you!

A screen’s gaming monitor has different sizes measured in inches. An inch is an American unit of measurement that corresponds to 2.54 centimeters. Taking the biggest screen is not necessarily better or more advantageous: it depends on how far away you are sat from your gaming monitor, the gaming space you have and your gaming habits. So what size would be best for you?

24-inch

A 24-inch screen measures about 61cm diagonal. It is perfect for small desktops without much space or if you like to play less than a meter away from your screen. Moreover, it is perfect for competitive games or online games because the display area is smaller, and you can easily see all the information in the four corners of the screen.

27-inch

A 27-inch screen measures about 69cm diagonal. It is ideal if you play 1 or 2 meters away from your screen, but to avoid if you are closer. This is because you may have trouble seeing the entire screen, which could affect your gaming experience. However, you will have a larger display area and will spend less time scrolling (which is a plus). It is also a plus for competitive games.

32-inch

The 32-inch screen measures about 81 cm and is a flourishing model among the major manufacturers. It covers a surface 40% larger than the 28-inch and is ideal for image editing, video editing, but also obviously video games including exploration and adventure games.

40-inch

Measuring approximately 101cm, the 40-inch screen offers a real new gaming experience. Because of its size, it allows you to play away from your screen and therefore enjoy games such as F1 simulations, World of Tanks…

The refresh rate of a screen indicates the number of images per second that the screen can display and is indicated in Hertz (Hz). This value corresponds to the number of times per second that the image is recalculated. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the images, which will affect performance. The most common refresh rates are 60Hz, 75Hz, 144Hz and 240Hz. Here are the differences:

60Hz: for beginner gamers, but also for playing “strategic” or “adventure” type games where few moving images appear.

75Hz: for FPS lovers. It is more fluid than 60Hz and offers 25% more images.

144Hz: very practical for fast-paced shooting games because it offers smooth images and graphics.

240Hz: offers spectacular fluidity. The difference between 144Hz and 240Hz are not very visible, but experienced gamers will easily see the distinction. If you are a fast, competitive gamer, this refresh rate is ideal for you.

There are three main panels on the gaming monitor market: TN, VA, IPS and mini-LED. They all have different specificities.

TN: this is the most affordable type of panel. It has an extremely fast response time and offers a good vision of black levels and details in dark areas. It is the ideal option for FPS players thanks to its high display speed.

IPS: has the highest color gamut. They faithfully depict the most accurate graphics in your video games. An IPS panel also offers wide viewing angles. This means that you will always have a sharp image, even if you are not sat in front of your gaming monitor. It is the perfect panel for role-playing, adventure, open-world, and exploration types of games and will help you to fully immerse in each universe.

VA: the color range is close to an IPS panel. The viewing angle is slightly smaller than an IPS one, but larger than a gaming monitor with a TN panel. VA panels can be distinguished by their contrast ratio. The difference between light and dark is very visible on this type of screen.

MINI LED: This is a display technology like OLED and LCD. Mainly present in television screens, they are increasingly developing in gaming monitors. It offers a better image quality uniformed. You can therefore enjoy an incredible visual experience with a great richness of color, high contrast and exceptional brightness.

A gaming monitor has several types of connectors. Here is a list of the connectors present on our screens to help you understand the differences.

DVI (Digital Video Interface): this is used as a connection interface to transmit digital signals. Often used to connect the computer to the screen.

VGA (Video Graphics Array): it is used to connect a graphics card to a gaming monitor, it is an old connector that is increasingly replaced by DVI but it is still found today on monitors, because it is compatible with old graphics cards.

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface): it is a digital connector used to transport audio and video, present on televisions and screens. Several versions exist today: HDMI 1.2, HDMI 1.3, HDMI 1.4, HDMI 2.0, HDMI 2.1…

Display port: it is also capable of connecting audio and video together. It is known to be more powerful and easier to connect than DVI.

Response time: the response time of a screen indicates the time it takes for a gray pixel to change color (also known as “Grey to grey”) and is expressed in milliseconds. The lower the response time, the faster your screen will switch from one image to another, thus providing a smoother image. The response time varies depending on factors such as the technology of the panel (TN, VA or IPS).

Contrast: the higher the contrast ratio, the more nuances it will offer, which translates into a richer and more dynamic image on the screen. The contrast and density of blacks also condition the color temperature. For example, a contrast of 1000:1 is a ratio that indicates that a white point is 1000 times brighter than a black point.

Viewing angle: the viewing angles (measured in degrees) allow to define from which angles the image of the screen degrades to our eyes. That is to say that the weaker the angles are, the more you have to be facing the screen to see well.

Resolution: this is the number of pixels displayed in width and height on a gaming monitor.

Now that all the complicated specific features of gaming monitors have no secrets to you, why not choose from the new Konix gaming monitors?