It’s easy to choose the right gaming monitor for you if you’re just a casual gamer who plays a session of Counter-Strike or Call of Duty with your buddies just once in a blue moon. Basically, all you have to do is look at the price and purchase the first monitor that catches your attention.
On the other hand, if you’re the hardcore gamer type who is constantly willing to play his favorite video games each day after you finish your job, the situation gets complicated a little. You obviously have higher standards when it comes to gaming. You may be willing to have a very high refresh rate, especially if you’re constantly involved in online multiplayer games such as Fortnite, PUBG, Counter-Strike 2, GTA Online, and so on. You may be willing to have a monitor as large as the wall, and also one capable of supporting a higher resolution than Mount Everest.
For these hardcore gamers, let’s see how they should choose their next gaming monitor, as the process could indeed be a bit intimidating with so many monitors available out there on the market:
Consider your gaming needs
Once again, we must emphasize the importance of being fully aware of your gaming needs before looking for your next monitor. In other words, you need to consider the types of games you enjoy playing. If you’re more into retro games, such as those that were initially released for NES or SNES consoles, that means that pretty much any monitor should get the job done for you.
On the other hand, if you’re into fast-paced action games with high graphics and that require fast reflexes, it means that you should be a lot more selective when it comes to your next gaming monitor.
Resolution
The monitor’s resolution represents a critical factor to consider. Higher resolutions, such as 1440p (QHD) or 4K, are capable of offering sharper image quality and more detail, but there’s a catch here, as you can’t have them all in life! High resolutions also require more powerful GPUs and components on the motherboard. In other words, you may be forced to invest in hardware components as well if you want to enjoy the best of what a 4K monitor has to offer.
Response time
You also need to consider the response time when looking for your next gaming monitor. For those unaware, the response time refers to the time it takes for a pixel to change from one color to another, measured in milliseconds. In the case of lower response times, these will result in less motion blur and smoother gameplay, which means that you should take them into account if you’re into high-end gaming. In order to benefit from the best gaming experience, you should definitely aim for monitors that have response times of 5ms or less.
Refresh rate
The refresh rate is another factor to keep in mind when you’re looking for a gaming monitor. That’s because the refresh rate refers to how many times per second the screen refreshes. A higher refresh rate will result in smoother action and reduced motion blur, and you should definitely take this into account if you’re into high-end gaming, especially if you play online against others. It’s always best to look for monitors that have refresh rates of 120Hz or higher in order to benefit from an optimal gaming experience.
Adaptive Sync technology
Let’s also not forget about the Adaptive Sync technology of gaming monitors, such as AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-SYNC. These technologies have the power to synchronize the refresh rate of the monitor with the frame rate output of your GPU, and the goal is to reduce stuttering and screen tearing and ensure smooth gameplay.
Panel technology
You must also take into account the panel technology of the monitor you consider buying. There are three main panel technologies that gaming monitors use: Twisted Nematic, Vertical Alignment, and In-Plane Switching. Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages.
You should always be careful when considering the factors mentioned above, as gaming needs to be taken seriously when choosing your next monitor!
Tim M. Hill helped bring Digital-Overload from a weekly newsletter to a full-fledged news site by creating a new website and branding. He continues to assist in keeping the site responsive and well organized for the readers. As a writer to Digital-Overload, Tim mainly covers mobile news and gadgets.
