If you want to buy yourself a pocket friendly monitor with good enough specifications to fulfil your needs. You are the right place. Monitors are a need of almost everyone in this era. Because of constant work on computers/laptop and screen related work.
In this guide, you will get all the information you would need to make a final decision:
Page Contents
Brightness and contrast
Brightness is the maximum white level that the monitor can display. Measured
in cd / m² (nit).
- 250-350 cd / m² – typical brightness of modern monitors, sufficient for any enclosed space. Unless you’re working in a bright, sunny room, even 250 nits should be sufficient.
- 400-600 cd / m² – monitors with an application for entry-level HDR. Attempts by manufacturers to lure users with three magic letters, not backed up by 1000-zone local illumination and enough HDR content, have so far been unsuccessful.
- Over 1000 cd / m² – Displays for HDR content creators. This level of brightness is found in the most advanced Mini-LED backlit monitors at the price of a used foreign car. We will definitely not advise the average user of a monitor that gives out 1200 nits at arm’s length.
From static contrast depends on the saturation of the color black, which can transmit the monitor. The higher the contrast, the higher the detail. The “blackest”, as mentioned above, are VA-matrices, in which this figure can reach 4000: 1.
Color depth and gamut
Color depth is not as important as in TVs, but it’s still a metric that is described in more detail here. It determines the number of colors displayed by the device. The ideal option for a professional monitor would be a true ten-bit matrix, which is capable of transmitting more than a billion colors. Such models, as a rule, are at the top of the price list.
A fan of good color rendering can be advised by the so-called pseudo-ten-bit matrix (8 bits + FRC) – a compromise between the number of transmitted colors (the same 1.07 billion) and cost. However, you shouldn’t discount the usual eight-bit matrices – only a trained eye will notice the difference with 10 bits
in certain usage scenarios.
Gamut is the range of colors that a monitor can display. sRGB is a typical color space in which most devices operate. Adobe RGB is used by print professionals. Recently, the cinematic DCI-P3 has also been actively promoted.
Manufacturers have long passed the 100% sRGB mark and are slowly adjusting Adobe RGB to it. You should not strive to buy a monitor with an extended color gamut at any cost – there is a risk of getting excessively bright colors and an oversaturated picture. These monitors must have a well-calibrated sRGB mode.
Screen refresh rate
Screen refresh rate is the number of frames that a device can display in one second. The higher the number, the smoother the picture on the screen. “Civil” refresh rate is 60/75 Hz, gaming – 120/144 Hz. For the most hardcore gamers, there are 240, 280 and even 360 Hz models.
Do not forget that such a refresh rate must be provided with an appropriate FPS. With its increase, the requirements for the video card increase. A weak graphics adapter negates the point of buying a high hertz monitor.
Adaptive Synchronization Systems
Any gaming monitor must be equipped with Adaptive-Sync technology. This is the synchronization of the refresh rate of the screen with the number of frames issued by the video card. Adaptive sync systems are designed to reduce latency and eliminate image tearing. Each of the two key video card manufacturers offers a different solution.
- AMD FreeSync – Implemented via DisplayPort and HDMI. The technology is software and free, but it requires mandatory certification.
Today there are three tiers of technology from AMD: FreeSync, FreeSync Premium, and FreeSync Premium Pro. The latter two require the monitor to have a refresh rate of at least 120Hz, a minimum resolution of 1920 x 1080, and support Low Frame Rate Compensation (LFC). The Pro version additionally implements the function of high dynamic range (HDR).
- NVIDIA offers its users a similar G-SYNC technology, which also has three levels: G-SYNC ULTIMATE, G-SYNC, and G-SYNC Compatible. The first two are implemented in hardware and require a dedicated chip, the latter is software via DisplayPort. Realizing the reluctance of gamers to overpay, the company began to certify monitors to work correctly with their video cards – the number of monitors with G-SYNC Compatible is growing every day.
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